Between the World and Me…And Me

Between the World and Me is a tremendous book, which is why it is surprising that it took me nearly a month to write this review. Part of it is that life happens and it is difficult to keep up with everything. Other times, it is the worry that any review can never do enough justice to the book or the subject. But as I try to write it today, I realize that the book has imprinted certain feelings on me of anger and guilt.

Coates pens the book as if he is writing a letter to his son, and it is broken into three parts. The first part starts with Coates’ uprising in Baltimore and schooling in the Howard University. It shows his evolving thoughts about his race and his growing cynicism (hatred?) towards the Dream, which I see as the societal pressures that continue to keep certain people in worse situations. The second part shows Coates after the birth of his son, where he shows concern and frustration that his son will still continue to struggle like he did, but he also shows hope that his son will not grow up the same way he did. The last part is Coates’ interaction with Mable Jones, the mother of his friend Prince Jones who was killed by a police officer.

This book is hauntingly lyrical, and Coates’ prose is beautiful. And it just makes his message so much more powerful. All at once, I felt anger at the continued struggles that afflicted Coates’ community and continue to impact communities throughout the world. But it is also impossible not to feel partially responsible for this as someone who has pursued that same Dream, who has felt sympathy, but not empathy for what happens. While I do not prescribe to Coates’ cynicism/pessimism towards the world, I can understand where it comes from. These feelings and thoughts have helped me reflect on what I can do in my immediate community of Chicago and even how I should think.

This book is not easy to read, but I agree with Toni Morrison’s assessment that this should be required reading. It is thought-provoking to be sure, but beyond that, it allows you to better empathize, even if you have never been in those shoes and can never fully understand what this could be without that experience.