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Ta-Nehisi Coates Honored With 2015 MacArthur 'Genius Grant'

Journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates was honored with the 2015 MacArthur 'Genius Grant' and will be one of 25 individuals to participate in the fellowship.

Journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates continues to rack up writing accomplishments.

Coates has been awarded the 2015 MacArthur 'Genius Grant' and will be one of 25 individuals to participate in the fellowship that is awarded to a range of talented individuals across different industries including writing, science, teachers and entrepreneurs. 
"The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction," the organization's website reads. "The MacArthur Fellows Program is intended to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations," the site also reads.

Coates is currently the National Correspondent for The Atlantic. Most recently he was recruited to pen Marvel's Black Panther comic series. Coates is one of the most prominent intellectual voices in writing today, receiving nods from iconic author Toni Morrison, who read his latest book, Between the World and Me, and proclaimed that his work filled the literary void left by James Baldwin's death. Jay Z, who rarely tweets, also recommended the work via Twitter. 

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(Photo: Antoine Doyen/AP Images for John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)

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