Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates (born September 30, 1975, in Baltimore, Maryland) is a journalist, author, essayist, and comic book writer widely regarded as one of the most important American writers of his generation. His nonfiction works — including Between the World and Me (National Book Award, 2015) and We Were Eight Years in Power — have reshaped public discourse on race, racism, and the legacy of slavery in America. In comics, Coates wrote a celebrated run on Black Panther for Marvel Comics beginning in 2016, bringing his political and intellectual depth to the Wakandan king in a series illustrated by Brian Stelfreeze and later Chris Sprouse. He also wrote a Captain America run and the 2021 limited series Black Panther: The Sound and the Fury. His comics work brought a literary prestige readership to Black Panther ahead of and alongside Ryan Coogler's film adaptations. Coates studied at Howard University and built his journalism career at The Atlantic, where he was a national correspondent for years. He has taught at MIT and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.