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Night Catches Us
Night Catches Us Kam Williams images/img2B4.jpg Film Review Period Piece about Prodigal Black Panther’s Released on DVD Night Catches Us Click to Buy via Amazon.com Rated R for vi...
High Waters
High Waters Thumper Book Review High Waters, a novel by Suzon Tropez, is a novel that I am unsure as to what the storyline or the point of the novel is. I think it is a novel about an older black ...
I Called Him Morgan
I Called Him Morgan Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/authors/images/i-called-him-morgan.jpg Film Review Reverential Retrospective Revisits Abbreviated Life of Legendary Jazz Great Excellent (4 star...
The Book of Night Women
The Book of Night Women Thumper Book Review I have been awaiting the arrival of The Book of Night Women by Marlon James, literally, for years. I read and loved his debut novel, John Crow&r...
Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story
Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story Robert Fleming Book Review Jazz is dead! If you believe that mess, you must not listen to radio or read any of the mainstream media. Howeve...
The Survival Bible
The Survival Bible Kam Williams Book Review ’On April 13th, 1999, I was released from federal prison after serving 7 years for being ignorant. Yeah, I was a dope dealer’...
A Night In Babylon
A Night In Babylon Robert Fleming Book Review This “Woke” novel, A Night In Babylon, seems ripped from the current headlines. It opens with pow-pow-pow action worthy of any TV cop show, w...
It’s All Love
It’s All Love Robert Fleming Book Review If there is a commodity that is seriously misunderstood in our community, it is the emotion of love which binds us to each other. Marita Golden, a p...
Dancing the Afrofuture: Hula, Hip-Hop, and the Dunham Legacy
Dancing the Afrofuture: Hula, Hip-Hop, and the Dunham Legacy Karen Brown Book Review I had just recently attended the 2024 International Conference and Festival of Blacks in Dance in Memphis, Tenness...
Stages
Stages Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall STAGES, the debut novel by Malikah Reese Maccabee is a wonderfully written and very engaging story about women of color in crisi...
Searching for Agabus: Embracing Authenticity and Finding Your Way to You
Searching for Agabus: Embracing Authenticity and Finding Your Way to You Robert Fleming Book Review What is “an authentic self?” Michael Walrond, a well-known keynote speaker and the past...
Bill Clinton and Black America
Bill Clinton and Black America Walter Benefield Book Review Bill Clinton came to the presidency of the United States inheriting a less than admirable race relations history from his predecessors. Wha...
The Presidency in Black and White: My Up-Close View of Three Presidents and Race in America
The Presidency in Black and White: My Up-Close View of Three Presidents and Race in America Kam Williams Book Review “[This book] gives readers a compelling behind-the-scenes look at race re...
Sorry You’re Having A Bad Night by E.K. Robertson
Sorry You’re Having A Bad Night by E.K. Robertson Denolyn Carroll Book Review From its prologue to its epilogue, E. K. Robertson’s Sorry You’re Having A Bad Night delivers on the hallmark...
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution Kam Williams black-pathers-movie-poster.jpg Film Review The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution In Theaters: Sep 2, 2015 Limited Runtime: 1 hr....
Russell Atkins: On the Life & Work of an American Master
Russell Atkins: On the Life & Work of an American Master Robert Fleming Book Review This is an astounding tribute to one of the most innovative American artists, Russell Atkins, by a small, indepe...
No One Left Alone
No One Left Alone Eryka Parker Book Review The inspirational book No One Left Alone opens with the author sharing how members of the Boston community came together and, united, dealt with their grief...
The Black Agenda
The Black Agenda Robert Fleming Book Review Who was Glen Ford? If you ask that question of some of the best critical thinkers in the Black community, they would say Ford was one of the most capabl...
Come Joy!
Come Joy! Idrissa Uqdah Book Review From reading only the first four poems in this collection; I knew I was on to something wonderful. Come Joy, Songs From The Soft of Night by Bridgette Alyce Grea...
A Feast of Peonies
A Feast of Peonies Thumper Book Review Within the first four pages of A Feast of Peonies, the 165-page debut novel by Obi; I was both intrigued, and mesmerized. This electrifying novel centers on a...
