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Street Journeys
Street Journeys Kam Williams street-jouneys-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Street Journeys (2011) Director: Tracy Christian Kenya, 2011, Duration 58 min., English & Swahili In the he...
Water Street
Water Street Thumper Book Review Recently, I had the pleasure of reading the short story collection, Water Street, written by Crystal E Wilkinson. I loved it. The short stories are slices of the l...
Brown Boys Rule
Brown Boys Rule Clarence V. Reynolds Book Review While listening to a recent meditation session on the app Happier—one of my favorites—I was reminded of the importance of embracing wo...
Get On Up: The James Brown Story
Get On Up: The James Brown Story Kam Williams get-on-up-movie-poster-2.jpg Film Review Chadwick Channels James Brown in Nostalgic Jukebox Musical Get on Up: The James Brown Story In Theaters: Au...
Street Judge
Street Judge Thumper Book Review In his fiction debut Judge Greg Mathis, star of the syndicated Judge Mathis TV show, releases Street Judge, a mystery/thriller with a message. Although I ha...
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...
Bright Eyes
Bright Eyes Troy Johnson Book Review Here, Cheryl Willis Hudson co-author of: Bright Eyes, Brown Skin, helps young children see the beauty of their physical characteristics. Bright eyes, brown sk...
Brown Glass Window
Brown Glass Window Thumper Book Review I’ve been waiting a long time for this and it is a privilege and a pleasure to state that Devorah Major’s new novel Brown Glass Window is out ...
Sweet Georgia Brown
Sweet Georgia Brown Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Can A Woman Reinvent Herself? Cheryl Robinson is known for writing novels with a twist, portraying women who face the odds and succeed. Her books...
Phat Girlz
Phat Girlz Kam Williams phat_g31.jpg Film Review Plus-Sized Sisters Find Acceptance in Africa in Cross-Cultural Romantic Comedy Phat Girlz Rated PG-13 for sex, expletives, and crude humo...
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...
Top Five
Top Five Kam Williams Top-Five-Movie-Poster.jpg Film Review Top Five In Theaters: Dec 12, 2014 Wide R (for strong sexual content, nudity, crude humor, language throughout and some drug use) Run...
The Great Debators
The Great Debators Kam Williams kimber13.jpg Film Review The Great Debaters Rated PG-13 for profanity, ethnic slurs, mature themes, brief sexuality, violence and distur...
Wake Up Everybody
Wake Up Everybody Paige Turner Book Review I play the street life cuz there’s no place I can go Street Life - it’s the only life I know Street Life - there’s a thousand parts to pla...
Bourbon Street
Bourbon Street Thumper Book Review It has been a long while since I read a book as complex and gorgeous as Bourbon Street written by Leonce Gaiter. A novel which explores the spectrum of inner na...
21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street Kam Williams 21jumpstreet.jpg Film Review Polar Opposite Partners Infiltrate H.S. in Unlikely-Buddies Comedy 21 Jump Street [2012] In Theaters: Mar 16, 2012 Wide R, 1 hr. 49 min. A...
Before Brown
Before Brown Kam Williams Book Review "Before Brown details the ferment in civil rights that took place across the South before the momentous Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954. T...
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 ...
Oil and Water and Other Things That don’t Mix
Oil and Water and Other Things That don’t Mix Robert Fleming Book Review If you take a trip to the once-scenic Gulf Coast, you will see there is more to be done in the restoration and rejuvenation...
GhettoPhysics
GhettoPhysics Kam Williams images/ghettophysics.jpg Film Review Radical Fringe Flick Breaks World Down to Pimp and Hos GhettoPhysics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up! Rated R for...
Mrs. Black
Mrs. Black Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Angelia Vernon Menchan who also has written under the name, acVernon Menchan has just released an new novel that takes us further into the world of the...
Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina
Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina Kam Williams Book Review “Blacks in the segregationist United States of America of the 30s and 40s fought back with inherent toug...
Brown Girl in the Ring
Brown Girl in the Ring Sheree Renée Thomas Book Review Science fiction fans who love the vision and storytelling prowess of Octavia E. Butler are in for a treat with this up-all-nighter f...
50 Years after Brown: The State of Black Equality in America
50 Years after Brown: The State of Black Equality in America Kam Williams Book Review "The state of black equality in America 50 years after Brown reflects the historical recalcitrance o...
