Status
Checked out
Due 2/28/2022
Call number
Publication
One World (2009), Edition: Illustrated, 240 pages
Description
Paul Coates was an enigmatic god to his sons: a Vietnam vet who rolled with the Black Panthers, an old-school disciplinarian and new-age believer in free love, an autodidact who launched a publishing company in his basement dedicated to telling the true history of African civilization. Most of all, he was a wily tactician whose mission was to carry his sons through inner-city adolescence--and through Baltimore in the Age of Crack--and into the safe arms of Howard University, where he worked so his children could attend for free. Among his brood of seven, his main challenges were Ta-Nehisi, spacy and sensitive and almost comically miscalibrated for his environment, and Big Bill, charismatic and all-too-ready for the challenges of the streets. This book follows their divergent paths, and their father's steadfast efforts to keep them whole in a world that seemed bent on their destruction.--From publisher description.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member pinkcrayon99
panthers.
baltimore.
mecca.
chuck d.
"All of us knew he was flawed, but still he retained the aura of a prophet."
One father. Seven children. Five boys. Two girls. Four mothers. Ta-Nehisi Coates has written about the beautiful struggle of raising Black boys in a country that never wanted them to be
”He was a practicing fascist, mandating books and banning religion.”
Paul Coates’s most prized possession was his printing press where he resurrected old out of print African-American books and pamphlets. The press and Coates constant pressure on his sons to get the “knowledge” was the cause of constant scorn from Ta-Nehisi. Ta-Nehisi only wanted to read comic books but Hip-Hop is what brought him to the “knowledge.” In the rhymes he heard the people and places that his father had been talking about for years. So he finally sought out the press without any coaxing from his father. As a student Ta-Nehisi just barely kept his head above water. His mind wandered. He was always on guard against the neighbor thugs. He was awkward. His parent’s dreams of him going to the Mecca were diminishing fast. The Mecca was Howard University. Paul took a job there just so his children could receive free tuition. When it came Ta-Nehisi’s turn Paul was leaving Howard and Ta-Nehisi would have to get in on his own merits. He got in but barely and because of a lot of leg work from his mother.
As much as Ta-Nehisi looked up to and revered his father he held the same reverence and awe for his big brother, Big Bill. Bill could simply be described as a loose cannon. One of Paul’s Panther comrades was Afeni Shakur. Afeni and her children Tupac and Sekyiwa were family friends. Growing up Ta-Nehisi always seemed to be walking in the dark but a chance meeting with a djembe brought the light. It was like the drumming redeemed him and there was something he finally connected with. The women were lost in this memoir. They remained in the shadows. Overall, I fell in love with this dysfunctional/nuclear family.
"To be a black male is to be always at war…"
baltimore.
mecca.
chuck d.
"All of us knew he was flawed, but still he retained the aura of a prophet."
One father. Seven children. Five boys. Two girls. Four mothers. Ta-Nehisi Coates has written about the beautiful struggle of raising Black boys in a country that never wanted them to be
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unchained. Paul Coates was a flawed man and former Black Panther but his most endearing quality was his determination to raise his children.”He was a practicing fascist, mandating books and banning religion.”
Paul Coates’s most prized possession was his printing press where he resurrected old out of print African-American books and pamphlets. The press and Coates constant pressure on his sons to get the “knowledge” was the cause of constant scorn from Ta-Nehisi. Ta-Nehisi only wanted to read comic books but Hip-Hop is what brought him to the “knowledge.” In the rhymes he heard the people and places that his father had been talking about for years. So he finally sought out the press without any coaxing from his father. As a student Ta-Nehisi just barely kept his head above water. His mind wandered. He was always on guard against the neighbor thugs. He was awkward. His parent’s dreams of him going to the Mecca were diminishing fast. The Mecca was Howard University. Paul took a job there just so his children could receive free tuition. When it came Ta-Nehisi’s turn Paul was leaving Howard and Ta-Nehisi would have to get in on his own merits. He got in but barely and because of a lot of leg work from his mother.
As much as Ta-Nehisi looked up to and revered his father he held the same reverence and awe for his big brother, Big Bill. Bill could simply be described as a loose cannon. One of Paul’s Panther comrades was Afeni Shakur. Afeni and her children Tupac and Sekyiwa were family friends. Growing up Ta-Nehisi always seemed to be walking in the dark but a chance meeting with a djembe brought the light. It was like the drumming redeemed him and there was something he finally connected with. The women were lost in this memoir. They remained in the shadows. Overall, I fell in love with this dysfunctional/nuclear family.
