Summary

Ta-Nehisi Coates begins his memoir describing his brush with a dangerous gang. Murphy Homes was the most feared and violent person in Baltimore. Ta-Nehisi and his brother Bill were confronted by gang members at a professional wrestling match. After being ambushed by the gang, the boys both ran. Ta-Nehisi called his father to pick him up.

Ta-Nehisi’s favorite wrestling star was the American Dream. Coates describes how he and Bill would watch as the Dream was tied to the ropes and beaten until his blond hair was bloody red.

Coates writes that the boys wanted to see the Dream in person but Paul, Ta-Nehisi’s father, would have to approve. Although Paul worked seven days a week, his presence always loomed in the form of the strict rules for behavior that he laid out along with a long list of chores. The boys...