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Narrated by:
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Ta-Nehisi Coates
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By:
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Ta-Nehisi Coates
About this listen
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The renowned author of Between the World and Me journeys to three resonant sites of conflict to explore how the stories we tell—and the ones we don’t—shape our realities.
“Ta-Nehisi Coates always writes with a purpose. . . . These pilgrimages, for him, help ground his powerful writing about race.”—Associated Press
“Coates exhorts readers, including students, parents, educators, and journalists, to challenge conventional narratives that can be used to justify ethnic cleansing or camouflage racist policing. Brilliant and timely.”—Booklist (starred review)
FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Electric Lit
Ta-Nehisi Coates originally set out to write a book about writing, in the tradition of Orwell’s classic “Politics and the English Language,” but found himself grappling with deeper questions about how our stories—our reporting and imaginative narratives and mythmaking—expose and distort our realities.
In the first of the book’s three intertwining essays, Coates, on his first trip to Africa, finds himself in two places at once: in Dakar, a modern city in Senegal, and in a mythic kingdom in his mind. Then he takes listeners along with him to Columbia, South Carolina, where he reports on his own book’s banning, but also explores the larger backlash to the nation’s recent reckoning with history and the deeply rooted American mythology so visible in that city—a capital of the Confederacy with statues of segregationists looming over its public squares. Finally, in the book’s longest section, Coates travels to Palestine, where he sees with devastating clarity how easily we are misled by nationalist narratives, and the tragedy that lies in the clash between the stories we tell and the reality of life on the ground.
Written at a dramatic moment in American and global life, this work from one of the country’s most important writers is about the urgent need to untangle ourselves from the destructive myths that shape our world—and our own souls—and embrace the liberating power of even the most difficult truths.
©2024 Ta-Nehisi Coates (P)2024 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Better suited to print than audio
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We Were Eight Years in Power
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Critic reviews
“The Message charts Coates’s reentry as a public intellectual. . . . The rolling, elegiac cadences of much of his earlier work have yielded to a fury that’s harder edged. But a sense of shock also seems to have elicited in Coates a sense of possibility. . . . He is using his position of prominence and moral authority to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Ta-Nehisi Coates always writes with a purpose, so naming his latest collection The Message is nothing if not on-brand. But what’s the actual message? Consisting of three pieces of nonfiction, the book is part memoir, part travelogue, and part writing primer. . . . These pilgrimages, for him, help ground his powerful writing about race.”—Associated Press
“The Message marks Coates’s first nonfiction book in nearly a decade, and it arrives at a critical flashpoint in our increasingly globalized society.”—Harper’s Bazaar
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Ta-Nehisi Coates' debut is an infectious, reflective memoir - a lyrical saga of surviving the crack-stricken streets of Baltimore in the '80s. Son of Vietnam vet and black awareness advocate Paul Coates - a poor man who set out to publish lost classics of black history - Ta-Nehisi drifts toward salvation at Howard University, while his ominous brother Big Bill finds his own rhythm hustling.
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Interesting glimpse into a life so unlike my own
- By Stacey on 01-26-15
By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Everything and Nothing at Once
- A Black Man's Reimagined Soundtrack for the Future
- By: Joél Leon
- Narrated by: Joél Leon
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Growing up in the Bronx, Joél Leon was taught that being soft, being vulnerable, could end your life. Shaped by a singular view of Black masculinity espoused by the media, by family and friends, and by society, he learned instead to care about the gold around his neck and the number of bills in his wallet. He absorbed the “facts” that white was always right and Black men were seen as threatening or great for comic relief but never worthy of the opening credits. It wasn’t until years later that Joél understood he didn’t have to be defined by these things.
By: Joél Leon
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The 1619 Project
- A New Origin Story
- By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, The New York Times Magazine, Caitlin Roper - editor, and others
- Narrated by: Nikole Hannah-Jones, Full Cast
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times Magazine’s award-winning “1619 Project” issue reframed our understanding of American history by placing slavery and its continuing legacy at the center of our national narrative. This new book substantially expands on that work, weaving together 18 essays that explore the legacy of slavery in present-day America with 36 poems and works of fiction that illuminate key moments of oppression, struggle, and resistance.
