Between the World and Me. Ta–Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me by Ta–Nehisi Coates

I was looking for a new Black History month read and Coates had several recommendations. The New York Times Book Review by Michelle Alexander describes the author as: “who now speaks unpopular, unconventional and some times even radical truths in his own voice, unfiltered. He is invariably humble, yet subtly defiant.” Alexander has an excellent review and I’ve lifted multiple quotes from it. I was similarly vexed that Coates material is accurate and from his atheistic point of view is without hope. In her review she agrees (as do I)with the reality of racism and exploitation but she offers a sliver of hope; which I want to believe can happen.

The book was an excellent choice and I recommended highly. Expand one’s perspective white privileges and institutional racism. Both which are reality is in today’s world. And the fear of physical safety that exist in America for most middle of color regardless of their education and social status or economic well being -institutional racism continues embedded in most everything.

I think living abroad has helped our family’s point of view; as has living with the Loa community for three years, and again it’s on us down here in Florida. Our church congregation is a blend of Haitian, Latinos, and Anglos; and the majority of my scout troop is non white.

Individuals need to reach out in acceptance, love, equality, and acknowledge the embedded racism.

I need to;

Groups need to;

Churches need to;

Corporations need to;

America needs to . . .

. . . make plain for young people what is truly at stake in the struggle and disabuse them of the prevailing myths that breed complacency, defeatism or inaction.

Coates

“repeatedly emphasizes the young man’s power and potential and urges him to believe that revolutionary change is possible against all odds, because we, as black people, continue to defy the odds and defeat the expectations of those who seek to control and exploit us.

is trying to make sense of blatant racial injustice and come to grips with his place in a world that refuses to guarantee for him the freedoms that so many others take for granted.

within a country lost in the Dream, is the question of my life, and the pursuit of this question, I have found, ultimately answers itself.”

“Hollywood fortified the Dream. The Dream was gilded by novels and adventure stories”; Dreamers are the ones who continue to believe the lie, at black people’s expense. In what will almost certainly be the most widely quoted passage, Coates tells his son: “Here is what I would like for you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body — it is heritage.”

“But you cannot arrange your life around them and the small chance of the Dreamers coming into consciousness.”

Michelle Alexander for The New York Times

As Frederick Douglass observed long ago, “Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never did and it never will.”

“The second time around I could see that maybe, just maybe, this is what is most needed right now — a book that offers no answers but instead challenges us to wrestle with the questions on our own. Maybe this is the time”

“I cannot pretend to be entirely satisfied. Like Baldwin, I tend to think we must not ask whether it is possible for a human being or society to become just or moral; we must believe it is possible. Believing in this possibility — no matter how slim — and dedicating oneself to playing a meaningful role in the struggle to make it a reality focuses one’s energy and attention in an unusual way.”

“But I believe we could only benefit from hearing what answers Coates may have fashioned for himself. Whether you agree or disagree, one of the great joys of reading Ta-Nehisi Coates is being challenged in ways you didn’t expect or imagine.”

post script

Carvell Wallace in review entitled ‘making a motherland review’ of Black Panther commented -“ our individual successes and failures belong in a perfectly real sense to all of us. That can be for good or ill. When it’s good, it is very good. It is the sunlight and gold on the best African mountains, is the shining splendor of the Wakandan warriors poised and ready to fight, is a collective soul as timeless and indestructible as vibranium. And with this love we seek to make the future ours, by making the present ours. We seek to make a place where we belong.

See separate post on related subject – Braving the Wilderness – the quest for true belonging and the courage to stand alone; a 2017 book by Brene Brown.