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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&...
Promises to Keep
Promises to Keep Thumper Book Review Your beloved son is murdered and your family slowly begins falling apart. How do you hold it all together, your family, yourself and find the murderer of your s...
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...
The Billion Dollar BET
The Billion Dollar BET Rondall Brasher Book Review Brett Pulley goes all in with The Million Dollar BET, Robert Johnson and the Inside Story of Black Entertainment Television. He has woven a tale of...
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...
black misery
black misery Troy Johnson Book Review Misery is when you heardon the radio that the neighborhoodyou live in is a slum butyou always thought it was home” black misery is a pictur...
Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story
Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story Troy Johnson books-place.jpg Film Review Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story Booker’s Place: A Mississippi Story Click to rent or buy th...
Never Been a Time
Never Been a Time Thumper Book Review I am continuing my own personal goal of reading more history and biography books. If my memory serves me correctly, I think it had something to d...
Lizzie & McKenzie’s Fabulous Adventures: Mayhem in Madrid
Lizzie & McKenzie’s Fabulous Adventures: Mayhem in Madrid Troy Johnson Book Review Lizzie & McKenzie’s Fabulous Adventures: Mayhem in Madrid is the first book in a series of chapter books t...
Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography
Malcolm X: A Graphic Biography Troy Johnson Book Review The age of multitasking needs better narrative history. It must be absolutely factual, immediately accessible, smart, and brilliantly fun....
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 Original Black Elite: Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era
The Original Black Elite: Daniel Murray and the Story of a Forgotten Era Troy Johnson Book Review I grew up in New York City’s East Harlem during the 60s and 70s. Virtually all my peers were Bl...
African Venus
African Venus Troy Johnson Book Review The sculpture, on the cover of Sheryl K. Carkhum-Lord’s novel was created by artist by Charles Henri Joseph Cordier in 1851. Dubbed, by the artist, &ldquo...
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...
Half My Size: How I Ate To Lose 150lbs
Half My Size: How I Ate To Lose 150lbs Troy Johnson Book Review Ten years ago, Caroline Jhingory lost 150 pounds. She has maintained it to this day without gastric bypass surgery, fad diets or comm...
Nappy Hair
Nappy Hair Troy Johnson Book Review One nap of her hair is the only perfect circle in nature. —from Nappy Hair I recently purchased Nappy Hair and have read it to my daughters. I must say c...
Grace After Midnight: A Memoir
Grace After Midnight: A Memoir Troy Johnson Book Review This Review Appears in the Fall 2007 Issue of Harlem World Magazine Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, of...
Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey
Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey Troy Johnson Book Review Hip-Hop Culture’s first OFFICIAL luxury, large format coffee table book will inspire, entertain and educate all generations of readers wit...
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...
Bound: Africans vs. African-Americans
Bound: Africans vs. African-Americans Troy Johnson bound.jpg Film Review A description of Bound, not a film review follows: Bound: Africans vs. African-Americans (2015)Buy via Amazon or ...
Harlem Godfather
Harlem Godfather Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Bumpy’s Widow Tells Her Story Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth ’Bumpy’ Johnson has been a long time coming on the h...
Crazy Rich: Power
Crazy Rich: Power Kam Williams Book Review “Heirs to a Band-Aid and Baby Powder fortune, the Johnsons have enjoyed unimaginable wealth since Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886—bu...
Remembering Roots: How an American Classic Transformed the World
Remembering Roots: How an American Classic Transformed the World Robert Fleming Book Review Unfortunately, there were efforts to demean the late Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family whe...
Echoes of a Distant Summer
Echoes of a Distant Summer Thumper Book Review In Standing At The Scratch Line, Guy Johnson created one of the most memorable protagonists in literature with King Tremain. Johnson’s second no...
You're a Worthwhile Person
You're a Worthwhile Person Jayne Cubbage Book Review you're a Worthwhile Person in More Ways Than a Million by Simeon Johnson is an enjoyable, frank and honest read that lauds the everyday p...
The Face That Changed It All
The Face That Changed It All Kam Williams Book Review “Beverly Johnson made history in 1974… [as] the first African-American woman… whose face appeared on the cover of the world...
