Synopses & Reviews
Explores the terror, grace, and beauty of coming of age as a Black person in contemporary America and what it means to parent our children in a persistently unjust world.
Emotionally raw and deeply reflective, Imani Perry issues an unflinching challenge to society to see Black children as deserving of humanity. She admits fear and frustration for her African American sons in a society that is increasingly racist and at times seems irredeemable. However, as a mother, feminist, writer, and intellectual, Perry offers an unfettered expression of love — finding beauty and possibility in life — and she exhorts her children and their peers to find the courage to chart their own paths and find steady footing and inspiration in Black tradition.
Perry draws upon the ideas of figures such as James Baldwin, W. E. B. DuBois, Emily Dickinson, Toni Morrison, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Ida B. Wells. She shares vulnerabilities and insight from her own life and from encounters in places as varied as the West Side of Chicago; Birmingham, Alabama; and New England prep schools.
With original art for the cover by Ekua Holmes, Breathe offers a broader meditation on race, gender, and the meaning of a life well lived and is also an unforgettable lesson in Black resistance and resilience.
Review
"A masterfully poetic and intimate work that anchors mothering within the long-standing tradition of black resistance and resourcefulness." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"This book is an honest examination of the contradictions that make us whole and human. Breathe is a love letter to and about us all." Phillip Agnew, codirector of the Dream Defenders
Review
"Beautifully written with brilliant insights that leap off the page, Breathe announces the arrival of Imani Perry as a literary force....This is a must-read — especially in these dark times." Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Review
"Imani Perry combines rigor and heart, and the result is a magic mirror showing us who we are, how we got here, and who we may become." Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage
About the Author
Imani Perry is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, where she also teaches in the Programs in Law and Public Affairs, and in Gender and Sexuality Studies. She is a native of Birmingham, Alabama, and spent much of her youth in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Chicago. She is the author of several books, including Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry. She lives outside Philadelphia with her two sons, Freeman Diallo Perry Rabb and Issa Garner Rabb. Connect with her on Twitter (@imaniperry).
Imani Perry on PowellsBooks.Blog
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