Jump to content

Imani Perry

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by GAWebber2 (talk | contribs) at 18:21, 31 January 2023. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Imani Perry
Born (1972-09-05) September 5, 1972 (age 51)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Academic background
EducationYale University (BA)
Harvard University (JD, PhD)
Academic work
InstitutionsPrinceton University
Main interestsRace, law, African American culture, Citizenship, American Politics, Intellectual Traditions, Neoliberalism, Culture and Life, Feminist Thought, Religious Thought

Imani Perry (born September 5, 1972) is an American interdisciplinary scholar of race, law, literature, and African-American culture. She is currently the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and a columnist for The Atlantic.[1] Perry won the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction for South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation. [2]

Early life

Perry was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her parents when she was five years old.[3] She has described herself as a "cradle Catholic".[4]

Education and academic career

Perry received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in American Studies and Literature from Yale University in 1994. She subsequently earned her Ph.D. in American Civilization from Harvard University and her J.D. from Harvard Law School (from which she graduated at the age of 27). She completed a Future Law Professor's Fellowship and received her LLM from Georgetown University Law Center.[5] She credits her childhood exposure to diverse cultures, regions, and religions with creating her desire to study race.[4]

Before joining the Princeton faculty, Perry taught at Rutgers School of Law in Camden for seven years. She received the New Professor of the Year award in her first year and was promoted to full professor at the end of five years, also winning the Board of Trustees Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence. Perry was also a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an adjunct professor at both the Columbia University Institute for Research in African American Studies and Georgetown University Law Center.[6]

In 2009, Perry left Rutgers to join the faculty of Princeton University. She currently holds the title of Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies and is affiliated with the Programs in Law and Public Affairs and Gender and Sexuality Studies.[7] She has two forthcoming books, one on the history of the black national anthem (from Oxford University Press) and another on gender, neoliberalism, and the digital age (from Duke University Press).[8]

In August 2014, Perry appeared on the public radio and podcast On Being, discussing race, community, and American consciousness with host Krista Tippett.[9] On November 17, 2021, Dr. Perry's collected artwork, Welfare Queen, by Amy Sherald sold for $3.9M in a Phillips New York auction.[10]

Publications

Perry is the author of five books and has published numerous articles on law, cultural studies, and African-American studies, including a book about Lorraine Hansberry.[11] She also wrote the notes and introduction to the Barnes and Nobles Classics edition of the Narrative of Sojourner Truth.[12] Her work is largely influenced by the Birmingham and Frankfurt Schools, Critical Legal Studies, Critical Race Theory, and African-American literary criticism.[13] Through her scholarship, Perry has made significant contributions to the academic study of race and American hip hop music; she contributed a chapter to 2014's Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic (edited by Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai). Perry's 2022 book, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, was a New York Times bestseller, [14] and won the 2022 National Book Award for non-fiction. [15]

Full publication list

  • 2004: Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop, Duke University Press; ISBN 0822334356
  • 2005: Narrative of Sojourner Truth, Barnes & Noble Classics Series, Notes and Introduction, Barnes & Noble; ISBN 9781593082932
  • 2011: More Beautiful and More Terrible: The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the United States, New York University Press; ISBN 0814767370
  • 2018: Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry, Beacon Press. ISBN 0807064491
  • 2018: May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem, University of North Carolina Press, ISBN 978-1-4696-3860-7
    • Nominee, 50th NAACP Image Awards, Outstanding Literary Work (Nonfiction)
  • 2018: Vexy Thing: On Gender and Liberation, Duke University Press. ISBN 9781478000600
  • 2019: Breathe: A Letter to My Sons, Penguin Random House ISBN 978-0807076552
  • 2022: South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, Ecco Press. ISBN 978-0062977403

Controversy over arrest

On February 6, 2016, Perry was pulled over by the Princeton police, who alleged that she was speeding at 67 mph in a 45 mph zone.[16] Her driver's license was then found to be suspended due to unpaid parking tickets, one of which was two–three years old. Perry was arrested for the outstanding warrant and physically searched. She was handcuffed, transported to the police station, and handcuffed to a bench during the booking process. Perry posted bail and was released.[17] She subsequently drew parallels between police conduct in this incident and behavior cited in the national debate around racially-motivated mistreatment, actual or alleged, of African Americans by the police.[18] Video released by the Princeton Police Department revealed that she had exaggerated her claims of mistreatment by the officer. [19] She appeared in municipal court the month after her arrest and paid $428 in traffic fines, the judge having reduced and amended the charges to a lesser offense, "from 22 miles over the speed limit, to nine miles over".[20]

References

  1. ^ "When Borders Become Death Traps". July 2022.
  2. ^ {{cite news}}: Empty citation (help)
  3. ^ "Depth, complexity and beauty: this Princeton professor urges us to reclaim black history". The Guardian. February 10, 2020. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Up Front: Imani Perry". The New York Times. September 16, 2011. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  5. ^ "Imani Perry". Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  6. ^ "Official website of Prof. Imani Perry". www.imaniperry.com. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  7. ^ "Imani Perry | Program in Law and Public Affairs | Princeton University". lapa.princeton.edu. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  8. ^ "Imani Perry". Princeton African American Studies. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  9. ^ "Imani Perry — The Fabric of Our Identity". On Being. September 8, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  10. ^ Finley, Cheryl; Haaften-Schick, Lauren van; Reeder, Christian; Whitaker, Amy (November 22, 2021). "The Recent Sale of Amy Sherald's 'Welfare Queen' Symbolizes the Urgent Need for Resale Royalties and Economic Equity for Artists". Artnet News. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  11. ^ Perry, Imani (2018). Looking for Lorraine: the radiant and radical life of Lorraine Hansberry. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press. ISBN 9780807064498. OCLC 1015270574.
  12. ^ Noble, Barnes &. "Narrative of Sojourner Truth (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  13. ^ "FRESH, BOLD, & SO DEF - IMANI PERRY was born in Birmingham, Alabama and..." FRESH, BOLD, & SO DEF. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  14. ^ "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  15. ^ {{cite news}}: Empty citation (help)
  16. ^ Brown, Keith (February 9, 2016). "Princeton U. professor accuses police of lying, making threats". NJ.com.
  17. ^ Hauser, Christine (January 9, 2016). "Black Princeton Professor Says She Was Handcuffed to Table Over Parking Ticket". The New York Times.
  18. ^ "My Encounter with Princeton Police and the Aftermath". facebook.com. April 9, 2019.
  19. ^ Victor, Daniel; Cave, Damien (February 12, 2016). "Police Release Video of Traffic Stop of Princeton Professor". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  20. ^ Merriman, Anna (April 10, 2006). "Princeton prof who griped about parking ticket arrest pays $428 fine". nj.com.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imani_Perry&oldid=1136702750"