Photo: David Shankbone / CC BY 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Ta-Nehisi Coates writes with a moral urgency and lyrical precision that puts him in a lineage with James Baldwin, a comparison he both invites and earns. Between the World and Me, framed as a letter to his son, is one of those rare books that reorganizes how you see the country you live in. What impresses me is his range: deeply reported magazine journalism, personal essay, and then a surprising, joyful pivot into superhero comics with Black Panther. He treats every form seriously. Whether or not you agree with him, he forces you to think harder, which is the whole point.
Overview
Ta-Nehisi Coates is an American author and journalist born September 30, 1975, in Baltimore, Maryland. He rose to national prominence with his work at The Atlantic, including the influential essay The Case for Reparations, and his 2015 book Between the World and Me won the National Book Award. A MacArthur Fellow, he has also written acclaimed runs of Marvel's Black Panther and Captain America comics.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Name (Japanese)
- タナハシ・コーツ
- Reading
- たなはし・こーつ
- Born
- September 30, 1975 (age 50)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Libra / Rabbit
- Origin
- Baltimore, Maryland, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- Author / Journalist / Educator / Blogger / Novelist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Howard University
Awards & achievements
- 2013 National Magazine Award
- 2014 George Polk Award
- 2015 MacArthur Fellowship
- 2015 National Book Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Author — see all → · Journalist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.