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| Imani Perry, Ph.D. |
Scholar and historian Imani Perry presents a sweeping account of how
Blackness is created and reconstituted in the mythology, history, land,
and peoples of the Southern United States in South to America.
Perry, who hails from Birmingham, Alabama, presents history and personal
reflections to deliver a book that straddles genres. She offers a
thoughtful and ruminative view through the prism of the Black experience
and storied histories of Southern locales ––spanning Maryland to
Louisiana––each a seat of Black innovation, triumph, and tragedy.
The Black experience as seen through the lens of a Harvard-educated daughter of the South is much more than the tragic history of slavery and violent struggles through reconstruction and the Civil Rights movement. Perry’s most compelling narrative is reflected in her own accounts of being Black and doing the work of research. She gets acquainted with a variety of people, from a Confederate re-enactor to a collector of Black American art and artifacts. Perry accessed both Black and White spaces to understand complex stories of Black resistance and thriving.
Many books have been written about the South, but nothing approaches Perry’s nuanced and incisive commentary in South to America. This book comes at an important moment when there is renewed interest in Black history, particularly a critical look at Black identities rooted in the South.
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