Early Life & Education

Ta-Nehisi Coates was born on September 30, 1975, in Baltimore, Maryland, and had six siblings. He attended Howard University before getting a reporting opportunity and leaving Howard to pursue his career.

Career

Coates began working as a reporter for the Washington City Paper. After working there, he moved on to write for The Village Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, and then Time. In 2008, his criticism of the TV show, The Cosby Show gained him national attention. He then wrote his first book, "The Beautiful Struggle." Following this, Coates wrote an article called "This Is How We Lost To The White Man" which launched his career with The Atlantic magazine. Eventually, he became senior editor of the magazine. In 2011, his blog for The Atlantic was recognized on Time Magazine's list of Best Blogs. From 2012 to 2014, he served as the Martin Luther King visiting professor for writing of Massachusetts Institute for Technology. In 2012, Coates's publication "Fear of a Black President" brought racial and political perspective as his articles and books always did. His next big publication, "The Case for Reparations" won a Harriet Beecher Stowe Center Prize. In 2015, Coates published his second book, the impactful "Between the World and Me." This addressed the many issues that the Black community faced, especially the history of violence against Black Americans. It became a New York Times bestseller and won the National Book Award for non-fiction books. Later that same year, Coates was awarded MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant" Fellowship. In 2019, he released his first novel, "The Water Dancer." Coates is the current author of the Black Panther and Captain America Marvel comics.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an impactful and influential writer who brings awareness to his readers about the political and systemic issues of the African American community. Coates's writing has made such a difference in so many peoples' perspectives.