First published 2024
Nell Irvin Painter brings together her essays from decades of examining American history through the lens of race and politics. The author of The History of White People and Old in Art School presents her work on figures from Sojourner Truth to Malcolm X, from Carrie Buck to Martin Delaney. Painter explores how exclusion has shaped the nation, drawing on Toni Morrison's insights and analyzing the political climate following the 2016 election. She weaves together personal narrative with academic research, asking readers to rethink assumptions about race, politics, and identity. The collection includes previously unpublished pieces and features Painter's original artwork throughout. Her visual creations, built from newspaper clippings, personal documents, and sketches, complement the written essays. Painter shows America as a country often divided against itself, caught between the possibility of progress and the weight of its historical failures. Rather than offering simple solutions, these essays embrace complexity and contradiction.
Genres: american, african-american, academic, american-history
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic-research, personal-narrative
Period: 19th-century, 20th-century, 21st-century
418 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday