Imani Perry is a MacArthur Fellow, professor and interdisciplinary scholar at Princeton University. (Tamika Moore / People of Alabama)
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By Tamika Moore
Imani Perry is an interdisciplinary scholar and professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. She was honored with a 2023 MacArthur Fellowship, known as MacArthur Foundation “genius grants.”
Though she’s a “genius,” there’s one thing she’s not good at.
“Singing. I cannot carry a tune to save my life. If I could sing, I would be so conceited. So, it’s a good thing God knew not to give me a voice. I would ideally be like Whitney (Houston), but I think given my personality, Natalie Cole. Her father was from Alabama. Her mother was from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has the tone that sort of combines those places. So yeah, I feel like she would be the person if I could sing, I would sing like.”
Perry’s grandmother is at the center of everything she does.
“She instilled in me an extraordinary amount of self-regard. She instilled in me the daily habit of reading through the newspaper every day, and extraordinary grace in the face of all kinds of obstacles. She taught me how to move through life with grace. Everything that I write has her at the center. She grew up in Huntsville. She went to high school in Nashville and then she came here to Birmingham, and she got married.”
What’s the most important lesson that life has taught you?
“To get back up. I think my greatest quality is my capacity to get back up when life knocks me down. Lay down for a little bit. When you’re knocked down, stay down, and then gather yourself together. I tell this to my children all the time. One of the biggest mistakes we make is that we don’t teach children enough that failure and disappointment are fundamental parts to every life journey and every achievement. I always feel nervous because people will say she’s done this and she’s done that, but just as important is what I have learned from all of the failures, and there have been many.”
These are the faces and stories of people from all walks of life who call Alabama home. People of Alabama is a Red Clay Media and Alabama News Center partnership.
