I'll Take You There - by Amie Thurber & Learotha Williams (Paperback)

About the Book

A community-generated guide to Nashville

Book Synopsis

Before there were guidebooks, there were just guides--people in the community you could count on to show you around.

I'll Take You There is written by and with the people who most intimately know Nashville, foregrounding the struggles and achievements of people's movements toward social justice. The colloquial use of "I'll take you there" has long been a response to the call of a stranger: for recommendations of safe passage through unfamiliar territory, a decent meal and place to lay one's head, or perhaps a watering hole or juke joint.

In this book, more than one hundred Nashvillians "take us there," guiding us to places we might not otherwise encounter. Their collective entries bear witness to the ways that power has been used by social, political, and economic elites to tell or omit certain stories, while celebrating the power of counternarratives as a tool to resist injustice. Indeed, each entry is simultaneously a story about place, power, and the historic and ongoing struggle toward a more just city for all. The result is akin to the experience of asking for directions in an unfamiliar place and receiving a warm offer from a local to lead you on, accompanied by a tale or two.

Review Quotes

"A guide to the Nashville you may not have been taught about in schools, I'll Take You There provides a thorough indexing of the city through the lenses of history, social justice and the struggles for racial and economic equality."
--Steve Haruch, editor of Greetings from New Nashville: How a Sleepy Southern Town Became "It" City and People Only Die of Love in Movies: Film Writing by Jim Ridley

"I'll Take You There is a compelling and inclusive guidebook through a more complete telling of the history of Nashville. In weaving the diverse voices of Nashville's residents, it is both enchanting and edifying. I love this book and this approach to how we think about and engage in travel!"
--Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism

About the Author

Amie Thurber is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Portland State University.

Learotha Williams Jr. is a professor of African American, Civil War and Reconstruction, and Public History at Tennessee State University and coordinator of the North Nashville Heritage Project.