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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...
My View from the Summit (VFS)
My View from the Summit (VFS) Carol Taylor Book Review My View From The Summit is Nicole Thomas’s “inspiring personal memoir” reflecting on her experiences and life lessons on m...
Supreme Discomfort
Supreme Discomfort Kam Williams Book Review ’[Clarence] Thomas once said he would never accept a race-based job, and yet he spent an entire federal career in such positions’ The irony i...
D.C. Unmasked & Undressed: A Memoir
D.C. Unmasked & Undressed: A Memoir Kam Williams Book Review "D.C. Unmasked & Undressed is a memoir. The story of my life includes events, characters and insights related to my miserable child...
The Dagger
The Dagger Hedi Harrington Book Review Timothy George’s 2016 novel, The Dagger, should come with a warning to all readers: “Fasten your seatbelts.” The fast-paced thriller is a sequ...
The Best Man Holiday
The Best Man Holiday Kam Williams the-best-man-holiday.jpg Film Review Seasonal Sequel Finds Reunited BFFs Romancing and Reminiscing The Best Man Holiday In Theaters: Nov 15, 2013 Wide Rated ...
Blacktrospective 2010 - Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema
Blacktrospective 2010 - Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/images/Just-Wright.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2010 - Annual Assessmen...
Fourplay: The Dance of Sensuality
Fourplay: The Dance of Sensuality Thumper Book Review Fourplay…the Dance of Sensuality, the latest novel by Brenda L. Thomas, is the continuing story of Sasha Boranni from Thomas’s firs...
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...
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...
Blacktrospective 2009 - Kam’s Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema
Blacktrospective 2009 - Kam’s Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/precious_movieposter.jpg Film Review Kam's Annual Assessment of the Best ...
Why I Sued the Bible Publishers
Why I Sued the Bible Publishers Robert Fleming Book Review If there was ever a book title that yelled its intentions, this is it. The book’s author, Bradley Fowler, one of the faithful of Presb...
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...
Never Say Never
Never Say Never Idrissa Uqdah Book Review In this drama -filled novel, Victoria Christopher Murray gives her readers a shocking story that is edgy Christian fiction, at it’s best. Miriam has ...
Seduced
Seduced Sheree Renée Thomas Book Review As a rule, I don’t kiss and tell, but sometimes, sometimes you get a hold to something that is just too good to keep to yourself. Well, I have to admit i...
Best Kept Secret
Best Kept Secret Kam Williams best-kept-secret.jpg Film Review Moving Documentary Chronicles Dedicated Teacher’s Selfless Efforts on Behalf of Her Autistic Students Best Kept Secret In Theater...
The “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” Interview
The “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” Interview Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/the-butler.jpg Film Review Two-Time Oscar-Nominee Talks about His Latest Offering Photo by Pascal Le Segretain – © 2...
Threesome
Threesome Tiffany M. Davis Book Review I must say, this book was not what I expected. The title brings to mind images of a steamy m’nage a trois, either male/female/male or the more commonly po...
The Best Man
The Best Man Michael Dequina thebestman.jpg Film Review Read the 2025 novel based adapted from the film. THE BEST MAN Buy or Rent from Amazon In Theaters: Oct 22, 1999 Wide On DVD: Feb...
Blacktrospective 2011 - Annual Assessment of the Best in Black Cinema
Blacktrospective 2011 - Annual Assessment of the Best in Black Cinema Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/thehelpposter.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2011 - Annual Assessment of the Best in Bl...
A Woman’s Revenge
A Woman’s Revenge Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Three Women Scorned Just looking at the cover of this book, I wasn't sure if it was really Christian fiction. This anthology of three stories wr...
Looking for Sweet Love
Looking for Sweet Love Emanuel Carpenter Book Review Can a sista get some love? That’s the question addressed in R.L. Byrd’s new book "Looking for Sweet Love." The story takes place in...
The Roux in the Gumbo
The Roux in the Gumbo Idrissa Uqdah Book Review A Black Family’s Odyssey in America Kim Robinson has written a remarkable account of her family’s history gathered from stories she was ...
