Email Author Ta-Nehisi Coates

2003 Stories by Ta-Nehisi Coates

• Compa$$ionate Capitali$m

  published December 30, 2003

  There are two folding tables set up in the lobby of Miami's Caleb Center—one for each side of Russell Simmons. The gaudier table is a promo... More >>

• They Had a Dream

  published December 23, 2003

  For Ron Stodghill, editing Vanguarde Media's Savoy magazine was the fulfillment of a dream, a rare synthesis of paycheck and mission.... More >>

• Sharpton in the Rainbow's Shadow

  published December 2, 2003

  If there's one incident that will come to personify Al Sharpton's bid for president, it may be last month's public spat with his mentor's... More >>

• Caught on Tape

  published November 25, 2003

  Last Tuesday David Mays and Ray "Benzino" Scott, proprietors of the Source magazine, sauntered into the Millennium Broadway Hotel convinced... More >>

• A Gem Uncut

  published November 18, 2003

  Perhaps never have an MC and the record industry needed each other more than in the case of Jean Grae. No female rapper has ever gotten as much... More >>

• Howard Dean Rises Again

  published November 11, 2003

  Maybe they should have considered Howard Dean's appeal last week to sons of the South as a blueprint for success. A day before the barnstorming... More >>

• Pro-Life Hip-Hop

  published October 7, 2003

  Hip-hop is the groove of the streets. Got it, you punk-ass, dreadlocks-and-beads sissy? Didn't you see those Uzis at the end of Wild Style,... More >>

• Queer Eye for the Black Guy

  published September 23, 2003

  Perhaps no political party has had a more loyal friend than the Democrats have enjoyed in the post-1970s black community. Just look at the 2000... More >>

• Primary Colors

  published August 26, 2003

  On Monday, the city's Charter Revision Commission took another step toward the biggest change in municipal elections in over a decade. By a vote... More >>

• Getcha Anger Here

  published August 5, 2003

  In a recent book review in Harper's, Cristina Nehring lamented the death of the Big Idea. Essayists, argued Nehring, are avoiding... More >>

• Rice, Rice, Baby!

  published July 22, 2003

  The Lexington Avenue Crunch isn't just a gym, it's a vat of eye candy. This is the joint that invented "Cardio Striptease." All the personal... More >>

• Exhibit A

  published July 8, 2003

  For those who dream of a National African American Museum, something always comes along to jolt them awake. In the early 1990s, everyone from then... More >>

• Keepin' It Unreal

  published June 3, 2003

  Yeah, they want reality, but you will hear none/They'd rather exaggerate a little fiction. —N.W.A, "Express Yourself" More >>

• Home Improv-Ment

  published May 13, 2003

  Pity Supernatural. There is never a good time to market a freestyle rap album, if only because the market for it doesn't exist. Even in the arty... More >>

• Minority Report

  published May 13, 2003

  Now that Latinos are considering the potential spoils of their new status as the More >>

• Magic Elixir

  published May 6, 2003

  Magic Johnson's latest move has caused as much confusion and uncertainty among his allies as he used to create on the basketball court for his... More >>

• From Sideshow to Big Tent

  published April 15, 2003

  When Al Sharpton hinted at seeking the 2004 Presidential nomination, leading Democrats prayed it was just more talk from the preacher who built a... More >>

• Paper Tiger

  published March 18, 2003

  Last summer, when activist Martha Burk went to war with Hootie Johnson and his no-women-allowed policy at Augusta National Golf Club, someone made... More >>

• Empty Promises

  published March 11, 2003

  For over six months, Marie Pierre has been braving the New York housing market. Her demands are specific, if unusual. Pierre does not simply want... More >>

• Loan Wolves

  published January 28, 2003

  When both the city and state of New York passed measures last year aimed at stamping out predatory lending, activists considered it a major coup.... More >>

• All the Cliché to Heaven

  published January 21, 2003

  Say this much for Nas: He knows how to draw a parallel. Ever since "Hate Me Now," he has been calling himself Christ to all within earshot. His... More >>

• Hue and Cry

  published January 21, 2003

  There was nothing elegant about Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson's attempt in the mid 1990s to buy the moribund Washington... More >>

• Invisible Jihad

  published January 7, 2003

  When Osama bin Laden first wanted to get America's attention, he chose to attack a part of the world this country has learned to... More >>