Portrait of Ta-Nehisi Coates

Birthday profile

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates, American author and journalist

Born
September 30, 1975
Age in 2026
51
Zodiac sign
Libra
Birth year
1975

About Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( TAH-nə-HAH-see; born September 30, 1975) is an American author, journalist, and activist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans and white supremacy. He is politically progressive. Coates's work has been published in numerous periodicals. He has published four nonfiction books: The Beautiful Struggle (2008), Between the World and Me (2015), We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy (2017), and The Message (2024). Between the World and Me won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction. He has also written a Black Panther series and a Captain America series for Marvel Comics. His first novel, The Water Dancer, was published in 2019. In 2015, Coates received a MacArthur Fellowship. Coates's first name, Ta-Nehisi, is derived from an ancient Egyptian language name for Nubia (reconstructed as nḥsj), a region along the Nile river in present-day northern Sudan and southern Egypt. Coates's father founded and ran Black Classic Press, a publishing company specializing in African-American titles.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Ta-Nehisi Coates timeline

  1. Between the World and Me won the 2015 National Book Award for Nonfiction.
  2. His first novel, The Water Dancer, was published in 2019.

The world when Ta-Nehisi Coates was born

Ta-Nehisi Coates was born in 1975. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1975

  • #1 song"Love Will Keep Us Together" – Captain & Tennille
  • Top movieJaws
  • Top TV showAll in the Family
  • Best-selling bookShogun – James Clavell

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentMuhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier III "Thrilla in Manila"
  • Top headlineFall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
  • Technology milestoneAltair 8800 — first personal computer kit
  • Defining fadPet Rocks — 1.5 million sold
  • Notable inventionPet Rock
  • World population4.09 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderGerald Ford
  • Sports championCincinnati Reds (World Series)
  • Also wonGolden State Warriors (NBA)
  • U.S. population215.9M

1975 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Ta-Nehisi Coates's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19752026
Gas$0.57$3.45/gal
Average home$28,900$435,000
Average income$14,700$67,500
Minimum wage$2.10$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$2.05$11.95
Postage stamp$0.10$0.73
Population215.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.