“I wanted to pursue things, to know things, but I could not match the means of knowing that came naturally to me with the expectations of professors. The pursuit of knowing was freedom to me, the right to declare your own curiosities and follow them through all manner of books. I was made fore the library, not the classroom. The classroom was a jail of other people's interests. The library was open, unending, free. Slowly, I was discovering myself.”

American author, journalist, and activist

Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates is an American author, journalist, and activist. He became widely read while serving as a national correspondent at The Atlantic, where his reporting and essays focused on cultural, social, and political questions, especially those involving African Americans and white supremacy. His work is closely associated with progressive politics and with writing that examines race, power, and public life in the United States. He is known for addressing these subjects with clarity and force, and his name remains strongly linked to contemporary commentary on American society.