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The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Kam Williams the_cu20.jpg Film Review Brad Pitt Stars in Adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic The Curious Ca...
Jazz Country
Jazz Country Walter Benefield Book Review Studying the writings of writer-intellectual Ralph Ellison, author of the critically acclaimed novel, Invisible Man promises to be rewarding. Horace Porter ...
Choreographing the Folk
Choreographing the Folk Kam Williams Book Review ’Although I studied ballet and modern from an early age, jazz dance was my greatest love… In these predominantly white ...
Blacktrospective 2013 by Kam Williams
Blacktrospective 2013 by Kam Williams Kam Williams http://aalbc.com/reviews/20-feet-from-stardom.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2013 - Annual Assessment of the Best in Black Cinema Each year we pub...
Tavis Smiley Books
Tavis Smiley Books Lynne d. Johnson Book Review Tavis Smiley, syndicated radio and BET talk-show host, is committed to making the world a better place. This is his mission. His first book, Doing What...
In Spite of the Consequences: Prison Letters on Exoneration, Abolition, and Freedom
In Spite of the Consequences: Prison Letters on Exoneration, Abolition, and Freedom Robert Fleming Book Review If you were politically conscious decades ago, you would have read the prison chronicles...
Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues
Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues Clarence V. Reynolds Book Review This year, we will celebrate the centennial of the birth of prominent writer, civil rights activist, and intellectual James Baldwin. Born in Ha...
Red Tails
Red Tails Kam Williams redtails.jpg Film Review WWII Saga Recounts Heroic Exploits of Tuskegee Airmen Red Tails [2012] In Theaters: Jan 20, 2012 Wide Written By: Aaron McGrude...
Severed: A Novel
Severed: A Novel Mel Hopkins Book Review Severed, a Novel | A Black Woman’s Burden Someone is a few digits short of a hand in Nakadee, Louisiana. What’s worse, someone may be t...
A Prayer For Deliverance
A Prayer For Deliverance Thumper Book Review Christopher Chambers has returned FBI agent Angela Bivens, to the frontline in his marvelous sophomore thriller, A Prayer For Deliverance, an intense, ...
Sympathy For The Devil
Sympathy For The Devil Thumper Book Review I wasn’t expecting such an excellent, non-stop reading novel when I embarked on Christopher Chamber’s debut novel, Sympathy For The Devil. I wa...
Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me Kam Williams Book Review “In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about american history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for h...
Ingleside: Based on a True Story
Ingleside: Based on a True Story Robert Fleming Book Review As a former veteran newspaper reporter on the crime beat, I can smell a homicide when it’s authentic and this book is bursting at the...
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 ...
Blood Done Sign My Name
Blood Done Sign My Name Kam Williams images/img1D.jpg Film Review Riveting Historical Drama Revisits Infamous Civil Rights Case Blood Done Sign My Name Rated PG-13 for profanity, mature th...
Dead Presidents
Dead Presidents Ted Prigge images/dead.h42.jpg Film Review DEAD PRESIDENTS (1995) (out of a possible ) Directors: Allen and Albert Hughes Writer: Michael Henry Brown (based on a...
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain Kam Williams kevin-hart-let-me-explain.jpg Film Review Hottest Stand-Up Comic Wows Sold-Out Garden in Concert Tour Finale Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain In Theaters: Jul 3, 20...
Nina
Nina Kam Williams http://aalbc.com/reviews/images/nina-2016-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Saldana Successfully Channels Simone in Controversial Biopic Nina In Theaters: April Mar 22, 2016 Limite...
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth Kam Williams pruitt_igoe-implosion.jpg Film Review DVD Revisits Rise and Demise of Ill-Conceived Housing Project The Pruitt-Igoe Myth Click to Buy DVD via Amazon DV...
The Social Network
The Social Network Kam Williams images/69349_gal.jpg Film Review Damning Bio-Pic Recounts Rise of Ruthless Facebook Founder The Social Network Click to Buy via Amazon.com Rate...
Uncle Tom: A Oral History of the American Black Conservative
Uncle Tom: A Oral History of the American Black Conservative Troy Johnson https://aalbc.com/reviews/images/Uncle-tom-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Rating: NR Genre: Documentary Directed By: Just...
The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi by Chinedu Achebe
The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi by Chinedu Achebe Robert Fleming Book Review Some of the world’s finest fiction has been written by Nigerians. Let’s look at the writers from that area in...
Butter: Novellas, Stories, and Fragments
Butter: Novellas, Stories, and Fragments Robert Fleming Book Review Recently, I received a letter from lit legend Gayl Jones, saying that she wasn’t writing anymore. Discovered by iconic editor...
Butterfly Rising
Butterfly Rising Troy Johnson images/tanya_wright.jpg Film Review A Letter from Tanya Wright Tanya Wright author/writer/director, BUTTERFLY RISING My name is Tanya Wright. I am an actress...
