{ "item_title" : "People of Means", "item_author" : [" Nancy Johnson "], "item_description" : "One of NPR's Books We Love This Year A powerful, thought-provoking saga. --Woman's WorldAn evocative story of love and sacrifice.--PeopleFrom the acclaimed author of The Kindest Lie, a heartrending novel about a mother and daughter each seeking justice and following their dreams in 1960s Nashville and 1990s Chicago.Two women. Two pivotal moments. One dream for justice and equality.In the fall of 1959, Freda Gilroy arrives on the campus of Fisk University full of hope, carrying a suitcase and the voice of her father telling her she's part of a family legacy of Black excellence. Soon, the ugliness of the Jim Crow South intrudes, and Freda, reluctant to get involved, is torn between a soon-to-be doctor and an audacious young activist. Freda must decide how much she's willing to risk in the name of justice.In 1992 Chicago, Freda's daughter, Tulip, is an ambitious PR professional on track for an exciting career, if workplace politics and racial microaggressions don't get in her way. But with the ruling in the Rodney King trial weighing heavily on her, Tulip feels called to action and must choose, just like her mother had three decades prior, what her role will be in the story of America's quest for equality.Insightful, evocative, and richly imagined with historical details, People of Means is an emotional tour de force about the lasting legacy of family bonds and the far-reaching ways the past shapes our present.People of Means left me breathlessA beautifully crafted story...profound and sharp.--Sadeqa Johnson New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/0/06/315/751/0063157519_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "30.00", "online_price" : "30.00", "our_price" : "30.00", "club_price" : "30.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "30.00" } }

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Anyone who grew up a wealthy or middle-class person of color can attest to particular life problems: You are seen as a representative of your “people” wherever you go, microaggressions are standard fare no matter how much authority you have, and the weight of your ancestors is always heavy on your shoulders. In Nancy Johnson’s second novel, People of Means, these problems are expansively explored. Following a mother and daughter, Johnson details the ways racial discrimination changed throughout the 20th century and the ways it remained very much the same. Freda Gilroy matriculates at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1959. Regarded as the most famous Black university in the world, Fisk puts pressure on Freda, who was raised among Chicago’s Black elite, to rise to the heights of Black excellence, fulfilling W.E.B. Du Bois’ plan for the “talented tenth.” Nashville is very different from Chicago, though, and in the South, Freda realizes how protected she had been from the realities of racist discrimination and segregation. After seeing “WHITE” and “COLORED” signs on the bathrooms during a date to the state fair, a small fire lights in Freda, one that will be stoked into a full conflagration. Decades later, in 1992, Freda’s daughter Tulip has also achieved success with her cushy public relations job. Having fought her way to the top, she starts to take inventory of her life, but when she hears the Rodney King verdict and sees the ensuing riots, Tulip realizes that all she’s accomplished might not be that important to her. Across decades, both mother and daughter are called to question what justice really is and to fight for what they believe in. In our current political moment, People of Means feels vital. Decades have passed since Tulip’s timeline, and still people are fighting for racial equality. Johnson shows us that the fight will go on, because our thirst for justice is unquenchable.