Ta-Nehisi Coates's Reading List
Last night Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author of the current bestseller Between the World and Me and National Correspondent for The Atlantic, was at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture as part of our public program series, Between the Lines. Mr. Coates was brilliantly interviewed by New York Times Magazine and ProPublica reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones. Throughout the conversation, there was talk about books.
If you want to watch the program, it's available at Livestream.com.
The following are all the books recommended by Ta-Nehisi Coates (and one video) during his mesmerising talk at the Schomburg Center (in the order as they were mentioned). As Mr. Coates said, "folks who are not familiar with black literature, read this book and read a ton of other books."
The Fire Next Time in Collected Essays by James Baldwin.
Published in 1963, it contains two essays: "My Dungeon Shook — Letter to my Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of Emancipation," and "Down At The Cross — Letter from a Region of My Mind."
The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of His Life, His Own by David Carr.
The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward E. Baptist.
Confederate States of America - Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union from Avalon Project, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale Law School.
Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court nomination That Changed America by Wil Haygood.
American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia by Edmund S. Morgan.
Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life by Karen E. Fields and Barbara J. Fields.
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America by Paula Giddings.
Ida: A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign against Lynching by Paula J. Giddings.
Coates said this book is "criminally underrated."
Out of the House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household by Thavolia Glymph.
This book is the only footnote in Between the World and Me.
Coates said it is "essential" reading.
More from Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
"The Case for Reparations." The Atlantic, June 2014.
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Comments
There were a few more books
Submitted by Niki Wilson (not verified) on October 24, 2015 - 8:44pm
You're right!
Submitted by Maira Liriano (not verified) on October 26, 2015 - 11:51am
Mr. Coates Reading List
Submitted by Harlan Joel Gradin (not verified) on October 25, 2015 - 10:46am
And read a ton of other books!
Submitted by Maira Liriano (not verified) on October 27, 2015 - 6:09pm
Expanding the list
Submitted by My 3,000 Loving Arms (not verified) on October 26, 2015 - 12:00pm
Keep expanding the list!
Submitted by Maira Liriano (not verified) on October 27, 2015 - 6:15pm
Two essential books
Submitted by Tom (not verified) on November 4, 2015 - 8:39am
I would add all the books by
Submitted by Leticia Cortez (not verified) on November 8, 2015 - 12:59am
Other Recommended Books
Submitted by OuYang (not verified) on November 13, 2015 - 9:28pm
Thomas Sowell
Submitted by Romelle (not verified) on November 4, 2016 - 1:00am
Two books.
Submitted by Ogo (not verified) on November 17, 2015 - 11:37pm
Coates reading list
Submitted by Frances Jones (not verified) on November 30, 2015 - 9:11pm
Also conspicuously absent:
Submitted by Eric Frumin (not verified) on December 12, 2015 - 9:38am
Beloved by Toni Morrison is
Submitted by CS (not verified) on July 16, 2016 - 6:20pm