On February 3, 2025, in partnership with the Texas Book Festival, Holdsworth President Dr. Lindsay Whorton interviewed Dr. Imani Perry, a renowned scholar, MacArthur fellow, and celebrated author of South to America and Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People. The event was part of “Place the Ladder,” a series that explores people’s lived experiences based on the idea that leadership is not a skill people are born with—it can be learned, explored, and studied.
Dr. Perry shared stories about her personal journey, her connection to the color blue, and the themes that run throughout her work—improvisation, resilience, and the power of imagination. Below are excerpts from the conversation, where she offers reflections on her upbringing, creative process, and what she hopes educators and leaders can take away from her work.
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Q: Your personal connection to home and your grandmother’s house plays a big role in your writing. Could you share more about that influence?
Dr. Perry: I often anchor myself in this way: I am Nita May Garner’s grandbaby, and I am a daughter of Birmingham, Alabama. The book starts in my grandmother’s bedroom, which was my first bedroom, a space filled with blue—blue bedspread, blue drapes, blue prayers written on the corner of the mirror. That place was my anchor. The night before my book launch, the house burned down, and I keep thinking, how do you have a funeral for a house? But that place shaped everything I write about.
Q: You describe yourself as an “improvisational” writer, likening your process to jazz music. How does improvisation influence your work?
Dr. Perry: I was up for a fellowship, and they asked me which writer influenced me the most. I said Thelonious Monk, and they thought that was odd. But I see writing as composition—there are riffs, trills, moans, and shouts. I try to mix the pieces together, like a jazz musician, until they fit and resonate. Improvisation is about honoring the past but not being derivative. It’s about finding new ways of getting to what you want to express.
Q: What role does “blue” play in your latest book, Black in Blues?
Dr. Perry: Blues are often seen as a paradox. In language, blue represents sadness and pain, but in Black culture, it’s also a deliberate choice to be joyful, to connect, and to create. There’s a deep history tied to the color, from the indigo trade to cultural practices like painting blue porches in South Carolina to ward off evil spirits. What amazes me is how Black people have taken something meant for devastation and created something beautiful out of it. That reinterpretation and resilience are what I try to explore.
Educators who acknowledge the full humanity of their students foster classrooms where growth and learning truly flourish.
Q: You’ve spoken about the role teachers played in your life, both positive and negative. What advice do you have for educators who want to create meaningful experiences for their students?
Dr. Perry: I always function with the presumption that the default human state is curiosity. We are naturally intellectual beings, but a series of experiences can alienate us from that curiosity. If educators can undo that alienation, they will find that children are innately imaginative and insightful. I also think it’s essential to untie the value of students from their academic performance. A grade doesn’t define their humanity or potential. Educators who acknowledge the full humanity of their students foster classrooms where growth and learning truly flourish.
Q: As an author and scholar, how do you think schools can better foster imagination and a sense of wonder in students?
Dr. Perry: We often treat education as a series of benchmarks or steps to achieve prestige or success, but I hope schools can help students cultivate something deeper—what I call a ‘living passion.’ Imagination doesn’t erase nightmares, but it can repurpose them, making sense of difficult experiences or even inspiring change. We need schools to prioritize imagination, not just for art but as a critical way of engaging with the world.
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