New Delhi, May 21 -- James Baldwin, born in Harlem, New York, in 1924, became one of the most important American writers and public intellectuals of the 20th century. He wrote essays, novels, plays and speeches that examined race, sexuality, religion, identity and power with unusual moral clarity. His major works include Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, Giovanni's Room, The Fire Next Time and If Beale Street Could Talk. The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture describes Baldwin as a writer and civil rights activist whose works centred on race, politics and sexuality.

"Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

- James Baldwin

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