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Comprehensive and Cutting
- By Thomas Ray on 12-30-21
By: Nikole Hannah-Jones, and others
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Black AF History
- The Un-Whitewashed Story of America
- By: Michael Harriot
- Narrated by: Michael Harriot
- Length: 15 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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America’s backstory is a whitewashed mythology implanted in our collective memory. It should come as no surprise that the dominant narrative of American history is blighted with errors and oversights—after all, history books were written by white men with their perspectives at the forefront. It could even be said that the devaluation and erasure of the Black experience is as American as apple pie. In Black AF History, Michael Harriot presents a more accurate version of American history.
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LOVE It!
- By KMB on 09-29-23
By: Michael Harriot
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The Underground Railroad Records
- Narrating the Hardships, Hairbreadth Escapes, and Death Struggles of Slaves in Their Efforts for Freedom
- By: William Still, Ta-Nehisi Coates - introduction, Quincy T. Mills - editor
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free, JD Jackson, Sullivan Jones, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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As a conductor for the Underground Railroad - the covert resistance network created to aid and protect slaves seeking freedom - William Still helped as many as 800 people escape enslavement. He also meticulously collected the letters, biographical sketches, arrival memos, and ransom notes of the escapees. The Underground Railroad Records is an archive of primary documents that trace the narrative arc of the greatest, most successful campaign of civil disobedience in American history.
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This Book is Abridged by Two Thirds!
- By Chris on 06-24-20
By: William Still, and others
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Final Draft
- The Collected Work of David Carr
- By: David Carr, Jill Rooney Carr, Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Christopher Ryan Grant
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Throughout his 25-year journalistic career, David Carr was noted for his sharp and fearless observations, his uncanny sense of fairness and justice, and his remarkable compassion and wit. His writing was informed both by his own hardships as an addict, and his intense love of the journalist's craft. His range - from media politics to national politics, from rock-n-roll celebrities to the unknown civil servants who make our daily lives function - was broad and often timeless.
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A little biased
- By James Carr on 11-18-20
By: David Carr, and others
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The Hundred Years' War on Palestine
- A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917--2017
- By: Rashid Khalidi
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi, Rashid Khalidi - introduction
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on a wealth of untapped archival materials and the reports of generations of family members - mayors, judges, scholars, diplomats, and journalists - The Hundred Years' War on Palestine upends accepted interpretations of the conflict, which tend, at best, to describe a tragic clash between two peoples with claims to the same territory. Instead, Khalidi traces a hundred years of colonial war on the Palestinians, waged first by the Zionist movement and then Israel, but backed by Britain and the United States, the great powers of the age.
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Thoroughly Researched and Evidence-Based, but...
- By K on 05-24-21
By: Rashid Khalidi
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We Were Eight Years in Power
- Eine amerikanische Tragödie
- By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Olaf Pessler
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Mit Barack Obama sollte die amerikanische Gesellschaft ihren jahrhundertealten Rassismus überwinden. Am Ende seiner Amtszeit zerschlugen sich die Reste dieser Hoffnung mit der Machtübernahme Donald Trumps, den Ta-Nehisi Coates als "Amerikas ersten weißen Präsidenten" bezeichnet: ein Mann, dessen politische Existenz in der Abgrenzung zu Obama besteht. Coates zeichnet ein bestechend kluges und leidenschaftliches Porträt der Obama-Ära und ihres Vermächtnisses.
By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
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The Grift
- The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trump
- By: Clay Cane
- Narrated by: Clay Cane
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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After the Civil War, the pillars of Black Republicanism were a balanced critique of both political parties, civil rights for all Americans, reinventing an economy based on exploitation, and, most importantly, building thriving Black communities. How did Black Republicanism devolve from revolutionaries like Frederick Douglass to the puppets in the Trump era?
