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Coates Birth
Coates was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His father, William Paul "Paul" Coates, was a Vietnam War veteran, former Black Panther, publisher, and librarian. His mother, Cheryl Lynn, was a teacher. Coates' father founded and ran Black Classic Press, a publisher specializing in African-American titles. Coates' father had seven children. -
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Between the World and Me
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Alex Haley and "Roots"
Alex Haley published his novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family in 1976; it became a bestseller and generated great levels of interest in African-American genealogy and history. It was adapted as a TV series that attracted a huge audience across the country. -
Andrew Young
President Jimmy Carter appointed Andrew Young to serve as Ambassador to the United Nations in 1977, the first African American to serve in the position. -
Supreme Court supports affirmative action in colleges
In Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, the US Supreme Court barred racial quota systems in college admissions but affirmed the constitutionality of affirmative action programs giving equal access to minorities. -
People's Temple Massacre
The Temple is best known for the events of November 18, 1978 in Guyana, when 918 people died in a mass murder at its remote settlement, named "Jonestown", as well as the murders of U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and members of his visiting delegation at the nearby Port Kaituma airstrip. The incident at Jonestown resulted in the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act prior to the September 11 terrorist attacks. -
Wayne Williams Sentenced for Atlanta Murders
The Atlanta murders of 1979–1981, sometimes called the Atlanta child murders, were a series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, between July 1979 and May 1981. Over the two-year period, at least 28 children, adolescents, and adults were killed. -
The Color Purple
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction. It was later adapted into a film and musical of the same name -
Michael Jackson Releases "Thriller"
Best selling album of all-time. -
First African American in NASA
In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first African American to go into space in NASA's program. -
Crack Cocaine and Black America
In 1984, the distribution and use of crack exploded. Between 1984 and 1989, the homicide rate for black males aged 14 to 17 more than doubled, and the homicide rate for black males aged 18 to 24 increased nearly as much. During this period, the black community also suffered a 20%–100% increase in fetal death rates, low birth-weight babies, weapons arrests, and the number of children in foster care. -
The Cosby Show Airs
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First Time MLK Jr. Holiday is Nationally Celebrated
President Ronald Reagan signed a bill in 1983 to create a federal holiday to honor Martin Luther King, who was assassinated in 1968 and considered a martyr to civil rights. Established by legislation in 1983, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was first celebrated as a national holiday on January 20, 1986. -
Ron Brown
Ron Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee in 1989, becoming the first African American to lead a major United States political party. -
First Black Governor
In 1990, Douglas Wilder was elected as the first African-American governor in Virginia. -
Rodney King's Release from Prison
King served one year of a two year sentence for robbing a store owner. arrested again in 1996, 2004, and 2011. -
Rodney King Police Brutality Scandal
Four white police officers were videotaped beating African-American Rodney King in Los Angeles, on March 3, 1991. https://vault.fbi.gov/rodney-king/video/rodney-king-video -
Riots Result from Officers Being Aquitted
Over one billion in property damage, 55 dead, and over 2,000 seriously injured. -
Two of the Officers Found Guilty in Separate Civil Rights Case
The federal government prosecuted a separate civil rights case, obtaining grand jury indictments for violations by the four officers of King's civil rights. Their trial in a federal district court ended on April 16, 1993, with two of the officers being found guilty and sentenced to prison. The other two were acquitted of the charges. -
Police officer choked Anthony Baez
NYPD officer Francis Livoti choked Anthony Baez to death 3 days before Christmas. Around 1:00AM, the Baez brothers were playing touch football. The football accidentally hits the roof of Officer Livoti's vehicle. Livoti orders the boys to go home, but the brothers looked confused because they were playing outside their home. Livoti attempted to arrest one of the brothers, but Anthony protested against the officer. Livoti puts Anthony into a chokehold while Anthony did not resist at all. -
Abner Louima tortured by cops
On August 19, 1997, Abner Louima was beaten and tortured by two police officers: Charles Schwartz and Justin Volpe. When police officers were breaking up a crowd at Club Rendez Vous nightclub, Volpe was punched in the face and was mislead it to where it came from. He blamed it on Louima and officers arrested him. In a bathroom at the 70th precinct in New York, Schwartz held Louima down while Volpe sexually abused him with a broken broomstick. -
Police shooting of Prince Jones
