More and more people are flocking to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ letter to his son turned national bestseller, Between the World and Me. I read it and was able to pick up a lot to think about in only 150 pages. I will definitely be re-reading soon, this time with pen in hand. This post is for anyone; whether you are just preparing to read, currently reading or already finished with Between the World and Me. The sheer number and diversity of people, places, works and events that are referenced ensure that you would need a quick Google at least a handful of times. I think that possibly only Coates knows ALL of these without having to look some up. I did not include the places in the book (e.g. street names) but tried to quickly define/provide context for what Coates writes about. Please let me know if someone or something was mentioned that I did not include. Anything in there more than once will be listed chronologically by first appearance. This list serves as a who’s who, study guide, reading companion, and whatever I’m sure you will think of! Please also use this space for any discussion you would like to have regarding the book. What does the Shelfie Generation think of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me?
Sonia Sanchez, page 3 – poet and author of over 16 books, associated with BAM.
Eric Garner, page 9 – man choked to death by police in Staten Island, caught on camera on 7/17/14
Renisha McBride, page 9 – 19 year old who was shot while looking for help after crashing her car in Michigan on 11/2/13
John Crawford, page 9 – man shot in Walmart in Ohio when he was walking around the store with a bb gun on 8/5/14
Tamir Rice, page 9 – 12 year old that was shot by police when playing with a toy gun in Ohio on 11/22/14
Marlene Pinnock, page 9 – woman who received $1.5 million after being punched by California Highway Patrol which was caught on video
Michael Brown, page 11 – shot by police after allegedly “charging” at them in Ferguson, Missouri on 8/9/14. Event/Trial were tipping point in Ferguson..
Nas “What Goes Around”, page 26 – song from the Queensbridge emcee’s 5th album Stillmatic.
Freedom Riders, page 32 – group of activists that rode a bus through the South during the summer of 1961 to protest segregation
Freedom Summers, page 32 – a voter registration project that took place in Mississippi in 1964
Malcolm X, page 34 – major activist in Civil Rights Movement.
Nat Turner, page 37 – slave who led slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831
Harriet Tubman, page 37 – ex-slave that helped other slaves escape the South
Cudjoe, page 37 – Maroon leader in Jamaica that led fights against the English
Michael Jackson, page 37 – one of the biggest musicians and pop stars ever
Million Man March, page 37 – a protest led by Minister Louis Farrakhan held in Washington DC on 10/16/95
Ice Cube Death Certificate, page 37 – second solo album from the Compton emcee
TV Show “Eyes on the Prize” – Black Power Episodes, page 37 – tv show narrated by Julian Bond covering major events from Civil Rights Movement from 1954-85
Fred Hampton Sr, page 39 – major activist with Black Panther Party. Killed by US government on 12/4/69
Mark Clark, page 39 – major activist with Black Panther Party. Killed with Fred Hampton
Stokely Carmichael fka Kwame Touré, page 39 – activist and philosopher from Civil Rights Movement
COINTELPRO, page 39 – COunter INTELigence PROgram covert missions taken by FBI
Charles Drew, page 40 – surgeon and medical researcher
Amiri Baraka, page 40 – dramatist, novelist and poet who began during Civil Rights Movement
Thurgood Marshall, page 40 – Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court 67-91
Ossie Davis, page 40 – actor and social activist
Doug Wilder, page 40 – former governor of Virginia from 1990-94
David Dinkins, page 40 – former mayor of New York City 1990-93
Lucille Clifton, page 40 – poet and former Poet Laureate
Toni Morrison, page 40 – Pulitzer Prize winning author of 11 books
Ausar-Auset Society, page 41 – Pan-African Religious Organization founded in 1973
Bob Marley “Redemption Song”, page 41 – song from the reggae legend’s 12th album Uprising
Zora Neal Hurston, page 41 – notable author of Their Eyes Were Watching God
Kenneth Clark, page 41 – psychologist and activist during Civil Rights Movement
Frederick Douglass, page 41 – ex-slave that became one of the leaders of abolitionist movement
Mohamed Ali fka Cassius Clay, pager 41 – heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Joined NOI and refused to join army after draft.
