A review by teriboop
Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist's Memoir of the Jim Crow South by Erin I. Kelly, Winfred Rembert

5.0

A deeply moving memoir of Winfred Rembert, an African American man who grew up in Cuthbert, Georgia, and was raised by his great aunt. As a young man, he worked in the cotton fields alongside his aunt and other relatives and eventually ran off to find a better life. He became an advocate for the Civil Rights movement, working on voting rights, and suffered abuse from oppressors. He survived a near lynching and was eventually imprisoned and forced to work on a chain gang. It was during this time that two key events happened in his life. He met his future wife, and he learned to tool leather. Rembert's life took many turns after he was released from prison. He encountered some extreme highs and extreme lows. With his wife's encouragement, Winfred told the story of his life through pictures he would tool and paint into panels of leather. This book tells that story in words, utilizing the pictures of those leather panels to convey the deep emotions of struggle and survival.

This is a Pulitzer Prize winner from 2022, and it is well deserved of the honor.

Check out the documentary on Rembert titled All Me on Amazon Prime.