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Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People – The National Book Award Winner's Cultural Meditation on Race, Blues, and Identity

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Description

A “vast, multifaceted and enchanting” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) meditation on the color blue and its fascinating role in Black history and culture, from National Book Award winner Imani Perry, “the most important interpreter of Black life in our time” (Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.)Throughout history, the concept of Blackness has been remarkably intertwined with another color: blue. In daily life, it is evoked in countless ways. Blue skies and blue water offer hope for that which lies beyond the current conditions. But blue is also the color of deep melancholy and heartache, echoing Louis Armstrong’s question, “What did I do to be so Black and blue?” In this book, celebrated author Imani Perry uses the world’s favorite color as a springboard for a riveting emotional, cultural, and spiritual journey—an examination of race and Blackness that transcends politics or ideology.Perry traces both blue and Blackness from their earliest roots to their many embodiments of contemporary culture, drawing deeply from her own life as well as art and history: The dyed indigo cloths of West Africa that were traded for human life in the 16th century. The mixture of awe and aversion in the old-fashioned characterization of dark-skinned people as “Blue Black.” The fundamentally American art form of blues music, sitting at the crossroads of pain and pleasure. The blue flowers Perry plants to honor a loved one gone too soon.Poignant, spellbinding, and utterly original, Black in Blues is a brilliant new work that could only have come from the mind of one of our greatest writers and thinkers. Attuned to the harrowing and the sublime aspects of the human experience, it is every bit as vivid, rich, and striking as blue itself. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco


Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 28, 2025


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 256 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062977393


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 97


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.9 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.84 x 8.25 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #46,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #19 in Black & African American History (Books) #30 in African American Demographic Studies (Books) #57 in Black & African American Biographies


#19 in Black & African American History (Books):


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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Friday, Mar 20

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Top Amazon Reviews


  • ENTHRALLING & MAGNIFICENT
Format: Kindle
I read this book a “TOO QUICKLY; SKIMMING OVER SECTIONS AT A GLANCE. WILL RETURN 2 EMBRACE THIS TALE of LOVE, LOSS RETURN & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM the ANCESTORS DOWN 2 THEIR SURVIVORS ~ GOD and HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON: JESUS AREN’T DONE WITH US YET_ HALLELUJAH!!!!!
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2025 by STANDARD BEARER

  • Analysis of varied music among black culture
Format: Hardcover
Insightful
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2025 by Patty Rosebourgh

  • Imagine that
Format: Hardcover
This book is not for everyone - obviously - but beautifully depicted and fairly easy to read, I loved it and everything it stood for; all the wonderful examples of our history and how much blues in black really truly are part of it. She makes the argument succinctly. Case closed.
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2025 by Linda Frazier

  • Could not put it down!
Format: Kindle
Beautiful, stunning, magnificent, and full of soul. The mix of prose, history and storytelling had me hooked until the very end. Imani has such a creative talent to weave together black history through the color blue throughout time that is both educational and thought provoking. I feel like this book will stay with me for a long time. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2026 by sue

  • Blue
Format: Hardcover
More about the color blue than you ever thought, including history
Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2026 by LJ

  • This maybe her very best
Format: Kindle
As a all time fan, this might be her best book to date!!! If you loved sinners movie you have to read this!!! She made soooo many blue connections 💙
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2026 by Sean polidore

  • Brilliant
Format: Hardcover
Imani Perry's BLACK IN BLUES is exquisite. The way she tells the history of her family and of Black people through the color blue is both moving and genius. Many writers have written book-length works focusing on one color (and blue seems to be a popular choice), yet Perry's is the one that sticks with me. Her writing is beautiful and her stories very compelling. Before the book was published, I kept looking for it on my shelves because I wanted to reference a passage. I will be teaching this book in at least two of my upcoming classes and look forward to spending more time with BLACK IN BLUES ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2025 by JesakaL

  • Moving Exploration of the Color Blue
Format: Kindle
A unique, moving, at times painful, exploration of the color blue and its connection to us (black folk) . Worth the slippery and scary journey through our color.
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2025 by Miki Conn

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