By Joséphine Li
Thanksgiving is certainly a time for giving thanks and reflection — especially during these unprecedented times. HBO’s special event “Between the World and Me” from Ta-Nehisi Coates debuted on Thanksgiving weekend. The film tells a powerful and impactful story of resilience and hope.
Poetic and haunting, “Between the World and Me” is a 2015 nonfiction book written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It is written as a letter to the author’s 15-year-old son about the experience, symbolism, and realities associated with being Black in the US.
Recently, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book and its subsequent stage presentation were adapted into an HBO special that lost none of its impacts, a feat made all the more compelling and remarkable by its production amid the Covid-19 outbreak. Weaving in news footage with Black actors reading Coates’ words backed by music. This adaption of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ reflections to his teenage son will likely have a profound impact on film history and be played and replayed in the years to come.
The film was directed by Kamilah Forbes — who brought Coates’ book to the Apollo Theater — the special incorporates news footage old and new, from Muhammad Ali speaking to dashcam video of police abusing African American drivers.
County Mayor in Florida Proposes Task Force to Fight Systemic Racism
“I’m telling you this in your fifteenth year,” the narrative begins, delivered by an impressive array of Black celebrities, from musicians Ledisi and Black Thought to veteran actors like Wendell Pierce, Phylicia Rashad, Joe Morton, and Angela Bassett.
Yara Shahidi, the youngest performer in the cast, speaks of Coates’ school days while sitting in a dorm. Mahershala Ali, a two time Oscar winner, delivers a bittersweet monologue about past and present lovers and the birth of Coates’ son, Samori. Angela Davis appears in both current and archival footage, bridging the gap between past and present activism. Even Oprah shows up late in the proceedings, wearing a head wrap and evoking the spirit of Maya Angelou while basking in the glow of Bradford Young’s marvelous cinematography.
Coates speaks of the “cosmic injustice” of the Black experience, and tells his child, “You do not have the privilege of living in ignorance” — a warning that possesses additional clout with Oprah presenting it.
Coates tells the story of a student he knew at Howard University — Prince Carmen Jones, who was shot by the police, linking the past to the present, drawing a line through the long and traumatic history that has built the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The system makes your body breakable…This is your country… And you must find some way to live within all of it.” Coates writes to his son.
Forbes has brilliantly deployed her talent amid the constraints of shooting under Covid-19 conditions, sometimes simply showing actors’ melancholy expressions while the voices of others play. Set to a moving score by Jason Moran, the production approximates a theatrical experience, bringing the dialogue to life in a deeply intimate way.
The last five years have only made Coates’ opinion more relevant, and this provocative special timelier — issuing a call that says anyone who is satisfied with the status quo and reluctant to move forward, no longer has the privilege of living in ignorance.
The film premiered on HBO on November 21.
