A surprising and beautiful meditation on the color blue--and its fascinating role in Black
history and culture--from National Book Award winner Imani Perry 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 16 th
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.
