Summary

In Part 1, “Journalism Is Not a Luxury,” Ta-Nehisi Coates addresses students at Howard University. He describes his experience returning to his alma mater to teach writing in 2022. He taught one class with his friend Eve Ewing, “reading, writing, and workshopping” in the woods (3). While he has always loved reading and writing he felt attached to his students by something more significant. He argues that writing has always been a way to combat slavery and that writing and politics are always entangled.

Coates developed a love for language when he was a child. He describes the first books he read and the sentences he loved. He particularly remembers learning to read and getting his first issue of Sports Illustrated. The issue had a feature on Tony Dorsett, the Dallas Cowboys running back. The issue also had a story about Darryl Stingley, a former wide receiver...