A series of long-form essays from newspaper The Atlantic, one from each year of the presidency of Barack Obama, about racial politics. Coates' writing clearly improves as the years progress, with articles including a critique of the (racism of) American prison system, the case for reparations, and the presidency of Barack Obama among the highlights. The writing is strongest in the author's introductory chapters to each essay, and in the epilogue, where Coates is both personal and professional and writes with an unrestricted freedom. Unfortunately for civil rights the book rarely shocks, but it does present a coherent argument that grows as Coates grows in confidence and concludes at the beginning of the Trump presidency.

Unfortunately let down by a lack of reference list, making the book difficult to investigate deeper.