The Smithsonian noted that this is the birthday of James Baldwin, one of the greatest analysts of U.S. racism, and much more about humanity and life in the US, ever:
Essayist, novelist and playwright James Baldwin in Harlem in New York City. After stints as a preacher and railroad worker, Baldwin turns to writing. In 1948 he moves to Paris where he produces, among other works, his famous essay collection on race in America and Europe, Notes of a Native Son (1955). He dies in France in 1987 at age 63.