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abicaro17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.5
Wow oh wow. As Coates writes to his son, he details how community and connection shape his understanding of racism and cultural norms. As he moves from childhood in Baltimore, to Chicago, Paris and more, he tells tales of everything from reactions to famous deaths of Black people like Trayvon Martin to an argument on an escalator. This book is oh so slow, as memoirs tend to be, but its worth it. The way he writes to his son is so touching and the stories he tells are heartbreaking but beautiful. The last chapter with Mrs. Jones really got me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
audc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
It was well penned and put into words the fear of being black.
It’s informative of Coates’ experience and life as a black man in America which is packed with a lot of fear that then turns into anger.
While I agree with the sentiment of Dreamers in America and a majority being white or wanting to be white (ie. having power and authority to inflict destruction), I do not agree with how inflated, fatalist, galactic, racism is portrayed. While it has become cultural and institutionalized -integrated- I do not agree with Coates’ fatalistic view. He ends with the struggle and more of a call for ‘fight for yourself’ instead of strive as a collective.
For this, this book transmits fear and morphs it into anger. As he doesn’t spend nearly as much time on the solution as describing the problem. I can understand where and how he got to his conclusion, but there is a danger in generalising.
It’s informative of Coates’ experience and life as a black man in America which is packed with a lot of fear that then turns into anger.
While I agree with the sentiment of Dreamers in America and a majority being white or wanting to be white (ie. having power and authority to inflict destruction), I do not agree with how inflated, fatalist, galactic, racism is portrayed. While it has become cultural and institutionalized -integrated- I do not agree with Coates’ fatalistic view. He ends with the struggle and more of a call for ‘fight for yourself’ instead of strive as a collective.
For this, this book transmits fear and morphs it into anger. As he doesn’t spend nearly as much time on the solution as describing the problem. I can understand where and how he got to his conclusion, but there is a danger in generalising.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Violence, Blood, and Police brutality
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