Tag: Ta-Nehisi Coates

• Reader In Chief

  As a reader, librarian, and citizen, I’m going to miss this “reader in chief,” as John McMurtrie of the San Francisco Chronicle calls him: As is amply manifest in his writing, Obama is someone who has done a lot of thinking about his place in the world, his upbringing, his uniquely American story. And, as president, he…

  December 27, 2016

  America, Books, Presidents

  Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Marilynne Robinson, Ta-Nehisi Coates

• Irregardless Is A Word, But A Bad One

  Ta-Nehisi Coates went all TNC the other night on Twitter (which is just plain fun to watch) to address the evergreen “___ isn’t a word” debate, a favorite parlor game of pedantic English majors everywhere. Addressing whether irregardless should be sanctioned as a real word when regardless was already acceptable, he ventured: “Worst argument is that…

  February 2, 2015

  Language, Writing

  Alan Jacobs, dictionary, Ta-Nehisi Coates, words

• Flag Abuse

  Responding to the anti-shutdown right-wing protest in front of the White House on Sunday (which featured the Confederate flag and a rebel yell), Ta-Nehisi Coates gets at something that has long gnawed at me: If a patriot can stand in front of the White House brandishing the Confederate flag, then the word “patriot” has no meaning. The…

  October 15, 2013

  America, History, Presidents

  Confederacy, Dixie, Robert E. Lee, shutdown, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Civil War