On page 40 Coates describes Howard University as being his Mecca, “a machine, crafted to capture and concentrate the dark energy of all African people and inject it directly into the student body.” He refers to this place as his Mecca because the University was an institution and a community made of young black people from all places, social classes, etc. These people created generations of successful black learners. The site was full of history. He believed the University “captured much of the beauty of my black world.” He felt included, safe, and vibrant in this community, and that is why it is his Mecca.

Coates concept of history as a unified narrative stems from his desire to understand the “villains” and reasons for oppression and racism, why it all happened, and what could have existed without it. He asks himself whether blacks had retained any of their African inheritance, and he answers yes as he further understands the resilience of black people, and of African spirit.

One thing that Coates writes about is that there was a time in which he “wrote bad poetry.” I am curious about why he would consider it “bad”, what about it did not meet his own expectations? Poetry is art, and art can be critiqued but art is not bad art. His poetic peers asked him what he meant specifically by the loss of his body. I too wonder this.