Chasing Me to My Grave

An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South

Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Biography

“A compelling and important history that this nation desperately needs to hear.” (Bryan Stevenson, New York Times best-selling author of Just Mercy and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative)

Winfred Rembert grew up in a family of Georgia field laborers and joined the civil rights movement as a teenager. He was arrested after fleeing a demonstration, later survived a near-lynching at the hands of law enforcement, and spent the next seven years on chain gangs.

During that time he met the undaunted Patsy, who would become his wife. Years later, at the age of 51 and with Patsy’s encouragement, he started drawing and painting scenes from his youth using leather tooling skills he learned in prison.

Chasing Me to My Grave presents Rembert’s breathtaking body of work alongside his story, as told to Tufts Philosopher Erin I. Kelly. Rembert calls forth vibrant scenes of Black life on Cuthbert, Georgia’s Hamilton Avenue, where he first glimpsed the possibility of a life outside the cotton field. As he pays tribute, exuberant and heartfelt, to Cuthbert’s Black community and the people, including his wife, Patsy, who helped him to find the courage to revisit a traumatic past, Rembert brings to life the promise and the danger of civil rights protest, the brutalities of incarceration, his search for his mother’s love, and the epic bond he found with Patsy.

Vivid, confrontational, revelatory, and complex, Chasing Me to My Grave is a searing memoir in prose and paintings that celebrates Black life and summons listeners to confront painful and urgent realities at the heart of American history and society.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Winfred Rembert and Erin I. Kelly (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

Powerful

Winner of 2022 Pulitzer Prize in biography. Extraordinarily powerful. The author recounts his personal history in the Jim Crow south. Eye-opening to many whites except, of course, those of us who perpetuated the evils inflicted on Blacks throughout the United States.

A rich rendering of a poor man’s life

The love that still stayed in the writer’s heqrt, even after a life consistant of struggle after struggle, & the self respect he rétains.

A Masterpiece of Witness: Unflinching, Beautiful

Chasing Me to My Grave is far more than a standard autobiography; it is a profound act of reclamation. Winfred Rembert, a self-taught artist who survived the brutal realities of the Jim Crow South and the Georgia carceral system, has left behind a testament that is as visually stunning as it is narratively gut-wrenching. This Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir is essential for anyone seeking to understand the intersection of trauma, resilience, and the transformative power of art.

The Power of the Medium
What sets this memoir apart is the integration of Rembert’s unique artistic medium: carved, tooled, and dyed leather. Having learned leatherworking during seven years on a chain gang, Rembert eventually used those same skills to "carve" his memories into vibrant art. The hardcover edition is filled with full-color reproductions of these works, allowing the reader to see the rhythmic rows of cotton and the tension of the chain gang through his eyes.

A Searing, Authentic Voice
The prose, as told to philosopher Erin I. Kelly, maintains Rembert’s authentic, plainspoken voice. It feels like sitting across from him as he recounts his life—from a harrowing near-lynching to his eventual recognition as a world-class artist—with a staggering lack of bitterness. He explores the complexities of abandonment and the search for his mother's love, while centering the sustaining power of his marriage to his wife, Patsy.

The "Unvarnished Truth"
The title refers to the traumatic memories that pursued Rembert throughout his life. He refuses to look away from the "everyday lie" of white supremacy, yet the book remains a love story at its heart—a love for his community, his family, and the craft that saved him. It is a rare work that manages to be both a heavy historical document and a luminous celebration of the human spirit.

Final Verdict: 5/5 Stars. This is a portable art gallery and a vital historical record from one of the most significant Black voices of our time.

Chasing Me to My Grave

What a spectacular memoir with stellar narration. Listening to this audiobook was like hearing the life experience firsthand of the man who lived through it, plus one chapter told from the viewpoint of his wife. The composition of the storytelling is so well put together and the language feels authentic. While I’ve got a few decades under my belt, I haven’t been around as long as Winfred Rembert, nor do I share anything at all similar to his life experience, but I find it immensely relatable the way he reminisces about the good parts of an “old fashioned life” and gently admonishes today’s youth for their lack of awareness of and appreciation for what’s come before, such as the civil rights movement of the 60’s. This book was rewarding and I’m so glad I listened to it on audio. Fortunately, I was able to reference the written version also and see the photos and artwork included there that are missed by those who only access the audiobook.

Winfred

Wonderful, meaningful, unforgettable.
So glad to meet this man through his words and art… google his art as you listen