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Imani Perry Quotes
born 1972 United States
Imani Perry (born September 5, 1972) is an American interdisciplinary scholar of race, law, literature, and African American culture. She is the Henry A.
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16 quotes
Writing is absolutely the work of freedom. Not just freedom dreaming but being free.
I hope this new collection leads to a revived Shange moment, She published so much and in so many forms. This is new, but it also fits inside a magnificent body of work.
It is my people and traditions that moved the world with song and inspired the world with freedom dreams.
But really, there are so many gems in her archive. If I had my druthers, we’d have a whole shelf of Hansberry titles.
The thread of connection between the emotion, the intellect, and the imagination compels me. In that triangle is something that is fundamentally human.
I hope that it opens more conversations and contemplations.
The tradition of black folks holding onto things because they knew they were important means a lot to history and scholarship.
Institutions and professional organizations have held onto papers that other people didn’t think were important and it turns out they can be instrumental to historians and researchers.
The best writing is a conversation that you as a reader want to return to. There are some books I will be learning from, and some I’ll be arguing with, my whole life.
So it feels like a place that is one of the sites of my own beginning.
When they called my name, I was stunned. That moment changed my life.
For me, it’s a responsibility but not a burden. It brings us to an understanding of how do you live a life of meaning and purpose? How do you bear witness to the truth as you see it.
I was hooked. That book pulled me away from math and into American studies.
I don’t come from a Great Migration family. The majority of my family still lives in the South. In general, most people didn’t leave. After I left the South I missed that community.
When you start with the traditions and experiences of Black women in the South, you are forced to understand on a much deeper level what patriarchy is and how people are sorted based on how much protection they will receive. It’s an ethical commitment not only to addressing personal instances of sexism but also systemic ones.
Keep it small. One of the best writing lessons is to remember that stories are intimate. Keep [the focus] small and specific because you can be overwhelmed if you think about everything. Be attentive– a kind of love. Locate your attention in a loving gaze.
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