Ta-Nehisi Coates
Englert Theatre — Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, national correspondent for The Atlantic, author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle and a writer whom The New Yorker has described as “one of the most elegant and sharp observers of race in America, will give a lecture entitled “A Deeper Black: Race in America” at the Englert Theatre on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the University of Iowa’s “Being Black at Iowa” series.
Last month, Coates gave a similar talk at the University of Michigan which posed the question of “What does ‘black culture’ means?” and how that meaning is impacted by differences across generations as well as how it’s influenced by issues likes gentrification, education and changes in family structures.
Following the lecture, Coates will participate in and moderate a panel discussion on race relations in the United States. The panel will include UI professor of English and African American studies Michael Hill, Iowa City Council member Kingsley Botchway, Mayflower Hall Coordinator Tab Wiggins, UI Diversity Resources Coordinator Kendra Malone, and UI students Nailah Roberts and Justin Roberson.
In June, Coates penned “The Case for Reparations,” a cover story for The Atlantic, which raised the argument for compensating African-Americans not just for slavery and Jim Crow, but also for discriminatory housing policies such as redlining, predatory lending and restrictive covenants where mortgages in white neighborhoods would have a clause specifically forbidding white homeowners from selling to black buyers.
The essay was met with widespread acclaim, netting Coates the 2014 George Polk Award for Commentary and the 2015 Stowe Prize for Writing to Advance Social Justice among other honors. In advance of Coates appearance, “The Case for Reparations and another essay written by Coates “Barack Obama, Ferguson, and the evidence of Things Not Said,” were discussed, in anticipation of Coates appearance, last Wednesday “Being Black at Iowa” in a forum on campus that included UI professors Michael Hill, Jessica Welburn and Deborah Whaley last Wednesday.
Future events in the “Being Black at Iowa” Series can be found online at the University’s Student Life website.
Edit: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the lecture was on Feb. 23.
