“The present social and political apparatus cannot serve the human need…. In the United States the idea of community scarcely means anything anymore, except among the submerged, the Native American, the Mexican, the Puerto Rican, the Black.” 

From “The Evidence of Things Not Seen” (1985) by James Baldwin

Quoted in “James Baldwin: Pessimist, Optimist, Hero” by
By Holland Cotter
The literary figure is the glowing subject of a group exhibition, curated by the New Yorker critic Hilton Als, that is part personal narrative, part study of his influence on contemporary artists.