Gonna Lay Down My Burdens
Gonna Lay Down My Burdens Thumper Book Review On a rainy night, Desiree Sheffield calls Carmen Taylor (on the eve of Carmen’s wedding to Burl,) to come get her after another violent fight with...
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises Kam Williams dark-night-rises-banner.jpg Film Review Batman Emerges from Exile to Battle Terrorist in Trilogy Finale The Dark Knight Rises In Theaters: Jul 20, 2012 Wide ...
Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man?
Who’s Afraid of a Large Black Man? Kam Williams Book Review "We were the only minority family in all of Cypress, California. When my parents moved in, before I was born, they used to have th...
Killing Willis: From Different Strokes to the Mean Streets To the Life I Always Wanted
Killing Willis: From Different Strokes to the Mean Streets To the Life I Always Wanted Kam Williams Book Review "AlI I ever wanted as a kid was to be a famous TV star… My dream came true whe...
1971 (★★★★) Film Review
1971 (★★★★) Film Review Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/1971.jpg Film Review Whistleblower Documentary Recounts Break-In Uncovering Illegal FBI Surveillance Program 1971 In Theaters: Fe...
Passing Strange
Passing Strange Thumper Book Review "We were the only minority family in all of Cypress, California. When my parents moved in, before I was born, they used to have these oranges come through t...
Sicko
Sicko Kam Williams sicko.3.jpg Film Review Michael Moore Takes Aim at America’s Healthcare System in Eye-Opening Expose’ Sicko Rated PG-13 for brief s...
Stepping into Womanhood: A Black Woman’s Poetic Journey
Stepping into Womanhood: A Black Woman’s Poetic Journey Sister Shiree Sarana Book Review After reading sistah Traci Brooks’ book, Stepping into Womanhood: A Black Woman’s Poetic Journey,...
Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance
Miss Anne in Harlem: The White Women of the Black Renaissance Connie Bradley Book Review Definitions of Miss Anne: A coded term for any white woman. A derisive name for a white woman. An emanc...
Summer Snow
Summer Snow Thumper Book Review Summer Snow: Reflections from a Black Daughter of the South, is a collection of essays by Trudier Harris, based on her memories, observations and opinions that came ...
Biracial, Not Black, Damn It!
Biracial, Not Black, Damn It! Kam Williams images/imgD1.jpg Film Review Groundbreaking Documentary Explores Sensitive Subject of Biraciality Biracial, Not Black, Damn It! Click to order via Am...
The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n’ Roll
The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n’ Roll Robert Fleming Book Review It’s a shame that nothing substantial has been written about that sacred Black entertainment network of the ...
Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire
Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire Kam Williams Book Review ’Arguably, Drusilla Dunjee Houston was one of the most important African-American women writers of the 20th Centu...
Black Food
Black Food Robert Fleming Book Review Black food, aka Soul food, is celebrated all over the world for its delicious ingredients, tangy flavors, homegrown recipes, and traditional richness. This book,...
Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern
Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern Kam Williams Book Review “From his humble beginnings in Sumter, South Carolina to his prominence on the Washington, D.C. political scene as the third...
Blend In or Fade Out: A Memoir
Blend In or Fade Out: A Memoir Robert Fleming Book Review The main theme of identity takes center stage in Colnese M. Herndon’s emotional riveting memoir, Blend In Or Fade Out, as the writer in...
For the Sake of Soul
For the Sake of Soul Robert Fleming Book Review Sometimes short fiction can be a daunting task for the writer, especially when he decides to confront the challenges of plot, characterization, dialogu...
From Dusk To Dawn
From Dusk To Dawn Idrissa Uqdah Book Review The opening chapter of From Dusk To Dawn by first-time novelist Niambi Brown Davis reads like your average romance novel, but this reviewer found ...
Scottsboro
Scottsboro Thumper Book Review The history book train that I hopped on a few months ago is still rolling strong with no station stop in sight. The ride continues with the novel Scottsboro ...
The Dow Twins' Legacy: 50 Years of Disco Reflections
The Dow Twins' Legacy: 50 Years of Disco Reflections Michael A. Gonzales Book Review Coming of age in the disco era 1970s, even as a kid, I knew about the cool clubs where people dressed fly and boog...
