“Here is what I would like for you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body—it is heritage.”

TA-NEHISI COATES JUL 4, 2015

And have brought humanity to the edge of oblivion: because they think they are white. —James Baldwin

Son,

Last Sunday the host of a popular news show asked me what it meant to lose my body. … When the host asked me about my body, her face faded from the screen, and was replaced by a scroll of words, written by me earlier that week.

The host read these words for the audience, and when she finished she turned to the subject of my body, although she did not mention it specifically. But by now I am accustomed to intelligent people asking about the condition of my body without realizing the nature of their request.