"To be a black male is to be always at war…"
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LibraryThing member iammbb
Ta-Nehisi Coates came up in Baltimore, a middle son of a father who had seven children by four women. A Beautiful Struggle is the lyrical, poetic story of Coates’ parents’ struggle to imbue their children with the skills and education needed to master their often unfriendly environment.
Walter
Having lived in DC and Maryland during the years Coates was growing up in Baltimore and aspiring to Howard University, I connected all the more with Coates’ memoir. But, even those readers not familiar with the world Coates inhabited will find The Beautiful Struggle a beautiful read. Sorry, I couldn’t resist . . .
Walter
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Moseley called Coates the James Joyce of the hip-hop generation and before starting the book, I questioned this assessment as perhaps overblown. As I read the book, however, I came to fully agree. Coates has an amazing facility with language, creating vivid visuals utilizing an interplay of rap inspired prose.Having lived in DC and Maryland during the years Coates was growing up in Baltimore and aspiring to Howard University, I connected all the more with Coates’ memoir. But, even those readers not familiar with the world Coates inhabited will find The Beautiful Struggle a beautiful read. Sorry, I couldn’t resist . . .
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LibraryThing member booksofcolor
I just finished [The Beautiful Struggle] by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which I have mixed feelings about. More than anything, it's about Coates' father, and yet I don't feel like I know him at all for reading about his life. The distance between reader and writer may reflect the distance between the inner
The book's very much about fathers, sons, brothers, friends - it's about manhood, and masculinity, and carving meaning and identity for yourself in a world that will rip it from you as fast as it can. And while I understand the need, the drive for the space and ritual of manhood that acts as this book's center stage, I missed the women. More than missed them, I wondered who they were, and how their lives looked, living and growing up and trying to survive - even flourish - in West Baltimore.
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lives of father and son - love and respect don't require full disclosure on anyone's part. Still, this is a book crammed with personalities, with lives long and short, and yet few - if any- really flower on the page. Even Coates seems a mystery to himself as he describes his past. Perhaps that's his tendency toward checking out, toward dreaming, given prose form? Or, equally, perhaps it's just me.The book's very much about fathers, sons, brothers, friends - it's about manhood, and masculinity, and carving meaning and identity for yourself in a world that will rip it from you as fast as it can. And while I understand the need, the drive for the space and ritual of manhood that acts as this book's center stage, I missed the women. More than missed them, I wondered who they were, and how their lives looked, living and growing up and trying to survive - even flourish - in West Baltimore.
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LibraryThing member mjspear
Realistic look at a young black man growing up in urban Baltimore. He learns politics from his activist Dad, how to fight from his older brother, andlove from his no-nonsense mother. Full of references to the 70s the civil rights movement. leadership qualities:Realistic look at a young black man
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growing up in urban Baltimore. He learns politics from his activist Dad, how to fight from his older brother, andlove from his no-nonsense mother. Full of references to the 70s the civil rights movement. Show Less
LibraryThing member Maya47Bob46
I've read a number of essays and articles by Coates which I enjoyed, but I found this such heavy going it only got halfway through. The book had many references that were unfamiliar and seemed to jump around a great deal which kept me from following the narrative. It is not that I am unfamiliar
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with the Black Panthers or much of the urban politics his father followed, just that I found the book difficult to read. I was sorry for this since I think Coates has an important story to tell. Show Less
LibraryThing member froxgirl
It's stunning to discover this memoir after all the justifiable hype about "Between the World And Me", his second book, an aspirational long-note-left-on-the-nightstand to Coates' son. This earlier book tells the saga of his unusual family life in the home of his father Big Bill Coates, mother
The boys are pushed by their parents to rise above the beefs and violence of their Baltimore neighborhood, but the deal is that at 18, each is a man on his own. Bill the son struggles mightily against the raging river of the streets and mostly succeeds, and with the book's ending he is hanging on at Howard University, where Bill the father was employed for years to send his two daughters and Bill to "Mecca" for free.
Ta-Nehisi is a nerd who can't dance, gets chosen last or not at all for basketball, and uses all his skills to avoid beatdowns. He is so restless that he is unable to focus on anything in school, where he slides into an exam high school. His magnetic attraction to the djimbe drum pulls him into a thriving pro-African culture within the black community. Yet through his own stubbornness that seems to rise only when he is on the edge of failure, Ta-Nehisi survives where many of his neighborhood friends do not. In fact, he thrives and rises to become a most talented writer and keenest observer of the era of Crack that took so many away, by death and incarceration.