Best Selling DVD's for 2011
Best Selling DVD's for 2011 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/aalbcdvd6.jpg Film Review 10 Best Selling DVDs on AALBC.com for 2011 This is the first DVD bestseller's list that I've compiled and ...
Blacktrospective 2005
Blacktrospective 2005 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/movies69.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2005 A Look Back at the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema by Kam Williams 2004 m...
The Darkling
The Darkling Robert Fleming Book Review This debut novel, by Keoni Anderson, has all of the earmarks of one of the pulps from the golden age of science fiction, with Henry, the fresh-scrubbed ...
Ballast
Ballast Kam Williams images/img42.jpg Film Review Ballast Click to order via Amazon Unrated Running time: 96 minutes Studio: Alluvial Film Company Release Date: November 10, 2009 ...
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...
Perfect Stranger
Perfect Stranger Kam Williams perfec8.jpg Film Review Reporter Goes Undercover to Crack Murder Case in Convoluted Crime Yawner Perfect Stranger Release Date:13 April 2007 (USA) Rated R for pr...
Snakes on a Plane Review
Snakes on a Plane Review Kam Williams snakes7.jpg Film Review "Campy Fright Flick Loads of Fun in Spite of Cheesy F/X and Clich’-Ridden Script" Snakes on a Plane Excellent (4 sta...
Supremacy
Supremacy Kam Williams supremacy.jpg Film Review Supremacy In Theaters: Jan 30, 2015 LimitedOn DVD: Apr 21, 2015Rating: UnratedGenre: DramaDirected By: Deon TaylorRuntime: 1 hr. 46 min. Distributor:...
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 ...
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...
American Violet
American Violet Kam Williams americ2.jpg Film Review Dramatization Revisits Infamous Case of Racial Profiling and Malicious Prosecution in Texas American Violet Rat...
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty
An Oversimplification of Her Beauty Kam Williams an-oversimplification-of-her-beauty.jpg Film Review Annoying Narration Ruins Jay-Z Produced Romantic Romp An Oversimplification of Her Beauty (2013)...
The Anonymous People
The Anonymous People Kam Williams The-anonymous-people.jpg Film Review 12-Step Documentary Rethinks Addiction The Anonymous People In Theaters: Mar 14, 2014 Limited Unrated Running time: 88 min...
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...
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...
Ghosts of Cite Soleil
Ghosts of Cite Soleil Kam Williams ghosts39.jpg Film Review Haitians Go Gangsta in Ghetto-Based Documentary Ghosts of Cite Soleil Click to order via Amazon Unrated In Haitian, French and En...
Iron Lady
Iron Lady Kam Williams theironlady_movieposter.jpg Film Review Streep Delivers Oscar-Quality Performance Impersonating Brit PM The Iron Lady Rated PG-13 for violent images and brief nudity. R...
You Made Me Love You
You Made Me Love You Robert Fleming Book Review Like Ishmael Reed, Clarence Major, and other legendary African-American male writers of their generation, John Edgar Wideman, at eighty, is nearing the...
Sankofa University: Studying African-Centered History and Culture
Sankofa University: Studying African-Centered History and Culture Robert Fleming Book Review Dr. Burnett Kwadwo Gallman’s Sankofa University: Studying African-Centered History And Culture, is a...
The Henry Louis Gates
The Henry Louis Gates Robert Fleming Book Review Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the nation’s most acclaimed scholars, is a masterful jack of all trades, including educator, editor, critic and ...
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 ...
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013)
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013) Kam Williams the-butler.jpg Film Review Forest Whitaker Delivers Oscar-Quality Performance in Emotionally-Searing Civil Rights Saga Lee Daniels’ The Butler...
Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds
Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds Kam Williams good_deeds_movie%20Poster.jpg Film Review CEO Torn between Employee and Fiancée in Tyler Perry Morality Play Good Deeds [2012] In Theaters: Fe...
White Chicks
White Chicks Kam Williams white_15.jpg Film Review White Chicks (PG-13) Starring: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans Directed by: Keenen Ivory Wayans Release Date: 06/23/2004 Run time: 105 min. Genr...
Amistad
Amistad Michael Dequina images/amista36.jpg Film Review Amistad Rated R for some scenes of strong brutal violence and some related nudity. Starring: Morgan Freeman …...
The Black Candle
The Black Candle Kam Williams the_bl1.jpg Film Review DVD Explains Roots of Kwanzaa Celebration The Black Candle: A Kwanzaa Celebration Click to order via Amazon Unrated ...
Brother to Brother
Brother to Brother Kam Williams brothe73.jpg Film Review Brother to Brother buy DVD Via Amazon Directed & Written by Rodney Evans Distributor: Ventura Distribution Unrated Running time: 90 minu...
