Place the Ladder with Imani Perry

Join The Holdsworth Center’s president, Dr. Lindsay Whorton, for a Place the Ladder conversation with award-winning author and cultural historian Imani Perry. Time Magazine named her latest work one its Most Anticipated Books of 2025. , offers a poignant exploration of Black culture, art and history. In partnership with Texas Book Festival, this inspiring discussion will delve into how history, education and personal narratives shape courageous, empathetic leadership.

Can't make it for the in-person event? Register for the free livestream.

Place the Ladder is a conversation series between dynamic leaders and Holdsworth’s president, Dr. Lindsay Whorton. The talks explore people’s lived experiences based on the idea that leadership is not a skill people are born with—it can be learned, explored, and studied. Learn more about Place the Ladder.
Ticket includes a copy of Black in Blues by Imani Perry and access to pre-event reception with drinks and hors d'oeuvres.

Imani Perry is the National Book Award-winning author of South to America, as well as eight other books of nonfiction. She is the Henry A. Morss Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and is a 2023 MacArthur Fellow.

According to Perry, her writing is driven by the idea of “beloved community” and centers the people “who till the soil and walk the picket line and clean the bathrooms. Those who are seen as existing at the bottom of our society. There is something divine about paying attention to people and places in our midst and understanding that we are deeply connected.”

Her most recent book, Black in Blues, is a meditation on the color blue and its fascinating role in Black history and culture. Publishers Weekly called it “a pulsing narrative that positions the past as an active, living force in the present. Readers will be swept up.”

Perry lives between Philadelphia and Cambridge with her two sons.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Holdsworth Center, 4907 Ranch Road 2222, Austin, United States