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The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging
INSTANT BESTSELLER
FINALIST FOR THE HILARY WESTON WRITERS’ TRUST PRIZE FOR NONFICTION
From a leading scholar on the politics of race comes a work of family history, memoir, and insight gained from a unique journey across the continent, on what it is to be Black in North America.
When Debra Thompson moved to the United States in 2010, she felt like she was returning to the land of her ancestors, those who had escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. But her decade-long journey across Canada and the US transformed her relationship to both countries, and to the very idea of home.
In The Long Road Home , Thompson follows the roots of Black identities in North America and the routes taken by those who have crisscrossed the world’s longest undefended border in search of freedom and belonging. She begins in Shrewsbury, Ontario, one of the termini of the Underground Railroad and the place where members of her own family found freedom. More than a century later, Thompson still feels the echoes and intergenerational trauma of North American slavery. She was often the Only One—the only Black person in so many white spaces—in a country that perpetuates the national mythology of multiculturalism.
Then she revisits her four American homes, each of which reveals something peculiar about the relationship between American racism and Boston, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the American Revolution; Athens, Ohio, where the white working class and the white liberal meet; Chicago, Illinois, the great Black metropolis; and Eugene, Oregon, the western frontier. She then moves across the border and settles in Montreal, a unique city with a long history of transnational Black activism, but one that does not easily accept the unfamiliar and the foreign into the fold.
The Long Road Home is a moving personal story and a vital examination of the nuances of racism in the United States and Canada. Above all, it is about the power of freedom and the dreams that link and inspire Black people across borders from the perspective of one who has deep ties to, critiques of, and hope for both countries.
FINALIST FOR THE HILARY WESTON WRITERS’ TRUST PRIZE FOR NONFICTION
From a leading scholar on the politics of race comes a work of family history, memoir, and insight gained from a unique journey across the continent, on what it is to be Black in North America.
When Debra Thompson moved to the United States in 2010, she felt like she was returning to the land of her ancestors, those who had escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. But her decade-long journey across Canada and the US transformed her relationship to both countries, and to the very idea of home.
In The Long Road Home , Thompson follows the roots of Black identities in North America and the routes taken by those who have crisscrossed the world’s longest undefended border in search of freedom and belonging. She begins in Shrewsbury, Ontario, one of the termini of the Underground Railroad and the place where members of her own family found freedom. More than a century later, Thompson still feels the echoes and intergenerational trauma of North American slavery. She was often the Only One—the only Black person in so many white spaces—in a country that perpetuates the national mythology of multiculturalism.
Then she revisits her four American homes, each of which reveals something peculiar about the relationship between American racism and Boston, Massachusetts, the birthplace of the American Revolution; Athens, Ohio, where the white working class and the white liberal meet; Chicago, Illinois, the great Black metropolis; and Eugene, Oregon, the western frontier. She then moves across the border and settles in Montreal, a unique city with a long history of transnational Black activism, but one that does not easily accept the unfamiliar and the foreign into the fold.
The Long Road Home is a moving personal story and a vital examination of the nuances of racism in the United States and Canada. Above all, it is about the power of freedom and the dreams that link and inspire Black people across borders from the perspective of one who has deep ties to, critiques of, and hope for both countries.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 6, 2022
17 people are currently reading
1792 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 27 reviews
December 7, 2022
I was walking through ffb and looking at the new books on display. So glad I picked this one up. Really interesting to read about the peculiarities of American racism / structure from someone who has lived and studied for years in both the US and Canada. Easy to only focus on the US but it adds a lot of nuance to see from another country’s perspective. Also my first read on race and the politics of race published since 2020.
February 24, 2024
i had to read this for one of my law classes and it was so so good. i would highly recommend for everyone to read this book at some point. she is able to explain her experiences and Black history in a way that you understand the importance and nuances while still being able to understand everything clearly. she provides a lot of background on the laws that existed and still exist so you can understand even if you don’t have a legal background. Books you have to read for school can sometimes be rlly long and complicated but I rlly enjoyed this one
December 3, 2024
I read this book for a class on the Sociology of Blackness. I was skeptical going into it, but the way Debra Thompson writes about the realities of being Black in a post-colonial world made me cry. Also, this book taught me a lot about the history of slavery in Canada. I would suggest everyone reads this book.
October 22, 2022
This is absolutely fascinating… I love the way she weaves her personal story and her family history into what is a very academic consideration/exploration of race. Truly deserving of the nomination for the Writer’s Trust.
