A review by ninaprime
We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates

4.0

Coates collects essays he's written for The Atlantic in each of the eight years of the Obama Presidency, adding a reflective introduction to each from the vantage point of the Trump era with an scrutinizing eye on current and historic events. While I don't always agree with him, I do believe that now more than ever we need to be open-minded about other perspectives, particularly about issues such as race relations. I learned much about African-American history and politics in 'The Legacy of Malcolm X' and 'The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration'. His 'Case for Reparations' seemed provocative and I was poised towards fervent disagreement, but I found my opinions shifting over its discourse. And 'My President Was Black' moved me to tears again as it did in the immediate aftermath of the election.