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"Perry, Imani, 1972- author"
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May we forever stand : a history of the black national anthem
\"The twin acts of singing and fighting for freedom have been inseparable in African American history. May We Forever Stand tells an essential part of that story. With lyrics penned by James Weldon Johnson and music composed by his brother Rosamond, \"Lift Every Voice and Sing\" was embraced almost immediately as an anthem that captured the story and the aspirations of black Americans. Since the song's creation, it has been adopted by the NAACP and performed by countless artists in times of both crisis and celebration, cementing its place in African American life up through the present day. In this rich, poignant, and readable work, Imani Perry tells the story of the Black National Anthem as it traveled from South to North, from civil rights to black power, and from countless family reunions to Carnegie Hall and the Oval Office. Drawing on a wide array of sources, Perry uses \"Lift Every Voice and Sing\" as a window on the powerful ways African Americans have used music and culture to organize, mourn, challenge, and celebrate for more than a century.\"--Publisher's description
Book
Prophets of the Hood
At once the most lucrative, popular, and culturally oppositional
musical force in the United States, hip hop demands the kind of
interpretation Imani Perry provides here: criticism engaged with
this vibrant musical form on its own terms. A scholar and a fan,
Perry considers the art, politics, and culture of hip hop through
an analysis of song lyrics, the words of the prophets of the hood.
Recognizing prevailing characterizations of hip hop as a
transnational musical form, Perry advances a powerful argument that
hip hop is first and foremost black American music. At the same
time, she contends that many studies have shortchanged the
aesthetic value of rap by attributing its form and content
primarily to socioeconomic factors. Her innovative analysis revels
in the artistry of hip hop, revealing it as an art of innovation,
not deprivation.
Perry offers detailed readings of the lyrics of many hip hop
artists, including Ice Cube, Public Enemy, De La Soul, krs-One,
OutKast, Sean \"Puffy\" Combs, Tupac Shakur, Lil' Kim, Biggie Smalls,
Nas, Method Man, and Lauryn Hill. She focuses on the cultural
foundations of the music and on the form and narrative features of
the songs-the call and response, the reliance on the break, the use
of metaphor, and the recurring figures of the trickster and the
outlaw. Perry also provides complex considerations of hip hop's
association with crime, violence, and misogyny. She shows that
while its message may be disconcerting, rap often expresses
brilliant insights about existence in a society mired in difficult
racial and gender politics. Hip hop, she suggests, airs a much
wider, more troubling range of black experience than was projected
during the civil rights era. It provides a unique public space
where the sacred and the profane impulses within African American
culture unite.
eBook
Breathe : a letter to my sons
\"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. 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\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
