Writer, thinker, native Baltimorean, and all-around genius Ta-Nehisi Coates is speaking in Baltimore one week from today, and boy do we ever need to hear from him.
As the appalling story of Freddie Gray’s death in police custody continues to make headlines, the national spotlight is on Baltimore. Coates is unequivocally one of the nation’s top thinkers, and he’s particularly astute when it comes to racial issues. And he understands the local context, too; he’s written eloquently and movingly about growing up in Baltimore as a young, slightly troubled, slightly foolish young man: “my childhood—and my education—was largely guided by the need to negotiate violence,” he writes.
Will he talk about Freddie Gray when he speaks at Johns Hopkins on April 28 at 6:30 PM? I don’t know for sure. But whatever he has to say will be worth listening to. Register (for free) here.
