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Aug 27, 2020LPL_ShirleyB rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Coates reveals the prevalence of racism in this country within the context of President Obama’s 2 terms and throughout our history. This book feels urgent with the election so near and should be required reading. The reality of injustice…
Aug 11, 2020TEENREVIEWCREW rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is another book that I felt was essential to read right now with the renewed attention towards the Black Lives Matters movement. This book is a compilation of some of Coates’ essays, therefore you do not need to read the whole book,…
Mar 13, 2020zenmark29 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Well written, a lot of research went into Coates' work. It covers a lot of important history that I never saw in my history courses, which focused on white American exceptionalism. He validated a lot of what I saw from my own viewpoint…
Nov 27, 2019lukasevansherman rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Along with Ibram X. Kendi, Ta-Nehisi Coates is the most penetrating and intelligent writer on race and racism in America. Following up his instant classic "Between the World and Me," this brings together 8 of his article from "The…
Sep 13, 2019STPL_JessH rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I'm usually weary about essay collections of previously published material. In this case, I really enjoyed the commentary before each essay and it almost made up for the many moments of repetition. I mean really, how many times do we need…
Apr 07, 2019
ta-nehisi coates calls donald trump the "first white president". if this were true, it would indeed be of interest. however, coates fails to mention that, of all the presidents, only two have NOT been white: the african-american barack…
meeshmorgan
Feb 23, 2019meeshmorgan rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
A FIVE star searing book! I grew up as a white girl in inner-city LA and I know the difference between poverty and poverty consciousness. I imagined I knew what it might be to be poor and black. I knew nothing! This book lays bare…
autumnwind
Feb 21, 2019
We, were eight years in power and I am white? I trusted Coates narrative when he wrote of his own! This tears st the very fabric of trust as a people We is different, for different people today and going forward! There…
Dec 03, 2018rlbeekman rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Pieces from the author's 8 years at The Atlantic plus framing and introductions for each article emphasizing its place in the author's career and life. Much better book than Between the World and Me -- probably because the author's…
jr3083
Oct 16, 2018jr3083 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book is a compilation of long-form essays, one for each of the eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency. Each essay is prefaced with a 2018-dated reflection on the article and the circumstances in which it was written. There is a…
Jul 12, 2018larters rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
An absolutely searing book, cogently and starkly laying out the history of oppression that has led to the massive inequalities in the American state. The painful history of structural racism against the black community is documented…
May 15, 2018bba1 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This was an amazing book
Apr 10, 2018CMLibrary_gjd rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Mr. Coates always teaches me something when I read his work and this book is no exception! He reminds me again and again that the world I live in is not always the same as the one he's forced to navigate. This is his best work to date; the…
Feb 24, 2018AaronAardvark1940 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Despite having read various things by black writers and about blacks, I was completely unprepared for the revelatory experience this book gave me. It is tightly reasoned, heavily researched and highly referenced, yet clearly a very…
Jan 26, 2018AnnabelleLee27 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Thorough, thought-provoking, challenging, well written, and bleak. This book is a series of essays published during the Obama presidency, each with a newly written introduction - these reflective and often personal introductions were some…
Jan 25, 2018writermala rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book includes eight essays, one for each year of the Obama Presidency. There is an epilogue which talks of the tragedy of electing Donald Trump. I found that I enjoyed this book much more than Coates' bestseller, "Between the world…
Jan 16, 2018JCLMELODYK rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I'm a big fan of Coates and I enjoyed his notes about his essays where he lays out in hindsight what he was thinking and grappling with when he penned the eight essays. The essays were wonderful as well but it was just really interesting…
Jan 14, 2018lindab1111 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Comprehensive. Well written. Thoughtful. Most chilling prediction: "Trumps legacy will be exposing the patina of decency for what it is and revealing just how much a demagogue can get away with. It does not take much to imagine another…
Nov 30, 2017vm510 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
This book of essays from Ta-Nehisi Coates is worth a read and made me think in new ways. Specifically, I saw a black conservatism I didn't know much about before. My favorite essay by far is "Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?" for…
Nov 05, 2017voisjoe1_0 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Ta-Nehisi Coates, journalist for "The Atlantic" magazine, released this book with eight of his magazine articles, one for each of eight years with the magazine. Also included for each article are eight contemporary essays, one for each of…
Nov 01, 2017
Not finished yet. Love this book and Coates. I need so desparately to know more of the black experience and rascism so this is helping I'm sure.
Oct 12, 2017JCLJessG rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
WE WERE EIGHT YEARS IN POWER revisits the best of Coates's writing in The Atlantic from the past 8 years - one for every year of Barack Obama's presidency - in the context of today. Coates doesn't mince words; we are living in a racist,…
Sep 25, 2017
I have not read this yet, but did read some of those essays in The Atlantic, not a mag I would recommend - - last really decent story in there was back in 1973 or thereabouts. This fellow falls into the extremely large class of…