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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...
The Future Has a Past
The Future Has a Past Thumper Book Review The Future Has A Past is the latest short story collection by author J. California Cooper. In case you don’t know, I adore J. California Cooper! I&rs...
City Son: Andrew W. Cooper’s Impact on Modern-Day Brooklyn
City Son: Andrew W. Cooper’s Impact on Modern-Day Brooklyn Robert Fleming Book Review So many African-American newspapers and publications have vanished from view, but their impact remains on the...
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson Kam Williams Book Review ’I have admired and adored Michael Jackson from the first time I heard his name and listened to his music. I have never been more fasc...
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...
Corridors of Genius
Corridors of Genius Robert Fleming Book Review So many conflicting words have been written about the King of Pop, Michael Joseph Jackson, (1958-2009). Glenda R. Taylor’s Corridors of Genius tak...
A Dream Deferred
A Dream Deferred Robert Fleming Book Review With the recent death of Jesse Jackson, America has lost one of the most progressive political activists ever to stand on the national stage. CNN anchor Ab...
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...
The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women
The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women Kam Williams Book Review “I know what they say about me—that I am too quiet and low-key, unassuming, even clueless. Not the one...
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson Kam Williams Book Review "As the ’Bad’ tour moved to St. Louis, a 13 year-old boy named Peter joined the entourage. This kid had been with us in New York and was now...
Blood on the Dance Floor
Blood on the Dance Floor Andrew Byrd Book Review Analyzing the creative process of a legendary performer like Michael Jackson is daunting. Still, Glenda R. Taylor takes the challenge head-on as she d...
Perfect Timing
Perfect Timing Tiffany M. Davis Book Review Brenda Jackson’s second full-length fiction work Perfect Timing, is a novel about losing, finding, and maintaining friendship and love. Mrs. Jackson ...
The Black Church: Where Women Pray and Men Prey
The Black Church: Where Women Pray and Men Prey Kam Williams Book Review “If you are a single black woman regularly attending church and tithing, or you are a woman with children that accomp...
6 Days in January
6 Days in January Thumper Book Review I am breaking with tradition on my review of 6 Days in January by William Frederick Cooper, because I loathe this book so much, I can't hold my disgust wi...
6 Days in January
6 Days in January Thumper Book Review I am breaking with tradition on my review of 6 Days in January by William Frederick Cooper, because I loathe this book so much, I can't hold my disgust w...
Out of the Furnace
Out of the Furnace Kam Williams out-of-the-furnace.jpg Film Review Ex-Con Searches for Missing Sibling in Gruesome Revenge Thriller Out of the Furnace In Theaters: Dec 6, 2013 Wide Rated R ...
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/images/birth-of-a-nation-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Reverential Biopic Revisits Life of Infamous Slave Revolt Leader Excellent (4 star...
When Minorities Lead in America: A Black Theologian’s Political Journey
When Minorities Lead in America: A Black Theologian’s Political Journey Alexis E. Jackson Book Review A worthwhile read, When Minorities Lead in America by Dr. Herman J. Fountain Jr. is one man&rsquo...
When Frogs Grow Feet: The Un-Aborted Are Alive and Well
When Frogs Grow Feet: The Un-Aborted Are Alive and Well Robert Fleming Book Review While When Frogs Grow Feet’s blurb links its juicy contents to Henry Miller’s classic wanton tale, Tro...
Hot Johnny (And the Women Who Loved Him)
Hot Johnny (And the Women Who Loved Him) Thumper Book Review “That’s mighty pretty, precious“ The question, "Damn Thumper is using a term of endearment in the heading of a r...
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...
Masjid Morning
Masjid Morning Alexis E. Jackson Book Review Richard Morris’ Masjid Morning is a dedication to the millennial college student both embracing and learning how to live with religious and racial d...
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...
The Savion Sequence
The Savion Sequence Connie Bradley Book Review This review is of the 2011 version of The Savion Sequence My interest was recently piqued by a trailer which appeared on the AALBC.com discussion b...
The Queen of Harlem
The Queen of Harlem Brian Egeston Book Review He has managed to fool us all! Because his previous work gave the impression that his was the authentic voice of the next generation of Black male southe...
