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A review by kittycat2302
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
5.0
I consider myself a pretty good ally, generally a good person, with some awareness around concepts like privilege.
Ta-Nehisi Coates opened my eyes to how little I knew.
This is such an important book. It's short, and while not an easy read it's not difficult in the ways some books are difficult to read. There is no needless artsy prose, it's not dense, the concepts aren't a struggle. But it's one I needed to take 2 bigger breaks from, reading it in generally 50 page increments.
What makes it a hard read is that it speaks an enormous amount of truth. And despite all that I believe about myself- those things in my opening sentence- I caught myself getting defensive, trying to justify, and doing all those things I *hate* seeing others in privilege do. It was important to me not to do that- and checking that response took time. It was time well spent & important.
I highly recommend reading this book. If you're white, I extra-highly recommend reading this book- and setting aside the defensiveness. Allow yourself to understand that this is Coates' lived experience and that his experience is not that different from that of others.
Looking forward to the Book Club discussion on this, for sure.
Ta-Nehisi Coates opened my eyes to how little I knew.
This is such an important book. It's short, and while not an easy read it's not difficult in the ways some books are difficult to read. There is no needless artsy prose, it's not dense, the concepts aren't a struggle. But it's one I needed to take 2 bigger breaks from, reading it in generally 50 page increments.
What makes it a hard read is that it speaks an enormous amount of truth. And despite all that I believe about myself- those things in my opening sentence- I caught myself getting defensive, trying to justify, and doing all those things I *hate* seeing others in privilege do. It was important to me not to do that- and checking that response took time. It was time well spent & important.
I highly recommend reading this book. If you're white, I extra-highly recommend reading this book- and setting aside the defensiveness. Allow yourself to understand that this is Coates' lived experience and that his experience is not that different from that of others.
Looking forward to the Book Club discussion on this, for sure.