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…

  Dec 27, 2016

  # America, Barack Obama, books, Donald Trump, Marilynne Robinson, presidents, reading, 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…

  Feb 2, 2015

  # Alan Jacobs, dictionary, language, Ta-Nehisi Coates, writing

• 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…

  Oct 15, 2013

  # America, Confederacy, flags, history, presidents, Robert E. Lee, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Civil War