Ta-Nehisi Coates Explores Oppression in 'The Message'

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🗓️ 1 October 2024

⏱️ 49 minutes

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Summary

In his new book, Coates reflects on his time in Senegal, as well as trips he took to South Carolina and to Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. "It is about the nationalisms of people who are told that they are nothing, that they are not a nation, that they are not a people ... and the stories that we construct to fight back against that," he says.

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0:00.0	Read about the impact of women and music with NPR's new book,
0:03.5	How Women Made Music, a revolutionary history from NPR Music.
0:07.5	This stunning anthology offers original writing and illustrations,
0:11.5	interviews and photos, and the audi interviews and photos.
0:13.0	And the audiobook includes 52 years worth of interview excerpts with more than 60 legendary artists.
0:19.0	Visit NPR.org slash how women made music to order now.
0:23.2	This is fresh air.
0:24.2	I am Terry Gross.
0:25.6	My guest Tanahasi Coates is best known for his book between the world and me,
0:29.9	which was written in the form of a letter to his 15 year old son about what it means to be a black
0:34.7	teenager and a black man in America.
0:37.4	It won a 2015 National Book Award.
0:40.0	His Atlantic magazine cover story, The case for reparations, sparked a national conversation
0:45.5	about the historical ways in which black people were denied opportunities to create generational
0:50.8	wealth that have led to continuing financial and educational
0:54.3	inequality. His new book, The Message, is about what he learned about race and
0:59.5	identity visiting three different places. In Senegal he thought about his ancestors and
1:04.8	visited the fort on the island of Goree, the final stop for some captured people
1:10.0	before being forced onto a ship, taking them to enslavement in America.
1:14.8	In South Carolina, he met with a high school teacher who was prevented from teaching his
1:18.8	book between the world and me because it made some students feel uncomfortable and ashamed to be white.
1:25.4	In Israel and the occupied territories, he reflected on how victims can become victimizers.
	...

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