Free Audiobook : The Message, By Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates initially aimed to write a book focused on the craft of writing, inspired by works like Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language.” However, he soon found himself confronting more profound questions about how the stories we tell—whether through journalism, fiction, or myth—shape and sometimes distort our understanding of reality.

In the first of three interconnected essays, Coates recounts his first journey to Africa, experiencing both the vibrant city of Dakar and a mythical kingdom that exists in his imagination. His next stop is Columbia, South Carolina, where he not only examines the banning of his own book but also delves into the broader national resistance to the recent reckoning with American history and the deeply ingrained myths that permeate the city—a former Confederate capital where monuments to segregationists still dominate public spaces. The book's final and most extensive section takes Coates to Palestine, where he witnesses firsthand how nationalist stories can mislead and obscure the harsh realities on the ground.

Written at a critical moment in both American and global history, this work from one of the nation's leading authors explores the urgent necessity of freeing ourselves from the harmful myths that shape our world and embracing the liberating power of hard truths.