February 17, 2024
“The truest thing about travel and movement, as anyone who has ever gone anywhere intrinsically knows, is how people change as they move. Our identities are not fixed; they are never once and for all. So, too, the very idea of a “return” is the stuff of fairy tales. Going back to a place where we once were, ut no longer are, and yet desire to be—is a futility of the highest order. You can’t go home again, not just because home changes, but because you do.”
August 16, 2023
As a students of Debra’s I’m probably seen as a bit bias, but this one of the best books I’ve ever read in my entire life.
Stellar.
Stellar.
January 16, 2024
I've read this three times, better each time
reread in 2024!
reread in 2024!
March 30, 2025
In The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging, Debra Thompson candidly reckons with her identity as a settler, woman of colour, and academic in North America.
Through her search for ‘home’ across the continent, she brilliantly weaves race, coloniality,
gender, class, politics, and humanity into a tapestry of experiences that outline her life and work. Throughout the text, she graciously takes the readers hand, bringing them on a journey through the realities of North American racial capitalism that asks a central question: what is home and where do we find it?
Thompson's writing was particularly compelling to me, especially given our seemingly disparate but closely related identities and experiences. As a white man, I of course can never understand the weight of racialization that falls on POC shoulders across the globe, or how this is exacerbated by class, gender, ability, or other lines of stratification. However, I can empathize with the feelings of ostracization and strife that Thompson outlines. Additionally, not only am I a current masters student at one of Thompson's alma maters, Carleton University, but I find my own connections in many of the places and spaces that she describes. From the natural beauty of the Ottawa River corridor to my mystified reflections on community in university residence, Thompson balances a sense of nostalgia and a sharp critique of racial politics in North America that makes this book captivating from its first pages.
To me, the book has many winding threads, not the least of which is race. Thompson's analysis concertedly and passionately brings together understandings of blackness and Indigeneity across the continent of North America in a way that deepens my understanding of both separately, and augments my understanding of them together. These societies we now call 'home' were built on the backs of slaves who had their feet planted on stolen Indigenous land. While many a North American (Particularly Canadian) needs convincing that even the first part of that statement is true, Thompson argues from a position of certainty on this point. We cannot discuss one's troubles, resurgence, or liberation without considering the other. We cannot fully understand ones position and experience without incorporating, analyzing, and honouring the position and experience of the other. As a scholar of Indigenous studies myself, this nuanced, intelligent, and cutting examination of racial politics emboldens and enables me to approach my work in a more holistic way.
My favourite contribution from Thompson, and perhaps the grand arc of the book, is that Home does not exist within the spatially defined box we often understand it in. Capital H Home is where you live, and who you live with, and what you do, and your goals, and your dreams, and your identity, and where you move to next, and who you move with, and we could keep going forever. Home is not one place, it does not start and stop with the house you grew up in, its a metaphysical togetherness that we have with us no matter where we go. "Wherever we are is whenever we are. We rise, we fall, we bleed, we fight, we pray, we grieve, we disagree, we celebrate, we remember, together" (Thompson 2022, 216).
As for my rating of this book, it was a simple 5 stars. By my own personal (and made-up) code, the fifth star is usually only given when one of my first actions after finishing the book is to look up (and maybe purchase) something else the author has written. Debra Thompson is not only a wickedly intelligent political scientist, but a poetic and precise wordsmith who makes the often gruesome and always important topic of racial politics read like a story. But she reminds us that these are not stories, they are grounded realities for broad swaths of the population across centuries. Her intellect, wit, and storytelling power are enduring segues into what her journeys across North America have taught her: "You can't go home again, not just because home changes, but because you do" (Thompson 2022, 216)
Through her search for ‘home’ across the continent, she brilliantly weaves race, coloniality,
gender, class, politics, and humanity into a tapestry of experiences that outline her life and work. Throughout the text, she graciously takes the readers hand, bringing them on a journey through the realities of North American racial capitalism that asks a central question: what is home and where do we find it?
Thompson's writing was particularly compelling to me, especially given our seemingly disparate but closely related identities and experiences. As a white man, I of course can never understand the weight of racialization that falls on POC shoulders across the globe, or how this is exacerbated by class, gender, ability, or other lines of stratification. However, I can empathize with the feelings of ostracization and strife that Thompson outlines. Additionally, not only am I a current masters student at one of Thompson's alma maters, Carleton University, but I find my own connections in many of the places and spaces that she describes. From the natural beauty of the Ottawa River corridor to my mystified reflections on community in university residence, Thompson balances a sense of nostalgia and a sharp critique of racial politics in North America that makes this book captivating from its first pages.
