A Conversation with Isabel Wilkerson
From: National Endowment for the Arts
Series: Art Works Podcast
Length: 25:33
"I was leaving the South to fling myself into the unknown.
I was taking a part of the South to transplant in alien soil,
to see if it could grow differently,
if it could drink of new and cool rains,
bend in strange winds,
respond to the warmth of other suns,
and, perhaps, to bloom."
That evocative description of leaving one's home in the North for another life in the South was in a footnote in Richard Wright's autobiography, Black Boy. Wright was one of six million African Americans who made that journey in the period following World War I through the 1960s. This mass movement of people became known as The Great Migration, and it's the subject of Isabel Wilkerson's acclaimed new book; which she titled The Warmth of Other Suns.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
"I was leaving the South to fling myself into the unknown.
I was taking a part of the South to transplant in alien soil,
to see if it could grow differently,
if it could drink of new and cool rains,
bend in strange winds,
respond to the warmth of other suns,
and, perhaps, to bloom."
That evocative description of leaving one's home in the North for another life in the South was in a footnote in Richard Wright's autobiography, Black Boy. Wright was one of six million African Americans who made that journey in the period following World War I through the 1960s. This mass movement of people became known as The Great Migration, and it's the subject of Isabel Wilkerson's acclaimed new book; which she titled The Warmth of Other Suns.
Transcript
Transcript of conversation with Isabel Wilkerson
"I was leaving the South to fling myself into the unknown.
I was taking a part of the South to transplant in alien soil,
to see if it could grow differently,
if it could drink of new and cool rains,
bend in strange winds,
respond to the warmth of other suns,
and, perhaps, to bloom."
That evocative description of leaving one's home in the North for another life in the South was in a footnote in Richard Wright's autobiography, Black Boy. Wright was one of six million African Americans who made that journey in the period following World War 1 through the 1960s. This mass movement of people became known as The Great Migration, and it's the subjectof Isabel Wilkerson's acclaimed new book; which she titledThe Warmth of Other Suns.
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Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lazy River | Performed by Louis Armstrong; Written by Hoagy Carmichael and Sidney Arodin | Fleischmann's Yeast Show and Louis's Home Recording Tapes. | Louis Armstrong House and Museum | 00:00 | |
| I've Got a Heart Full of Rhythm | Written and performed by Louis Armstrong | Fleischmann's Yeast Show and Louis's Home Recording Tapes. | Louis Armstrong House and Museum | 00:00 | |
| On My Way | Mavis Staples | We'll Never Turn Back. | ANTI- | 00:00 | |
| Greensleeves | John Coltrane Quartet | The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions. | GRP Records | 00:00 | |
| Blue Crescent | Dr. Michael White (NEA Heritage Fellow) | Blue Crescent . | Basin Street Records | 00:00 | |
| SomeWhere to Lay My Head | The Birmingham Sunlights (NEA Heritage Fellows) | In the Garden . | n/a | 00:00 | |
| Amen | Everett McCorvey and the American Spiritual Ensemble | Ol' Time Religion. | n/a | 00:00 |
Additional Credits
Interview conducted and edited by Jo Reed
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