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Miracle at St. Anna
Miracle at St. Anna Thumper Book Review I wish all of my review assignments were like this one. It came upon me unexpectedly. I don’t need advance warnings when good things come my way, thoug...
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...
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 ...
Just As I Am By Cicely Tyson
Just As I Am By Cicely Tyson Robert Fleming Book Review How many of us pray when we board an airplane? Not everyone. This author, James T. Hollin Jr., a former military pilot and experienced ai...
What the Word Be: Why Black English… Is the King’s (James) English
What the Word Be: Why Black English… Is the King’s (James) English Kam Williams Book Review “Blacks came to the U.S. chained to each other but from different tribes. Neither could spea...
Judge Not!
Judge Not! Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Waiting For Justice To Prevail Audrey Forrest Carter has penned a great sequel to her well-received debut novel, The Wages of Sin. In Judge Not! readers f...
Pariah
Pariah Kam Williams pariah1.jpg Film Review Latent Lesbian Summons Courage in Out-of-the-Closet Drama Pariah [2011] Written & Directed By: Dee Rees Rated R for profanity and sexuality. Run...
Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God
Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God Kam Williams Book Review “Why is it becoming increasingly acceptable to kill unarmed black children? Why are they so easily perceived as...
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...
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...
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 (...
My Holy Bible for African-American Children King James Version
My Holy Bible for African-American Children King James Version Kam Williams Book Review "If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’l...
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,...
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...
The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings
The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings Thumper Book Review It has not been said for a long time. I’m glad to be able to say, James Baldwin has a new book out! The new collection of es...
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...
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...
Baldwin: A Love Story
Baldwin: A Love Story Robert Fleming Book Review Long before I met James Baldwin’s friend Vertamae Grosvenor, I was a preteen Black boy who had read the writer’s bold novel Go Tell It on ...
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...
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...
A Death In Texas
A Death In Texas Thumper Book Review Upon hearing of the dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. in his hometown of Jasper, Texas, it occurred to me that "A new way of performing the act of lynching h...
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...
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...
No Surrender
No Surrender Robert Fleming Book Review When news reached me about the death of renowned poetess, Ai, I knew that I must write something about her and her unwavering lyrical examination of the hu...
The Brothers
The Brothers Paige Turner Book Review Musical Gumbo Features Some of Life’s Ups and Lotsa Life’s Downs The Neville Brothers new autobiography, The Brothers, co written with celebrity bio...
Sellout
Sellout Robert Fleming Book Review This debut novel, written by James Lewis, deals with the thorny issue of interracial dating from every side, rendered with narrative precision and emotional det...
Seaside Stories
Seaside Stories Robert Fleming Book Review There should be more African-American fiction like this, recapturing a time when our communities were more-or-less intact and families were solid. S. R...
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...
Evil Never Sleeps
Evil Never Sleeps Andre Seewood Book Review If the short story is a lost art, then you wouldn’t know it from reading Robert Fleming’s latest collection of story stories, Evil Never Slee...
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...
Minding the Wealth Gap
Minding the Wealth Gap Shaundale Rénā Book Review “The racial wealth gap for Black Americans remains significant, with a direct impact on social and economic growth in the United States” ...
Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars Kam Williams Book Review ’I was born in December 1984 in a house on Hickory St. that was mostly maintained by my mother’s mother. But when I was three, my...
Say It Loud! Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African-American Identity
Say It Loud! Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African-American Identity Kam Williams Book Review "This is the second anthology of great speeches by African-Americans meant for the eye and ea...
The Lurking Place
The Lurking Place Robert Fleming Book Review Veteran writer Clarence Major’s literary career continues full speed. His latest novel, The Lurking Place, rates among his best, using an experience...
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...
Nicki Minaj: The Woman Who Stole the World An Unauthorized Biography
Nicki Minaj: The Woman Who Stole the World An Unauthorized Biography Kam Williams Book Review “This is the story of Onika Tanya Maraj, born on December 8, 1982 in St. James, a suburb of Trini...
Am I Not a Man?
Am I Not a Man? Robert Fleming Book Review What a curious book to be written by Mark L. Shurtleff, Utah’s Attorney General! This well-researched historical novel, Am I Not A Man?,...
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,...
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...
Go Tell it on the Mountain
Go Tell it on the Mountain Angeli R. Rasbury Book Review Originally Published in Sacred Fire Go Tell It on the Mountain is considered to be James Baldwin’s greatest novel. Like muc...
The Manual: A Guide to Achievement & Enlightenment in the Urban Community
The Manual: A Guide to Achievement & Enlightenment in the Urban Community Robert Fleming Book Review In a way, this book, The Manual: A Guide to Achievement & Enlightenment In The Urban Communit...
The Cross & the Lynching Tree
The Cross & the Lynching Tree Kam Williams Book Review “The cross and the lynching tree are separated by nearly 2,000 years. One is the universal symbol of Christian faith; the other is the q...