Every Man a King
Every Man a King Robert Fleming Book Review For those who love the creators of the hard-boiled private dicks from the 1930s such as Dashiell Hammett, James Cain, and Raymond Chandler, Walter Mosley&r...
Hair Power - Skin Revolution: A Collection of Poems and Personal Essays by Black and Mixed-Race Wome
Hair Power - Skin Revolution: A Collection of Poems and Personal Essays by Black and Mixed-Race Wome Kam Williams Book Review "I can honestly say I have a passion for language… I enjoy writi...
The Urban Guide To Biblical Money
The Urban Guide To Biblical Money Paige Turner Book Review "Have you ever felt like you missed out on something God had for you because you did not handle your money matters in quite the right ...
Buying Time
Buying Time Idrissa Uqdah Book Review For The Love of Money Murder mysteries are fast becoming one of my favorite genres and author Pamela Samuels Young comes highly recommended. Her books ha...
Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing Kam Williams do_the8.jpg Film Review 20th Anniversary Edition of Spike Lee Classic Now Available on DVD Do the Right Thing Click to order via ...
Femme du Monde
Femme du Monde Tara Betts Book Review Spears Jones’ second collection Femme du Monde does not simply unfold the artful experiences of a woman who has traveled and soaked up the internatio...
Rhythm for Sale
Rhythm for Sale Kam Williams Book Review “I went into the Countee Cullen library… and saw a book titled: The Harlem Renaissance: A Historical Dictionary for the Era… I peeked i...
Righteous Riches
Righteous Riches Kam Williams Book Review "The congregation is loud and excited. They are expecting to profit from the insights shared by their speaker, and he does not disappoint. Upon conclud...
Rent a Rasta
Rent a Rasta Kam Williams rent_a11.jpg Film Review Jamaican Sex Tourism the Subject of Steamy Documentary Rent a Rasta Click to order via Amazon DVD Review by Kam Williams Very good (2...
Temptation
Temptation Kam Williams temptation-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Adulteress Wife Shamelessly Violates Vows in Latest Tyler Perry Morality Play Temptation (2013) In Theaters: Mar 29, 2013 Wide Rated ...
American Gangster
American Gangster Kam Williams washin61.jpg Film Review Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe Square-Off in Harlem Heroin-Trade Saga American Gangster (2007) Click to o...
Cadillac Records
Cadillac Records Kam Williams cadillac_records_movie_poster.jpg Film Review Fanciful Bio-Pic Revisits Rise of Legendary Record Company Cadillac Records (2008) Order via Amaz...
Review of A Raisin in the Sun DVD (2008)
Review of A Raisin in the Sun DVD (2008) Kam Williams a_rais29.jpg Film Review Diddy Stars in Adaptation of Classic Play Available on DVD A Raisin in the Sun Click to order vi...
Kamp Katrina
Kamp Katrina Kam Williams kamp_k69.jpg Film Review An eye-opening expose’ welcoming white Americans to the Third World Kamp Katrina Click to order via Amazon ...
Lay This Body Down
Lay This Body Down Thumper Book Review I may have gotten my love for reading from my mother, but I got my love of a good story from my father. He was an excellent storyteller. During my years livin...
Let Us Descend
Let Us Descend Donna Hill Book Review Acclaimed writer Jesmyn Ward, two-time National Book Award winner for Sing, Unburied, Sing and Salvage the Bones, returns with her latest, Let Us Descend, a haun...
The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease
The Protest Psychosis: How Schizophrenia Became a Black Disease Kam Williams Book Review "This book tells the story of how race gets written into the definition of mental illness… The book a...
Black in America
Black in America Kam Williams black_11.jpg Film Review Over-Hyped CNN Special Fails to Measure-Up to the Buzz Black in America Click to order via Am...
Prodigal
Prodigal Chauncey Ridley Book Review David Covin’s Prodigal is a well-tuned engine of richly resonant, polysemous form firing on all cylinders: a hip, ripping thriller set in the mean streets o...
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March Kam Williams Book Review “Jailed nine times before her 15th birthday, Lynda Blackmon Lowery refused to give u...
