Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates was exceedingly well received when it was printed and Ta-Nehisi Coates has become an exceptional American commentator since.  I wanted to read this book and understand better his message.

Started: 1/22/2020
Completed: 1/24/2020
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By:  Everyone

Review:

This book is a letter.  This book is a tribute.  This book is a cautionary tale.  This book will move you.  All of that and I do not live in the world in which Coates grew up (despite being in Prince George's County, Maryland because his world is not a place, but a mentality--he calls it a tribe). 

I am definitely not a member of his tribe.  I live among people who are.  This is one tribe I would never hope to join.  I recognize and appreciate the good parts of this tribe, but I am sad for the situation that caused it to arise.  I want to eliminate the need for this tribe to exist.

In the meantime, however, it is important to understand the internal dialog that Coates exposes.  How can I hope to change my own errors without understanding the effect of our culture on people who grew up like Coates.  I thought I had an intellectual understanding of this tribe (I have no hope of understanding this tribe in any other way), but I was wrong.

A really, really important piece of understanding for me was the talk of the body.  Coates focuses repeatedly on the integrity, safety, and nurturing of his body.  Why?  Because those things cannot be taken for granted (as they are in many ways by me).  Our culture has exploited the bodies of Coates' tribe in every way imaginable and we continue to do it.  Members of his tribe are mostly black and brown, but not exclusively and, again, nobody should be a member of this tribe.

One step, one way, to start to make change happen is to respect everyone's body.  Especially those whose bodies have historically not been respected.  I say this in the same sense as "Black lives matter."  Yes, everyone's lives matter, but the point is that all too often black lives have not mattered, so take a moment and remember that black lives matter.  Take a moment and remember that black and brown bodies matter.  Yes, like everyone's bodies matter, but don't forget that black and brown bodies matter.  Unless you feel like an attack on the body of one of Coates' tribe is an attack on "everyone's" body, then you aren't getting it.  We all need to protect everyone. 

I need to work to make this an action, not just an idea and it is going to start, for me, by supporting District Attorney candidates all over the country who see the mass incarceration of black and brown people (yes, everyone, too) as wrong.  Who support the elimination of cash bail.  Who oppose stop and frisk.  I will start by doing a small part to protect people's bodies.  I will do more, but that is where I will start.

I also think it is insightful that Coates refers to Howard University as the Mecca, but is not a religious man.  He feels the need to have a focus, a center, a heart for his understanding of the world and this book says to me that Howard University is that place for him.