Age: 50
male
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates (/ˌtɑːnəˈhɑːsi/TAH-nə-HAH-see; (born September 30, 1975) is an American author, journalist, and activist. He gained a wide readership as a national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans and white supremacy. In 2015, Coates received a MacArthur Fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation. His 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 and Captain America series for Marvel Comics. His first novel, The Water Dancer, was published in 2019. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ta-Nehisi Coates, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Writer
for Writer in Groove & Legacy: The Willie Hutch Story
Suggested by kamsismith
Willie Hutch’s name may not immediately ring bells like Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye, but his contributions to Motown and beyond are the backbone of a sound that defined an era. Groove & Legacy: The Willie Hutch Story is a six-episode miniseries that delves into the life and career of this unsung hero, whose music blended social consciousness, raw emotion, and a uniquely powerful groove. The series begins in 1940s Los Angeles, where a young Willie Hutch dreams of making music. We follow his journey through the struggles of being a Black artist in America, his pivotal break as a songwriter for the Fifth Dimension, and his transformative move to Motown. As a producer, songwriter, and solo artist, Hutch crafted classics like "I'll Be There" for the Jackson 5 and unforgettable soundtracks for Blaxploitation films like The Mack and Foxy Brown. Each episode explores the highs and lows of Hutch’s career: his creative partnership with Berry Gordy, the cultural revolution sparked by his cinematic scores, and the personal sacrifices behind his relentless pursuit of greatness. At the heart of the series is the tension between his passion for creating music that uplifts and empowers and the commercial pressures of the cutthroat music industry.
