Between the World and Me

This past week I read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. This book is an open letter from a father to his son on being black in American culture today. It speaks a lot about how men can't fully claim to understand the experiences of women, just like white people can't claim to fully understand the experiences of black people. He spoke about being a father in a culture in which men are afraid they'll be the missing father in their child's life due to mass incarceration and other ways they are separated from their families by the states. He also speaks to the emotions men have to explore and accept, even though they are taught not to. Overall, I think this book is an excellent glimpse into everything we have been studying in this course. It was eye opening to read the first-hand account of the fears a black father has in raising his son in our culture today. And it offers no sugar coated solution, either, for the challenges to blackness and manhood in our culture. He is a blunt writer who acknowledges that the solution is that there will be a long, maybe even ever-present struggle. I recommend it for anyone interested in diving deeper into the material we have been studying this semester.