Ira Aldridge, page 41 – American stage actor in 19th Century
Song “My Favorite Things”, page 41 – show tune original from “The Sound of Music”
Song “Someday My Prince Will Come”, page 41 – song originally from Disney’s “Snow White”
Alain Locke, page 41 – Rhodes scholar who became author and philosophy
bell hooks, page 42 – pen name of Gloria Jean Watkins, author and social activist
Frantz Fanon, page 42 – Afro-Caribbean writer, philosopher and revolutionary
Saul Bellow, page 43 – Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning author
Leo Tolstoy, page 43, 45 – Russian author of War and Peace, Anna Karenina and more.
Magazine, The Source, page 44 – legendary and influential hip hop magazine partly responsible for the growth of the culture
Magazine, Vibe, page 44 – another legendary hip hop magazine, founded by Quincy Jones
Greg Tate, page 44 – writer and musician with articles in Rolling Stone and more
Mao Zedong, page 44 – former Chairman of the Communist Party of China in 20th Century
dream hampton, page 44 – writer, filmmaker, critic heavily entwined with hip hop history
Alfred W. Crosby Children of the Sun, page 44 – a book about the places that humans have tapped for energy
Drusilla D Houston Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire, page 44 – Houston’s attempt to discover African history from an African American perspective
Cheikh Anta Diop The African Origins of Civilization, page 44 – theory that ancient Egypt was a black civilization
J.A. Rogers, page 45 – author, journalist and historian
John Jackson, page 45 – Pan-Africanist historian, writing featured in Garvey’s Negro World
Mansa Musa, page 45 – 10th Emperor or King of Male in 13th Century
Shabaka, page 45 – Kushite pharaoh of Egypt in 700 BC
Yaa Asantewaa, page 45 – Queen Mother of Ashanti group in Ghana in 19th Century, lead a major rebellion against British Army
Ashanti aka Asante, page 45 –one of the people that live in Ghana
Queen Nzinga, page 45 – Queen of the Mbundu people in Angola in 17th Century
Larry Neal, page 46 – scholar of theatre heavily involved in Black Arts Movement
Eric Williams, page 46 – first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago
George Padmore, page 46 – Trinidadian journalist and author on Pan-Africanism
Stanley Crouch, page 46 – jazz critic, novelist and poet
Harold Cruse, page 46 – author, professor and revolutionary
Manning Marable, page 46 – historian and social critic
Addison Gayle, page 46 – literary critic
Carolyn Rodgers, page 46 – poet and founder of Third World Press
Etheridge Knight, page 46 – poet, especially known for Poems from Prison
Sterling Brown, page 46 – poet and professor
Langston Hughes, page 47 – poet and social activist
W.E.B. Du Bois, page 47 – author and civil rights activist
Marcus Garvey, page 47 – huge proponent of Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism
CLR James, page 47 – historian and journalist
Basil Davidson, page 47 – British author and historian that wrote in favor of African history
Franklin Frazier, page 47 – doctorate of sociology in 20th Century
Melville J. Herskovitz, page 47 – anthropologist who played big part in getting African American studies to be accepted in academia
Martin Delany, page 47 – one of the first proponents of Black Nationalism
James “Bubber” Miley, page 50 – jazz trumpet and cornet player in Duke Ellington’s orchestra
Otis Redding, page 50 – soul singer inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who received Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
Sam and Dave, page 50 – an R&B duo consisting of Sam David Moore and David Prater
CK Williams, page 50 – American poet of the 20th Century
Carolyn Forché, page 50 – poet and social activist
Ethelbert Miller, page 50 – writer and literary activist, founded Humanities Council of Washington DC
Kenneth Carroll, page 50 – contemporary poet
Brian Gilmore, page 50 – contemporary poet
Joel Dias-Porter, page 50 – contemporary poet
Robert Hayden, page 51 – poet of many poems including “Middle Passage”
Ralph Wiley, page 56 – journalist and author featured in Sports Illustrated, ESPN and more. Coates references Dark Witness