Blue in Green
Blue in Green Robert Fleming Book Review On August 25, 1959, jazz trumpeter Miles Davis escorts a white girl to a cab, lights a cigarette outside Birdland, and a city policeman harasses the black man...
The Ex Chronicles: A Novel
The Ex Chronicles: A Novel Thumper Book Review If any of you have been following me for any length of time, you are well aware of how I feel about the 3, 4 sista-girlfriends novels that had become ...
Reversal of Trends: A Black Man’s Journey across the Mason-Dixon Line
Reversal of Trends: A Black Man’s Journey across the Mason-Dixon Line Robert Fleming Book Review Often, memoirs can be self-indulgent, unimaginative, and a cheesy promotion of self. That’s not ...
The Rich and the Rest of Us
The Rich and the Rest of Us Kam Williams Book Review “This book serves as a counterpoint to [those] who luxuriate in denying the reality of America’s poor… Poverty of all colors ...
Baring My Soul
Baring My Soul Rondall Brasher Book Review I have just finished a collection of poems called Baring My Soul by Stacey Renee Tolbert aka "The Brown Suga Poet". It was my first introduction ...
Stomp the Yard
Stomp the Yard Kam Williams stomp_6.jpg Film Review Black Greek Goes Gaga Over Curvy Coed in Coincidence-Driven Melodrama Stomp the Yard Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, ethnic slurs and...
Behind those Books (press release)
Behind those Books (press release) Troy Johnson images/behindthosebooks.jpg Film Review Behind Those Books: A Thought Provoking Documentary Tackling Societal Ills Through Literature Behind Th...
Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice System
Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice System Kam Williams Book Review “The August 9th fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by poli...
Awaken
Awaken Melissa Brown Levine Book Review Awaken is a powerful story about heritage and restoration. Author Timothy George takes an innovative approach in this African-focused tale by combining m...
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, ...
Brown’s Possession
Brown’s Possession Idrissa Uqdah Book Review To say that the books in acVernon Menchan’s trilogy; Black’s Trilogy are about a complicated love story is like saying water is wet. C...
Sojourner’s Dream
Sojourner’s Dream Idrissa Uqdah Book Review An Inside Look At The Atrocities of War In Rwanda I approached the novel, Sojourner’s Dream by first time author Angeline Bandon-Bibum expecting a ...
Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice Sys
Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice Sys Kam Williams Book Review “The August 9th fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by police ...
The Root of All Evil
The Root of All Evil Lawrence Brown Book Review Just as many African-American readers have started to complain about the lack of depth in of Black Literature, complaining about the all-too-familiar p...
What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman
What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman Robert Fleming Book Review This was a labor of love. Over seven years ago, it was the mission of Dr. Lerita Coleman Brown, a Harvard-tr...
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...
The Known World
The Known World Thumper Book Review As is becoming an unbreakable and pleasurable yearly excursion, I attended the 2003 Book Expo America (BEA) in Los Angeles. I love the BEA. The convention is all...
The Naked Truth
The Naked Truth Kam Williams Book Review ’I was born Marvelyn Brown, a little black girl in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 7, 1984, but I wouldn’t understand the signi...
Sittin’ In The Front Pew
Sittin’ In The Front Pew Thumper Book Review Sittin’ In The Front Pew is the latest novel by Parry "EbonySatin" Brown. This tale showcases the reactions a family to the death of its ...
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 ...
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...
The Express
The Express Kam Williams rob_br10.jpg Film Review Rob Brown Stars as Late Gridiron Great in Bittersweet Bio-Pic The Express (2008) Rated PG for violence, mature ...
Bibsy
Bibsy Carol Taylor Book Review “Langston County is tucked into the southern tip of New York State, wedged between the Hudson River and the New Jersey state line. And it was home to Jake Tuck...
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? Kam Williams heist.jpg Film Review Wall Street Exposé Chronicles Systematic Dismantling of Financial Protections Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? In...
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...
Reputations Fade Away
Reputations Fade Away Kam Williams Book Review ’I can understand and relate to why most black men are giving up on life, especially the ones my age’ Only a few of us mak...
The Lace Wig Bible: How to Style
The Lace Wig Bible: How to Style Kam Williams Book Review “You cannot be a top hair stylist today without working with some types of wigs or hair extensions… I have been blessed to hav...
