The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson - 5 Stars <3

[Regina Lindsey]

With Lincoln's assassination and his political choice to have Democrat Andrew Johnson join his re-election campaign in an attempt to reconcile the country, an environment emerged that allowed for Jim Crow Laws to emerge, virtually making life no better for the freed slaves and their descendants than conditions during slavery. But, when the U.S. entered WWI and the northern industry was facing a critical labor shortage recruiters cast an eye to the South and convinced 903K sharecropping tenants to migrate North and set up what would be known as "The Great Migration" that would last until the 1950's. Between those years almost 4.5M African-Americans would leave the South and move north, permanently changing the social makeup of major cities of the North and giving us icons like Bill Russell, who led Boston Celtics to 11 championships and became the first black coast in NBA and Jesse Owens who would win 4 gold medals in the 1938 Olympics. In this work, Isabel Wilkerson, grand daughter to one of those migrants, follows the lives of three individuals as they dream of a better life and make the trek north.

I loved, Loved, LOVED this book! Not only does Wilkerson make what could be a very dense work enjoyable by focusing the story through three personalized lives but she does not allow her personal connection to cloud her objectivity. She does not shy away from the discrimination people faced in the North, how the unions shut out opportunities for the newly arriving migrants, or the lack of political fortitude of city leaders to do the right thing after years of pointing the finger at the South. The personal stories are very well drawn and the reader shares the hopes, disappointments, and trials faced by those seeking a better life at a visceral level. My heart broke over and over for Robert Pershing Foster as he made the long journey to California and the disappointments he faced along the way. But for me, someone who has read about this phenomenon on a macro level through national policy and politics, it was fascinating to read how the shift also changed party allegiance and how steeped race riots are in events during this era.

It is very well written and engaging. On the surface it may sound like a boring read, but it is not and you can look around and see the affects today in a number of cities.

[LibraryCin]

It made my favouries list when I read it a few years ago!

[Booknblues]

Regina, this sounds like one I would be interested in.

[Karin]

This is an excellent book. I only gave it 4 stars after I listened to it. I think it's in important history book for people in the US to read (and other countries, but particularly people in the States).

[Hahtoolah]

I, too, loved this book and think it should be required reading in schools. My only objection was that I felt the author repeated some of the same things too many times. Still, this is an important piece of American history that we should all know about.

[Nicole R]

I️ also loved this book and had the opportunity to hear the author speak several years ago. Needless to say, she was beyond impressive.

The aspect that has stuck with me is that she interviewed around 100 people for this book. She recorded all of their stories, listened to their journeys, and then had to make the tough decision to focus on only a few stories for the sake of the book. She said that each story she cut felt was a personal loss.

She told a couple of these stories at her talk, but I️ would love for her to publish a compilation of those other stories. I️ would be one of the first in line to purchase that book!

[Karin]

Hahtoolah wrote: "I, too, loved this book and think it should be required reading in schools. My only objection was that I felt the author repeated some of the same things too many times. Still, this is an important..."

I had the same main objection as you.