Wu-Tang Clan, page 56 – a 9 man hip hop group/collective from Staten Island New York
Adina Howard, page 60 – 1990s platinum selling R&B Singer
Bob Marley Exodus, page 61 – the 9th album by Bob Marley and the Wailers
Notorious BIG “One More Chance”, page 61 – song from Biggie’s 1st album Ready to Die
Notorious BIG “Hypnotize”, page 61 – song from Biggie’s 2nd album Life After Death
Samori Touré, page 61 – founder of the Wassoulou Empire in present-day Guinea
Derrick Bell, page 61 – civil rights attorney, activist, Harvard Law professor
Elmer Clay Newman, page 75 – died in police custody and did not receive proper medical attention on 9/22/99
Gary Hopkins, page 75 – killed by police in Maryland on 11/27/99
Freddie McCollum, page 75 – received $4.1 million after police beat him to the point he lost an eye
Prince Carmen Jones, page 77 – shot by police in his car on 9/1/00
Joseph Lowery, page 77 – minister in the United Methodist Church and leader in Civil Rights Movement
Cornel West, page 77 – philosopher, activist, author
Calvin Butts, page 77 – pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church
Book World Book, page 81 – a set of encyclopedia published in USA
Book Childcraft, page 81 – children encyclopedias
Mary Jane Girls “All Night Long”, page 84 – 1983 pop song
Movie “Crossing Delancey”, page 86 – 1988 movie starring Amy Irving
Movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, page 86 – 1961 movie starring Audrey Hepburn
Movie “Working Girl”, page 86 – 1988 movie starring Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford
Bin Laden, page 87 – former head of Al-Qaeda
Movie “Howl’s Moving Castle”, page 93 – 2005 animated movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Abner Louima, page 95 – was brutally beaten and sexually assaulted by police in custody in 1997
Anthony Baez, page 95 – man who died in police custody possibly due to asthma or police choking
Jackie Robinson, page 96 – first Black baseball player to play in the MLB
Trayvon Martin, page 96 – 17 year old who was shot by neighbor on 2/26/12 in Florida
Sean Bell, page 96 – shot by police morning of wedding 11/25/06
Richard Nixon, page 97 – 27th President of the United States
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, page 99 – Nobel prize winning Russian novelist
James K. Polk, page 101 – 11th President of the United States
George Pickett, page 102 – general for Confederate States in the Civil War
Robert E. Lee, page 102 – commander for Confederate Army in the Civil War
William Faulkner, page 102 – Nobel Prize winning author of The Sound and the Fury and more
John Carter, page 103 – fictional character that first appeared in A Princess of Mars
TV Show “The Dukes of Hazzard”, page 103 – TV show that takes place in the South
John C. Calhoun, page 104 – American politician
Thavolia Glymph Out of the House of Bondage, page 105 – 2008 book about plantation life
Ghostface Killah, page 117 – one of the members of the Wu-Tang Clan
James Baldwin, page 122 – writer, social critic, activist
Richard Wright, page 122 – author who was controversial for his time
Jean-Paul Sartre, page 122 – Nobel Prize winning French philosopher
Albert Camus, page 122 – Nobel Prize winning French author
OutKast “West Savannah”, page 123 – song from the Georgia duo’s 3rd album Aquemini
Jordan Davis, page 130 – shot when he refused to turn his music down on 11/23/12 in Florida
Kajieme Powell, page 130 – mentally imbalanced man shot by police when he approached with a knife in Missouri
Martin Luther King, page 131 – major Civil Rights Movement activist, SCLC
The Commodores “Three Times a Lady”, page 140 – 1978 song from The Commodores 8th album Natural High
Buck Rogers, page 143 – fictional character from movies and comics
Prince Aragorn, page143 – fictional character from The Lord of the Rings
Solomon Northrup, page 145 – freeman who was kidnapped and forced into slavery before became free and wrote 12 Years a Slave
Mobb Deep, page 149 – hip hop duo from Queensbridge, New York.
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