The PACMAN Plan
The PACMAN Plan Tiffany M. Davis Book Review The PACMAN plan is an ambitious debut by Sam A. Kempt. Set in the smoldering background of Austin, Texas, this book takes an eye-opening look at race, ...
Corruption Officer: From Jail Guard to Perpetrator inside Rikers Island
Corruption Officer: From Jail Guard to Perpetrator inside Rikers Island Kam Williams Book Review “This shocking memoir from a former corrections officer… shares an eye-opening, gritty,...
Insignificant Others: Erotic Novellas
Insignificant Others: Erotic Novellas Anita Doreen Diggs Book Review Award winning authors, Pynk and Carol Taylor have written two original tales for Insignificant Others. Fans will love both sto...
Don’t Let "IT" Get You!
Don’t Let "IT" Get You! Kam Williams Book Review ’Success means nothing, if we are not healthy enough to enjoy it. I urge you to make your health a priority’ This book&rsquo...
High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Kn
High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Kn Kam Williams Book Review “As a youth, Carl Hart didn’t realize the value of school; he studied ...
Bamboozled by Jesus
Bamboozled by Jesus Carol Taylor Book Review Part self-help, part comedic memoir, part inspirational and motivational how-to, Yvonne Orji’s Bamboozled by Jesus is heartfelt and relatable advice...
Kinyarwanda
Kinyarwanda Kam Williams images/kinyarwanda_movie_poster.jpg Film Review Rwandan Tragedy Revisited in "Crash"-Like Ensemble Drama Read an interview with the film maker Alrick Brown Kinyarwanda ...
Sarah Palin: You Betcha!
Sarah Palin: You Betcha! Kam Williams images/sarahpalin_movieposter.jpg Film Review Sarah Palin Takes It on the Chin in Unflattering Bio-Pic Sarah Palin: You Betcha! Unrated Running time: 91 m...
Skid Row
Skid Row Kam Williams skid_r12.jpg Film Review Rapper Goes Undercover to Shed Light on Plight of the Homeless Skid Row Click to order via Amazon Rated R for drug use and profanit...
Think Like a Man Too
Think Like a Man Too Kam Williams think-like-a-man-too.jpg Film Review Think Like a Man Too In Theaters: Jun 20, 2014 Wide Rated PG-13 for profanity, drug use, crude humor, sexual references and ...
Very Young Girls
Very Young Girls Kam Williams very_y1.jpg Film Review NYC Documentary Shows It’s Hard Out There for a Ho, Too Very Young Girls Unrated Running time: 83 minutes Studio: Swinging T...
You Got Served
You Got Served Michael Dequina yougot8.jpg Film Review Michael Dequina’s Review of You Got Served You Got Served (PG-13) Buy The Soundtrack Anyone who buys a ticket for Y...
Dreamgirls (2006)
Dreamgirls (2006) Michael Dequina dreamg1.jpg Film Review Dreamgirls (2006) Rated PG-13 for sex, expletives, and drug use. Running time: 125 minutes Studio: Dreamworks Pictures Review...
Ikland
Ikland Kam Williams ikland-girls.jpg Film Review Redemptive Documentary Rectifies Image of Much-Maligned African Tribe Ikland (2012) In Theaters: Jun 15, 2012 Limited Unrated In Englis...
Animated Objects
Animated Objects Patricia Mckinney Book Review I was very impressed with Animated Objects by Linda Addison. It was written by a person who truly loves and enjoys the horror and fantasy ...
The Last Love Letter
The Last Love Letter Robert Fleming Book Review Amanda Easton, the author of The Last Love Letter, has a history of letter writing going back to her college days when she sometimes said the...
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer Kam Williams Book Review "I’m going to tell you a story you’ve never heard before, because no one knows this story the way I know it. It t...
Caught in a Rundown
Caught in a Rundown Thumper Book Review If this post isn’t a shining example of a recommendation, forgive me. I’m a little slow from not getting enough sleep last night all because of a...
The Upper Room
The Upper Room Thumper Book Review Mary Monroe initially caught my attention and admiration with her second novel God Don’t Like Ugly. I loved God Don’t Like Ugly, as I previously stated...
Blacktrospective 2010 - Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema
Blacktrospective 2010 - Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/images/Just-Wright.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2010 - Annual Assessmen...
