I apologize for the rather meager fare which has been on offer here of late. A post is coming soon, I promise, on Richard Wright, communism, and the blues. Until then, here’s a passage from James Baldwin’s last novel, Just Above My Head (1978), in which he addresses the subject of terrorism.

I was traveling before the days of electronic surveillance, before the hijackers and terrorists arrived.  For the arrival of these people, the people in the seats of power have only themselves to blame.  Who, indeed, has hijacked more than England has, for example, or who is more skilled in the uses of terror than my own unhappy country?  Yes, I know: nevertheless, children, what goes around comes around, what you send out comes back to you.  A terrorist is called that only because he does not have the power of the State behind him – indeed, he has…