Paul Coates (publisher)

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Paul Coates
Born
William Paul Coates

(1946-07-04) July 4, 1946 (age 77)
Dorothy Porter Wesley Award

Lord Nose Award

William Paul Coates (born July 4, 1946)

BCP Digital Printing in 1995.[2] He is the father of award-winning author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates.[1][3]

Biography

W. Paul Coates

K-9 unit, until his discharge after 18 months, in 1967.[3]

On his return to the US, he settled in

Baltimore, Maryland, and began working as a volunteer in the Black Panther Party's breakfast program. Becoming defense captain of the Baltimore Black Panthers, he was "in charge of managing all all Panther activities in Maryland, including implementing free clothing and free food programs and housing assistance, before leaving the organisation in 1971."[1]

In 1972, with other activists, he established the George Jackson Prison Movement to bring Afrocentric literature to inmates, aiming to "retrieve the souls and minds of the incarcerated".

Haki Madhubuti's Third World Press.[5][8]

Utilizing the

Moorland-Spingarn Research Center,[3] until 1991.[1] He is co-editor with Elinor Des Verney Sinnette of Black Bibliophiles and Collectors: Preservers of Black History (1990, Howard University Press).[9][10]

In 1995, Coates launched

BCP Digital Printing to specialize in short-run printing, about which he said in 2018: "There are many publishing companies, but there's still only one Black book printing company in this country that I know of and that's Black Classic Press."[2]

An impactful landmark for BCP came in 1997, when award-winning author

J. A. Rogers, with the press specializing in obscure and significant works by and about people of African descent.[5][8][9] As Coates says in the mission statement of BCP: "We began publishing because we wanted to extend the memory of what we believe are important books that have helped in meaningful ways to shape the Black diasporic experience and our understanding of the world."[13]

Coates is a founding member and chair of the National Association of Black Book Publishers, and has served as adjunct instructor of

Sojourner-Douglass College in Baltimore.[14]

Awards

In 2018, in recognition of his excellence in contributing to the information profession Coates received the inaugural

Dorothy Porter Wesley Award[15][16] from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History ASALH), established "to honor and document the outstanding work of Information Professionals; Bibliophiles, Librarians, Archivists, Curators and Collectors."[17]

In 2020, the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) awarded Coates its Lord Nose Award, given annually in recognition of a lifetime of work in literary publishing.[18]

Personal life

Coates has seven biological children, as well as two children through his third marriage, in 2010.[19] His son Ta-Nehisi writes about growing up with his father in a well-received 2008 memoir and tribute, entitled The Beautiful Struggle.[8][20][21][22] In the Los Angeles Times, Lynell George summarized the book by saying: "What overshadows all is his father's presence, his omnipresence—the profile and teachings of a man who had a strong hand in the rearing of his progeny, both his intimate circle and the extended family of African Americans traversing an uncertain landscape. His guiding principle was simple: 'I'm not here to be your friend. My job is to get you through. To make you conscious of the world around you. To teach lessons that can carry over.'"[23]

The 2020 book The Brother You Choose: Paul Coates and Eddie Conway Talk About Life, Politics, and The Revolution, written by Susie Day, is an exploration of the friendship forged during prison visits that Coates made to support Eddie Conway, a former associate through the Black Panther Party, who had been wrongfully convicted and was incarcerated for more than four decades, until his release on parole in 2014.[24][25][26]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "W.Paul Coates". The HistoryMakers. January 20, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  2. ^
    Washington Informer
    . Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Breckenridge, Kenneth Stone (January 2018). "Forward Press". Baltimore. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  4. ^ Coates, Ta-Nehisi (November 23, 2013). "In Defense of a Loaded Word". The New York Times.
  5. ^ a b c Jackson, D. Amari (February 22, 2017). "How an Ex-Black Panther Waged a Successful, Four-Decade Revolution In Publishing Without Planning To". Atlanta Black Star. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  6. ^ Reid, Calvin (May 11, 2018). "Black Classic Press Marks 40 Years". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  7. ^ "Paul Coates Publishing Discussion". Eso Won Books. November 7, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Pride, Felicia (June 4, 2008). "Manning Up: The Coates Family's Beautiful Struggle in Word and Deed". Baltimore City Paper. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  9. ^
    African American Literature Book Club
    . Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  10. JSTOR 26557002
    .
  11. ^ Carvajal, Doreen (June 24, 1996). "Enlisting A Small Publisher". The New York Times.
  12. Washington Post
    .
  13. ^ "About Us". Black Classic Press. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  14. Lit Hub
    . January 21, 2021. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  15. ^ "Informational Professionals | 2018 Awardee". ASALH. 21 April 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  16. ^ "W. Paul Coates: Recipient of the First Dr. Dorothy Porter Wesley Award" (PDF). Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  17. ^ "The Dorothy Porter Wesley Award". ASALH. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  18. ^ "2020 Lord Nose Award | Celebrating W. Paul Coates and Black Classics Press". CLMP. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  19. Huff Post
    . Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  20. ^ Conan, Neal (June 9, 2008). "Struggling with Style – Ta-Nehisi Coates". Talk of the Nation. NPR. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  21. ^ Gross, Terry (February 18, 2009). "Ta-Nehisi Coates' 'Unlikely Road to Manhood'". Fresh Air. NPR. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  22. ^ Benjamin, Rich (September 1, 2016). "The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates review – subverting white expectations". The Guardian.
  23. ^ George, Lynell (July 9, 2008). "Lessons from Dad". Los Angeles Times.
  24. ^ Yates, Michael D. (April 1, 2021). "These Brothers Chose Well". Monthly Review. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  25. ^ Cassie, Ron (October 2020). "'The Brother You Choose' Details Enduring Bond Between Paul Coates and Eddie Conway". Baltimore. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  26. ^ "Susie Day, W. Paul Coates and Eddie Conway". AALBC. Retrieved March 11, 2022.

External links

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