I lived in the Philly suburbs a few years ago, so WHYY was my source for NPR radio shows. When I first moved down there, and for 3 full years, I worked second shift. I got to hear radio shows that played in the middle of the day. Tell Me More was one of my favorites. I don’t know what it says about me (I’m oblivious?) that for years I never realized that it was about/by African Americans. I guess it was the power of radio and the fact that I couldn’t see who was talking that kept me oblivious. Anyway, Ta-Nehisi Coates was a regular contributor to the roundtable part of the show. I think they called it the barbershop. I got used to hearing his voice, his opinions, and how his name was pronounced. It was a great show, and he’s a very intelligent man. Reading his second book reminded me how different my world is from his, and how different my childhood was from his.
I never worried that someone would bring a gun to the playground. I was never scared of the police. In this way, we’re different. But I think we’re the same in other ways that are more important.
He talks about police shootings, college, love, and learning. I can relate to most of those things.
He’s written this book to his son. He wants his son to know that his body is always in danger. Coates talks about which shootings of unarmed black men shaped his thinking, and how his son has newer shootings to identify with. He finishes with his thoughts as he’s leaving the house of the mother of a police shooting victim. It’s not exactly hopeful, but it’s not entirely gloomy either.
I haven’t read this for the most petty of reasons. I started it last summer, but got distracted by another book (Slavery by Another Name, by Douglas Blackmon). By the time I got back to it, it seemed like everyone had discovered it (looking back, it was only reviewed three times last year, and there’s been a review roughly every month in 2016), especially after it won the National Book Award. I almost feel like I missed my chance to give this book to the world (which is absurd, I know).
All of that’s a long winded way of saying I have no good reason to have not read this book by now.
Why the three stars, though? You seemed to have liked it.
I think I went with 3 stars because I feel like I give everything 4 stars! I did like it, but it took me longer than it should have to read.
I remember this book also taking me longer than its slimness would indicate, but my reaction to that was the density of the prose and the message.