by Imani Perry
First published 2025
National Book Award winner Imani Perry examines the color blue as a lens for understanding Black history and culture. She traces connections between blue and Blackness across time and geography. Perry draws from West African indigo cloths traded for enslaved people in the 16th century. She explores the "Blue Black" descriptions of dark-skinned people and the American blues music tradition born from pain and pleasure. The author weaves together personal stories, including blue flowers she plants to honor a deceased loved one, with cultural analysis. Perry connects blue skies and water as symbols of hope with blue as the color of melancholy, referencing Louis Armstrong's "What did I do to be so Black and blue?" Her approach transcends political ideology to offer an emotional, cultural, and spiritual examination of race. The book provides readers with an original perspective on how color shapes identity and meaning in Black experience.
Genres: history, essays, african-american, biography-memoir, art-history, cultural-studies
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, meditative, poignant, reflective, thought-provoking
Tropes: intergenerational-reflection, personal-narrative-woven-with-cultural-analysis, symbolic-exploration
Setting: West Africa, America
Period: 16th century, 20th century, 21st century
384 pages · Paperback · Harper Large Print
Content warnings: racism, slavery