Weaving together stories of immigrant communities, contemporary artists, exploitative opportunists, enslaved peoples, unsung heroes, her own ancestors, and her lived experiences, Imani Perry crafts a tapestry unlike any other. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people.

This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery.

South to America: A Journey Below the Mason Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani PerryĪn essential, surprising journey through the history, rituals, and landscapes of the American South-and a revelatory argument for why you must understand the South in order to understand America

South to america perry