Thanks to @librofm and @harperaudio for providing a free ALC of Wandering in Strange Lands by Morgan Jerkins! I learned so much from this book, it completely enraptured me and I listened to all of it in three days. In this book, Jerkins delves into the history of the Great Migration and her own personal family history in an attempt to rediscover and understand her own lineage, and the effects of the Great Migration on Black people's roots, heritage and sense of identity.

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Split up into sections, Jerkins first traces her mother's side of the family down to Georgia and South Carolina, before moving onto her father's heritage in Louisiana, then onto Oklahoma and California. She explores themes such as food, the history of water and Black people (namely the embedded trauma stemming from the Middle Passage), root magic, historic and modern-day dynamics between Native Americans and Black people, land theft, police brutality and racism and more.

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This is one of those great books where you keep pressing pause so you can go and learn more about some fact or another. I'd never heard of the Gullah Geechee people, but as Jerkins herself states, this history isn't readily available. If you're not prepared to go digging for it, then don;t expect your average history lesson to fill you in. Lack of 'official' written documentation is one of the main reasons so much Black history is fragmented and lost, as oral histories are not considered reliable sources by euro-centric standards. It was fascinating to hear about Jerkins confirming some piece of family history that had been passed down orally, which before she hadn't given much thought to.

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Did you know that gated communities and luxury resorts on Hilton Head Island are built on top of Gullah Geechee cemeteries? And descendants must apply for permission or even pay a fee to pay their respects to their ancestors? This is just one of many such strands that Jerkins explores, and she will open your eyes to certain parts of Black history which have been ignored or erased outright. Then when you're done you can go and listen to Jerkins in conversation with Traci at @thestackspod too!

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There is so much packed into these 300 pages, it's extremely rich. I think the parts in Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana felt the most fleshed out though, Jerkins could have done with a second book to dive deeper into the other locations!