Essay intro

Two years ago I read Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.’s exceptional book, Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. Glaude delves deeply into the mind, heart and soul of Baldwin, one of the 20th Century’s great American thinkers and writers.

Glaude’s penetrating account of Baldwin’s life and legacy inspired me to write this essay in 2021 on something I find remarkable and inspiring about James Baldwin: his undying faith in humanity despite all the tragedy and suffering he witnessed so closely and felt so deeply throughout his life. Baldwin’s faith in the potential for human renewal is reflected in the title of Glaude’s book: Begin Again. Baldwin also speaks to that faith in a phrase he once spoke in an interview….

• Giving Birth to Ourselves

 

 

In less than three decades, the internet and social media have become a dominant force affecting almost every sphere of our lives. Like virtually any new and ubiquitous technology or cultural phenomenon, the digital age creates both beneficial and troubling outcomes. One of the most vexing and profound impacts is the effect that our “always online” culture is having on arguably our most precious human faculty: our attention.

This is an extremely important and well-covered topic, which is rightfully seen as a serious problem. Yet, in addition to the many blessings of the internet we all enjoy, an often-overlooked gem lies at the core of its problematic side as well:

• The Gift at the Heart of the Digital Attention Crisis