Letter to Isabel Wilkerson

Dear Isabel,

I enjoyed the Warmth of Other Suns, as you portrayed the rich experiences of 3 protagonists with such depth that it successfully described a movement that spanned decades. How did your training as a journalist prepare you for undertaking of nearly 1,000 interviews? What helped you determine that the stories of Ida Mae Gladney, George Starling, and Robert Joseph Starling, were sufficient in portraying the Great Migration? Aside from their accounts, I was struck by the explicit retelling of Claude Neal’s lynching in Florida.  In particular, I was taken aback by the details of the lynching party, his actual death, and the resulting lack of justice on behalf of the American government despite substantial evidence. I appreciate that you weaved in crucial events that both affected and reflected the political climate during the Migration. These pieces of history helped me contextualize the stories you were describing in detail. 

I also have a couple of lingering questions: How do you counter criticisms of your comparison of migrating African-Americans to that of fleeing refugees? Or, perhaps that there has indeed been a good amount of scholarship on the Great Migration before the publishing of your book? 

Thank you for your time,

Joy