Getting Our Breath Back
Getting Our Breath Back Linda Watkins Book Review Getting Our Breath Back, the debut novel, by author Shawne Johnson, is not your ordinary read. Passionate words float with a hypnotic, poetic rhythm ...
Digital Coup: The Conspiracy to Thwart Global Democracy
Digital Coup: The Conspiracy to Thwart Global Democracy Shanida Carter Book Review “Democracy around the globe is facing its greatest threat since World War II,” writes author Darin Johnson, who beli...
Carmen & Geoffrey
Carmen & Geoffrey Kam Williams carmen47.jpg Film Review Endearing Documentary Examines Enduring Marriage and Careers of Celebrated Couple Carmen & Geoffrey Unrated Running ...
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 ...
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...
A Woman’s Worth
A Woman’s Worth Thumper Book Review I’m forewarning everyone, if…no, when I see Tracy Price-Thompson, whoever is closest to me, grab me, because I’m going to try my best to slap h...
Hunting In Harlem
Hunting In Harlem Thumper Book Review I am always excited when new authors enter the scene because they expand the dimensions of our existence through literature that is vibrant, challenging and im...
Sincerely Speaking Spiritually
Sincerely Speaking Spiritually Robert Fleming Book Review Like many successful self-help books, Sincerely Speaking Spiritually, celebrates verses of faith and inspiration in the Holy Word. Its author...
25 Things That Really Matter In Life
25 Things That Really Matter In Life Kam Williams Book Review ’25 Things That Really Matter in Life is designed to get you started living a better life within the next fifteen minute...
Before I Forget
Before I Forget Thumper Book Review *giggling* I’m going to love writing this review. A little while ago, I read and finished a wonderful debut novel, Before I Forget by Leonard Pitt...
Flesh: The Disappearance of Portia Barrington
Flesh: The Disappearance of Portia Barrington Robert Fleming Book Review As the author of over a dozen novels including the bestselling Little Girl Lost series, Keith Lee Johnson has created his ...
Blowback
Blowback Lynne d. Johnson Book Review Blowback is a term that was first used by the CIA in a report on the 1953 operation to overthrow the government of Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran. The term is actual...
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...
On The Edge of a Leaf
On The Edge of a Leaf Clarence V. Reynolds Book Review In his latest children’s picture book, At the Edge of a Leaf, author and poet Vincent L. Johnson draws from his love of gardening, nature,...
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...
Thunder Soul
Thunder Soul Kam Williams images/thundersoul.jpg Film Review Reverential Bio-Pic Pays Tribute to Legendary H.S. Bandleader Thunder Soul Rated PG for smoking and mild epithets Running time: ...
Friends 2 Lovers
Friends 2 Lovers Emanuel Carpenter Book Review Who doesn’t remember their first love? And what about the girl next door? Or how about the boy you cared for in school only to end up in the fri...
The Black Dancing Body
The Black Dancing Body Rondall Brasher Book Review This book actually came to my attention last month on the home page of African American Literature Book Club. Troy had it in the revolving new titl...
Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy
Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy Thumper Book Review I decided to be ambitions this summer and read a number of non-fiction titles. I blame ...
I Am Debra Lee: A Memoir
I Am Debra Lee: A Memoir Robert Fleming Book Review Blessed with a candor, boldness, and business savvy rarely seen in books of this type, former CEO of Black Entertainment Television network Debra L...
Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou
Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou Kam Williams Book Review “‘Words mean more than what is set down on paper,’ Maya Angelou wrote in her groundbreaking m...
Beyond Glory
Beyond Glory Thumper Book Review Warning! I’ve been cleaning up my library again-meaning I’m about to review an old book. I have two walls full of bookshelves, whose...
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...
Glorious
Glorious Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Bernice McFadden’s long awaited release, is pure poetry. This novel sings to you through the eyes of Easter Bartlett who runs away as a young girl when ...
