The Message

By: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Narrated by: Ta-Nehisi Coates

#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 readers 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.

sharpness of the authors thought's. thank you.

every thing. the timeliness of the subject matter. the thought provoking connection to the three locations.

Truth, accuracy intelligence in the point of view. Haunting 👌🏾💕

I would like to hear more about the Paleestenian struggle for independence. From Palestinians themselves. Their voices are not heard in American media. The unholy connection between Apartheid, Manifest Destiny Zionism and Racism must be addressed frankly before it can be resolved.

Great book, worth listening

Excellent reading and easy to listen to for a fresh perspective that isn’t afraid to challenge a dominant view with actual facts to dismantle the commonly believed idea that Zionism isn’t based on a colonial ideology. Overall, the essays all are thought-provoking and worth the listen. I hope more people can read/listen to this with an open mind. We need to not blindly believe what politicians and those in power would like us to believe.

Fresh perspective on an over 70 year old conflict

Ta-Nehisi Coates' exploration of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict offers a poignant and detailed account of the tragedies that unfold daily, right before our eyes on the evening news. His examination does more than just recount events; it digs deep into the roots of a seemingly unending struggle, shedding light on the human cost that extends far beyond headlines. Coates' insights resonate with the many questions that have lingered in my mind since childhood, ever since I first saw Walter Cronkite discuss this very conflict. The sense of confusion and helplessness remains vivid—questions like, why do people throw stones at tanks, knowing how futile it seems? How could such an uneven fight ever be considered fair?

The truth is complex and painful: we are all, in some way, bound to the lands of our forefathers, tied to histories that shape who we are. The fight for land is not just a struggle over territory but a struggle for identity, dignity, and survival. It is a fight that transcends the barriers of politics and borders, touching the deepest parts of our humanity. As we watch this conflict unfold, it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore the asymmetry of power, the imbalance of resources, and the disparities in suffering. It is our shared responsibility, as fellow human beings, to extend our empathy to those who are left to fight their battles on uneven terms, to recognize their pain as if it were our own.

Amazing

Insightful analysis must more than I had hoped for but not less than I expected. Astonishing parables of the world and the USA