Eve’s Bayou
Eve’s Bayou Sherelle R. Williams images/eve’s.39.jpg Film Review EVE’S BAYOU (1997) MPAA: Rated R for sexuality and language. Runtime: USA 109 minutes ...
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 ...
Sucka Free Love
Sucka Free Love Kam Williams Book Review ’The goal of this book is to demonstrate with real life examples the many ways we shoot ourselves in the foot in our quest for love’ We al...
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...
The Words
The Words Kam Williams the-words-moive-poster.jpg Film Review Plagiarism Exacts Emotional Toll in Tale of Overwhelming Regret The Words (2012) In Theaters: Sep 7, 2012 Wide Rated PG-13 for smoking,...
I Think I Love My Wife
I Think I Love My Wife Kam Williams i_thin2.jpg Film Review Man’s Marriage Vows Tested by Temptress in Remake of French Morality Play I Think I Love My Wife Theatrical Release Mar 16, 2...
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...
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...
Under the Skin
Under the Skin Robert Fleming Book Review Following the needless deaths of my grandfather and my father, I was very interested in reading Linda Villarosa’s Under The Skin: The Hidden Toll Of Ra...
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 ...
Lighting the Fires of Freedom by Janet Dewart Bell
Lighting the Fires of Freedom by Janet Dewart Bell Brenda M. Greene Book Review In Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement (The New Press, 2018), Dr. Janet ...
Superfly (2018)
Superfly (2018) Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/images/superfly-2018-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Excellent ★★★★ (out of 4 stars) Trevor Jackson Plays Iconic Titl...
Bounce
Bounce Idrissa Uqdah Book Review It’s All About The Trust!Author K.M. Jackson has a real winner in Bounce, a combination contemporary women’s fiction/romance novel that is both ente...
Blessings
Blessings Thumper Book Review Blessing is the third novel written by the author of Lil Mama Rules and Caught Up In The Rapture, Sheneska Jackson. Blessings is the story of four women who work in a ...
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...
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...
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...
Blacklash: How Obama and the Left Are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation
Blacklash: How Obama and the Left Are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation Kam Williams Book Review “There is this strange notion that because I am black I should agree with all blac...
Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies
Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies Kam Williams Book Review “In addition to being one of the most popular living playwrights in America, Pearl Cleage is a best-selling author with an...
This Is the Day: The March on Washington
This Is the Day: The March on Washington Kam Williams Book Review “There have been many marches since, and several before, but no other march to the nation’s capital captured our collec...
The Lawyer as Leader: How to Plant People and Grow Justice
The Lawyer as Leader: How to Plant People and Grow Justice Kam Williams Book Review “The social challenges of our time are enormous. About one in seven U.S. residents live in poverty, and t...
A Hand to Guide Me
A Hand to Guide Me Kam Williams Book Review "Every individual you are about to meet in these pages has remained humble, and that’s been my mantra for as long as I can remember’ a...
Fantasia Life Is Not a Fairy Tale
Fantasia Life Is Not a Fairy Tale Kam Williams Book Review "Faith is a legacy for many women in my family, as are the legacies of teen pregnancy, being single mothers, emotional and physical ...
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...
Big Enough to Be Inconsistent
Big Enough to Be Inconsistent Thumper Book Review There is a great chance that my review of Big Enough to Be Inconsistent: Abraham Lincoln Confronts Slavery and Race by George M. Fredrickso...
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 ...
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...
Dark Girls
Dark Girls Kam Williams Book Review “In today’s society, dark skin has become linked to longer prison time, higher unemployment rates, low self-esteem, lower standards of beauty, a...
The Race Card
The Race Card Kam Williams Book Review ’Almost all Americans agree that racism is wrong’ But a lot of people also worry that the charge of racism can be abused. We can all thi...
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; ...
Linsanity
Linsanity Kam Williams linsanity.jpg Film Review Linsanity In Theaters: Oct 4, 2013 Limited Rated: PG Running time: 1 hr. 28 min. In English and Mandarin with subtitles Distributor: Ketchup ...
Long Live the Spirit of the Million Man March
Long Live the Spirit of the Million Man March Kam Williams images/longlivemmm.jpg Film Review Long Live the Spirit of the Million Man March Click to Order via Amazon Unrated Running ti...
