Background / References from the Book - Between the World and Me - Research Guide

Literary Works Referenced by Coates

A Letter to My Nephew by James Baldwin (1962) in The Progressive magazine

Between the World and Me, poem by Richard Wright

Malcolm, poem by Sonia Sanchez quoted at the beginning of Part I

Ka ‘Ba, poem by Imamu Amiri Baraka quoted at beginning of Part II

On Being White…And Other Lies, essay by James Baldwin (1984) in Essence quoted at beginning of Part III

Tracking Down Other References - Start Here

Use these reference sources from the library to look for information on names mentioned in Between the World & Me, like Malcom X, Wu-Tang Clan, or bell hooks.

Encyclopedia of American Studies
From Johns Hopkins University - Covers the history, philosophy, arts, and cultures of the United States in relation to the world, from pre-colonial days to the present.
Oxford Reference Online
Subjects: Archaeology, Art, Architecture, History, Language, Linguistics, Health,
Music, Literature, Philosophy, Science, and Social Science. Full-text subject reference works in a single cross-searchable resource. Note: accommodates only 1 user at any given time.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Subjects: Business, Biological Sciences. Online access to variety of reference books from the Gale publishing family. Can search an individual title or all titles at once.
Oxford Music
Full-text of Grove Music Online, The Oxford Companion to Music (revised 2011), and The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition (revised 2006). Note: accommodates only 1 user at any given time.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History
Available online

Films on Demand includes streaming documentary videos on individual authors and cultural critics, including key figures referenced by Coates in Between the World and Me

A List of Cultural & Historical References from Between the World & Me

The indexes below provide page numbers for the references in the text. Use the Reference Resources on this page to track down more information on these people, places, concepts and things.