This book by Ta-Nehisi Coates is written as a letter to the author’s teenaged son about the feelings, symbolism, and realities associated with being Black in the United States.  Coates recapitulates the American history of violence against Black people and the incommensurate policing of Black youth. A common theme is his fear of bodily harm.

The work takes inspiration from James Baldwin’s 1963 The Fire Next Time.