Love In A Carry-On Bag
Love In A Carry-On Bag Idrissa Uqdah Book Review As Wild As The Wind Modern technology has made a long-distance love affair more of a reality. The characters in this novel took the concept and made...
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention Robert Fleming Book Review Dr. Manning Marable, a professor of history at Columbia University and author of fifteen books, knew how important and controversial ...
Every Woman’s Man
Every Woman’s Man Thumper Book Review Yeah, it’s unusual for me to read a book with a title like, Every Woman’s Man, a novel by Rique Johnson. I don't normally go for the sister girl...
32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business
32 Ways to Be a Champion in Business Kam Williams Book Review "While I spent 14 years in the NBA playing basketball, I always had bigger dreams of building a business empire. ...
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Total Eclipse of the Heart Thumper Book Review After reading Zane’s new novel, Total Eclipse of the Heart, I have to admit, I have been sleeping on Zane. The novel is the s...
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...
Life Is A Canvas
Life Is A Canvas Carol Taylor Book Review Life is a Canvas is a contemporary novel about finding love and self and how the choices we make early in life, particularly in our twenties, sets us on a pa...
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise Kam Williams /reviews/images/maya-angelou-older.jpg Film Review An Intimate Look at the Life of Iconic Poet, Writer, and Activist Excellent (4 stars) In Theaters...
Baby Boy
Baby Boy Marvin X moviebabyboy.jpg Film Review Baby Boy Written, Directed, Produced by John Singleton Click to Order via Amazon Rating: R Studio: Columbia Tri-Star Theatrical Release Date: June ...
Everything I Know About Zombies
Everything I Know About Zombies Carol Taylor Book Review “When the apocalypse came, nine-year-old Letitia Johnson tried. She grabbed her little sister and her classmates and locked them ...
Sugar of the Crop
Sugar of the Crop Kam Williams Book Review Everyone I interviewed for this book is now dead” Before I started the search, the one person I knew who was a granddaughter of a ...
Wrong on Race
Wrong on Race Kam Williams Book Review ’It must be acknowledged that in the progress of nations Negroes have shown less capacity for government than any other race of people. No independen...
Sam Langford
Sam Langford Kam Williams Book Review In January of 1944, the New York Herald Tribune published The Forgotten Man a story about Sam Langford, aka “The Boston Tar Baby,” one of b...
Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea
Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea Linda Watkins Book Review Everyone knows that poetry is opinionated, subjective and sometimes downright confusing. I was delighted to find that the problem of comprehensi...
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 ...
Bittersweet
Bittersweet Thumper Book Review Bittersweet, the debut novel by Freddie Lee Johnson, lll, proves the old adage that you can’t always judge a book by its cover. As I picked up Bittersweet from t...
And On The Eighth Day She Rested
And On The Eighth Day She Rested Thumper Book Review Lately, I have been in one of my lazy reading moods. I wanted a book that would go easy on my ol’ noggin. As you all know, my normal readi...
Spiritual Shackles
Spiritual Shackles Tiffany M. Davis Book Review Who burned the churches? This is a question that kicks off the historically mystic journey that is Spiritual Shackles. Set primarily in Pasadena...
Weathering the Storm: Navigating the Anti-Social Justice Wave
Weathering the Storm: Navigating the Anti-Social Justice Wave Shaundale Rénā Book Review In writing Weathering the Storm: Navigating the Anti-Social Justice Wave, author Tiffany G. Townsend, PhD, add...
Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne
Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne Kam Williams Book Review “This groundbreaking biography… illuminates the life and accomplishments of pioneering journalist Ethel Lois Payne, while also...
Triple Take
Triple Take Thumper Book Review Triple Take, the debut novel by Y. Blak Moore, reminds me of an old timey Hollywood western. Despite the fact that Triple Take takes place in the 21st century mean s...
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...
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,...
America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments
America the Beautiful 2: The Thin Commandments Kam Williams images/america_the_beautiful_2_movie_poster.jpg Film Review Darryl Roberts Stars in Sequel Again Exploring Body Image America t...
Men II Boys
Men II Boys Kam Williams men_ii9.jpg Film Review Groundbreaking Documentary Features Words of Wisdom about Black Manhood Men II Boys Click to order via ...