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the detailed accounting of White hatred and racism and how they used black "Grifters" to aided them maintain total control.
- By joseph carroll on 01-31-24
By: Clay Cane
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White Fear
- How the Browning of America Is Making White Folks Lose Their Minds
- By: Roland S. Martin
- Narrated by: Roland S. Martin
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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For two centuries, the deep-seated fear that many White people feel—of losing power, of losing economic standing, of losing a particular “way of life”—has been the driving force behind American politics and culture. And as we approach a future where White people will become a racial minority in the US, something estimated to occur as early as 2043, that fear is only intensifying, festering, and becoming more visible. Are we destined for a violent clash? What can we do to step into our country’s inevitable future, without tearing ourselves apart in the process?
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an interesting and informative lesson
- By Mo Shaabazz on 09-14-22
By: Roland S. Martin
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Lovely One
- A Memoir
- By: Ketanji Brown Jackson
- Narrated by: Ketanji Brown Jackson
- Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Named “Ketanji Onyika,” meaning “Lovely One,” based on a suggestion from her aunt, a Peace Corps worker stationed in West Africa, Justice Jackson learned from her educator parents to take pride in her heritage since birth. She describes her resolve as a young girl to honor this legacy and realize her dreams.
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I never read this genre, but…
- By Clare Kelly on 09-21-24
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Erasing History
- By: Jason Stanley
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 4 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Combining historical research with an in-depth analysis of our modern political landscape, Erasing History issues a dire warning for America and the world: the worst fascist movements of humanity’s past began in schools; the same place so many of today’s right-wing political parties have trained their most vicious attacks. Yale professor Jason Stanley exposes the true danger of the right’s tactics and traces their inspirations and funding back to some of the most dangerous ideas of human history.
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The bias attitude of the author
- By Elizabeth ohanna on 09-30-24
By: Jason Stanley
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The Fire Next Time
- By: James Baldwin
- Narrated by: Jesse L. Martin
- Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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At once a powerful evocation of his early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice to both the individual and the body politic, James Baldwin galvanized the nation in the early days of the civil rights movement with this eloquent manifesto. The Fire Next Time stands as one of the essential works of our literature.
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Sad and moving and powerful and beautiful
- By Darwin8u on 09-17-15
By: James Baldwin
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The 400-Year Holocaust
- White America’s Legal, Psychopathic, and Sociopathic Black Genocide - and the Revolt Against Critical Race Theory
- By: Dante D. King
- Narrated by: Dante D. King
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The 400-Year Holocaust: White America’s Legal, Psychopathic, and Sociopathic Black Genocide—and the Revolt Against Critical Race Theory examines and discusses factions of the legal history of anti-Blackness and Whiteness through colonialism and the United States, and its impacts on present-day America
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1619 project (great)! 400 Years ( surgically dissect laws aren’t real to perpetuate the big lie as we still seen this moment.
- By chris jones on 08-03-24
By: Dante D. King
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White Poverty
- How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy
- By: Reverend Dr. William Barber II, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove - contributor
- Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most pernicious and persistent myths in the United States is the association of Black skin with poverty. Though there are forty million more poor white people than Black people, most Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, continue to think of poverty—along with issues like welfare, unemployment, and food stamps—as solely a Black problem. Why is this so? What are the historical causes? And what are the political consequences that result?
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Cannot be antiracist without the ties that bind
- By marwalk on 08-25-24
By: Reverend Dr. William Barber II, and others
What listeners say about The Message
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- George
- 10-19-24
A Journey of Empathy and Justice: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Message in His Own Voice
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates was my first real encounter with his work, having first heard about it through the controversy surrounding this very book. It left a lasting impression. His writing is both incisive and deeply articulate, offering an examination of the complex moral boundaries between right and wrong. This work is a page-turner, yet its depth demands both attention and respect, intertwining empathy and hope throughout its narrative. Coates not only speaks to the hope of reparations for the descendants of slavery but extends this hope to all victims of injustice, making his message universally resonant.
