Between the World and Me

Coates' prose is lovely. ( )

Powerful. So intense that I had to set the book aside so I could process what I just read and take a moment to collect myself. Accessible, intelligent, passionate, heart wrenching writing. This book really opened my eyes and I'd recommend it to everyone. ( )

Raw, real, and revealing.

I listened to the Audio version of this book read by the author. It is a short book with a profound message that cannot be taken lightly. I listened and re-listened to some passages to get as much as possible of the references.

The book is a letter from the author to his Samari, it details the singularity of the black experience in America and emphasizes the struggle to protect the "black body" from plunder. It is an important piece of writing that should be read by anyone who needs to know why the slogan "black lives matter" is important.

Even for someone from a completely different background, the author makes you feel deeply what it is like to be born black. Young people who hide behind swagger talk and violence, to compensate for their own vulnerability. The tragedy of those promising lives cut short by the prejudice of a police force (white and black) that shoots first and asks questions later. Anyone who has been subjected to injustice can relate to this and it is an important testimony to the enduring struggle of African Americans.
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This book is an intense, compelling, and excellent read. It is not intended to make you feel comfortable about the state of race in America—and indeed, will probably make you feel uncomfortable about it—but it does give you an incredibly important perspective that helps you better understand the issues we are facing.

Written as a letter from Coates to his then-teenage son, Coates offers a unique and powerful perspective of what it means to be Black in America. Drawing from his own perspectives growing up in Baltimore, attending Howard University, and eventually moving to New York, Coates discusses at length the struggles that he, and many Black Americans have with fear and an inability to completely control their own bodies and destiny.

Coates does not shy away frown discussing issues like violence, police brutality and discrimination, the failure of various systems, and various cultural problems (including a poignant comparison of America with France, for both better and worse). At times, Coates writes as one who is genuinely in despair, indicating that he has little hope that these problems will be solved. But, he also acknowledges the need for his son—and all of us—to persist in that struggle.

As one who grew up in a poor, racially diverse community where violence and discrimination were a daily fact of life, there is much of this that rings true and familiar to me. But as a White man who now lives in a middle class community, there are parts of Coates, story that seem like an entirely different world. Being able to read Coates’ intense and poignant description of that world made me feel uncomfortable at times (probably be design) but also gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation of his perspective and the issues that exist in our society. Given all that, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in these issues or wants to gain a better understanding of that perspective. 4.5/5 stars. ( )