Title: We were eight years in power :
Authors: Coates, Ta-Nehisi,; Coates, Ta-Nehisi.; Coates, Ta-Nehisi.; Coates, Ta-Nehisi.; Coates, Ta-Nehisi.; Coates, Ta-Nehisi.; Coates, Ta-Nehisi.; Coates, Ta-Nehisi.; Coates, Ta-Nehisi.
Date: 2017
Publisher: One World,
Physical description: xvii, 367 pages ; 25 cm
Language: English
LC classification: E
Abstract: A portrait of the historic Barack Obama era features essays originally published in "The Atlantic," including "Fear of a Black President" and "The Case for Reparations," as well as new essays revisiting each year of the Obama administration. ""We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first white president." But the story of these present-day eight years is not just about presidential politics. This book also examines the new voices, ideas, and movements for justice that emerged over this period--and the effects of the persistent shadow of our nation's old and unreconciled history. Coates powerfully examines the events of the Obama era from his intimate and revealing perspective--the point of view of a young writer who begins the journey in an unemployment office in Harlem and ends it in the Oval Office, interviewing a president. We Were Eight Years in Power features Coates's iconic essays first published in The Atlantic, including "Fear of a Black President," "The Case for Reparations," and "The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration," along with eight fresh essays that revisit each year of the Obama administration through Coates's own experiences, observations, and intellectual development, capped by a bracingly original assessment of the election that fully illuminated the tragedy of the Obama era."--Dust jacket.
Contents: Introduction -- Notes from the first year : "this is how we lost to the white man" -- Notes from the second year : American girl -- Notes from the third year : why do so few blacks study the Civil War? -- Notes from the fourth year : the legacy of Malcolm X -- Notes from the fifth year : fear of a black president -- Notes from the sixth year : the case for reparations -- Notes from the seventh year : the black family in the age of mass incarceration -- Notes from the eighth year : my president was black -- Epilogue.
Subject headings (LCSH): African Americans--Politics and government--21st century.; African Americans--Social conditions--21st century.; Essays.; Obama, Barack; United States--Politics and government--2009-2017.; United States--Race relations--History--21st century.; United States--Race relations.; United States--Social conditions--21st century.