I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays

by Nell Irvin Painter

Throughout her prolific writing career, Nell Painter has published works on such luminaries as Sojourner Truth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Malcolm X. Her unique vantage on American history pushes the boundaries of personal narrative and academic authorship. Led by an unbridled curiosity for her subjects, Painter asks readers to reconsider ideas of race, politics, and identity. I Just Keep Talking assembles her writing for the first time into a single volume, displaying the breadth and depth of Painter’s decades-long historical inquiry and the evolution of Black political thought—and includes a dazzling introduction and coda being published for the first time in this collection. From her mining of figures like Carrie Buck and Martin Delaney for their resonance today, to a deep dive into the history of exclusion through the work of Toni Morrison, to a discussion of the American political landscape after the 2016 election, Painter nimbly portrays the trials of a country frequently at war with itself.

Along with Painter’s writing, this collection offers her original artwork, threaded throughout the book as counterpoint and emphasis. Her visual art shows a deft mind turning toward the tragedy and humor of her subjects; pulling from newspapers, personal records, and original sketches, Painter’s artwork testifies to the dialectic of tremendous change and stasis that continues to shape American history.

These essays resist easy answers in favor of complexity, the inescapable sense of our country’s potential thwarted by its failures. This collection will surely solidify Painter’s place among the finest critics and writers of the last half century.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, History, Biography Memoir, Race, Art, Politics

444 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 23, 2024

About the author

Nell Irvin Painter is an American historian notable for her works on southern history of the nineteenth century. She is retired from Princeton University, and served as president of the Organization of American Historians. She also served as president of the Southern Historical Association.

She was born Nell Irvin to Dona and Frank E. Irvin, Sr. She had an older brother Frank who died young. Her family moved from Houston, Texas, to Oakland, California when she was ten weeks old. This was part of the second wave of the Great Migration of millions of African Americans from the Deep South to urban centers. Some of their relatives had been in California since the 1920s. The Irvins went to California in the 1940s with the pull of increasing jobs in the defense industry. Nell attended the Oakland Public Schools.

Her mother Dona Irvin held a degree from Houston College for Negroes (1937), and later taught in the public schools of Oakland. Her father had to drop out of college in 1937 during the Great Depression; he eventually trained for work as a laboratory technician. He worked for years at the University of California at Berkeley, where he trained many students in lab techniques.

Painter earned her B.A. - Anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley in 1964. During her undergraduate years, she studied French medieval history at the University of Bordeaux, France, 1962–63. She also studied abroad at the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ghana, 1965–66. In 1967, she completed an M.A. at the University of California at Los Angeles. In 1974, she earned an M.A. and Ph.D. at Harvard University. She returned to study and earned a B.F.A. at Rutgers University in 2009. Painter has received honorary degrees from Dartmouth College, Wesleyan University, and Yale University, among other institutions.

In 1989, Painter married the mathematician Glenn Shafer, co-creator of the Dempster–Shafer theory.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I Just Keep Talking: A Life in Essays," by Nell Irvin Painter is a captivating exploration of her intellectual journey, intertwining her roles as a historian, scholar, and artist. As a therapist specializing in bibliotherapy, I found this collection to be a powerful tool for healing, weaving together personal narratives and academic insights with an unapologetic honesty that invites readers to reflect on the complexities of race, politics, and identity.

One of the book's standout features is Painter's transparency regarding her own challenges within academia and her eventual embrace of her calling as an artist. This candid approach adds a layer of authenticity to her work, making it not only a scholarly endeavor but also a deeply personal and relatable narrative. As a black woman navigating the academic landscape, Painter's willingness to share her struggles is an empowering testament to being in pursuit of one's true calling no matter the challenges.

The collection spans a wide array of subjects, showcasing Painter's versatility in addressing historical figures such as Sojourner Truth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Malcolm X. Through her unique vantage point on American history, she challenges readers to reconsider preconceived notions about race and politics, urging us to confront the uncomfortable truths embedded in our nation's past. Her perspective on violence in southern society, both pre and post-emancipation, offers a nuanced understanding of the deep-seated roots of institutionalized hatred.

One of the book's strengths lies in its examination of racism as an ideology rather than a mere personal flaw. Painter adeptly dissects the historical evolution of this ideology, providing a pro-black historian lens that reframes our understanding. By delving into the intricate layers of racism, she encourages readers to move beyond simplistic narratives, fostering a more comprehensive comprehension of the societal forces at play.

