In Will & Harper (2024) and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, we see people trying to live fully in a world that often misunderstands them. One story follows a trans woman on a cross country road trip with her best friend while the other is a letter from a Black father to his son about what it means to grow up in America. Even though they cover completely different identities, they both show what it means to live in a body that others judge, fear, or try to control.

 

The film and the book highlight the power of being seen, being heard, and being known for who you really are.

Coates writes about the Black experience in America, but many of his ideas apply to others too. He focuses on the body and how it is shaped, judged, and sometimes threatened by the world. That connects to Harper’s story in Will & Harper. Coates tells his son, “You must always remember that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regressions all land, with great violence, upon the body” (Coates 13). Harper feels a different kind of harm but it still comes from the outside. She talks about feeling unsafe in some towns and not knowing if people will treat her with respect. Like Coates, she lives in a system that sees her as “other” and treats her with suspicion.

 

Will & Harper and Between the World and Me both ask us to think about how we treat people who do not fit into the mainstream. They show that identity is not only about how someone sees themselves. It is also about how the world sees and treats them. Their lives are shaped by how others respond to them. Coates writes, “In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body. It is heritage” (Coates 103). That truth explains the fear and pressure that come from being misunderstood or seen as a threat.

 

Still, both works also highlight the value of support. In Will & Harper, Will listens to Harper. He doesn’t try to speak for her, he shows up and gives her space to speak for herself. Coates also doesn’t pretend to know everything. He tells his son what he knows and what he is still figuring out. He speaks with honesty and care. Both examples show that the first step to helping others is to listen. Not to fix, but to understand.

 

Coates shows that being part of a marginalized group, whether Black, trans, or otherwise, means carrying extra weight. You often have to prove you belong. You face systems that do not work for you. But Coates also shows the strength that comes from telling your story. When someone like Harper shares her life openly, it can help others see her as a full person. That kind of honesty can build understanding.

 

In the end, both Will & Harper and Between the World and Me show that people need more than visibility. They need to be truly known. Whether it is about race or gender, these stories ask us to pay attention. They remind us that real respect comes from listening, making space, and seeing others as people and not problems.