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...
Letters to a Young Sister
Letters to a Young Sister Kam Williams Book Review ’In Letters to a Young Sister, Hill has covered all the important issues. As a woman, I can't agree more with how import...
Hair Love
Hair Love Neoma Nwasike Book Review When you were a little Black girl, growing up, did you embrace your beauty? Did you love the deep richness of your blackness and the uniqueness of your hair? Do yo...
Some of My Best Friends: A White Woman’s Journey into Racial Profiling
Some of My Best Friends: A White Woman’s Journey into Racial Profiling Kam Williams Book Review “This project grew out of my realization that I was negatively profiling young African-American...
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; ...
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...
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...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
The Power of Presence
The Power of Presence Tony Lindsay Book Review The Power of Presence is a training manual for those looking to improve life, but not merely the life of an individual but those that depend on an indiv...
Race Matters
Race Matters Kirby Roy III Book Review Reading and evaluating the overriding themes in Cornel West’s Race Matters, which was published in 1993, given the context of events that have occurred si...
Don’t Drop the MIC
Don’t Drop the MIC Denolyn Carroll Book Review In Don’t Drop the Mic, renowned pastor, orator, and #1 New York Times bestselling author Bishop T. D. Jakes puts a new spin on the notion of the b...
Fifth Born
Fifth Born Thumper Book Review My copy of Fifth Born, the debut novel by Zelda Lockhart, came by way of this year’s Book Expo America convention (BEA). I met Ms. Lockhart and her son at The B...
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...
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?,...
In Trembling Boldness: Wisdom for Today from Ancient Jesus People
In Trembling Boldness: Wisdom for Today from Ancient Jesus People Denolyn Carroll Book Review The book In Trembling Boldness: Wisdom for Today from Ancient Jesus People brings us newly discovered wri...
The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation
The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation Robert Fleming Book Review South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn’s The First Eight: A Personal Histo...
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...
Samson
Samson Idrissa Uqdah Book Review A Man's Strength Is Determined By His Faith Christian author Jacquelin Thomas has crafted a new novel with a contemporary twist on the love story of the Bibl...
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...
Annie
Annie Kam Williams annie-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Annie (2014) In Theaters: Dec 19, 2014 Wide Rated PG for mild epithets and rude humor Running time: 118 minutes Distributor: Columbia Pictu...
Hey, Boo: HarperLee & To Kill a MockingBird
Hey, Boo: HarperLee & To Kill a MockingBird Kam Williams images/i_heyboo.jpg Film Review Intriguing Documentary Revisits "To Kill a Mockingbird" Hey, Boo Unrated Distribu...
Red at the Bone
Red at the Bone Brenda M. Greene Book Review Jacqueline Woodson is the best-selling author of more than two dozen award-winning books, including the 2016 New Times best-selling National Book Award fi...
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...
Passin'
Passin' Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Is The Grass Any Greener On The Other Side? That is what Shanika Ann Jenkins seeks to find out as she applies for a position at a prestigious PR firm in New...
Shades of Jade
Shades of Jade Thumper Book Review I was debating on whether I should start this review by writing All Hail The New Queen. Why not? I'll only live once, so, All Hail The New Queen of AA mystery...
Words to Our Now: Imagination & Dissent
Words to Our Now: Imagination & Dissent Kam Williams Book Review ’The word ’faggot’ itself is to me as nasty a form of violence as the perennial spit-nastiness in that classic Ame...
Playing with Destiny
Playing with Destiny Thumper Book Review As incredible as it may seem, I’m a tad bit in shock. I recently finished reading and actually LOVING a novel published by BET under its Sepia imprint;...
Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15
Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15 Kam Williams Book Review "Since the dawn of the hip-hop era in the 1970s, black people have become increasingly freer and freer as individuals, with a wid...
