Culture Thursday: Between the World and Me

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates was a sensation when it came out a few years ago. It was on everyone's "must read" list. And, of course, I read it.

Or, rather, I listened to it. Mr. Coates narrated his book.

I cannot tell you what a difference that made. The book is addressed to his young son, and is a sort of warding-off of evil over his son's young black body. The "black body" is the thrust of his book: how it's abused, how it's reviled, how it's worth less than a white body. But more than that: this is a father talking to his son, preparing him for what faces him, wishing that he wouldn't have to face a world which considers him less, but knowing that he will, and that he must be prepared for it. It is a book-length exposition of "The Talk", that discussion most Black parents have with their children, especially their sons, to gird them to deal with a world which is disadvantaged against them.

I'm sure it would have had an impact if I had read it on the page. But the impact of Mr. Coates, a father, speaking to his son, and by doing so to the listener, is indescribable. It has an immediacy, a pain, and anger, and a hope which is conveyed even more forcefully by the sound of his voice, by the cadence and flow of his words. His pain comes through, as well as the joy he feels in the beauty and power of his son.

I highly recommend reading this book. It is an honest look at what Black people go through, even now, sixty years after the Civil Rights Revolution.

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