Master author and social observer James Baldwin (1924 - 1987,) is described as the American Socrates, by another cultural prophet, Princeton Professor of Religion Cornel West. Here's a passage taken from Baldwin's essay entitled, The Creative Process.

"The artist cannot and must not take anything for granted, but must drive to the heart of every answer and expose the question the answer hides. We know, in the case of the person, that whoever cannot tell himself the truth about his past is trapped in it, is immobilized in the prison of his undiscovered self. This is also true of nations. "