panthers.
baltimore.
mecca.
chuck d.

"All of us knew he was flawed, but still he retained the aura of a prophet."

One father. Seven children. Five boys. Two girls. Four mothers. Ta-Nehisi Coates has written about the beautiful struggle of raising Black boys in a country that never wanted them to be unchained. Paul Coates was a flawed man and former Black Panther but his most endearing quality was his determination to raise his children.

”He was a practicing fascist, mandating books and banning religion.”

Paul Coates’s most prized possession was his printing press where he resurrected old out of print African-American books and pamphlets. The press and Coates constant pressure on his sons to get the “knowledge” was the cause of constant scorn from Ta-Nehisi. Ta-Nehisi only wanted to read comic books but Hip-Hop is what brought him to the “knowledge.” In the rhymes he heard the people and places that his father had been talking about for years. So he finally sought out the press without any coaxing from his father. As a student Ta-Nehisi just barely kept his head above water. His mind wandered. He was always on guard against the neighbor thugs. He was awkward. His parent’s dreams of him going to the Mecca were diminishing fast. The Mecca was Howard University. Paul took a job there just so his children could receive free tuition. When it came Ta-Nehisi’s turn Paul was leaving Howard and Ta-Nehisi would have to get in on his own merits. He got in but barely and because of a lot of leg work from his mother.

As much as Ta-Nehisi looked up to and revered his father he held the same reverence and awe for his big brother, Big Bill. Bill could simply be described as a loose cannon. One of Paul’s Panther comrades was Afeni Shakur. Afeni and her children Tupac and Sekyiwa were family friends. Growing up Ta-Nehisi always seemed to be walking in the dark but a chance meeting with a djembe brought the light. It was like the drumming redeemed him and there was something he finally connected with. The women were lost in this memoir. They remained in the shadows. Overall, I fell in love with this dysfunctional/nuclear family.

"To be a black male is to be always at war…"