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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.
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The color of change

By Ta-Nehisi Coates

Dec 22 2008, 10:00 AM ET Comment

From over at Proper Talks we've got Anthony Hamilton covering Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come." Of course nothing swings like the original--and that isn't even Sam Cooke's best song. But I digress, it's amazing how Obama used language that has specific meaning in the African-American context, and blew it out to encompass everyone. The paraphrasing of Malcolm is a gimme. But beyond that, the word "change" has a specific connotation among us historically, from Cooke to Haki Mahdubuti's "A Poem to Compliment Other Poems." Anyway, Hamilton ain't Cooke (who is?) but he's got the touch.


Anthony Hamilton - "A Change Is Gonna Come" from levi maestro on Vimeo.

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