Ta-Nehisi Coates Quote

It has been said that the first black presidency was mostly symbolic, a dismissal that deeply underestimates the power of symbols. Symbols don’t just represent reality but can become tools to change it.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

It has been said that the first black presidency was mostly symbolic, a dismissal that deeply underestimates the power of symbols. Symbols don’t just represent reality but can become tools to change it.

Tags: symbols

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About Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( TAH-nə-HAH-see; born September 30, 1975) is an American author, journalist, and activist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans and white supremacy.
Coates has worked for The Village Voice, Washington City Paper, and Time. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, O, and other publications.
He has published three non-fiction books: The Beautiful Struggle, Between the World and Me, and We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy. Between the World and Me won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction. He has also written a Black Panther series and a Captain America series for Marvel Comics. His first novel, The Water Dancer, was published in 2019.
In 2015 he received a Genius Grant from the MacArthur Foundation.