Blacktrospective 2008 - Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema
Blacktrospective 2008 - Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/the_se11.jpg Film Review Kam's Annual Assessment of the Best (and...
The Disilgold Way
The Disilgold Way Kam Williams Book Review "After starting a business proposal that took over 10 years, as long as it took to finally self publish my first book, I knew that I needed to ...
Read Until You Understand
Read Until You Understand Robert Fleming Book Review With a solid array of books to her credit, Farah Jasmine Griffin has possibly written one of the artistic highlights in the national book marketpl...
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...
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...
Alex Haley and the Books that Changed a Nation
Alex Haley and the Books that Changed a Nation Adam Henig Book Review In Alex Haley and the Books that Changed a Nation, Robert J. Norrell, professor of history at the University of Tennessee, Knoxvi...
Strongholds
Strongholds Idrissa Uqdah Book Review The second book in the Blessed Trinity trilogy by best selling Christian fiction author, Vanessa Davis Griggs is a story full of the challenges that c...
Uncle Yah Yah Parts I & II 21st Century Man of Wisdom
Uncle Yah Yah Parts I & II 21st Century Man of Wisdom Alvin Romer Book Review Author Al Dickens gives us his unique brand of wisdom told as by Uncle Yah Yah, a storyteller and wise sage spewing amus...
The Felix Women Series
The Felix Women Series Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Acceptance Not Required: Felix Women IV Click to order via Amazon Print Length: 58 pages (October 10, 2014) This author, Angelia Vernon M...
God Don’t Like Ugly
God Don’t Like Ugly Thumper Book Review "I was hoping when I started God don't Like Ugly that it wasn't the typical girl-coming-of-age story. Alongside you-go-girl books, girl-coming-of...
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...
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 Middle Sister
The Middle Sister Thumper Book Review I’m still finding my footing. Being away from reading books for three years, obtaining another degree, has dulled my reading senses. Now that the...
Tales of a Jailhouse Librarian: Challenging the Juvenile Justice System One Book at a Time
Tales of a Jailhouse Librarian: Challenging the Juvenile Justice System One Book at a Time Carol Taylor Book Review After almost thirty years as a high school teacher Marybeth Zeman quits her teach...
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...
Just Wanna Testify
Just Wanna Testify Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Vamping The Vamps… Just Wanna Testify by the mega-talented author, Pearl Cleage was met with mixed reviews when it was first released. Many of...
Cinder
Cinder Thumper Book Review Cinder, the latest novel by Albert French, is a sequel to French’s 1993 debut novel, Billy. Although it had been a long time since I read Billy, the novel...
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 ...
Miss Chloe: A Literary Friendship with Toni Morrison
Miss Chloe: A Literary Friendship with Toni Morrison Robert Fleming Book Review There is so much commercial tripe out there on our bookshelves, but this book is very worthy: Miss Chloe: A Memoir Of A...
Toni Morrison’s Spiritual Vision: Faith, Folktales, and Feminism in Her Life and Literature
Toni Morrison’s Spiritual Vision: Faith, Folktales, and Feminism in Her Life and Literature Robert Fleming Book Review When literary icon Toni Morrison died in August, 2019, world literature lost a r...
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted
What Becomes of the Brokenhearted Rondall Brasher Book Review Before I begin this review I would like to "kick", not "thank" Thumper for handing me a stack of books, and putting a...
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 ...
Raceball: How The Major Leagues Colonized The Black and Latin Game
Raceball: How The Major Leagues Colonized The Black and Latin Game Robert Fleming Book Review As a life-long baseball fan, I�m always on the look-out for meaningful books on the sport with its pa...
Going Home
Going Home Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Home Is Where The Heart Is Evelyn Palfrey is an author who writes romance novels. The unique thing about her books is that she writes romance for the "...
Powder Necklace
Powder Necklace Thumper Book Review I was trying not to like Powder Necklace, the debut novel by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond. I had had my fill of the black girl coming-of-age story. A few years ago, ...