A Letter To My Father
A Letter To My Father Linda Watkins Book Review I had high expectations of debut autobiography, A Letter to My Father, by John W. Griffin, mainly because of my love for autobiographies and also due ...
Priscilla: Engaging in the Game of Politics
Priscilla: Engaging in the Game of Politics Robert Fleming Book Review In this novel, Priscilla: Engaging in the Game of Politics, Dr. M. J. Simms-Maddox weaves the fabric of her life with the narrat...
Veracity and Verse
Veracity and Verse Denolyn Carroll Book Review “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. This vision is for...
A People’s History of the United States
A People’s History of the United States Kam Williams Book Review "There is not a country in world history in which racism has been more important, for so long a time, as the United Stat...
True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself
True You: A Journey to Finding and Loving Yourself Kam Williams Book Review "Writing my first book was an adventure [which] comes from my heart with love… This is not an autobiography. It&rs...
Vanishing Rooms
Vanishing Rooms Thumper Book Review Upon my first glance at Vanishing Rooms, the debut novel by the late poet/novelist Melvin Dixon, I thought — in my mind’s voice that sounds like Billie...
A House Is Not a Home
A House Is Not a Home Thumper Book Review The song says it’s hard to say goodbye’humph, not when the guests have overstayed their welcome it Ain't. At that time, saying goodbye is th...
The Honey Well
The Honey Well Thumper Book Review I had never made a wish like this before. Believe me; I don't harbor any gender bending, transsexual fantasies. But, after reading Gloria Mallette’s lat...
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...
Nate
Nate Thumper Book Review I should have known better, especially with me being so fond of old sayings. ’Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.’ I love well written books about ...
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...
His Name Is George Floyd
His Name Is George Floyd Robert Fleming Book Review In the midst of the deadly Covic-19 pandemic, the world witnessed the brutal killing of George Floyd, a 44-year-old black man, by a white Minneapol...
Rising Up From the Blood: A Legacy Reclaimed—A Bridge Forward: The Autobiography of Sarah Wash
Rising Up From the Blood: A Legacy Reclaimed—A Bridge Forward: The Autobiography of Sarah Wash Kam Williams Book Review “I am proud and honored to be the great-granddaughter of Booker T. Wash...
Sweet Release
Sweet Release Kam Williams Book Review ’The racial struggle, for many of us, is over. Our struggles are now centered around schools for our children, career opportunities, and develop...
Lookin’ For Luv
Lookin’ For Luv Thumper Book Review I gotta be honest with y’all, I wasn’t expecting too much from this book when I picked it up. I wanted to read it because the author Carl Weber somet...
Penitentiary Tales: A Love Story
Penitentiary Tales: A Love Story Robert Fleming Book Review When I was growing up, I heard about boys and girls, men and women from my Hood going to The Big House. One of the girls I dated had an inm...
Princes of the Road
Princes of the Road Emanuel Carpenter Book Review In David Covin’s Princes of the Road, the author transports readers to the 1930s of America, where Jim Crow and racism ruled. The central cha...
Safe from the Neighbors by Steve Yarbrough
Safe from the Neighbors by Steve Yarbrough Thumper Book Review Reviewed by Thumper I came across Steve Yarbrough’s latest novel, Safe from the Neighbors, when I started my annual search on t...
Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris
Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris Thumper Book Review Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris is an anthology aptly described by its title. The authors, Te...
Maxed Out
Maxed Out Kam Williams maxed_14.jpg Film Review Pitfalls of Easy Credit Exposed in Documentary about Debt in America Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders DVD R...
Rush
Rush Kam Williams rush.jpg Film Review High-Octane Formula 1 Drama Recounts Death-Defying Racing Rivalry Rush In Theaters: Sep 27, 2013 Wide Rated R for profanity, nudity, sexuality, smoking, d...
The Wolverine
The Wolverine Kam Williams the-wolverine.jpg Film Review Jackman Journeys to Japan for Latest Adventure as Metal-Clawed Mutant The Wolverine In Theaters: Jul 25, 2013 Wide Rated PG-13 for sexuali...
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...
In My Father’s House
In My Father’s House Thumper Book Review In My Father’s House is the first installment to a new series the late E. Lynn Harris was working on at the time of his death. I don’t know if t...
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 ...
My Brother
My Brother Kam Williams my_bro3.jpg Film Review Big Brother Cares for Mentally-Challenged Sibling in Moving Melodrama My Brother Click to order via Amazon THEATRICAL RELEASE Mar 16, 2007 Li...
The Purge
The Purge Kam Williams thepurge-movieposter.jpg Film Review Barricaded Family Fights to Survive in Futuristic Horror Flick The Purge In Theaters: Jun 7, 2013 Limited 1 hr. 25 min. Rated R for profa...
2 Guns
2 Guns Kam Williams 2-guns.jpg Film Review Washington and Wahlberg Co-Star in Implausible Crime Caper 2 Guns In Theaters: Aug 2, 2013 Wide Rated R for profanity, brief nudity and pervasive ...