Two undercover cops followed Prince Jones driving in his jeep for about 16 miles. One of the cops, Officer Carlton B. Jones, had followed Prince Jones to Spring Terrace, a residential street. According to Officer Jones, Prince Jones had approached him, then returned to his jeep and attempted to ram into his vehicle. Prince Jones was shot 16 times and he managed to drive near his fiancée's home. He died at Inova Fairfax Hospital. This occurred in Prince George County, in Northern Virginia. -
9/11 Terrorist Attack
On September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by Islamic extremists occurred at the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York. -
Florida's "stand-your-ground" law in 2005
"Home protection; use or threatened use of deadly force; presumption of death or great bodily harm" -
Barack Obama
On January 20, 2009, Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, the first African American to become president. At least 95 percent of African-American voters voted for Obama. -
Shooting of Trayvon Martin
On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman in Florida. At the time, Martin wore a hoodie and carried a bag of skittles along with a can of Arizona iced tea. Zimmerman called 9-1-1 and reported to what he believed that Martin was acting suspicious. The operator told him not to follow, but Zimmerman followed him regardless. At the time, Martin was on a phone call with his girlfriend. Zimmerman claimed he shot Martin in self-defense. -
Shooting of Jordan Davis because of loud music
On August 9, 2012, Jordan Davis and his friends in an SUV played loud music outside a Jacksonville convenience store in Florida. Michael Dunn aggressively asked them to lower the volume of the music playing. Dunn feared for his life by their response and fired 8 bullets at them. Jacksonville police concluded that the use of deadly force by Dunn was not justified. -
Black Lives Matter is Formed
The Black Lives Matter movement is created by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, in response to the ongoing racial profiling of and police brutality against young black men. -
Murder of Renisha McBride
Renisha was an innocent young woman who died for no reason at all other than asking for help. McBride crashed her vehicle in Detroit Michigan, looking for assistance, she walked over to a neighborhood in Dearborn Heights, Theodore Wafer, the homeowner, shot McBride in cold blood right on his front doorstep. Mr. Wafer shot McBride for thinking she was a burglar breaking into his home, or was this thought just a matter of racism and profiling? -
Murder of Eric Garner
"I can't breath". These were the traumatic and deadly words uttered by a helpless Eric Garner being chocked to death. Using a choke hold that is permitted by the NYPD, officer Daniel Pantaleo killed an asthmatic man for simply selling untaxed cigarettes. The only repercussions given to officer Pantaleo, was a strip of his badge and gun. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2014/dec/04/i-cant-breathe-eric-garner-chokehold-death-video -
Murder of John Crawford III
John Crawford was shot and killed by officer Sean Williams. Crawford was holding an unloaded BB gun, being falsely accused of aiming it at customers. When the police officers arrived, they opened fire on Crawford with no statement to drop the harmless weapon on the ground. Killing the innocent man right in the store. -
Murder of Michael Brown
On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was shot by Officer Wilson in Ferguson. Officer Wilson was not guilty of the shooting. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/mar/14/michael-shooting-new-surveillance-footage-video -
Shooting of Kajieme Powell
On August 19, 2014, Kajieme Powell was repeatedly shot by two police officers in Missouri. The police came after Powell because he had stolen soda from a local store. People around the scene of the incident video recorded the shooting from their cell phone. The officers claimed that they shot because Powell came at them with a knife. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/08/the-killing-of-kajieme-powell/378899/ -
Murder of Tamir Rice
12 year old boy Tamir Rice was killed by officers Loehmann and Frank Garmback for playing around with an airsoft replica gun. The caller who organized the police to arrive stated the gun was most likely fake, but this information never was received by the officers. The replica gun lacked a orange tipped barrel as well, which would give away instantly, it was a replica. -
Between The World And Me release date
"I write you in your fifteenth year. I am writing you because this was the year you saw Eric Garner choked to death for selling cigarettes; because you now know that Renisha McBride was shot for seeking help, that John Crawford was shot down for browsing in a department store. And you have seen men in uniform drive by and Murder Tamir Rice, a twelve-year old child who they were oath-bound to protect" (Coates 9). -
Anthem Protests Begin
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Trump Ignites Anthem Protests
On September 24, 2017, the NFL protests became more widespread when over 200 players sat or knelt in response to President Trump's calling for owners to "fire" the protesting players. -
Coates Leaves "The Atlantic"
Coates left his position as a national correspondent for The Atlantic in July 2018 after a decade with the magazine. In a memo to the staff, the editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, said: "The last few years for him have been years of significant changes. He’s told me that he would like to take some time to reflect on these changes, and to figure out the best path forward, both as a person and as a writer."
