Vasishta

Go Tell it on the Mountain is one of the most important books in American Literature. It dissects the generational trauma that many African Americans can have. As someone who is “mixed” it gave me new perspectives on how this trauma seeps into the bones of people and, like a disease, kills. But it there are ways to free oneself of the trauma of the family, and Baldwin hints at the answer: education, experience, and perspective. This review won’t have any fancy structure or anything more than my stream of conscious about my experience reading the book some month or so after. I have had a lot of time to process the book and reflect on my experience and hopefully this review will convince some of you to read it as well. So, there will be minimal spoilers. To start, I thoroughly enjoyed the book at an entertainment level. The plot was dramatic and compelling; the language was impeccable; the characters were real. The story follows John a 14 year old boy who, like his father, has come to a point where he can break free of his trauma or be trapped in it. Baldwin shifts between John’s perspective, his mother’s, his aunt’s, and his father’s. We get the full picture on how generational trauma affects each type of person and ultimately what happens to them if they fall into the cycle. This adds to the intrigue, as it answers all questions the reader has about the family dynamics. The language is phenomenal and keeps the reader engaged with the moment to moment reading. Not only is the descriptions beautiful, the dialogue is extremely realistic. Nothing feels forced, or made up. It is as if every bit of dialogue is being quoted from someone in Baldwin’s life. I think the main reason why I enjoyed this novel, so much is the fact that Baldwin doesn’t do anything more than show us what it feels like to be stuck in this cycle. He brings us so close to each characters perspective. It is as if we are breathing the same air as them. From an emotional standpoint, I learned a lot. Baldwin immerses the reader into the psyche of each family member. Which is why this needs to be mandatory reading for Americans. We can all get some bit of repeatability in this unique experience and it is that experience that helps us empathize with each other. The story does center around the church. I, for one, am not religious nor was raised to be. The most amount of spirituality I was raised on was, “God is there. You can pray if you want.” So the church aspect of the novel did not hit close to home as I would expect it to too if I was involved in the church (or more specifically the black church). I have learned a bit about the importance of the black church and its function in black communities, but I do not know enough nor is it my place to really dive into those experiences. Nevertheless, Baldwin communicates these experiences with great detail, so that even a white boy from Seattle could understand. In my reflection, I have been connecting the generational trauma described in the book to (of course) Capitalism and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. These vile systems completely dismantle the oppressed of political imagination, and sense of self. But it is not hopeless. Baldwin is not here to give us all the answer about revolution or class consciousness, but he is here to simply describe what it’s like being black, 14, living in America in the early 1900s. However Baldwin does show us it is possible to break free the mental chains that the oppressor has put on us. Whether those chains are the Southern Baptist Church, Capitalism, or some other arm of Imperialism, we will break free.