Thomas Chatterton Williams

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Thomas Chatterton Williams
Born1981 (1981)[1]
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
OccupationCritic, author
Alma materGeorgetown University
New York University
SubjectRace, identity
Notable worksLosing My Cool (2010)
Self-Portrait in Black and White (2019)
Notable awardsBerlin Prize
Years active2007–present[2]
SpouseValentine Faure[3]
Children2
Website
thomaschattertonwilliams.com

Thomas Chatterton Williams (born 1981) is an American cultural critic and author.[2] He is the author of the 2019 book Self-Portrait in Black and White and a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine.

Williams is a 2019 New America Fellow and a Berlin Prize recipient. He is currently a nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Early life and education[]

Thomas Chatterton Williams was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1981,[1] to a black father, Clarence Williams, and a white mother, Kathleen.[4][3] He was named after the English poet Thomas Chatterton.[4] He was raised in Fanwood, New Jersey,[4] and attended Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains.[5] Williams graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He also completed a master's degree from New York University's Cultural Reporting and Criticism program.[2]

Career[]

In 2010, Williams released his first book, Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture.[6]

Williams released his second book, Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race, on October 15, 2019.[7][8][9][10]

Williams is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine[11] and at Harper's Magazine.[12] He is a 2019 New America Fellow[13] and a Berlin Prize recipient.[14]

In 2020, he wrote the initial draft of "A Letter on Justice and Open Debate", an open letter in Harper's Magazine, signed by 152 public figures. It criticized what the letter argued was a culture of "intolerance of opposing views."[15]

Personal life[]

Williams married French journalist and author Valentine Faure in France in 2011.[3] He lives in Paris, with Faure and their two children.[16]

Bibliography[]

  • Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race. W. W. Norton & Company. 2019. ISBN 978-0-393-60886-1.
  • Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop Culture. The Penguin Press. 2010. ISBN 978-1-59420-263-6.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Martin, Michel (June 15, 2010). "Father-Son Bond Inspires Memoir Of Love And Reflection". Tell Me More. NPR. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Thomas Chatterton Williams, Penguin Random House author page. Retrieved 19-Nov-19,
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c Williams, Thomas Chatterton (September 22, 2019). "Shades of Meaning". The New York Times Magazine. pp. 46–51, 56–57.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Walsh, Jeremy (August 19, 2010). "Fanwood author finds father's voice leads him out of trouble". The Star-Ledger. NJ.com. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  5. ^ Thomas Chatterton Williams (October 15, 2019). Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race. W. W. Norton. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-393-60887-8.
  6. ^ McKelvey, Tara (August 6, 2010). "Nonfiction Chronicle". The New York Times. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  7. ^ "Self-Portrait in Black and White". W. W. Norton & Company. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  8. ^ Sewell, Summer (October 15, 2019). "Is it time to unlearn race? Thomas Chatterton Williams says yes". The Guardian. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  9. ^ Friedersdorf, Conor (November 5, 2019). "Unraveling Race". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  10. ^ Lozada, Carlos (October 11, 2019). "How to become an ex-black man". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  11. ^ Solomon, Andrew (October 14, 2019). "How Moving to France and Having Children Led a Black American to Rethink Race". The New York Times Book Review. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  12. ^ Beha, Christopher. "The Letter and Its Discontents". Harper's Magazine. John R. MacArthur. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Thomas Chatterton Williams". New America. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  14. ^ "Announcing the 2017–18 Class of Berlin Prize Fellows". American Academy in Berlin. May 10, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
  15. ^ Schuessler, Jennifer; Harris, Elizabeth A. (2020-08-10). "Artists and Writers Warn of an 'Intolerant Climate.' Reaction Is Swift". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
  16. ^ Williams, Thomas Chatterton (September 17, 2019). "My Family's Life Inside and Outside America's Racial Categories". The New York Times. Retrieved November 19, 2019.

External links[]


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