Black Power, Black Lawyer: My Audacious Quest for Justice
Black Power, Black Lawyer: My Audacious Quest for Justice Carol Taylor Book Review Much more than a memoir, Black Power, Black Lawyer traces not only Nkechi Taifa’s personal life, and her decad...
Black Pulp
Black Pulp Robert Fleming Book Review In his succinct introduction, award-winning novelist Walter Mosley, creator of the noted private eye Easy Rawlins, explains the appeal of fiction printed i...
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-Hop Feminist
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: My Life as a Hip-Hop Feminist Lynne d. Johnson Book Review Hip-hop has intrinsically woven itself into the fabric of Americana. The culture, music, icons, and p...
Post-Traumatic
Post-Traumatic Robert Fleming Book Review Chantal Johnson’s debut novel, Post-Traumatic, confronts the emotional toll of sexual assault, a real-life survivor narrative, with the prickly residue...
Black Power Inc.
Black Power Inc. Rondall Brasher Book Review I would like to initiate my review of Cora Daniels’ Black Power Inc. by eluding to a quote attributed to Malcolm X, too Black’too strong. T...
Iconic: Decoding Images of the Revolutionary Black Woman
Iconic: Decoding Images of the Revolutionary Black Woman Kam Williams Book Review “This book asks what it means to represent black womanhood and explores how these representations are connect...
Buddy Guy: When I Left Home — My Story
Buddy Guy: When I Left Home — My Story Robert Fleming Book Review When I Left Home, the memoir of legendary blue guitarist Buddy Guy, with support from noted writer David Ritz, traces the musician ...
What Mother Never Told Me
What Mother Never Told Me Idrissa Uqdah Book Review A Family's Secret Sins "Every Family has it's secrets…" says national best selling author, Donna Hill in her latest n...
The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power
The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power Kam Williams Book Review “This study introduces readers to key figures across a spectrum of black Republican...
The Collected Poems of Nikki Giovanni
The Collected Poems of Nikki Giovanni Rondall Brasher Book Review The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni has been grafted to my hands for the last 3 weeks. This anthology is the chronological atlas...
The Covenant with Black America
The Covenant with Black America Kam Williams Book Review Book Review by Kam Williams "Why a Covenant with Black America? In short, because’ without organization, black folk will ...
Crisis of the Black Intellectual
Crisis of the Black Intellectual Kam Williams Book Review ’Today there are many Black intellectuals who do not think of Black people as a people and have no wish to do so. They think of the...
The Black Sleuth
The Black Sleuth Thumper Book Review Suggested Title: Tale of Early Black Detective Prescribes Strong Medicine Or Forgotten Black Writer Doses Up Strong Medicine Northeastern University Press, in its...
Creating Black Americans
Creating Black Americans Kam Williams Book Review ’Over the course of more than two centuries, black American artists have represented their history- scrupulously, meaningfully, and brilliantl...
The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can’t Find Good Black Men
The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can’t Find Good Black Men Kam Williams Book Review "What do black women want? The truth? They are looking for Denzel Washington. They have been so thoroughly b...
Howard Street
Howard Street Tony Lindsay Book Review Writers are introduced to the craft of writing through a variety avenues: reading, experience, teaching, and mimicking. Writers often copy the skill sets of tho...
The Birdcatcher
The Birdcatcher Robert Fleming Book Review What the iconic African-American writer James Baldwin once told the young writers about the traditional stature of the prominent writers who put pen to pape...
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones
Dark Matter: Reading the Bones Chris Hayden Book Review If It Ain’t Speculative and It Ain’t Fiction Need Black Folks Read Speculative Fiction? It distresses me when I can grant only q...
It Was The Devil All Along: A Memoir
It Was The Devil All Along: A Memoir Robert Fleming Book Review Her name is Avalon Soulette Brown, a God-sent woman who happens to be an accomplished nurse from Newark, New Jersey, and still lives ...
The Strawberry Letter: Real Talk
The Strawberry Letter: Real Talk Kam Williams Book Review "I’ve been Shirley’s partner in radio for over ten years now… I am amazed by how she manages to balance her personal and...