Ecco

9780062977397

STARRED REVIEW

Black in Blues

Imani Perry showed her ability to weave historical research with sharp, sparkling analysis in 2022’s National Book Award-winning South to America. In Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, she explores how the color blue has been intertwined with Black life: in the dyeing of indigo, the religious traditions of various African cultures, the literature of Zora Neale Hurston, the revolutionary politics of Black freedom fighters and much more.

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Review of ‘Black in Blues’

“I wanted to write toward the mystery of blue and its alchemy in the lives of Black folk,” writes Imani Perry in Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People. This impressive read traces a complex history between Black people and the titular color that begins with textile…

Interview with Imani Perry

Black in Blues grapples with the history of Black suffering, Black art and, ultimately, Black joy and resistance, all through the color blue.

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