Isabel Wilkerson on the Decade of Reporting Behind ‘The Warmth of Other Suns’

More than 15 years of research, at least 1,200 interviews and hundreds upon hundreds of travel miles — that was the investment Isabel Wilkerson made in writing The Warmth of Other Suns. The book was released in 2010 to fanfare from critics who lauded its marriage of historical accuracy and humanity. And readers weren’t scared off by its 600-plus pages, pushing it to the top of the venerable list of New York Times bestsellers.

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That’s largely thanks to Wilkerson’s background in narrative journalism. The Warmth of Other Suns tells the stories of men and women who lived through the Great Migration, when 6 million African-Americans moved from their homes in the South to new promise in the North.

“If I’d have known it was going to take 15 years, I don’t know that I would’ve even tried it,” admits Wilkerson, who is the first black female journalist to win the Pulitzer Prize. “But by that time, I had to finish it. I had to push through.”

Where did the idea for the book come from and what was your initial vision?

It’s hard to pinpoint one moment, because something this big doesn’t come to you overnight. I am the daughter of people who were part of this great migration, who had lived it but never talked about it. I grew up in Washington, D.C., surrounded by people who were from beautifully predictable parts of the South: South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia. Yet, no one said anything like, “Remember when we came up during The Great Migration?” Once I became a journalist and traveled all over the country, it became clear to me that there were these streams of people who had migrated from different parts of the South. I knew it wasn’t going to be a scholarly text; it was going to be an oral history in which I interviewed lots of people.

How long was your writing process from start to finish and what roadblocks did you encounter on the way?

I spent two years going from city to city auditioning people, you might say. I went to senior centers, churches; there are Baptist churches in New York where everybody is from South Carolina and Catholic churches in L.A. where everybody is from Louisiana. There are multiple Mississippi clubs in Chicago. I tried to find the oldest members of this migration and capture a range of experiences. I had several criteria, but, most importantly, I wanted them to have been adults at the time of their migration. I wanted them to have made their own crucial decision to leave. That meant that some people were up in age when I found them.

I actually found someone, a WWI veteran, who turned 100 during the interview process. That also meant that there were illnesses, which was my biggest obstacle. There were times that I had to travel to Los Angeles or New York, and when I’d get there I’d be looking forward to spending time with them and listening to their stories, and instead I would have to go to the hospital. There were times when I ended up having to take someone to dialysis instead of meeting with them at home. One of them was in a coma. One of the men I chose, the one from Florida, was keenly aware that he was speaking to unborn generations of people. He took it very seriously. At one point he said, ‘If you don’t hurry up and finish this book, I’m gonna be proofreading from heaven.’ And he was right. He didn’t live to see the book.

You interviewed more than 1,200 individuals. What skills do you possess that made people feel comfortable sharing their stories and information?

I always go into interviews with a great sense of gratitude for the courage it takes to share one’s story, particularly one so painful and heartbreaking, things that they had deep within themselves and had just gotten to the point of being able to share. So I think being an empathetic listener, someone who was truly wanting to understand what they had endured — those are things I think they could pick up and sense in me. I also think they felt I had a sense of connection with them.

Race is such an obscure issue. People talk circles around it, but shy away from addressing it directly. Yet this book has been widely celebrated by critics and readers alike. What do you think that says about America’s readiness to honestly confront race-related issues?

The book does not to my recollection use the word ‘racism.’ It’s not that I don’t believe it exists but, for the purposes of the book, I wanted people to experience what [others] went through and endured. The phrase that I use most commonly in it is ‘caste system.’ I believe it’s a more complete and all-encompassing way to describe what’s happening in this country when it comes to race. It’s more than race — it’s a value applied to what people look like, an artificial hierarchy that restricted and limited people and controlled what they could do for a living. Living in that kind of suffocating world is more than just race, and I wanted people to imagine what it was like to be these people at that time.

A New York Times bestseller isn’t bad for a first-time author. Were you at all surprised by how well it was received and do you plan to write another?
I had written narrative journalism, primarily for The New York Times, and people find that kind of storytelling does really captivate them. I believed if people would just read the book, they would fall in love with it. It’s been extremely fulfilling, especially to hear so many stories from people whose ancestors experienced the same thing, no matter where they came from. I’m a writer, so obviously writing is what I’m compelled to do. It is who and what I am. But the book took off to such a degree that it has literally taken over my life and I am on the road all the time. There are actually engagements booked into 2014. That said, I do have plans for the next book, but I haven’t had a clear space to devote time to that one thing. But I will soon.

Isabel Wilkerson’s Tips for Transitioning from a Journalist to an Author:
1. Find something that you’re passionate about. “If there’s something that needs to be said that you’re not seeing it being said anywhere else, then I think that’s what will propel you through the more difficult times. Something that takes a long time to do requires a level of devotion that can’t be manufactured.”

2. Respect the authenticity of your interviews. “When you’re spending a large amount of time with people, it becomes a partnership. They’ve made the decision to open their hearts and their memories to you, so you owe them the gift of deep interest and concern. Let them know that you will do right by the story that they’ve told; that means being truthful, honest and respectful. It doesn’t mean covering over anything. In fact, if they share with you, they want these things to be known.”

3. Say something that matters. “There are so many things that need to be said, that deserve inquiry in our world today. That’s what will help you feel it’s worth the sacrifice you’re going to have to make.”

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