Book Thoughts: We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

In this book, Coates shares a series of 8 articles he wrote for The Atlantic, coinciding with Obama's years as President. Prior to each piece, Coates shares his reflections on the piece, both from that time and looking back now with the gift of hindsight.

The effect makes for a truly unique and fascinating read. For one, Coates' writing is always challenging to his readers - making them think and examine and analyze one's prior thinking, beliefs, positions, etc. One cannot read Coates, I think, without having some honest and perhaps uncomfortable conversations with one's self. This is not to say that one leaves Coates always agreeing with him; but you cannot read him without acknowledging not only his gift for writing, but the respect his thoughts deserve. From his profiles of Black historical leaders like Malcolm X and current leaders such as Michelle Obama, to his expansive takes on mass incarceration or on the long historical impact of slavery, Jim Crow, and legalized discrimination in making an argument for reparations, Coates' writing and thinking is persuasive, challenging, uncomfortable, and intelligent. It also can produce a sense of shame at ignorance of so much.

The book's structure also lets the reader into Coates' processes as a writer, and his development. We get a peek into his own personal biography, with his success and notoriety as a features writer for The Atlantic growing over the course of 8 years. In some ways, Coates' introductory sections were my favorite part of the book for these snippets. In those, Coates acknowledges some of the criticism he receives, and he criticizes his work. Often, I think these criticisms are misplaced (I think they are based on Coates not being everything to everyone in his writing and philosophies).

At one point, when discussing these criticisms, he discusses the scope of his work, and his desire to not write about that he doesn't really know, or understand, or hasn't researched. This "limitation" of scope is what I find so powerful about his writing - in a way, it prevents people (if they are being honest), when engaging his work, from changing the subject (which so often happens when writing on the topics Coates writes about).

For anyone who engages in writing for intellectual persuasive purposes, this strength of Coates is certainly something to be emulated. The rest of us, I think, would do well to keep reading Coates, if for no other reason to have challenging ideas presented, but mostly because his perspective is one that needs to be heard, and engaged.

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