For author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates, writing is not simply a job providing him speaking engagements, but his contribution to upholding what he calls the “endangered tradition” of Black literacy.

“There is no point in American history where Black writers felt that they had the broad support of America, structurally or systemically,” Coates said.

Coates, who spoke at SUNY Oswego on Nov. 3, listed the threats made against Black authors across history. He compared Phillis Wheatley, the first African-American published poet, to his friend, investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones. Wheatley’s poetry prompted Thomas Jefferson to condemn her work as “below the dignity of criticism.” Hannah-Jones’ work on the 1619 Project, Coates said, similarly prompted President Donald Trump to establish a counter-initiative, the 1776 Project, by executive order. 

“How can it be that two writers, separated by centuries, could be forging something that could attract the attention of presidents?” Coates asked. “When you understand that, you understand that our art, our craft, our tradition is truly in danger.”

Coates, a MacArthur Fellow and National Book Award recipient, wrote bestsellers “The Beautiful Struggle,” “The Water Dancer” and “Between the World and Me,” along with the sixth volume of Marvel’s “Black Panther” comic series. Coates’ work, such as his acclaimed essay for the Atlantic “The Case for Reparations,” concerns systemic racism and the Black experience. 

SUNY Oswego professors Kenneth Marshall and Celinet Duran-Jimenez, who spoke with him that day, compared him to prolific Black authors James Baldwin and Franz Fanon, respectively.

“Obviously your book [“Between the World and Me”] is powerful on its own, but when paired with Baldwin’s [“No Name in the Street”], it becomes even more historically and tragically relevant,” Marshall said to Coates.

Coates mentioned book bans, which have targeted Black authors such as himself and Toni Morrison, as a means of white supremacy, albeit being in his belief ridiculous and weak. He described his visit to a South Carolina school board meeting concerning a ban on his memoir “Between the World and Me.” Instead of being vocal at the meeting to defend his book, Coates refrained from speaking to observe a book banning in action.

“If we’re not on somebody’s book ban, we’re probably ain’t doing it right,” Coates remarked.

Jimenez agreed, saying that book bans perpetuate a “progressive lie” that society has progressed from racism and that they are an example of the struggles of Black Americans being codified into law.

Students at the South Carolina high school had reportedly felt “uncomfortable” by Coates’ book, according to district records obtained by Insider. Coates, however, argued for the importance of writing that challenges readers’ worldviews.

“My job is to disturb and to enlighten,” Coates said. “My job is to help those of us who are grappling with the same sort of questions that I’ve been grappling with.”

Coates criticized diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at universities that are mostly run by white faculty unfamiliar with the Black experience. He used the metaphor of a soul kitchen run by Irish people who do not know the cornbread recipe. Coates also criticized the phrasing of DEI, arguing that it does not capture the necessity of its cause.

“It doesn’t get across the essential nature of it, like how you need it,” Coates said, emphasizing the word “need.” “We haven’t quite gotten the language to really express that.”

SUNY Oswego’s own DEI program adds the words “transformative practice” to its title; the office did not immediately respond for comment.

Coates’ comments on DEI resonated with creative writing professor Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, who helped coordinate the event as the host of the department’s Living Writers Series.

“I think as a faculty member of color who is also queer [who] is called upon to do a lot of the work for DEI, I thought he was on point,” Frazier said. 

Frazier noted how the student population increasingly diversifies while the creative writing department’s faculty does not reflect this diversity. Because of this, she said, “DEI exhausts faculty.”

Students in Frazier’s class dedicated to the Living Writers Series studied Coates’ writing leading to the event. While Coates’ main event at the Waterman Theatre was public, Coates spoke to and answered questions from students at a private event earlier that day moderated by Frazier. 

“For those of you who are aspiring writers and you have those moments [when] you think it’s over…I want you to understand that if you’re going to have a career in writing it will always feel that way,” Coates said.

Coates arrived with his private security of entirely Black men. Backpacks were banned from the event and audience members had to pass a metal detector test before entering the Waterman Theatre.

Photo via: SUNY Oswego