Culture Worrier: Selected Columns 1984—2014: Reflections on Race
Culture Worrier: Selected Columns 1984—2014: Reflections on Race Kam Williams Book Review “These pages represent some of the valuable lessons I’ve learned about people and media over t...
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...
Well Considered By Richard Morris
Well Considered By Richard Morris Robert Fleming Book Review Some critics have often said white authors cannot capture the soul and passion of African American characters, but that is not the case ...
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...
Dark Dreams
Dark Dreams Thumper Book Review Author Brandon Massey (Thunderland, Dark Corner) has compiled a magnificent anthology designed to scare and terrify. Although African-American literature ha...
Heart and Soul: Poems of Thoughts & Emotions
Heart and Soul: Poems of Thoughts & Emotions V.S. Chochezi Book Review Masterful New Poetry Collection for Sipping or Gulping My observation has been that many wine drinkers tend to have a wide ar...
Fever in the Blood
Fever in the Blood Thumper Book Review I must say that I write this review from a somewhat prejudicial position. I am a fan of Robert Fleming. I loved the two anthologies he edited, Intimacy and ...
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...
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...
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...
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
The Odd Life of Timothy Green Kam Williams the-odd-life-of-timothy-green.jpg Film Review Childless Couple’s Prayers Answered in Enchanting Fairytale The Odd Life of Timothy Green In Thea...
Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been
Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been Amanda Robinson Book Review In the midst of arguably a time of the greatest push for the advocacy of LGBT acceptance, Jackie Hi...
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...
Black Silk
Black Silk Thumper Book Review Black Silk: A Collection of African American Erotica is an anthology that cheers the sexual, sensual side of African-Americans in literature told through short stories ...
Held
Held Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Jehovah Rapha, The Lord Who Heals Author Leslie Haskin has written a follow-up to her best seller, Between Heaven and Ground Zero, an account of her experiences...
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...
Legacy
Legacy Michael Dequina images/LegacyPoster4-212x300.jpg Film Review Legacy [2010] LEGACY Not Rated Running time: 92 minutes Studio: Codeblack Entertainment Rating: 3 1...
Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing Kam Williams do_the8.jpg Film Review 20th Anniversary Edition of Spike Lee Classic Now Available on DVD Do the Right Thing Click to order via ...
Ali
Ali Marvin X alimovie.jpg Film Review ""A notable and articulate advocacy of black conscientious objection came from the Nation of Islam. In 1942 Elijah Muhammad was arrested in Chicago an...
Balls of Fury
Balls of Fury Kam Williams balls_8.jpg Film Review Balls of Fury Film Review by Kam WilliamsRated PG-13 for profanity, crude behavior and sex-related humor. Running time: 90 minutes ...
Every Bitter Thing Sweet
Every Bitter Thing Sweet Tiffany M. Davis Book Review Every Bitter Thing Sweet picks up where A Thirst For Rain ends. While this is the story of Odile and Rory, Ms. Carrington continues her portrayal...
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow
I Know Who Holds Tomorrow Thumper Book Review I Know Who Holds Tomorrow is the first book that I’ve read written by Francis Ray. I hesitated to pick it up because it shares its title with an o...
Bestselling DVDs for 2013
Bestselling DVDs for 2013 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/zanes-sex-chronicles.jpg Film Review Best-selling DVDs for 2013 #1 • Zane's Sex Chronicles Season 1 Click to Buy Via Amaz...
Best Selling DVD's for 2011
Best Selling DVD's for 2011 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/aalbcdvd1.jpg Film Review 10 Best Selling DVDs on AALBC.com for 2011 This is the Start of Part 2 (Go to Part 1) #6 • The Black Po...
The Good House
The Good House Thumper Book Review Tananarive Due has returned with The Good House, her best book to date. The Good House is a magnificent, irresistible family drama of one family fighting an evil ...
Get Down: Stories
Get Down: Stories Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Asali Solomon’s collection of short stories, Get Down is a short story reader’s delight. The stories are so real and many are set in Solomon&r...
