✨ Review ✨ Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry, Narrated by Imani Perry

Thanks to Ecco, Harper Audio and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

This book traces a deep relationship between Blackness and the color blue, finding it in art and literature, flora and fauna, in indigo and cobalt, in music (the Blues!), in the names of people, and so much more.

Perry defines Blackness expansively, from the US to across Africa, in past and present. She challenges us to think about the complexities of Blackness, for example, in thinking about the ways that African peoples crossed paths before the slave trade (and how these inter-African connections impacted their experiences as enslaved peoples later). I appreciated how this expanded my thinking.

The book is written as short thematic essays that ranged widely in their topics. From thinking about George Washington Carver to Toni Morrison's writing to blue morning glories, from contemporary art to the origins of the Blues to enslaved peoples in the fields, this book stretches across times and places. At its heart, it challenges power structures, imperialism, and enslavement, while also encouraging us to look to the color of blue as both a source of joy and marker of sorrow among Black peoples.

There were pieces of this book that resonated more deeply than others -- and pieces that will interest some readers more than others, but this seems consistent with essay collections. I learned so much from it and have much to return to and think about more.

🎧 I love a book narrated by the author (especially when it's done well), and she brings so much of her passion for this topic to the page. Listening is hard because you'll want to highlight, but it's also a beautiful way to encounter these reflections.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 for content and quality of writing, 4 for flow)

Genre: essay collection
Setting: US + Africa and beyond
Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
Pub Date: Jan 28, 2025

Read this if you like:
⭕️ nonfiction essay collections
⭕️ Black history, culture, and identity
⭕️ the color Blue

Imani Perry has done it again. This is a stellar book and a must read for anyone interested in American history and culture. I love how the book helped to me reconsider my relationship to the color blue. Beautifully written and thought provoking book…and Titus Kaphar’s art for the cover!!

For a reader who spends a lot of their time bogged down in blue, I couldn't help but find myself attracted to this new book by Imani Perry.
One thing that I've noticed, in common with her peers, is that when someone writes a book about the colour blue, and in this case, the genre named after it, is that they *all* write a meta-textual explanation for their obsession. The product is usually the book you hold in your hands. Unlike her peers, however, Perry skews less like a philosophical lyric essay and more like a history professor with a huge breadth of knowledge and who has done her research. I can't wait for this book to come out. Perry writes her own version of a folktale she heard as a child and weave it into the history of the colour blue, the genre 'blues,' and how her Blackness plays a role in both.

I really enjoyed this book and thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

I've been really into learning about the color wheel lately so the title of this book immediately intrigued me. This was such a unique lens to write about Black culture and experiences throughout the diaspora. Perry's writing is informative, reflective, and emotional. I will forever look at the choice of the color blue in Black spaces, fashion, and art differently! There were some chapters where I didn't understand why Perry discussed certain things or I felt like the chapter didn't stay on the topic of the chapter's title,. Some of those topics started in one chapter and ended in another. Overall, I was able to follow, but it may be confusing to some readers. I also would have appreciated some citations to help distinguish between facts and Perry's opinion or personal reflections, This was a beautiful book. I will be purchasing it for my personal library!

Thank you NetGalley and Ecco Books for the e-ARC!

Very informative and well researched. This author never disappoints.
****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

Book Review: A Masterpiece of Black Existence and Aesthetic

Imani Perry’s latest work is a stunning testament to the richness of our collective Black existence. Weaving together history, anthropology, and the soul of the BLUES, Perry crafts a narrative that resonates deeply, echoing like a song passed down through generations. Her ability to marry rigorous scholarship with an evocative, lyrical style is nothing short of magnificent.

Reading this book felt like a journey through the essence of Black life and art, its joys and struggles, its beauty and resilience. Perry captures the heart of what makes our stories sacred, connecting cultural threads with precision and grace. It is, simply put, a masterpiece.

I was fortunate to receive an early copy via NetGalley, as the book officially releases on January 28. I urge everyone to preorder this gem from an independent bookseller; it deserves a place on every bookshelf.

This book will be the first selection for Auntie’s Bookshelf in 2025, insha’Allah. And I must add, seeing Ashon Crawley’s name in the pages was an unexpected delight. Brilliant, indeed!

Bravo, Imani Perry. This work is a gift to us all.

A perfect example of narrative nonfiction. Perry is a storytelling professor for us all. In beautiful prose through the color blue, we are taken through a redemptive arc.

Imani Perry is quickly become a must read author for me. Her newest, Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People publishes January 28th and is not to be missed non fiction. Perry opens this exploration of blue by telling us where her blue began and framing this as a testimony given by a people who created a sound (the Blues) for the color so frequently named as a favorite. She explores the dichotomy of both a lovely and vibrant blue and what it means to be "feeling blue". She then brings us all the way back in history to the dyed indigo clothes of West Africa used to trade for human life and the earliest indigo plantations to explore how in blue water one can see both God and ships of the enslaved.

I can't possibly do justice to what Perry is doing here, but I can absolutely urge you to pre order this exploration of blue and how it shapes the lives of Black people. While this is true non fiction with some primary sources and plenty of information, Perry's prose is stunning and hypnotizing. I'm in awe of this book and highly recommend picking up South to American if you haven't already while we wait for pub date. Thank you @eccobooks for an advanced copy.

Easily one of the best non-fiction books I’ve read this year. Perry takes us on a journey to investigate the cultural significance of the color Blue in African American history and culture. Not only does she leave no stone unturned and touches on a variety of subjects like blues music and how Black folks have been referred to as being so Black that we are blue, she does it all with so much love and care. I couldn’t have asked for a better read!

Black in Blues is a fantastic look by Imani Perry at art and race and how both are complimentary to each other and influenced the lives of many especially Black people.

Thanks to Ecco and Netgalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available January 2025

Expansive yet precise, Imani Perry's Black in Blues traces the appearance of the term blue in African and Black history, starting pre-colonization and ending in our present era. As with all of Perry's books, there is a delicate balance of history, cultural analysis, and personal reflection. I thoroughly enjoyed the vivid way Perry brings it all to life and seems to be able to time travel without much break in logical reasoning. What felt a bit off was the ending, particularly the multiple endings. With a book this enormous, I know a tidy ending wasn't possible, but it feels like Perry became ummoored and lost in the blues herself. Still, this is a worthy read!