The book from Imani Perry “explores the terror, grace, and beauty of coming of age as a black person in contemporary America and what it means to parent our children in a persistently unjust world,” according to critics.
“This deeply personal open letter lays out the myriad of emotions that Perry feels as the mother of two Black sons,” said a review in goodreads.com.
“Emotionally raw and deeply reflective, Perry issues an unflinching challenge to society to see Black children as deserving of humanity. She admits fear and frustration for her African American sons in a society that is increasingly racist and at times seems irredeemable,” said the review.
In a review for The New York Times, Julie Lythcott-Haims said: “A professor of African-American studies at Princeton, Perry is a prolific writer whose work, including her recent award-winning biography of the playwright Lorraine Hansberry, contributes to a fuller understanding of black history and culture. But in Breathe, the scholar forsakes the safe harbor of academic objectivity for the wilds of personal vulnerability. Her exhale feels overdue, and deep.”
