Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between The World and Me

by

Ta-Nehisi Coates

This book never would have come into my range of vision had I not been invited to join in with a group on Face Book called The Interracial Book Club.  I am kind of a sucker for book groups.  I miss the one I was in before I moved from NE Indiana to SW Ohio.  It was a library book group and when I arrived at  my new home I immediately attended the library book group here.  I went several times and it was nice, but before I could develop  friendships to the degree I had in my prior home, my work schedule changed and I could no longer attend the group.  So when asked to attend an online one I was glad to join in.  I am used to books in book groups causing me to stretch and read things that I would not have picked out to read otherwise.  But this is the first group that will be choosing more than one selection of the same topic so I am not sure how long I will participate.   Never the less,  they sure picked a good one to start out so it may be something I participate in longer than I first would have guessed.  And that brings me to the book in question:  Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

This is a short book.  I listened to it on audio and while it was meaningful because it was read by the author, to really do justice to the discussion I should have chosen to read it on my kindle.   There is so much to think about that the book brings up that it is hard to keep one's mind on the book.  Images and memories kept crowding in.  This is a letter,  written to the author's son when the son was upset after the grand jury returned no indictment for the officer involved in the Michael Brown shooting.  This is not a book I feel comfortable in making any judgement about the content or conclusions drawn by the author for while as having the experience of being a single mom,  I can understand some of what it is like to to have children who are in the high risk group of becoming a statistic,  my experience is dwarfed in comparison.  And as I woman,  I can understand what it feels like to have obstacles between me and the world that men live in,  my experience is dwarfed in comparison.   What I can do as a review of this book is to say that it made me realize how ignorant I am in this particular current issue.  Reading it has made clear to me the need for cameras on our police officers, to not only protect them so that their judgement in situations be clear in investigations,  but to provide transparency to the citizens they are protecting.

Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow links to more information and enjoy the video that follows.  Please feel free to ask to join in on the book discussion of this book on Facebook.   And please take time to read the book.  It is only 160 pages long and involves a subject we need to dialog about in the United States right now.