African-American short story: a teen's forced conversion...?

Question

I'm trying to remember a short story about a teenaged boy who was pressured by his church to convert or be baptized or be born again--and the experienced actually destroyed his faith. Does anyone remember this story, and can you find it on the web? It may have been written by James Baldwin, or Langston Hughes, or Richard Wright.

Sorry, I've read "Go Tell It on the Mountain", which is a novel, and that's not it.

Answer 1

Langston Hughes has a short story/memoir called "Salvation." The full text is at http://www.spiritwatch.org/firelangsave.htm

Answer 2

Try these .
I do think it is James Baldwin.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=James+Baldwin+conversion&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ques&p=James+Baldwin+conversion

see link

James Baldwin - MSN Encarta
... James Baldwin (1924-1987), American writer, whose focus on issues of racial discrimination made him a ... describes a boy's religious conversion, and Baldwin tells the story through a ...encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761571268 - 32k - Cached - More from this site - Save

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761571268

In Paris, with the support of fellowship grants and literary supporters such as American novelist Richard Wright, Baldwin wrote his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain. The book describes a boy’s religious conversion, and Baldwin tells the story through a series of prayers that serve as flashbacks. He weaves the history of the boy’s family and community into the novel’s narrative. While in France, Baldwin came to accept his homosexuality and began work on Giovanni’s Room (1956), a novel about a man exploring his sexual identity. In 1957, impressed by the growing strength of the civil rights movement in the United States, Baldwin returned to the country briefly in order to participate.

It might be 'Go tell it on the mountain"



http://www.literacyrules.com/author_spotlight_archives.htm#Langston%20Hughes

Answer 3

You may also want to try Eudora Welty.

Answer 4

no i don't