“People of Means” Explores Family, Class, and the Pursuit of Equality https://ift.tt/yAr2kjc
In Nancy Johnson’s sophomore novel, People of Means, we are drawn into a book that is not only filled with nuanced, vividly portrayed characters, and the everyday considerations of life, but also a story that is meant to challenge, inspire, and inform.
It’s 1959 and Freda Gilroy has landed in Nashville, TN, at her parents’ alma mater, Fisk University. Freda, who was raised in an upper-middle class setting in Chicago’s southside and was raised to uphold the standards of W.E.B. Du Bois’ plan for the “talented tenth” – that is, espouse the achievements of Black excellence – is rudely awakened by the Jim Crow South. Her life has been set – she will receive her mathematics degree, marry a young man attending med school at Meharry that her parents approve of, then maintain or perhaps even surpass her parents’ lifestyle and standards. That is until Freda meets a young saxophone player and social activist on the Fisk campus and is enlightened on the realities of racial discrimination and segregation happening around her.
Cut to 1992, and Freda’s daughter, Tulip, is climbing the corporate ladder as a young PR professional in a predominantly white Chicago firm. She is dating below her parent’s standards – a working-class bus driver does not suit their idea of excellence – and is unabashedly faced with microaggressions from coworkers every day. Then, the Rodney King verdict and ensuing riots bring to light the true racism of her coworkers and the ever-present horrors of discrimination, and Tulip is faced with a situation not dissimilar to the one her mother encountered thirty years prior: does she continue to play the game and live up to the expectations set forth by her parents? Or does she engage in the call for social justice? “Her father had set the bar high,” Tulip contemplates, “laying a path for her to follow. Instead of feeling inspired, she panicked, unsure if she could live up to his example, or even wanted to anymore.”
Weaved in and throughout the anecdotes of the characters’ lives, we read snippets like this: “President Kennedy had pushed for this before his assassination and now it had finally happened. The law guaranteed equal treatment of every American regardless of race. Every sit-in. Every march. Ever arrest. Every indignity. They had all been worth it.”Johnson’s prose is hard not to love. On one hand, it is not fussy, but relatable in its depth and context. At the same time, Johnson’s prose can pack a punch when necessary, drawing readers in an effortless and essential way. “The hope of an entire city rested with the NBA Finals, where the Bulls inched closer to destiny… Race, color, nor creed mattered, nor did how much money you made. Following the Bulls had become its own religion. You didn’t need to know the rules of the game for your chest to swell.”
At its core, People of Means is a vibrant exploration of race, class, family, love, and the relentless pursuit of equality. “The years passed quickly, while progress for equality came slow at times, with those in the struggle never ceding an inch.” As the story unfolds through the narratives of Freda and Tulip, it’s important to remember that this mother/daughter duo faced such similar circumstances in entirely different decades that it is hard to believe more change wasn’t made. In fact, as I read, I thought of how Freda and Tulip’s situations were so similar to the fight for justice for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020. In the author’s notes, though, Johnson writes, “The summer of 2020 ignited a firestorm around the world… These monumental moments in time triggered questions about my own place in the world, what I believe to be true, and the choices I might make in similar circumstances. And thus, the see for People of Means was planted.”
Johnson used these parallel timelines to draw a line through space and time and show how the world has and has not changed since the Civil Rights Movement began. She used relatable characters and vivid imagery to transport us to 1959, 1963, and 1992, and made us feel the tension and urgency that these women and their peers felt, all the while educating us on the relevance and urgency of our actions and choices today.
FICTION People of Means
By Nancy Johnson
William Morrow
Published February 11, 2025
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