Brief

Between the world and me was a heart felt book and really had me thinking of what I would say to my son if he was old enough to understand the struggles that we face in America. I also see my son as naive to the struggles of his past anscestors and the ones he will face in his future because I never see it getting better for African American we came to America being oppressed and we will continue to be oppressed that just life. I don't want him to be a dreamer thinking of America as this places that is a big fat fairy tale where race doesn't matter and I respect every story Coates told his son. My favorite quote from Between the world and me as I wrapped up the book this afternoon was the second to the last page was  pg. 151

"and I still I urge you to struggle. Struggle for the memory of your ancestors. Struggle for wisdom. Struggle for the warmth of The Mecca. Struggle for your grandmother and grandfather, for you name. But do not struggle for the Dreamers. Hope for them. Pray for them, if you are so moved. But do not pin your struggle on their conversion. The Dreamers will have to learn to struggle themselves, to understand that the field for their dream, the stage where they have painted themselves white, is the deathbed of us all."

Then I look up the word struggle

"make forceful or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction"

and I got what Coates was really trying to say he want his son to fight for freedom and the hold that the dreamer continue to have on America. This made the passage even more powerful and is something that I can tell my son or daughter one day. My grandmother use to always say to her kids

"What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger"

So whatever you go though, whatever struggle you encounter can make you want to fight against and become stronger. And that is why as an African American I have seen the most powerful and intelligent people come from the STRUGGLE.