On October 13, the New York Public Library (NYPL), as part of their 10 years celebration the “Live from the NYPL” series, held a talk with The Atlantic editor and author of “Between The World and Me,” Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Now running through December 8 as part of the library’s series, Mary-Louise Parker, Simon Winchester, Elvis Costello, Ira Glass, and more are all expected to give talks about their works.
In the talk moderated by Khalil Gibran Muhammad, the director of the NYPL’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the two discussed Coates’ book and his life growing up, as well as the meaning and resonance the book leaves behind.
“We’ve had groups, slowly, come over to America and not be called white. And slowly, because of some political interest, be called white,” Coates said at the talk. “If you think of the world that way, if you understand race as a done thing, not the work of God, not the work of genes, but an actual done thing, the decision that was made by a group of people– it charges you with something. It charges you to fix somethings.”
You can watch the event on the NYPL website here and buy the book here. It is a great, thought provoking that only urges people to read it and gain a sense of understanding of true racial tensions in America today.
