Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates

I recently finished reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me.” It is a very poetic, powerful, and personal look at what it means to grow up as a Black boy and live as a Black man in America. His story is framed as a letter to his son, warning him about the dangers of living in a society run by White people, whom he terms “Dreamers.” This “Dream” is the society in which we all live, where the fantasy of White supremacy has been reified by violence. Through the Dream, Whites have access to what we commonly call “The American Dream,” while Blacks are excluded from opportunity and security - penned into ghettoes and the prison system, and terrorized and murdered by the police. Coates is full of anger at the unfair system that claims the lives of so many Black men, and the heat of his fury is palpable, but his tale also has another side, which is his pride in and love for the power of Black culture and community. Definitely a heart-wrenching book, but an important one. Would recommend to all!