I personally listened to the audiobook, narrated by Coates himself, and it added another layer of depth to the experience. Hearing his voice, filled with emotion and empathy, made his words even more powerful, allowing me to feel the weight of his reflections which may be gleaned while reading in between the words of his book if you pay attention.
One of the most moving aspects of this collection is his essay on Palestine. It stands out as a profoundly touching piece, where Coates recounts his personal journey, both physical and emotional, that allowed him to listen to the voices of those who have suffered under oppression. His ability to draw connections between different struggles for justice reveals the expansive nature of his empathy.
Coates’ mastery of language is unparalleled. His choice of words draws you into his experiences, enabling readers to live through his moments, his thoughts, and his emotions. His writing is not only beautiful but also carries a profound love for humanity that shines through each page.
For those seeking an honest, empathetic perspective on the fight for justice, Coates’ work is essential reading. It is a testament to the power of words and the transformative potential of literature in fostering understanding and compassion.
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- 1881Airmen
- 10-23-24
Now I understand why he's being attacked for this book
His book was a great analysis in the complexities of life in this modern age. He made great efforts to support his thoughts with great examples and tried his best to describe his issues.
This book is a deep reflection that illuminates the matters of hypocrisy that exist in our blind support of Israel. this book asks questions that most Americans should be asking themselves.
I understand why he's being attacked because he highlights the ugliness of our blind support as a country of Israel. He also shows how many of us are complicit in the genocide of the Palestinain people.
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- Podcast12
- 10-19-24
A shared struggle: powerful comparisons between Black Americans and Palestinians
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ latest book masterfully weaves together the experiences of Black Americans and Palestinians, drawing profound connections between two oppressed peoples. Coates’ writing offers a raw, unflinching look at the systemic injustices that persist in both societies, while also celebrating the resilience of those who resist. As a Black reader, I found his analysis deeply resonant, especially in how he illuminates the parallels of displacement, surveillance, and resistance. Coates doesn’t just tell a story; he holds up a mirror, reflecting the intertwined struggles for freedom and dignity across borders. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of global oppression.
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- Mo
- 10-14-24
The honesty and self reflection
Amazing weaving of a story from personal to Palestine. I got super emotional. This man feels deeply
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- V. Temple
- 10-21-24
A powerful read
A thoughtful examination of human nature, culture and society, as well as an examination of the attempt to rewrite and whitewash American history by the powers that be. Presented too, was an eloquent discussion on the similarities of that history, the modern Zionist movement, and the ongoing plight of the disenfranchised Palestinian people. This was a powerful read, and not one that can be ignored or easily dismissed.
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- Chris Reich
- 10-22-24
Superb
Everyone should read this book. We must all open our eyes to the myth that Trump and his minions want to preserve. Better to struggle to live the lie than face the truth. We waste our best clinging to white privilege. Shameful. Now the lie is that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and this has the right to kill Palestinians. Wake up.
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- Regina Anderson
- 10-29-24
Weaving a fabric of our histories and present
Important read. I just recommend without hesitation to widen our aperture of understanding and learning to relearn.
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- Ster
- 10-19-24
Wow! Well done
Coates is a favorite of mine, but what intrigued me to read this book is the press tour. I wanted to understand what the stir was. He weaves the complex histories of enslavement, genocide, apartheid and holocaust. He explains it from both sides. He’s honest about misconceptions and he doesn’t choose a side, but rather points the finger at himself for being persuaded by a nuanced perspective. I appreciated the thoughtfulness of this book and I learned from his experience that nothing is ever black and white or right and wrong.
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- E. Gibson
- 10-17-24
A book that changes the reader
I love his presentation of insights framed through his own discovery of himself and the world.
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- Shirley Cooper
- 10-20-24
Real Life
I like the realistic view given of the lives of the people of the places visited.
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