{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260414T102527Z","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062977393?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"0062977393","authors":["Imani Perry"],"book_id":"9780062977397","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780062977397","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780062977397.jpg?v=20260414T102527Z%3A2026-04-14T10%3A25%3A27Z","description":"A “vast, multifaceted and enchanting” (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) meditation on the color blue and its fascinating role in Black history and culture, from National Book Award winner Imani Perry, “the most important interpreter of Black life in our time” (Eddie S. Glaude, Jr.) Throughout history, the concept of Blackness has been remarkably intertwined with another color: blue. In daily life, it is evoked in countless ways. Blue skies and blue water offer hope for that which lies beyond the current conditions. But blue is also the color of deep melancholy and heartache, echoing Louis Armstrong’s question, “What did I do to be so Black and blue?” In this book, celebrated author Imani Perry uses the world’s favorite color as a springboard for a riveting emotional, cultural, and spiritual journey—an examination of race and Blackness that transcends politics or ideology. Perry traces both blue and Blackness from their earliest roots to their many embodiments of contemporary culture, drawing deeply from her own life as well as art and history: The dyed indigo cloths of West Africa that were traded for human life in the 16 th century. The mixture of awe and aversion in the old-fashioned characterization of dark-skinned people as “Blue Black.” The fundamentally American art form of blues music, sitting at the crossroads of pain and pleasure. The blue flowers Perry plants to honor a loved one gone too soon. Poignant, spellbinding, and utterly original, Black in Blues is a brilliant new work that could only have come from the mind of one of our greatest writers and thinkers. Attuned to the harrowing and the sublime aspects of the human experience, it is every bit as vivid, rich, and striking as blue itself.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780062977397","publication_date":"20250128","publisher":"HarperCollins","slug":"black-in-blues","subtitle":"How a Color Tells the Story of My People","title":"Black in Blues"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"BIO002010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black & African American Lives","score":0.7695,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"LIT004040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Lit Crit","score":0.7657,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"YAN038110","confidence_band":"medium","label":"African American U.S. History for Teens","score":0.76,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"BIO002010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black & African American Lives","score":0.7695,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"LIT004040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Black Lit Crit","score":0.7657,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"YAN038110","confidence_band":"medium","label":"African American U.S. History for Teens","score":0.76,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"ART038000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Black American Art","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"ART050000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Art Themes","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS001050","confidence_band":"high","label":"West African History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS036000","confidence_band":"high","label":"U.S. History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"HIS056000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Black History","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"MUS003000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Blues","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC001000","confidence_band":"high","label":"African American Studies","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"SOC002010","confidence_band":"high","label":"How Cultures Work","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Black & African American Lives","score":0.7695,"slug":"black-african-american-lives"},{"label":"Black Lit Crit","score":0.7657,"slug":"black-lit-crit"},{"label":"African American U.S. History for Teens","score":0.76,"slug":"african-american-u-s-history-for-teens"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Black & African American Lives","Good for readers interested in civil rights","Good for readers who enjoy Black & African American Lives and Black Lit Crit."],"related_lists":[{"intro":"","slug":"shelf-bio002010-african-american-black","title":"African American & Black Books","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/lists/shelf-bio002010-african-american-black"}],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Henry Louis Gates Jr."],"book_id":"9780525559559","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780525559559.jpg?v=20260414T102527Z%3A2026-04-14T10%3A25%3A27Z","score":19.5198,"title":"Stony the Road","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780525559559"},{"authors":["W.E.B. 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