The inclusion of Painter's original artwork throughout the collection adds a visual dimension to her already rich narrative. Drawing from newspapers, personal records, and original sketches, her art serves as a poignant counterpoint and emphasis, capturing the tragedy and humor inherent in her subjects. This interdisciplinary approach enriches the reader's experience, offering a holistic engagement with the material.

"I Just Keep Talking" stands as a testament to Nell Irvin Painter's enduring legacy as a preeminent critic and writer. Her essays resist easy answers, embracing complexity and challenging readers to confront the paradoxes within American history. Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc copy!

[Andre(Read-A-Lot) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays that simply confirms the brilliance and high intellect of Nell Irvin Painter. I read the essays and always felt like I was gaining some new insights and knowledge. This experience for me was surprising on some levels, because I tend to drift if I’m reading about subjects that are of little personal interest, but I stayed with Ms. Irvin throughout the text, and I feel smarter for having done so. If your aim is to spend time with a multi-hyphenate scholar and experience the bright and vibrant prose she presents on the page, then this intelligent collection of essays is your guide. So keep talking Nell Irvin Painter, I’ll be right here listening and learning.

[nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Major thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for offering me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts:

Let Painter keep talking. Perhaps the greatest anti-thesis to the way states like Texas and Florida are responding to US history by censoring all the bloodshed. But Painter asks, what of the beauty?

Names unknown to me, this was an incredibly informative read. It's black history you didn't know. It's history made new. It's history still so important. Because blood continues to spill and we certainly cannot try to cover that up.

[staykind · Rating 5 out of 5]

super relevant .

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tried to read The History of White People a few years ago, I stopped - not because it wasn't a good book but because I'd recently read something that covered similar territory and I just couldn't take it again. My loss, I know.

This book is a great overview of Painter's entire career as historian and artist. She has a lot of very worthwhile things to say, especially about southern history, and that informs some of her commentary on current politics. Among the more thought-provoking: She has come to believe White should be capitalized just like Black, because it interrupts the treatment of being white as having "no race" or being the "default." I have a hard time with this not because I don't feel being white is a race, but because I somehow don't feel white people have earned a capital letter, but I am going to think about it. She thinks it's possible that the eruption of white nationalism in the US is going to damage the treatment of white people as having no race; this may be true, but the price we're going to pay is still unknown at this time.... Her overview of Ralph Waldo Emerson's obsession with the idea of the Anglo-Saxon is interesting because he explicitly insisted that despite the actual origin of Angles and Saxons in GERMANY, the "true" Anglo Saxon heritage is really from Scandinavia and Germans are a degenerate race; lots of tortured anti-history here. Gotta find my old copy of Emerson and get rid of it, I used to think he was smart. And this remark chilled me: after 2020, valuing voting has been encoded as a Black thing (that's who was queuing up to vote, that's who was fighting for voting rights), so what does that mean for the idea of democracy based on voting in the US??

Because I'm extremely ignorant about contemporary art of all sorts, I kind of didn't understand a lot of what was in the section on art.

This is a heavy, large, and beautifully made book as well. Dip into it for a view of US history you won't get anywhere else. Thank goodness she just kept talking.

[BookBrowse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I selfishly wanted Painter's essays to be less intellectual for my benefit, less intense, I wanted to climb into the language and out in a matter of under an hour. Then I had to remind myself that Nell Irvin Painter is a historian and scholar, an intellectual, a professor. Her essays aren't crafted for social engagement or a five-minute debate. They aren't exploratory, letting you open up the body, see the organ damage, and close it. She gets to the root by talking. She redefines thought by writing. Her unapologetic voice contextualizes issues we still need closure from: reparations, black history, slave-rape trauma. And she lovingly writes of the beautiful freedom that comes from living a life of creativity and thought.
-Valerie Morales

Read the full review at: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/review...

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book included some interesting perspectives on the way history is remembered and some new-to-me history of Black Americans. However, the writing felt a bit dense, leaning academic, despite the author writing for a lay audience. I found it dry and slow going, if worthwhile. It was primarily the details of the author's ideas that were new to me, rather than the big picture, although her connection of art to history felt fresh.

[Leifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Painter’s collection of essays is whip-smart, tough, staunchly opinionated, thoroughly researched and just a tiny bit folksy. I definitely want to read her History of White People after digesting this massive collection.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not the audience for this book. I found it tedious and self serving. I did not finish it.

[Halifax]

Audiobook. DNF

[Walter · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Robyn Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Marcela SL · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Halifax]

Audiobook. DNF