In the essay, Coates argues that Obama is a political descendent of Malcom X’s celebration of Black self-determination and beauty.Ĭhapter 5 includes “Notes from the Fifth Year” and “Fear of a Black President.” In the note, Coates describes the growth of his persona as a Black public intellectual. The essay is Coates’s call to Black Americans to write their own stories of the Civil War and an examination of myths surrounding the Civil War.Ĭhapter 4 is made up of “Notes from the Fourth Year” and “The Legacy of Malcolm X: Why His Vision Lives on in Barack Obama.” In the note, Coates describes the United States as a country founded on the plunder of Black people and describes how hip-hop helped him find an aesthetic to articulate this point of view. “American Girl” is a profile of Michelle Obama, who used her biography to put Americans at ease with her husband’s immigrant roots.Ĭhapter 3 consists of 'Notes from the Third Year' and 'Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?' In the note, Coates situates Obama’s presidency as part of a long cycle of seeming progress on racial issues followed by backlash. Chapter 2 includes “Notes from the Second Year” and “American Girl.” In the note, Coates describes his hopefulness as Obama was elected and how his writing career took off in 2008.

The second essay is a critique of the Black conservatism of Bill Cosby. In Chapter 1, which comprises “Notes on the First Year” and “This Is How We Lost to the White Man,” Coates reflects on how poorly his career and personal life were going until Barack Obama ran for and won the presidency. White supremacists misrepresent these eras as ones rife with corruption and incompetence because good Black government undercuts White supremacist notions of inherent Black inferiority.

In the Introduction, “Regarding Good Negro Government,” Coates argues that the first era of good Black government was during the Reconstruction period rather than during the Obama presidency.

The book comprises an Introduction, eight essays with introductory notes, and an Epilogue that Coates wrote after the election of Donald Trump in 2016.

Coates we were eight years in power