Who is Nate Marshall? Chicago poet who trashed Obama's 'A Promised Land' branded 'jealous petty man'
Barack Obama's memoir titled, 'A Promised Land' was released on November 17. It is the first of a planned two volumes that Obama wrote following his tenure as US President from 2009 to 2017. Now after its release, it has started trending on Twitter along with Chicago Tribune's writer and poet, Nate Marshall, who is being slammed for writing a "negative" review of the book.
He also appeared on MSNBC's 'The 11th Hour With Brian Williams' where he talked about the book, before allegedly getting "muted". "Perhaps the job of the presidency itself is a fool’s errand," Marshall wrote in the first paragraph of his Chicago Tribune review, he continued slamming the former President, as he wrote, "We had expected one of the white guys to beat him. My dad, in all his precinct captain wisdom, looked down at me and said forcefully, 'They will not elect a Black man whose name rhymes with Osama to the US Senate, but we’re gonna support him anyway'."
"The Obama that shines through the text is certainly brilliant and analytical, but with little philosophical or ideological heft," he wrote. Throughout the long composed review of the book, Marshall made many such statements. On November 17, during his appearance on MSNBC while talking about the book, the channel allegedly muted his voice, as soon as he started slamming the author.
As soon as the incident came to light, people started slamming him, as one user said, "Brian, this Nate Marshall segment on President Obama's new book is lame. I'm wondering if this dude even read the book. He doesn't come across like he read it. This interview is weird. #11thHour." Another person replied, "I totally agree. It was an awful interview; not because he didn't like the book or disagreed with Obama's writing, but because he really couldn't support his opinion. He couldn't articulate his argument with words...you know, words...what writers should be masters of."
Brian, this Nate Marshall segment on President Obama's new book is lame. I'm wondering if this dude even read the book. He doesn't come across like he read it. This interview is weird. #11thHour
— Mari (@mari45678910) November 18, 2020
I totally agree. It was an awful interview; not because he didn't like the book or disagreed with Obama's writing, but because he really couldn't support his opinion. He couldn't articulate his argument with words...you know, words...what writers should be masters of.
— Ricky (@rickyramon95) November 18, 2020
Another wrote, "Nate Marshall sounds like a jealous petty man on MSNBC talking about Obama's A Promised Land." A user wrote, "How appropriate Nate Marshall's audio ended after his 'you can skip it' remarks."
Nate Marshall sounds like a jealous petty man on MSNBC talking about Obama's A Promised Land.
— sandra vena (@flamingonites) November 18, 2020
.@TheLastWord. How appropriate Nate Marshall's audio ended after his"you can skip it..."remarks re: President Obama's latest book.
— NastyWoman (@stefsstuff2) November 18, 2020
Along with a laughing emoji, a user said, "@BWilliams soooo glad Nate Marshall audio was hosed in ur show tonight!! No one wants to hear his ridiculousness so before I could turn the channel the Gods showed up and muted his voice instead." Describing the MSNBC incident, another one said, "*Brian Williams looking for an insightful review from Nate Marshall* Nate: skip it MSNBC: cut his mic."
@BWilliams soooo glad Nate Marshall audio was hosed in ur show tonight!! No one wants to hear his ridiculousness so before I could turn the channel the Gods showed up and muted his voice instead. 👍🏽😂🤣
— snobaby brandi (@snobaby28) November 18, 2020
*Brian Williams looking for an insightful review from Nate Marshall*
— Bikila (@BikilaKacha) November 18, 2020
Nate: skip it
MSNBC: cut his mic
Nate Marshall is a Chicago Award-winning writer, rapper, educator and editor. He has authored and edited numerous books, including 'Wild Hundreds' and 'The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop'. He works as an English professor at Colorado College. He is also a visiting assistant professor at Wabash College.
He has completed his MFA from the University of Michigan, where he served as a Zell postgraduate fellow. He is a founding member of the poetry collective 'Dark Noise'. He has received the 2014 Hurston/Wright Founding Members Award for College Writers and the 2013 Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Award. In 2015, he was awarded a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation.