Heirs Reading Collective

Welcome to the Heirs of the Great Migration Collective.

This is not a traditional book club.

This is a space to think, reflect, and locate yourself within history—specifically the Blackamerican experience shaped by the Great Migration and everything that followed.

Let's start with some introductions. Share as much or as little as you are comfortable.

I’ll go first—

I’m Manny James Wright. I was born and raised in Waterbury, Connecticut, a city shaped by the Great Migration and deindustrialization.

My family’s roots trace back to the South (maternal, North Carolina; paternal, Virginia), like many Blackamerican families, and that history has shaped how I understand education, community, and opportunity.

I’ve lived in places like Atlanta, Cairo, and Southern California, and my work sits at the intersection of leadership, policy, and the lived experiences of Blackamerican communities.

This is about more than reading. This is about understanding what we inherited—and what we do with it.