G
G Kam Williams g.htm13.jpg Film Review Great Gatsby in Blackface Gets a Gangsta Makeover G R for sex, expletives and brief violence. Running time: 96 minutes Distributor: Andrew Lauren Productions...
Hoodlum
Hoodlum Michael Dequina images/hoodlu40.jpg Film Review HOODLUM (1997) A film review by Timothy Voon http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Tim+Voon Copyright 1998 Timothy Voon (out of a p...
In the Mix
In the Mix Kam Williams in_the41.jpg Film Review Usher Moonlights as Mafia Bodyguard in Cross-Cultural Romance In the Mix Rated PG-13 for sex, expletives and violence. Running time: 97 minutes Di...
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...
Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter
Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter Kam Williams Book Review "Throughout the years of his public life, former President and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Jimmy Carter has live...
How She Move
How She Move Kam Williams how_sh32.jpg Film Review Promising Prep Student Returns to Ghetto Roots in Inspirational Dance Saga How She Move Click to order via Amazon Theatr...
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...
Buried by the Times
Buried by the Times Kam Williams Book Review "The New York Times failed in its coverage of the fate of European Jews from 1939 to 1945. The assimilationist tendencies of the Times’ Jewis...
The Black Rose
The Black Rose Paige Turner Book Review Journalist and novelist Tananarive Due is fast establishing herself as a professional writer who can master any genre she deigns to approach. With her previ...
Blues From Down Deep
Blues From Down Deep Thumper Book Review Reviewed by Thumper Blues From Down Deep is the second novel I have read by Gwynne Forster, the first being Once In A Lifetime which I enjoyed. I was not pl...
Dearly Beloved
Dearly Beloved Shaundale Rénā Book Review Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, & This Thing Called Life opens with a recommended viewing of Sign O’ the Times and a curated list of songs se...
The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Decline of Black Politics
The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Decline of Black Politics Kam Williams Book Review “Barack Obama’s triumph in the presidential election of 2008… contains ...
The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates
The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Kam Williams Book Review "This book is about more than the arrest of one man. It is abut how we need to examine our criminal justice syst...
The Ancestors
The Ancestors Thumper Book Review The Ancestors is an anthology featuring stories by authors L.A. Banks, Tananarive Due and Brandon Massey. I am always happy to come across science fiction ...
Bass Clef Bliss
Bass Clef Bliss Kam Williams bass-clef-bliss-movie-poster.jpg Film Review African-American Mother and Son’s Adjustment to Autism Chronicled in Inspirational Film Bass Clef Bliss In Theaters:...
A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy
A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy Kam Williams a_good15.jpg Film Review Sexplicit Action Aplenty in Raw, Raunchy Romantic Romp A Good Day to Be Black & Sexy Click to order...
12 Years a Slave
12 Years a Slave Kam Williams 12-years-a-slave-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Chiwetel Ejiofor Stars in Adaptation of Solomon Northup’s Memoir In Theaters: Oct 18, 2013 Limited November 1,...
Oreo
Oreo Thumper Book Review I’m thinking, pondering, you might say, that possibly the sign of a good book isn’t the fact that it is in print. Maybe, the sign of a good book should be wheth...
Gay Rebel of the Harlem Ren…
Gay Rebel of the Harlem Ren… Thumper Book Review Richard Bruce Nugent is the best well-kept secret of the Harlem Renaissance. Nugent isn’t unheard of in the annals of the Renaissance; ...
Kiss and Tail
Kiss and Tail Kam Williams http://aalbc.com/authors/Kiss-and-tail.jpg Film Review Video Vixen’s Victims Get Even on Damning DVD Kiss and Tail: Hollywood Jump Off Click to order via Amazo...
Mississippi Damned
Mississippi Damned Kam Williams mississippi-damned.jpg Film Review Mississippi Damned In Theaters: January 16, 2009 (limited) on Netflix Written and Directed by: Tina Mabry Rating: UnratedGe...
The Prince of Broadway
The Prince of Broadway Kam Williams images/princeofbroadway.jpg Film Review African Street Hustler’s Life Complicated by Baby-Mama Drama Prince of Broadway [2010] Unrated Running time: 100...
Ray
Ray Marvin X ray.ht1.jpg Film Review Ray Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Story (2004) (USA) (working title) MPAA: Rated PG-13 for depiction of drug addiction, sexuality and some thematic element...
Red Hook Summer
Red Hook Summer Kam Williams red-hook-summer.jpg Film Review Latest Spike Lee Joint Deserves to Get the Hook Red Hook Summer (2012) In Theaters: Aug 10, 2012 Limited R, 2 hr. 1 min. Drama Directed ...
Repentance
Repentance Kam Williams repentance.jpg Film Review Repentance In Theaters: Feb 28, 2014 Limited Rated R for profanity, violence and torture Running time: 90 minutes Mystery & Suspense, Ho...