Shaft
Shaft Kam Williams images/shaft.1.jpg Film Review Shaft Release in: 2000 Director: John Singleton Genre: Action, Crime Toni Collette - Diane Palmieri Dan ...
Soul Men
Soul Men Kam Williams soul_m4.jpg Film Review Sam Jackson and Bernie Mac Co-Star in Rollicking Road Comedy Soul Men Click to order via Amazon Rated R for nudit...
Straight Outta Compton
Straight Outta Compton Kam Williams straight-outta-compton.jpg Film Review Straight Outta Compton (2015) In Theaters: Aug 14, 2015 WideRuntime: 2 hr. 27 min. Rating: violence, drug use, pervasiv...
We Need to Talk
We Need to Talk Kam Williams images/51Icf9mwW+L._SL500_AA300_.jpg Film Review Sisters Make Most of Opportunity to Reflect on Relationships in Latest Documentary from Janks Morton We ...
13
13 Kam Williams images/13_movieposter.jpg Film Review Remake of French Thriller Revolves around Grisly Game of Russian Roulette 13 Click to Buy via Amazon.com Rated: R Ru...
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 (...
Blacktrospective 2006
Blacktrospective 2006 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/akeela46sm.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2006 ’ Annual Look Back at the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema by Kam Williams How d...
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...
Go
Go Kam Williams Book Review ’This extraordinary collection of letters to Michelle Obama says a great deal about the lives, the hopes, prayers, fears, and aspirations of Africa...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Hung
Hung Kam Williams Book Review ’The place: Providence, Rhode Island. The time, Spring 1986, my sophomore year in college’ I’m a little new to this, this meeting a strange girl ...
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...
A Love of My Own
A Love of My Own Linda Watkins Book Review Welcome Back Mr. Harris. Everybody! Yes, I mean, ev-ver-ry-bo-dy gets lonely sometimes and needs a little love. That’s what author, E. Lynn Harris,...
Embracing the Horror
Embracing the Horror RAWSISTAZ Book Review Darline Dorce-Coupet’s first novel, Embracing the Horror, is a fresh and unique love story with just enough suspense to keep the pages turning. ...
Dakota Grand: A Novel
Dakota Grand: A Novel Brian Egeston Book Review There are codes within creeds and creeds within cliques. Perhaps this is the most subliminal, if not unintentional, message in Kenji Jasper’s lat...
The Wake Up Call
The Wake Up Call Robert Fleming Book Review With a focus on the young at heart, personal finance expert Ash Exantus aka Ash Cash employs the themes of master rapper-businessman Jay Z’s classic ...
Just As I Am By Cicely Tyson
Just As I Am By Cicely Tyson Robert Fleming Book Review When I was a teen sweeping sawdust at the butchery, where I worked after school hours, my uncle hipped me to jazz and Bird, Monk, Prez, and La...
Before the Streetlights Come on: Black America’s Urgent Call for Climate Solutions
Before the Streetlights Come on: Black America’s Urgent Call for Climate Solutions Robert Fleming Book Review As I received Heather McTeer Toney’s new book on climate solutions, I had also read...
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...
The Rebel’s Clinic
The Rebel’s Clinic Robert Fleming Book Review For decades now, the writings of noted psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon, who died in 1961, have been essential reading for anyone who wanted to ...
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...
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...
Bitch Is the New Black: A Memoir
Bitch Is the New Black: A Memoir Kam Williams Book Review "I’m such a badass. I am literally the baddest bitch on the planet. If there was a bitch contest between me and every other he...
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...
Why White Kids Love Hip Hop
Why White Kids Love Hip Hop Kam Williams Book Review "Hip-hop is the last hope for this generation and arguably the last hope for America… The best remedy for leaving the o...
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...
Strange Fruit
Strange Fruit Paige Turner Book Review "Anatomy of a Mind Blowing Song" One of the most deeply satisfying and thought provoking books traces the anatomy of a rarely remember song from...
Dirty Laundry
Dirty Laundry Kam Williams dirty_13.jpg Film Review Brother on the Down-Low Outed by His Kid in DVD Comedy Dirty Laundry (2006) Click to order DVD via Amazon Actors: Loretta Devin...
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...