Between the World and Me by Ta-Nahisi Coates
Between the World and
Me by Ta-Nahisi Coates
Intimate.
Honest. Heartbreaking. Those are the first three words I think of after
finishing this book. Put simply Between
the World and Me is Coates speaking directly to his son, Samori about life.
About what it means to be a black man in the United States of America. What it
means to sit back and continuously see that you have no control over your body.
What it means to continuously see bodies that look like yours taken prematurely
and to see no one punished for the crime. Coates talks about his upbringing,
about his parents, about his struggle and then about Howard, The Mecca. It’s as
much about Coates trying to make sense of this world and it is him trying to
make his son understand what it means to live in a black body.
Talking
about race with children is incredible difficult. I know from the experience of
having to talk about race with my own child. It’s uncomfortable and it makes
you confront certain truths that you would rather ignore. That’s what makes
this book so amazing. Coates realizes that his son, who is fifteen at the time
he writes this book, is old enough to hear the truth, regardless of how painful
it may be. I loved this book for its honesty. I loved it because I could feel
Coates pouring his pain on the pages and confronting what life has been like
for him. But it isn’t just him. It’s everyone that inhabits the black body and
he makes it a point to emphasize that. It feels personal because it is
incredibly personal. I give this 5 out of 5 stars. I just finished this and I
am filled with emotion. These instances hit too close to home because too many
of these instances happen to people who look like me, honestly they happen to
me.
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