To Pimp a Butterfly: Redefining Freedom and the American Dream

James Baldwin, one of the most prolific writers and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance, suggested a very specific process for escaping the crippling confines of hatred and oppression as a man of color in America. Deriving from the philosophy of existential alienation, Baldwin's practice of Black Existentialism prescribed that black men displace themselves from their native environment, dwelling within uncomfortable solitude to forcefully strip themselves of their learned identity and develo...