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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.

A playlist for my memoir

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Aug 6 2008, 12:06 PM ET Comment

Good look from the Dwight Garner Paper Cuts blog. The songs are just about what you'd imagined. For all who don't know, I published a memoir about growing in West Baltimore. I conveniently ended it before I dropped out of college, so it could be one of those Black Folk Done Good stories. Didn't want people to hear about my tragic fall into the pit that traps too many black men. That would be journalism. Maybe I'll get a Hallmark special during black history month. Hmm, probably not.


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