New children’s book explores the Great Migration, family ties and coming home

Detroit today,

Sam Corey

Grandparents always provide a different perspective, but that perspective is especially different when they grew up and lived in places different from ours.

For many African Americans living in the North, their grandparents grew up in the South. This connection to the southern states leaves many northerners eager to understand what life was like in these spaces, as well as the cultural practices, social relationships, and rituals that existed.

Desiree Cooper wrote about it in the new children’s book, “Nothing Special.” The journalist, activist and fiction writer explores the connection between grandparents and grandchildren, North and South, the Great Migration and a reverse migration of many African Americans moving south.

“I often say Americana nostalgia is about the rooster, the green fields, the farmhouse. But dark nostalgia is about coming home. It’s about coming home to the south. — Desiree Cooper, author

Listen: What our grandparents mean to us and the many insights they offer.

Guest

Desiree Cooper is a journalist and activist. She recently wrote the children’s book “Nothing Special”. She says many African Americans refer to the South as home and have family reunions in the South.

“I often say Americana nostalgia is about the rooster, the green fields, the farmhouse. But dark nostalgia is about coming home. It’s about coming home to the south,” explains Cooper.