Happy Birthday Richard Wright

“Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread” - Richard Wright

(Richard Wright)

Richard Wright was born on September 4th, 1908 in Roxie, Mississippi, USA. When Wright was 6 his father left the family.

(Wright (Left) with his brother (Right))

At 12 years old his mother suffered a stroke which made Wright have to live with his uncle. He then went to live with his grandmother in Jackson, Mississippi in 1920. In 1921 he started school. In 1923 he became his class valedictorian. Also in 1923 he wrote his 1st story. In 1925 he moved to Tennessee. In 1926 his mother and brother moved in with him. In 1927 he moved to Illinois. In 1932 he began attending a communist club.

(Wright in 1932)

In 1933 he joined the Communist party. In 1935 he published his 1st novel Cesspool. In 1936 he began work with the National Negro Congress. In 1937 he left the Communist party due to it being shut down. In 1937 he moved to New York. He became the Harlem editor for the “Daily Worker”.

(Wright in 1937)

In 1938 he became friends with author Ralph Ellison. Also in 1938 he won the “Story” magazine prize. He then wrote Uncle Tom’s Children (1938).

(Wright in 1939)

In 1940 he wrote Native Son. Also in 1940 he went to Chicago. In 1941 Wright received the Spingarn Medal.

(Wright in 1941)

In 1943 the FBI started to monitor Wright. In 1945 he wrote Black Boy. In 1946 he moved to Paris, France.

(Wright in 1946)

In 1947 he became a French citizen. In 1953 he wrote The Outsider. He also became friends with James Baldwin. Also in 1953 he went to Accra, Ghana.

(Wright in 1953)

In 1954 he wrote Savage Holiday. Also in 1954 he wrote Black Power. In 1955 he went to Indonesia. In 1957 he wrote White Man, Listen!.

(Wright in 1957)

In 1958 he wrote The Long Dream. In 1959 Wright became a victim of a virulent attack of amoebic dysentery.

(Wright in 1959)

On November 28th, 1960 Richard Wright died of a heart attack in Paris, France. He was 58 years old.

(Wright in 1960)

Today is his 108th birthday and we would all like to say happy birthday and rest in peace Richard Wright.

Books by Richard Wright

• Uncle Tom's Children (1938)
• The Man Who Was Almost a Man (1939)
• Native Son (1940)
• 12 Million Black Voices: A Folk History of the Negro in the United States (1941)
• Black Boy (1945)
• The Outsider (1953)
• Savage Holiday (1954)
• Black Power (1954)
• The Color Curtain (1956)
• Pagan Spain (1957)
• The Long Dream (1958)