Race
Race Kam Williams Book Review “There is a lot to learn from this book. If you are feeling cynical and discouraged that you can’t fight the powerful, read it! If you want to learn the ...
White Coat Fever
White Coat Fever Thumper Book Review Roland S. Jefferson, author of the classic The School on 103rd Street, is back on the scene with his latest novel, White Coat Fever. The title of the novel is...
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 Conversation
The Conversation Kam Williams Book Review ’One of the things I’ve heard a lot from young brothers and sisters during my recent travels is ’I want a woman like Mich...
Jesus Boy
Jesus Boy Thumper Book Review I have a question for you: have you ever heard of anything; a food dish, a recipe, a car or a book, that by the description alone, you knew, KNEW it was going ...
The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership
The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership Kam Williams Book Review “As you read through the following pages and get a sense of my journey and the lessons I’ve...
Yoga
Yoga Kam Williams Book Review “This book is for you, the everyday person, the person who works, has a family (or not) and wants to stay stress-free, happy, fulfilled and healthy. This book ...
Martin Luther King Bullavoid: Imploding Communities
Martin Luther King Bullavoid: Imploding Communities Carol Taylor Book Review “Amid mounting threats to his life, Martin Luther King chose to step onto the second floor balcony of the Lorrai...
Grandpa! Tell Us a Story
Grandpa! Tell Us a Story Emanuel Carpenter Book Review He began taking the shells out of the gun and sighting down the barrel, and pulled the trigger listening to the c...
Getting Up and Getting On
Getting Up and Getting On Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Time Can Help Heal Wounds Second time novelist MBridges is back with another Betty Jean title; Getting Up and Getting On. Th...
Blackout
Blackout Kam Williams Book Review "It may be difficult for us today to understand both the vastness of American racism or th...
The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom
The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom Kam Williams Book Review "What I hope to do with this book is reach out to anyone who wants to get a leg up on their own careers&...
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 ...
The Hood Health Handbook
The Hood Health Handbook Kam Williams Book Review "In all my world travels, never have I picked up a book with the kind of love, concern and information that I’ve seen put into this book&hell...
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...
Fire In A Canebrake
Fire In A Canebrake Thumper Book Review "’If all it’s going to do is stir up old memories, it can’t do anything but hurt folks. Who wants to talk about Nagasaki and Hiroshim...
One Day I Saw a Black King
One Day I Saw a Black King Thumper Book Review Earlier this year, J. D. Mason had me singing her praises for her wonderful novel, And on the Eighth Day She Rested. Now I am at the mike again, ready ...
Riot and Remembrance
Riot and Remembrance Thumper Book Review Although some say that times and attitudes are changing, I’m rather skeptical. Only now am I aware of events, individuals that I should have been introd...
Zone One: A Novel
Zone One: A Novel Robert Fleming Book Review As one of the finest word craftsmen of his generation, Colson Whitehead has shown a high degree of imaginative skill and creativity, turning each genre ...
Two Wings to Veil My Face
Two Wings to Veil My Face Tony Lindsay Book Review There is genre fiction, and there is literary fiction. Within these two categories are groups; in part, genre fiction consists of mystery, romance, ...
God’s Will and Other Lies: Stories
God’s Will and Other Lies: Stories Camille-Yvette Welsch Book Review “[T]here was so much hurt and pain and fear and sorrow … that I needed more than one kind of song to sing,” says...
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...
A Memory of Fictions (or) Just Tiddy-Boom
A Memory of Fictions (or) Just Tiddy-Boom Robert Fleming Book Review So many books written by gay, Black men do not explore the inner emotional terrain of their character. That is why this vast, dram...
Thru My Eyes
Thru My Eyes Kam Williams Book Review ’Growing up in Iran, I had often heard of dervishes, people who possess a dynamic, heightened sense of awareness. Much like the shaman or the prophet, th...
A Person of Interest
A Person of Interest Thumper Book Review I have begun looking forward to reading novels written by Ernest Hills. I became a fan of his work after reading two of his previous novels; ...
King’s Faith
King’s Faith Kam Williams kings-faith-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Reformed Gangsta Seeks Redemption in Modern Morality Play King’s Faith (2013) In Theaters: Apr 26, 2013 Limited Rated PG-13 ...
Madea’s Witness Protection
Madea’s Witness Protection Kam Williams madeas-witness-protection.jpg Film Review Tyler Perry and Eugene Levy Make for Strange Bedfellows in Fish-Out-of-Water Comedy Madea’s Witness Protec...
