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coltonchase 's review for:
This book. At the surface it is a travel narrative but within it is a United States history textbook. Imani is as much a scholar as they come. She holds a PhD and a JD from Harvard; she has studied law, history, African American studies, gender, and on and on. She is brilliant. In every sense of the word.
Each chapter covers Imani’s travels to a different place below the Mason Dixon Line while also telling the true history of those places. Within these chapters, Imani told the larger history of the United States and how we need to look to the American South to understand the soul of our nation. It all comes from the South, whether it’s our ideologies or the things that we have today (think blues music, bananas, candy, bourbon, cars, mobile homes, etc.). And what we tend to think is that the South is this special place where horrible things happen (think Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill or SB8 in Texas or climate crises along the Gulf), without realizing that it all starts there. Eventually those horrible things spread into the larger United States. Imani doesn’t let us forget, though, that the good things spread, too. That a lot of the things that bring us joy today have histories rooted in the American South.
I loved the chapter on New Orleans as I am partial to that beautiful city, but every single chapter was amazing. I think this book will be my favorite this year. I know it’s early but I am very sure that I won’t forget this one for quite some time. It should be required reading in US history classes. It is special. You all should read it.
Each chapter covers Imani’s travels to a different place below the Mason Dixon Line while also telling the true history of those places. Within these chapters, Imani told the larger history of the United States and how we need to look to the American South to understand the soul of our nation. It all comes from the South, whether it’s our ideologies or the things that we have today (think blues music, bananas, candy, bourbon, cars, mobile homes, etc.). And what we tend to think is that the South is this special place where horrible things happen (think Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill or SB8 in Texas or climate crises along the Gulf), without realizing that it all starts there. Eventually those horrible things spread into the larger United States. Imani doesn’t let us forget, though, that the good things spread, too. That a lot of the things that bring us joy today have histories rooted in the American South.
I loved the chapter on New Orleans as I am partial to that beautiful city, but every single chapter was amazing. I think this book will be my favorite this year. I know it’s early but I am very sure that I won’t forget this one for quite some time. It should be required reading in US history classes. It is special. You all should read it.