KaylaGalloway

Winston
Extracreditpaper
FormerPresident,LyndonBainesJohnsononcesaidAbookisthemosteffective
weaponagainstintoleranceandignorance
.Hisquoteheldaprofoundamountofveracitybut
countlessindividualshaveseemedtomissthatimportantstatement.Now,cellphonesconsume
todaysyounggeneration.Theycaptivateandenchanttheminthedigitalspellcalledtechnology.
JustasourlateandformerPresidentpredicted,aspeoplereadless,itseemsasifintoleranceand
ignorancegrowevenmore.Thereoncewasatimewhenanamazingbookalluredpeopleand
hadtheeffectthattechnologynowhas.
Thereisplentyofevidencethatliteracyskillscontinue
todecline.U.S.governmentdatafromtheNationalAssessmentofEducationalProgressshows
thatafteryearsofeducationalreforms,highschoolseniorsscoredworseonanationalreading
testthantheyhadbackin1992.Fortunatelynotallhopeislostforourfuturegenerations.
WriterslikeTaNehisiCoatescontinuetofightagainstintoleranceandignorance.Inhisbook,
BetweentheWorldandMe,Coatesservesasanexampleforstudentstodayandisnotonly
inspirationalbutisalsogivingyoungAfricanAmericanstudentsthevoicethattheyneedbefore
thecorruptvoiceofignorancetakesover.
BetweentheWorldandMeisanbreathtakinglyinformativebookfilledwithinsights
abouttheembodiedblackbodyandthelogicofwhitesupremacy.TaNehisiCoateschallenges
ourunderstandingoftheUnitedStatesandthebackgroundbehindAfricanAmericans.The
woundthatracismpiercedontothiscountryisstillfreshandtender.Theagonizingpainstill
lingers,althoughthiswoundwascutawhileago.ThepainfromthiswoundgaveCoatesthe

inspirationtowritehisbookonthebreakdownofracism.Thebookinitiallymayseemlikeitwill
revealthefalsenessbehindtheDreamandthenopenupapossibleconclusionofthenew
UnitedStates.ButCoatesdoesnotdecidetogointhatdirection.HerejectstheAmericanfable
butalsoembracesthecertaintyofwhitesupremacyandit'sinevitableconstraints.Itisthestory
oftheblackbody,beatendowntocreatethecountry'sfoundationalwealth,thenviolently
segregatedtouniteanationafteracivilwar,and,tothisdayisstillthreatened,lockedup,and
killedinourstreets.
HowdoesCoatesplanongoingagainstintoleranceandignorance?Hehasareasonand
enoughambitiontoanswerbothquestions.
BetweentheWorldandMe
isapresentedintheform
ofalettertohisadolescentson.Coatesshareswithhissonandreadersthestoryofhisown
awakeningtothetruthabouthistoryandracethroughaseriesofexperiences.Hiscaptivationin
nationalistmythologyasachildengagementwithhistory,poetry,andloveatHoward
UniversityhistravelstoCivilWarbattlefieldsandtotheSouthSideofChicagoajourneyto
Francethatreorientshissenseoftheworldandpilgrimagestothehomesofmotherswhose
children'sliveshavebeentaken.Together,thesestoriesmapacompellingpathtoward
deliverancefromsuffering.Thisisajourneyfromfearandconfusiontoafullandhonest
understandingofwhattheworldreallyis.Coatesoffersthiseloquentmemoirasalettertohis
teenageson,conveyingpassionatehopesforhisson'slife.
InforminghissonontheauthenticstoryofhislifeisexactlyhowCoatesfightsignorance
andintoleranceintheworld.TaNehisiCoatessupportsacaseforthenecessityofliterature,
specificallyinhowstudentsillustratethestoriesoftheirlives.Coatesservesasanexamplefor
peopletocultivatetheirexperiencesandeducationtoillustratethestoriesoftheirlives.Coates

arguesthatshowingintelligenceandliteracyisacultivableskillandanyonewhocandosohas
accesstowiththepropertrainingbydrawingonhisownlifeexperience.Manyindividualsare
underthefalseimpressionwheretobedeemedassmartmeansonepossessessomeextrabrain
cellorcharacteristicwhereotherslack.Coatesexemplifieshowlifeexperiencesarenot
indicationsofsuccess,andhoweducationdoesnotembodyaparticularmold.Growingup,
Coateswasatastarkdisadvantageduetohisexperiencesgrowingup,however,howonecanuse
experiencesasanexcusetonotfulfilltheirpotential,oracatalysttomaximizescholarship.
CoatesstartedoffasastudentatHowardUniversityanddiscusseshispleasantexperiencesatthe
Meccainparticular.HegrewupintheharshandghettoBaltimore,andfellvictimtotheongoing
cyclesofviolenceintheareaatanimpressionableage.TaNehisiCoatessexposurehelpedhim
capitalizeonhisabilitytoemployhissurroundingsandreciprocatehisexperiencestoachievehis
ultimategoal.Hewantedtolearn,andinturnteach.
Coatesalsoarguesforthenecessityof
productivefailureinthelearningprocesstomasterthetechnicalaspectsofwritingandlife
experiences.ThereCoateswas,ayoungmaninhisearlyyearsofadulthoodwithachildtobe
responsiblefor.However,throughhisexperiences,heencouragesblackstostriveinaworld
dominatedbywhitecounterparts,andachieveandprotecttheirbody.Literacycansimplybe
goingtomarchesmakingsignswithinspirationalmeaning,suchastheMillionManMarch,and
readingbookssuchas
BetweentheWorldandMe
.
TwitterandSnapchatseemtobetheonlyoutletsofliteracythatvoicesaresomewhat
beingheardfrom.Prominenthashtagslike#BlackLivesMatter,#MyBlackIsBeautifuland
#BlackExcellencesuggestpositivityandgrowth.Theyhavebecomeextremelymainstream
hashtagswithanimmenseamountofsupporters.However,imaginehowdeeprootedandvast

theconceptswouldbeiftheywerewrittendownanddocumentedintoabookfullofanecdotes
fromhundredsofindividualswhohaveexperiencedorisfedupwiththesocialsuffering.
ImagineifTwitterwasabookthatanyonecouldwritetheirthoughtson.Insteadoftypinga
thoughtandseeminglywatchingitdisappear,whatifwecouldholdontoeveryonesthoughts
andwriteabookbasedonthesocialinequalitythecontinuestopersisthereinAmerica.Books
providealastingandmoreevidenttraceofcognition.Coatesalsoarguesforthenecessityof
productivefailureinthelearningprocesstomasterthetechnicalaspectsofwritingandlife
experiences.Withanyskillinlife,comesresponsibility.Whethertheresponsibilityistoguide
others,ortomerelyexpandyourmindeveryday,trueskillseldomremainsstagnant.Tobea
greatwriter,experienceiskey.
Fromreading
BetweentheWorldandMe
,Ihavelearnedhowtoovercomeobstaclesand
createanevenmoremeaningfulpurposeformyself.Throughwritingandliteracy,Coateswas
abletocreatesenseoftheeventshappeningaroundhim,andusehisexperiencestoinform
others.Englishandwritingisareleaseofemotions,andanescapefromtherealworld.Writing
cancauseonetobesad,happy,excited,orangry.Hisunexpectedyetsignificantwritingisvital
tohislifebecauseCoatesvalueshisnoveltohissonenoughtodocumenthisNewYork
encounteroutofthefeweventshedoesinhisnovel.