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Linda, and his siblings of three more mothers. Big Bill himself is worthy of an entire biography, but the focus is on his raising of his two elder sons, Bill and Ta-Nehisi. Their Baltimore home is chock full of black history and culture in the form of a black press and book distribution service established by Bill, a former Black Panther Party leader. The boys are pushed by their parents to rise above the beefs and violence of their Baltimore neighborhood, but the deal is that at 18, each is a man on his own. Bill the son struggles mightily against the raging river of the streets and mostly succeeds, and with the book's ending he is hanging on at Howard University, where Bill the father was employed for years to send his two daughters and Bill to "Mecca" for free.
Ta-Nehisi is a nerd who can't dance, gets chosen last or not at all for basketball, and uses all his skills to avoid beatdowns. He is so restless that he is unable to focus on anything in school, where he slides into an exam high school. His magnetic attraction to the djimbe drum pulls him into a thriving pro-African culture within the black community. Yet through his own stubbornness that seems to rise only when he is on the edge of failure, Ta-Nehisi survives where many of his neighborhood friends do not. In fact, he thrives and rises to become a most talented writer and keenest observer of the era of Crack that took so many away, by death and incarceration.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Coates’ first book, about his upbringing—focusing on his black nationalist father whose commitment to the cause trumped many things. Coates seemed to me to have less control over his rhetoric here, writing with lots of flourish but less organization; it’s a very personal book, but I’d
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recommend his recent writing much more strongly. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sheila1957
Ta'Nehisi Coates tells of his life in Baltimore growing up with his family in the ghetto. His father had been a member of the Black Panthers and raised his children to get knowledge by reading what most people did not know existed. I did not always understand what Ta'Nehisi was saying but I
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understood what his father was teaching him and his siblings. I also liked the history that we do not get in school. An interesting read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Narshkite
You can hear the writer Coates became in this book, but its not fully formed. Coates is a great storyteller, but perhaps he doesn't have the gift of knowing when stories are goung to be interesting to others. This ended up being a loose collection of stories, some great and resonant with meaning,
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others best left to reunions of family or friends who share your love of nostalgia. Show Less
LibraryThing member Neftzger
This is one of those books that I picked based on a desire to read new authors and expand my reading list, and I was very glad to have chosen this title. It's a memoir about growing up in a black community in Maryland and gives great insight into a different America than the one I experienced as a
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child. The activities, hobbies, expectations, and roles for members of the family were nothing like the ones I knew in my youth, but these served the same purpose for the individuals in that environment. For example, although Coates grew up in a home with a lot of books (just as I did), the titles were very different from the ones on my parents' shelves, and these helped to shape his ideas. There are some commonalities in growing up (learning to accept responsibility, figuring out how you want to earn a living, etc), but the context in which these events takes place can have a huge impact on our identities. The writing in this book is excellent and Coates uses some great metaphors to really draw the reader into his story. I really enjoyed this book and will be reading more of Coates work. Show Less
LibraryThing member bness2
Very intimate look into black life in the 80s from a very persona perspective. At times the references to Black writers and rap and hip-hop artists is overwhelming, and at times I had to look up some of the slang, but it is very worth reading. Coates could have turned out very differently, as
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simply another statistic in the sad history of inner city Black life, but fortunately he made it into adulthood with the ability to write. Show Less
LibraryThing member encephalical
Coates makes the reader feel like they're right there experiencing his childhood with him.
LibraryThing member Bodagirl
I only understood about 60 - 70% of this memoir, but sometimes it's good to read a book that isn't meant for you. The writing is gorgeous and poetic as always.
LibraryThing member Beth.Clarke
I have read Ta-Nehisi Coates and loved his books. I picked this up thinking high school students would enjoy it, but I don't think YA audiences will enjoy it. Its slow pace, slang, and mature vocabulary will not appeal to younger audiences
LibraryThing member PattyLee
This a a beautifully written, poetic, evocative story of a young black man growing up in Baltimore. His father is a huge presence- a scholar, ex-Black Panther, ex- marine, but the dedication is to his mother. Perhaps the most powerful lesson is the incredible struggle it is to grow up a young black
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male when the whole white world of the US seems against you and the world of your peers is not a sanctuary, but another battlefield. This book dovetailed with the other one I am reading at the same time- The Cooking Gene. Both are about the struggle of African Americans for a legacy and heritage that is proud and laudable, something other than slavery. A moving testament to Coates. I wish I were still teaching so I could have my classes read this book and understand the truth of how the United States has treated both African Americans and Native Americans so deplorably. We will never be civilized until this is taught in school and we face the ugly fact of what inhuman acts have been done, and continue to be done,i n the name of progress and manifest destiny. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (Nominee — Nonfiction — 2009)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
7.51 inches
ISBN
0385527462 / 9780385527460