Between the World and Me

October 20th 2016

 

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a graduate of Howard University, and author of one of the best-selling novels titles, “Between the World and Me.” In this novel he attempts to write about his struggles with social injustice, specifically racism and his experiences of living with a black body, all in an attempt to educate his son. At a book signing which I attended, he answered various questions pertaining to his Howard University experience and the purpose of his book. According to Ta-Nehisi, “Howard allowed me to compete with Ivy League Colleges,” which is reflected in his book when he expresses his love for The Mecca. He also fell in love with the beautiful black people he had seen when he says “I had never seen so many beautiful black bodies,” also reflected in his book. Howard developed a great sense of skepticism in Ta-Nehisi which prepared him to go out and compete with the racist things that were being written at the time.