,Between the World and Me is a work of nonfiction. Some names and identifying details have been
changed.
Copyright © 2015 by Ta-Nehisi Coates
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, a division of
Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
SPIEGEL & GRAU and the HOUSE colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House
LLC.
The title of this work is drawn from the poem “Between the World and Me” by Richard Wright, from
White Man Listen! copyright © 1957 by Richard Wright. Used by permission of John Hawkins &
Associates, Inc., and the Estate of Richard Wright.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published
material:
Chris Calhoun Agency: Excerpt from “Ka’ Ba” by Amiri Baraka, copyright © Estate of Amiri
Baraka. Reprinted by permission of the Chris Calhoun Agency.
John Hawkins & Associates, Inc., and the Estate of Richard Wright: Excerpt from “Between the
World and Me” from White Man Listen! by Richard Wright, copyright © 1957 by Richard Wright.
Reprinted by permission of John Hawkins & Associates, Inc., and the Estate of Richard Wright.
Sonia Sanchez: Excerpt from “Malcolm” from Shake Loose My Skin by Sonia Sanchez (Boston:
Beacon Press, 1999), copyright © 1999 by Sonia Sanchez. Reprinted by permission of Sonia
Sanchez.
ISBN 9780812993547
eBook ISBN 9780679645986
randomhousebooks.com
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Cover design: Greg Mollica
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v4.1
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, Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Dedication
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
About the Author