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Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

Barack Is Like

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Jan 26 2008, 9:50 PM ET Comment

Man just watched Obama acceptance. Circa '94, I thought Nas was God's gift to hip-hop. Whenever I heard he was releasing a cut, or was on someone else's record, I had this sense that I just knew he was gonna rip it. It was like watching Jordan in the playoffs or Elway in the 4th. That's the feeling you get when Obama is about to give a speech. I just watched Pat Buchannan say that Obama has to give a perfect speech. And before I even heard a word, I knew he'd deliver. Incredible.

The Essence:

As we leave this great state with a new wind at our back, and we take this journey across the great country, a country we love, with the message we carried from the plains of Iowa to the hills of New Hampshire, from the Nevada desert to the South Carolina coast, the same message we had when we were up, and when were down--that out of many we are one, that while we breath we will hope.

Man. What'd Slick Rick say? Even make construction workers turn feminine.



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