THE MESSAGE, T. CoatsTa Nehisi Coates originally set off to write a book about writing, in the tradition of Orwells classic Politics and the English Language, but found himself grappling with deeper questions about how our storiesour reporting and imaginative narratives and mythmakingexpose and distort our realities. The first of the books three intertwining essays is set in Dakar, Senegal. Despite being raised as a strict Afrocentrist, Coates had never set foot on the