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1-Page Summary of F.I.R.E.

Overall Summary

The Fire This Time is a collection of writings from diverse voices in response to America’s turbulent racial climate. The book was edited by Jesmyn Ward, who has won numerous awards for her fiction writing and wanted to present a collection of essays and poems that reflect the current moment while also imagining a future where people are more open-minded.

In her introduction, Ward explains the inspiration behind this anthology. After Trayvon Martin’s death, she found solace in James Baldwin and other writers like him who are concerned about America’s racial issues. She arranged this anthology according to time periods: Part 1 is “Legacy,” or thoughts on the past; Part 2 is “Reckoning,” grappling with current events; and Part 3 is a vision of the future.

Part 1 of the book is a collection of essays. The first essay, “Homegoing, AD” by Kima Jones, tells the story of an African-American girl who travels to Charleston, South Carolina for her grandmother’s funeral. Then Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah writes about her relationship with James Baldwin and how she visited his home in France after reading his work. Wendy S. Walters visits a mass grave site where slaves were buried when they died on boats headed to America from Africa during slavery times. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers researches Phillis Wheatley’s life and discusses it in her essay. Isabel Wilkerson writes about racially motivated violence that has happened since slavery ended through today in “Where Do We Go From Here?” Carol Anderson writes about white rage and how it relates to current events like police brutality against black people in “White Rage.” Jesmyn Ward ends Part 1 with her own essay called “Cracking the Code,” which talks about discovering what race she belongs to based on DNA testing results.

Clint Smith’s poem begins the second part of this collection with a personal tone. Kevin Young follows by writing an essay that is humorous and lyrical about Rachel Dolezal, which Kiese Laymon weaves together his love for his grandmother and admiration of OutKast. Garnette Cadogan celebrates walking in “Black & Blue,” while Claudia Rankine describes the constant fear of racial violence in America. Emily Raboteau documents several New York City murals on one’s constitutional rights when detained by police, while Mitchell S. Jackson considers what it means to have many fathers who raised him as one father, or “Composite Pops.”

In the third part of “The Fire This Time,” Jubilee is called for. Natasha Trethewey’s poem about time and space takes readers to the Mississippi coastline, while Daniel José Older writes a letter that considers America from a Haitian immigrant’s perspective. Edwidge Danticat also includes a message to her daughters in her essay.

Poem: “The Tradition”

Jericho Brown’s sonnet is about the names of flowers, which are repeated throughout. The speaker references summers past and how they would speed up videos of blooming flowers. They would then write poems using those cut-down videos as inspiration. He also mentions three black men who were killed by police: John Crawford, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown.

Introduction

Ward responds to the death of Trayvon Martin and seeks solidarity for her grief on Twitter. She reads responses online in the midst of her pregnancy while editing a book. Ward is surprised that no one else sees him as a child.

The author believes that the reason why Trayvon Martin’s death is so controversial was because many people have a biased view of him. She explains that he was viewed as rebellious and unruly, which resulted in his death. The author compares this to her own experience with prejudice when she met Senator Trent Lott from Mississippi, who supported Strom Thurmond’s filibuster against the Civil Rights Act of 1957.