Breathe: A Letter to My Sons
Imani Perry
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Breathe: A Letter to My Sons
Imani Perry
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
Rave
Positive
Mixed
Pan
... both an excruciating and exhilarating experience. It is not unlike raising a Black boy in America. It prompts a complex rush of emotions. I highlighted so many passages, lines that I wanted to remember, to use as inspiration—including those that made me wince in uncomfortable recognition—I simply decided to reread the book as soon as I’d finished it.
... [Perry] forsakes the safe harbor of academic objectivity for the wilds of personal vulnerability. Her exhale feels overdue, and deep.
Perry’s wholehearted and sincere letter to her sons is part of her rearing, one in which she learns, too, telling them '. . . you teach me who you are much better than I teach you who I think you should be.' And in that revelation, Perry achieves her task of feeding and nourishing her sons while allowing space for them to feed themselves. It is the manifestation of the love and dreams of a Black mother for her Black sons. It is the realization of the 'radical discipline of becoming.'.
Perry shares well-told and funny memories of family trips to Alabama, Chicago, and Cambridge, which signal heritage and privilege, and innumerable gems from Black cultural thinkers on perseverance. This mother’s striking and generous admonition to thrive even in the face of white mendacity also is a meditation on parenting. Reflective insights about injustice adjoin a few visceral apologies about every responsible parent’s regrets. For Black boys and their parents who struggle to get childhood and mothering-along or fathering-along correct: 'Just always remember: even if you tumble . . . you must move towards freedom.'.
Perry’s uplifting and often lyrical meditation on living invites readers to delve into their self and particularly into the complicated categories of mother, parent, African American, and human. Highly recommended..
A multidisciplinary and acclaimed researcher, Perry uses references throughout the slim volume that range across centuries and the global black diaspora, across folklore, music, and visual arts as well as the influence of numerous faith traditions.