The Warmth of Other Suns

In this book about the Great Migration of black Americans from the South to the North and West between 1915 and 1975, Isabel Wilkerson follows three families who left the South at different times, from different states, for different reasons. The stories she tells of these families are the backbone of the book, and they're fascinating.

This book likens the experience of black migrants to that of immigrants from around the world who were coming to America during the same years. It's a comparison that makes a lot of sense, though it was a new idea to me. Black migrants were fleeing terrible conditions in hopes of making a better life in a safer place. They went to places where they already knew people–relatives or other townspeople who had gone ahead of them. They came with very little, and were in competition with other immigrants for the dirty, dangerous jobs that no one else wanted to do. The crucial difference was that these were citizens in their own country, searching for a place where they would be treated as such.

It's beautifully written and completely absorbing. I enjoy learning about things like the history of Harlem in New York or the South Side of Chicago, and what it was like to work in the citrus groves of Florida in the 30's and 40's. What is most striking to me, though, is that most of the story that the book tells took place during the lifetimes of my parents and grandparents. Some of it took place even during my own lifetime. So, it's close to home and enlightening, like reading an account of a major event in your own city after you saw hints of it in the traffic and the moods of people around you.

I really loved this book.