Sins of the Mother
Sins of the Mother Idrissa Uqdah Book Review KARMA???? Victoria Christopher Murray is the best selling author of several contemporary novels that touch on hot topics that church people aren...
Walking Among The Kudzu
Walking Among The Kudzu Emanuel Carpenter Book Review In H. Victoria Hargro Atkerson's latest book, "Walking Among the Kudzu," readers are taken on the journey of the life of Shelby ...
Gathering Blossoms Under Fire
Gathering Blossoms Under Fire Robert Fleming Book Review Nobody will find the controversial writer, Alice Walker neutral, because of her fierce, unorthodox views. As an award-winning novelist, essayi...
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 ...
Children of the Waters
Children of the Waters Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Blood Ties, Family Lies Carleen Brice has returned to the literary scene with her second novel, Children of the Waters and she’s ...
Momma: Gone
Momma: Gone Tony Lindsay Book Review Nina Foxx’s personal story Momma: Gone is full of literary surprises. The reader’s expectations and predictions that are garnered from the story-line ...
Genesis Begins Again
Genesis Begins Again Shafika Burke Book Review Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams is a powerful, poignant, and ultimately empowering middle-grade novel that highlights issues sure to interest...
The Bridge
The Bridge Thumper Book Review The Bridge, the second novel by Solomon Jones, should blow open the doors that his debut novel, Pipe Dreams did not. I am getting excited simply remembering the book ...
Daughter
Daughter Jayne Cubbage Book Review The novel, Daughter is a wonderfully crafted book and a smashing follow up to Asha Bandele’s first book, The Prisoner’s Wife. In this suspenseful a...
Leaving
Leaving Thumper Book Review Leaving, the debut novel by Richard Dry, is an epic tale that spans three generations of a black family, from the 1950s to circa 2000. Leaving is an epic not only in siz...
What Mother Never Told Me
What Mother Never Told Me Idrissa Uqdah Book Review A Family's Secret Sins "Every Family has it's secrets…" says national best selling author, Donna Hill in her latest n...
Telling It Like It Is: The Remarkable Life Experiences of My Aunt Edna
Telling It Like It Is: The Remarkable Life Experiences of My Aunt Edna Carol Taylor Book Review Telling It Like It Is, is equal parts historical biography, personal recollections, family memories, an...
What Love Feels Like
What Love Feels Like Robert Fleming Book Review Most romances sugarcoat the challenges of love and commitment, but this new novel, What Love Feels Like, by F.Y. Dawn, shows the high cost of trust an...
Through The Storm
Through The Storm Linda Watkins Book Review Coming of age is no easy feat. I think everyone still cringes at mistakes made as teenagers, which came from not listening to words of wisdom from mom and...
Virginia Hamilton: Speeches
Virginia Hamilton: Speeches Kam Williams Book Review ’In the 35 years between the publication of her first book and her death in 2002, Virginia Hamilton earned a place of honor in the p...
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...
Grasshopper Speaks
Grasshopper Speaks Emanuel Carpenter Book Review In Katrina Register’s memoir, “Grasshopper Speaks,” the author takes readers on the whirlwind journey of her life. In this debut, s...
How To Knock A Bravebird From Her Perch
How To Knock A Bravebird From Her Perch Carol Taylor Book Review Inspired by family and friends who have been victims of abuse, D. Bryant Simmons, an advocate of female empowerment and children&rsq...
Black Swan
Black Swan Rondall Brasher Book Review When Poetry Takes Wing Black Swan by Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon was published in 2002. This lapse of time annoys me because I somehow missed this rare "lot...
I Am Jackie Robinson
I Am Jackie Robinson Kam Williams Book Review An AALBC.com Bestselling Book May/June 2015 Book Reviewed by Kam Williams “Jackie Robinson learned to be brave when he was very young. He gre...
Cosbyology
Cosbyology Akilah Monifa Book Review Many people regard Bill Cosby as the penultimate father figure of the 80s, replacing Robert Young of "Father Knows Best." Cosby is probably best known...