Big Words
Big Words Kam Williams big-words-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Rap Group Reunites on 2008 Election Day in Dream Deferred Drama Big Words In Theaters: Jul 19, 2013 Limited Unrated Running time: 94 ...
Kingston Noir
Kingston Noir Robert Fleming Book Review With his first anthology for Akashic, Iron Balloons, Colin Channer, author of the celebrated novel, Waiting In Vain, showcased the full range of contempo...
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...
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man Kam Williams images/spiderman-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Andrew Garfield Stars in Reboot of Marvel Comics Franchise The Amazing Spider-Man In Theaters: Jul 3, 2012 Wide ...
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 ...
College Road Trip
College Road Trip Kam Williams raven-27.jpg Film Review Raven-Symone’ and Martin Lawrence Co-Star in Coming-of-Age Comedy College Road Trip Rated G Running time: 83 minutes Studio:...
Inheriting the Trade
Inheriting the Trade Kam Williams traces5.jpg Film Review Descendants of Slave Owners Retrace Ancestors Triangular Trade Route Credit: Amishadai Sackitey DeWolf family...
King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis
King: A Filmed Record… Montgomery to Memphis Kam Williams king-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Oscar-Nominated, 1970 Documentary Chronicling Career of Dr. Martin Luther King Returns to Theaters King: ...
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Kam Williams nicole20.jpg Film Review Egotistical Talk-Show Host Humbled at Crass Family Reunion The Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Click to or...
Shayla Sweet and Her Magical Pen
Shayla Sweet and Her Magical Pen Denolyn Carroll Book Review “…And a little child shall lead them…” (Isaiah 11:6 NKJV). While spending summer break at her grandmother Nani&...
Black Hands White House: Slave Labor and the Making of America
Black Hands White House: Slave Labor and the Making of America Robert Fleming Book Review Renee K. Harrison, an associate professor of African American and US religious history at Howard University, ...
My Hair Can
My Hair Can Shaundale Rénā Book Review Profoundly inspiring, My Hair Can is a picture book full of wit and charm. Each page is vibrant and affirms joy and positivity for little Black boys and girls a...
Goony Goo-Goo and Ga-Ga Too!
Goony Goo-Goo and Ga-Ga Too! Kelly Starling Lyons Book Review Drawing inspiration from her own children, author Kia Morgan Smith has written a fun picture book about the trials and triumphs of ...
Thank You, Omu!
Thank You, Omu! Neoma Nwasike Book Review How important is community to you? Is it at the epicenter of your heart, and do the people who make up your unique and wonderful community, allow you to thri...
Ordinary Girls: A Memoir
Ordinary Girls: A Memoir Brenda M. Greene Book Review Jaquira Diaz, in her memoir Ordinary Girls, crafts a story that illustrates the intersection of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and poverty on the li...
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...
Different and the Same
Different and the Same AALBC Staff Writer Book Review In an age where there is a proliferation of emotional and physical Black trauma, that is videotaped and viewed widely online, we should strive to...
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 New Brownies’ Book
The New Brownies’ Book Clarence V. Reynolds Book Review In the November 1910 premier issue of The Crisis, the official journal of the NAACP, historian, scholar, civil rights activist, sociologist, an...
Lion’s Blood
Lion’s Blood Thumper Book Review Steven Barnes, has emerged with one of the best books of 2002, a novel that explores a "what if" question; What if the United States of America had a past w...
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...
Perfect Combination: Seven Key Ingredients To Happily Living & Loving Together
Perfect Combination: Seven Key Ingredients To Happily Living & Loving Together Kam Williams Book Review “Jamillah and David Lamb are the dynamic couple behind the successful Off-Broadway play...
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...
The Mermaid Princesses
The Mermaid Princesses Judy Allen Dodson Book Review Meet these three charming princess sisters, Anaya, Shante, and Kianna. They invite us into their underwater world with their bright and bold perso...
If My Hair Had a Voice
If My Hair Had a Voice Lisa Y? Wilson Book Review When another comb loses the battle with Kimya’s natural coils, feeling shame she apologizes and asks, “Can’t we just straighten it?...
White Boy/Black Girl
White Boy/Black Girl Eryka Parker Book Review The recently published White Boy/Black Girl: What Our Differences Can Teach Us, One Honest Conversation at a Time by Adaeze and Chad Brinkman is a though...
Moses and the Monster and Miss Anne
Moses and the Monster and Miss Anne Thumper Book Review I admit that the things that form my initial impressions of a book are somewhat shallow. I love a good book cover, whether it is pictures or ...
The Ecstatic
The Ecstatic Thumper Book Review In a landmark volume on cultural stereotypes, Yuval Taylor (Faking It) and Jake Austen, the editor of Roctober Magazine, detail the history of the significance of...
Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop
Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop Robert Fleming Book Review In a landmark volume on cultural stereotypes, Yuval Taylor (Faking It) and Jake Austen, the editor of Roctober M...
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...