Marley
Marley Kam Williams marely2012_movie_poster.jpg Film Review Revealing Biopic Chronicles Personal Life and Musical Career of Revered Reggae Icon Marley [2012] Order via Amazon.com In Theaters: A...
Never Die Alone
Never Die Alone Troy Johnson never_19.jpg Film Review The following is not a review, but informational material for the movie NEVER DIE ALONE Order Movie-Original Pos...
Notorious
Notorious Kam Williams jamal_17.jpg Film Review Warts-and-All Bio-Pic Recounts Rise and Fall of Biggie Smalls Notorious Rated R for nudity, drug use, graphic sexuality, ethnic slurs and p...
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...
Restless City
Restless City Kam Williams restlesscity.jpg Film Review Harlem Provides Backdrop for Gritty Survival Saga Restless City [2012] In Theaters: Apr 27, 2012 (limited) Rated R for drug use and brief sex...
A Streetcar Named Desire (Review of the Broadway Play)
A Streetcar Named Desire (Review of the Broadway Play) Troy Johnson atreetcardposter.jpg Film Review Parker & Underwood Bring New Brilliance to Williams’ Streetcar Tennessee Williams&...
Things Never Said
Things Never Said Kam Williams things-never-said.jpg Film Review Battered Wife Finds Strength in Poetry in Female Empowerment Flick Things Never Said In Theaters: Sep 6, 2013 Limited Rated R for s...
To Live & Die in Amerikkka
To Live & Die in Amerikkka Kam Williams images/to_live_and_die_in_amerikkka.jpg Film Review Shocking Documentary Bemoans Skyrocketing Homicide Rate in Baton Rouge To Live & Die in Ame...
Tower Heist
Tower Heist Kam Williams towerheist.jpg Film Review Victims Turn Tables on Con Man in Murphy-Stiller Buddy Comedy Tower Heist Rated PG-13 for profanity and sexuality. Running time: 104 Minute...
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...
The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give Kam Williams images/the-hate-you-give-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Amandla Stenberg Stars in Adaptation of Searing, Inner City Saga Excellent ★★★★ (out...
Barbershop 2
Barbershop 2 Michael Dequina barber7.jpg Film Review Barbershop 2: Back in Business (PG-13) Buy Soundtrack The subtitle of Barbershop 2: Back in Business pretty much sums up the film....
Born into Brothels
Born into Brothels Kam Williams born_i24.jpg Film Review Academy Award-Winning Documentary Showing at Human Rights Watch Festival Born into Brothels Click to order vi...
The Boys of Baraka
The Boys of Baraka Kam Williams the_bo3.jpg Film Review Kenya as Alternative to Mean Streets of Baltimore The Boys of Baraka Directed by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady Genre: Documentary Runtime: 8...
Bushwick Homecomings
Bushwick Homecomings Kam Williams bushwi45.jpg Film Review College Grad Returns to Roots to Reminisce and to Find ’Hood Undergoing Urban Renewal Bushwick Homecomings Unrated ...
Freakonomics
Freakonomics Kam Williams images/kidfromfreakonomics.jpg Film Review Controversial Economics Best Seller Adapted to Screen Freakonomics [2010] Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality, nudity, drug ...
A Great Day in Harlem
A Great Day in Harlem Kam Williams a_grea34.jpg Film Review DVD Documentary on the Anatomy of Historic Jazz Photo A Great Day in Harlem Click to order via Amazon Plot Synopsis: Art Kane, now...
Harlem Aria
Harlem Aria Kam Williams images/img33.jpg Film Review Opera Serves as Fulcrum for Unfunny, Unlikely-Buddy Comedy Harlem Aria Rated R for crude and profane language. Running time: 100 Minut...
Jamesy Boy
Jamesy Boy Kam Williams jamesy-boy.jpg Film Review Jamesy Boy In Theaters: Jan 17, 2014 Limited On DVD: Feb 24, 2014 Click to order via Amazon Unrated, 1 hr. 49 min. Drama, Kids & Family,...
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...
Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?
Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? Kam Williams Book Review “A book you can’t put down, but for all the wrong reasons.” “On May 17, 2004, ...
The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America
The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America Kam Williams Book Review “How is it that a Jewish prophet from the Roman era ran so explosively into the American obsession...