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A powerful teacher, Countee Cullen, shown here in Central Park, New York, opened the world up for his students

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Novelist, Essayist, and Playwright James Baldwin Was Born
August 2, 1924
Baldwin wrote his first and most famous novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain published in 1953, about one day in the lives of members of a Harlem church. It was inspired by his experience as a young preacher. Following in his father's footsteps, Baldwin stepped onto the pulpit when he was only 14 years old. About this time, Baldwin met a famous poet named Countee Cullen. Cullen was Baldwin's middle school French teacher. We all have people in our lives that help us somehow get to the places we want to go. Cullen, a leader of the Harlem Renaissance (African American expression through the arts), did this for James Baldwin.
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