Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates is an American author, journalist, and activist. He gained widespread recognition during his tenure as a national correspondent for The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly focusing on African Americans and white supremacy.

In 2015, Coates was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship from the MacArthur Foundation. His works have been published in numerous periodicals, and he has authored 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.

Coates has also contributed to the world of comics, writing series for Marvel Comics such as Black Panther and Captain America. His first novel, The Water Dancer, was published in 2019.