To me, the book has many winding threads, not the least of which is race. Thompson's analysis concertedly and passionately brings together understandings of blackness and Indigeneity across the continent of North America in a way that deepens my understanding of both separately, and augments my understanding of them together. These societies we now call 'home' were built on the backs of slaves who had their feet planted on stolen Indigenous land. While many a North American (Particularly Canadian) needs convincing that even the first part of that statement is true, Thompson argues from a position of certainty on this point. We cannot discuss one's troubles, resurgence, or liberation without considering the other. We cannot fully understand ones position and experience without incorporating, analyzing, and honouring the position and experience of the other. As a scholar of Indigenous studies myself, this nuanced, intelligent, and cutting examination of racial politics emboldens and enables me to approach my work in a more holistic way.
My favourite contribution from Thompson, and perhaps the grand arc of the book, is that Home does not exist within the spatially defined box we often understand it in. Capital H Home is where you live, and who you live with, and what you do, and your goals, and your dreams, and your identity, and where you move to next, and who you move with, and we could keep going forever. Home is not one place, it does not start and stop with the house you grew up in, its a metaphysical togetherness that we have with us no matter where we go. "Wherever we are is whenever we are. We rise, we fall, we bleed, we fight, we pray, we grieve, we disagree, we celebrate, we remember, together" (Thompson 2022, 216).
As for my rating of this book, it was a simple 5 stars. By my own personal (and made-up) code, the fifth star is usually only given when one of my first actions after finishing the book is to look up (and maybe purchase) something else the author has written. Debra Thompson is not only a wickedly intelligent political scientist, but a poetic and precise wordsmith who makes the often gruesome and always important topic of racial politics read like a story. But she reminds us that these are not stories, they are grounded realities for broad swaths of the population across centuries. Her intellect, wit, and storytelling power are enduring segues into what her journeys across North America have taught her: "You can't go home again, not just because home changes, but because you do" (Thompson 2022, 216)
February 7, 2024
This was difficult reading for me, as it seemed more like a textbook, with many references and quotes from other authors and books. I liked the personal stories and Thompson certainly does not hold back from saying what she thinks. It is interesting to read a comparison between black racism in the US and Canada, and even more interesting to read a comparison between racism for Quebecois and the rest of Canada. Hearing the American reactions to various politicians, esp Obama and Trump, is fascinating!
Good to read, everyone who says they aren't racist (or those who grew up in my day, who say I'm not prejudiced) should read this to check their reality. One thing I could really relate to is at the very end of the book, "You can't go home again, not just because home changes, but because you change.
I need to read this book again, to really get the most out of it. I will be interested to hear and see Thompson when she speaks here in Halifax in May 2024.
Good to read, everyone who says they aren't racist (or those who grew up in my day, who say I'm not prejudiced) should read this to check their reality. One thing I could really relate to is at the very end of the book, "You can't go home again, not just because home changes, but because you change.
I need to read this book again, to really get the most out of it. I will be interested to hear and see Thompson when she speaks here in Halifax in May 2024.
October 11, 2022
I think this is a very important memoir from the perspective of a mixed race Black woman who has roots in both the United States as the descendent of enslaved people of African descent who fled to Canada, and then in Southwestern Ontario with the ties to the Underground Railroad that readers may not know about. The book exposes the layers of Black Canadian history that have been erased or ignored for so long, and directly refutes the myth of Canada as beneficent saviour, challenging readers to look at the history of slavery in the country as well as segregation and erasure of communities with a much more critical lens. Discussions include teaching in the United States, students' responses, the pandemic, the 2016 presidency and its horrible aftermath, and what we do with all of that now. Highly recommended.
February 29, 2024
By reading this book by Debra Thompson I have been enlightened to the fact that I have been blind to racism within me. I have also begun the process of changing my view of the world. Debra has an amazing ability to express herself clearly and eloquently in a descriptive manner which grasps the readers conscience. I like the stories and static’s she used to express herself. I didn’t like some foul language she used occasionally;however, I realize that this was because of the fear, angst and anger she has experienced from people who are racist, and for that I don’t blame her.
I recommend this book to people who think that they are not racist. I thought that I wasn’t racist, but after reading Debra’s book, The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging, I became aware of my subtle racism. I need to change and show love rather than fear, resentment and indifference.