The Vanishing Black Male
The Vanishing Black Male Kam Williams the_va2.jpg Film Review Documentary Explores Issue of Disappearing African-American Men The Vanishing Black Male Studio: Seven Generations Product...
Winnie Mandela
Winnie Mandela Kam Williams nelsonandwinnie.jpg Film Review Jennifer Hudson Portrays Infamous Icon in Warts-and-All Biopic Winnie Mandela In Theaters: Sep 6, 2013 Limited On DVD: Dec 17,...
I Am Not Your Negro
I Am Not Your Negro Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/authors/images/im-not-your-negro.jpg Film Review Oscar-Nominated Documentary Inspired by James Baldwin’s Unfinished Manuscript Excellent (...
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Beasts of the Southern Wild Kam Williams beasts-of-the-southern-wild.jpg Film Review Carefree Cherub Laments Climate Change in Enchanting Cautionary Parable Beasts of the Southern Wild In Theaters: ...
Carmen & Geoffrey
Carmen & Geoffrey Kam Williams carmen47.jpg Film Review Endearing Documentary Examines Enduring Marriage and Careers of Celebrated Couple Carmen & Geoffrey Unrated Running ...
Fruitvale Station
Fruitvale Station Kam Williams fruitville-station.jpg Film Review Bittersweet Biopic Recounts Final Hours in Oscar Grant’s Life The video is a news report which includes video of Oscar Grant I...
Hoodwinked
Hoodwinked Kam Williams hoodwinked.jpg Film Review Black Stereotypes Debunked in Thought-Provoking Sequel Hoodwinked (2012) Click to order via Amazon Directed and Produced by Janks Morton DV...
Bestselling DVD's for 2012
Bestselling DVD's for 2012 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/aalbcdvd5.jpg Film Review Top Ten Selling DVDs for 2012 See Bestselling DVDs #6 - #10 #1 • What Black Men Think Click to...
Tangled Dreams
Tangled Dreams Kirkus Book Review A fantastic example of ancestry-driven fiction. In Friedman’s novel, a cultural anthropology professor at a crossroads receives a grant that draws her back into h...
Louise Thompson Patterson, A Life of Struggle and Justice by Keith Gilyard
Louise Thompson Patterson, A Life of Struggle and Justice by Keith Gilyard Brenda M. Greene Book Review To study her story is to witness the courage, sacrifice, vision and discipline of someone who s...
The Hiptionary
The Hiptionary Kam Williams Book Review ’Throughout the cultural evolution of the United States, Black people have consistently contributed a huge stock of colorful words, phr...
The Sons of Shea
The Sons of Shea Robert Fleming Book Review In Dame DaVohn’s novel of self-determination and redemption, The Sons of Shea, the characters and plot seem ripped from the headlines. The ...
Post Black: How a New Generation Is Redefining African-American Identity
Post Black: How a New Generation Is Redefining African-American Identity Kam Williams Book Review "In this book, I will not detail every pathological condition that ever existed in African-American...
The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism
The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism Kam Williams Book Review ’Is Islamic anti-Semitism only a modern phenomenon? During the last fifteen years, certain Western scholars have t...
African American History for Dummies
African American History for Dummies Kam Williams Book Review ’African-American history, to be clear, is so much more than a handful of extraordinary individuals or practices like slaver...
The End of Anger: A New Generation’s Take on Race and Rage
The End of Anger: A New Generation’s Take on Race and Rage Kam Williams Book Review "The End of Anger is an exploration of why it is that many blacks are feeling optimistic these days&hellip...
Family Properties
Family Properties Kam Williams Book Review ’Despite fair housing laws, prospective black home buyers are still ’steered’ away from white neighborhoods. Low-income...
Hollywood Fantasies of Miscegenation
Hollywood Fantasies of Miscegenation Kam Williams Book Review "Hollywood Fantasies of Miscegenation analyzes white fantasies of interracial desire in the history of popular American film. Fro...
Keepin’ It Real
Keepin’ It Real Kam Williams Book Review ’Why are so many African-American and Latino students performing less well than their Asian and white peers in classes and on exams. Why are f...
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...
More than Just Race
More than Just Race Kam Williams Book Review ’This book will likely generate controversy because I dare to take culture seriously as one of the explanatory variables in the st...
Osama Bin Laden
Osama Bin Laden Kam Williams Book Review ’In the Western media, and especially the United States, the demonization of Osama bin Laden has been complete. Almost without exception, he is ...
Miles and Me
Miles and Me Paige Turner Book Review Quincy Troupe’s candid account of his friendship with Miles Davis is a revealing portrait of a great musician and an intimate study of a unique...
Shackling Water
Shackling Water Thumper Book Review I awoke and discovered myself in the middle of an improvisational jazz solo of great intensity, dexterity, color and depth. I knew not the melody, the song, the st...