And, I mean, there's all these stereotypes of the South that I think are because the South, in some ways, becomes the repository for the nation's sins, right? Like, that's the bad place down there. That's where, you know, social dysfunction is.

It both comes from frustration and also wanting to share and illuminate somethingĭAVIES: The frustration that people see the South, as some - how did you say, a distant, backward place? But, you know, as an intellectual and a scholar, over time, it just became increasingly clear to me that the misunderstanding of the South, the depiction of it as this sort of some other backwards, different place in other regions is actually part of the way in which we mischaracterize the nation. And I've had this experience of being both an insider and also seeing how the South is seen and, from a young age, you know, experiencing some frustration about the misperception. I mean, one, of course, is it's my home, but I have spent my life in some ways in exile - much of the time in exile of the South and I have been traveling back and forth the majority of my life. PERRY: It has a couple of different origin points. What made you want to take this journey into the South? Where did this come from?

Delighted to be here.ĭAVIES: You are, as I said, a child of the South, a native of Birmingham, but now teaching in an Ivy League institution. I spoke to her last January when it was published in hardback.ĭAVIES: Imani Perry, welcome to FRESH AIR. She's currently the Hughes-Rogers professor of African American studies at Princeton and the author of five previous books, including 'Looking For Lorraine,' a biography of the playwright Lorraine Hansberry, and, more recently, 'Breathe: A Letter To My Sons.' Her book 'South To America' comes out in paperback at the end of February. Perry earned a bachelor's degree from Yale, then a law degree at Harvard, where she also got her Ph.D. Imani Perry was born in Birmingham, Ala., and though she moved away as a child, she always considered it her home. The National Book Foundation called her book 'South To America' an 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. As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, we're going to listen to my interview with Princeton African American studies professor Imani Perry, who's just received the National Book Award for nonfiction. I'm Dave Davies, in today for Terry Gross.

South to america imani perry