I recommend this book to people who think that they are not racist. I thought that I wasn’t racist, but after reading Debra’s book, The Long Road Home: On Blackness and Belonging, I became aware of my subtle racism. I need to change and show love rather than fear, resentment and indifference.
September 1, 2025
This was an exceptional exploration of racism in Canada and the US. Grounded in research and lived experience, this book is written with heart. I thought it was beautifully written. Heartfelt. Honest. Clarifying. Pragmatic. Authentic. I love it when an author can weave fact with storytelling and is able to hold space for complexity. A must read for anyone really wanting to learn more and do better.
October 13, 2025
*2.5.
it was fine i guess? the author had some insightful stories and the legacies of her grandparents were interesting to read about. shes privileged and has had amazing opportunities but still continues this CONSTANT victim mindset and blames every single thing she deems unfair in the world on whiteness and white people, okay. the constant talk about how all “whites” are racist and complicit… okay.
it was fine i guess? the author had some insightful stories and the legacies of her grandparents were interesting to read about. shes privileged and has had amazing opportunities but still continues this CONSTANT victim mindset and blames every single thing she deems unfair in the world on whiteness and white people, okay. the constant talk about how all “whites” are racist and complicit… okay.
February 6, 2023
While this is a memoir written by an academic, I struggled with the strong perceptions of racial issues articulated in this work. It was not an easy read, but eventually I came to appreciate Dr. Thompson's knowledgeable thinking. From my perspective, the book is limited because it does not reflect the totality of being black in western Canada.
August 7, 2023
Timely, resonant book by a Black Canadian living and working as a political scientist in the U.S. before returning to Canada. Excellent, comparative cross-border history of race in the U.S. and Canada, and a powerful memoir that tracks her experiences in The Great White North, in Appalachia, in Chicago, in Oregon, before her return across the border to McGill in Quebec.
December 5, 2024
I really don't like this book because of the writing style and how the author frames herself as a victim. I found her constant approval of Obama to be almost laughably ironic considering what he's done internationally and this book unfortunately is largely constrained to the United States. There is great insight to be found in this book, but the author's representation of herself ruins it for me.
February 20, 2023
Dr. Thompson is an engaging writer, who is clearly academic. Her memories and descriptions of events left me wanting more...and wanting a reckoning. I hope she writes another book and continues her research (which has always been, and will always be relevant).
January 4, 2024
Well. Some of this book i didn’t understand. I think it would have preferred if it was either more focused on the authors journey because sometimes it just got so philosophical. Still had a lot of valuable insight for anyone who claims they are an ally of the black community.
April 20, 2024
This was a thoughtful book. I appreciated the insights that the author brings. The stories she shares. I would definitely want to have her as my professor at university if i were studying political science.
February 17, 2023
This is a truly wonderful book. If you are American or Canadian—or especially if you are both—this should be required reading.
July 9, 2023
One of the most fascinating and thought provoking books I’ve read in a long time, loved it.
August 4, 2023
Interesting take on 2 different countries and their attitudes toward Black people. She saves the best for last.
Read
March 30, 2025Read it for POLI 321. An insightful autobiographical work.
October 11, 2025
Beautifully written, particularly in regards to the mix of personal and political. What a privilege to be a student of hers!
September 15, 2022
When I picked up this book, little did I know that it would take me on a beautiful journey of race, belonging, the beauty of Blackness and what it means to live with courage. Thompson's words were deep, and powerful and offered a look into what generational struggles can actually look like.
I've read a lot of books about race and the personal and political struggles that come along with the pain and confinement Black people have faced, both in the US and Canada. What I appreciated most about this analysis is that it showed the parallel and put both the US and Canada under the microscope together.
Very well-written with tons of insight.
I've read a lot of books about race and the personal and political struggles that come along with the pain and confinement Black people have faced, both in the US and Canada. What I appreciated most about this analysis is that it showed the parallel and put both the US and Canada under the microscope together.
Very well-written with tons of insight.
May 5, 2023
It was a really interesting read that compared racism in Canada and the US. Debra's ancestors and family were slaves who escaped to Canada and she provides a really unique perspective to readers. The author grew up in Canada and then moved to the US for work and moved back to Canada. She includes a lot of lived experience in her book which as a POC I really appreciate in conversations regarding race. The book was heavy and took me several weeks to read it with many breaks in between. Overall, I don't want to give this book a rating because I would not consider that to be fair but highly recommend it if you are interested in learning more about racism and the Black experience in Canada and the US.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 27 reviews