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Imani Perry

  • Humanities
  • Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor, Harvard Radcliffe Institute; and Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
Portrait of Imani Perry
Photo courtesy of Imani Perry

Imani Perry is a Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor, Harvard Radcliffe Institute; and Henry A. Morss, Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Perry is a scholar of law, literature, and cultural studies and an author of creative nonfiction. Her writing and scholarship primarily focus on the history of Black thought, art, and imagination crafted in response to, and in resistance against, the social, political, and legal realities of domination in the West. Her most recent book, South to America: A Journey below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation (Ecco, 2022), won the 2022 National Book Award for nonfiction and was a New York Times best seller. Perry’s other award-winning books include Breathe: A Letter to My Sons (Beacon Press, 2019); Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry (Beacon Press, 2018); and May We Forever Stand: A History of the Black National Anthem (University of North Carolina Press, 2018).

Perry served most recently as the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies and a faculty associate with the Programs in Law and Public Affairs, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Jazz Studies at Princeton University. She earned her PhD in American studies from Harvard University, a JD from Harvard Law School, an LLM from Georgetown University Law Center, and a BA from Yale College in literature and American studies.

Imani Perry, Jason Buenrostro Land MacArthur "Genius Grants" (Harvard Gazette, 10/4/23)

Imani Perry’s Arrival Marks Homecoming, Expansion (Harvard Gazette, 9/5/23)

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