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Ebony & Ivy: Race
Ebony & Ivy: Race Kam Williams Book Review “Ebony & Ivy… delivers a groundbreaking and incendiary exploration of the intertwined histories of slavery, race, and higher education&he...
A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicago's Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond
A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicago's Southside to the Ivy League and Beyond Kam Williams Book Review "A fundamental teaching my parents always emphasized [was] that life happens to...
The Rise: Creativity
The Rise: Creativity Kam Williams Book Review “This book is about the advantages that come from the improbable ground of creative endeavor. Brilliant inventions and human feats that have co...
Peony’s Daughters
Peony’s Daughters Idrissa Uqdah Book Review A Mother With Crosses To Bear Although not categorized as Christian Fiction, Peony’s Daughters by Leceila Turnage is a very spiritual read w...
Gift Of Faith
Gift Of Faith Art Nixon Book Review The idea of faith, is a common reference for most of us and yet it is an idea that many of us have not had the experience to really know its meaning intimately...
An Illuminated Life
An Illuminated Life Kam Williams Book Review ’Princeton University was a particularly interesting place for Belle to first be on her own and living as white… Princeton was c...
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...
Dear White People
Dear White People Kam Williams dear-wite-people-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Dear White People In Theaters: Oct 17, 2014 Limited On DVD: Feb 3, 2015 Rated R for profanity, ethnic and sexual prefe...
Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir by Toni Braxton
Unbreak My Heart: A Memoir by Toni Braxton Kam Williams Book Review “While Toni Braxton may appear to be living a charmed life, hers is in fact a tumultuous story: a tale of personal triumph...
Rudolph Lewis: The Prophetic Voice of the Poet
Rudolph Lewis: The Prophetic Voice of the Poet Miriam Decosta-Willis Book Review Rudolph Lewis In his lyrical Mockingbirds at Jerusalem: A Poetic Memoir, poet, editor, and former professor and l...
The Memory Librarian
The Memory Librarian Robert Fleming Book Review When I think of singer-actor-fashion icon Janelle Monae, the word eclectic comes to mind. She is everywhere in the media, on every platform. Along with...
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...
I Love My People
I Love My People Robert Fleming Book Review Lovingly crafted with an eye for substance and content, scholar Kim Singleton was determined with her new book, I Love My People. As a “race woman,&r...
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...
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...
Likeness of Being
Likeness of Being Jamie Walker Book Review In Likeness of Being: A Poetic Look at Friends and Strangers, poet Nathan M. Richardson offers readers an invitation to his soulful, Southern roots. Full ...
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...
Selected Poems of Calvin C. Hernton
Selected Poems of Calvin C. Hernton Robert Fleming Book Review Back in the day, Calvin C. Hernton, a poet, scholar, and essayist, was considered a literary maverick, an outspoken advocate of truth-te...
Digging
Digging Robert Fleming Book Review The literary legacy of award-winning writer and poet Amiri Baraka continues to thrive as he releases another new book, Digging: The Afro-American Soul Of ...
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...
Syncope
Syncope Brianna-Christine Alicea Book Review As a third-grade poet teacher, an author, and as a leader for an English conversation group for immigrants, Wadud is involved with her community. She is a...
I Always Knew: A Memoir
I Always Knew: A Memoir Robert Fleming Book Review This country rarely acknowledges the celebrated triple threats of the arts in our community. Consider Barbara Chase-Riboud, the noted African-Americ...
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...
Something Like Beautiful
Something Like Beautiful Robert Fleming Book Review In many ways, the award-winning poet and journalist asha bandele’s second memoir, Something Like Beautiful: One Single Mother&rsquo...
The Salt Roads
The Salt Roads Linda Watkins Book Review Award winning author Nalo Hopkinson’s The Salt Roads is a multilayered fantasy full of various meanings, Haitian voodoo, mythology, slavery and Europe...
IDOLeyes
IDOLeyes Idrissa Uqdah Book Review A Singer’s Life Changing American Idol Experience Mandisa Hundley may well go down in history as the most talked about American Idol participant who di...
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....
Roots
Roots Kam Williams alex.h11.jpg Film Review 30th Anniversary Edition of Emmy-Winning Miniseries Arrives on DVD Roots (Four-Disc -30th Anniversary Edition) (1977) Click to order via AmazonDirec...
Detropia
Detropia Kam Williams detropia.jpg Film Review Cautionary Exposé Warns of Detroit’s Impending Demise Detropia [2012] - Film Review In Theaters: Sep 5, 2012 Limited Unrated Documentary D...
Dreamgirls (2006)
Dreamgirls (2006) Kam Williams dreamg1.jpg Film Review Jennifer Hudson Steals the Show in Adaptation of Tony Award-Winning Musical Dreamgirls (2006) Rated PG-13 for sex, expletives, and dru...
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...
Poetic Perceptions
Poetic Perceptions Robert Fleming Book Review Some African-American critics yearn for a return to the fire and passion of the revolutionary fervor of the 1960s Black Arts Movement, but there are ...
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...
Phenomenally Me
Phenomenally Me Chris Hayden Book Review In a dark room with a blue light In the basement, music just right Nothing going down but the Mellow sounds of Mr. DJ’s turntables Going round" Boyz...
Come Joy!
Come Joy! Idrissa Uqdah Book Review From reading only the first four poems in this collection; I knew I was on to something wonderful. Come Joy, Songs From The Soft of Night by Bridgette Alyce Grea...
Forever Sentimental
Forever Sentimental Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Ohio Poet, Kenyatta is a man of many words. His book Forever Sentimental-AGAPE LOVE is Volume Three in the Forever Sentimental book s...
Consumed…
Consumed… Jacqueline Jones LaMon Book Review AALBC.com review by Jacqueline Jones LaMon I firmly believe that there are no coincidences in this life, that we are presented with that which is f...
i see through eyes
i see through eyes Kalamu ya Salaam Book Review Eric Payne is not ready to publish a book a poetry’but, on the other hand, the 21st century is a new time. If a person believes they are a poet a...
Femme du Monde
Femme du Monde Tara Betts Book Review Spears Jones’ second collection Femme du Monde does not simply unfold the artful experiences of a woman who has traveled and soaked up the internatio...
In-Dependence from Bondage
In-Dependence from Bondage Kam Williams Book Review ’Claude McKay (1890-1948) and Michael N. Manley (1924-1997) shared a common commitment to the struggle of African Diaspora people for libe...
Love Bones: A Collection of Poetry
Love Bones: A Collection of Poetry Robert Fleming Book Review Love seems to be the emotional fuel for all forms of popular expression. This book’s author, Ronald Oliphant, knows firsthand ...
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 ...
Gabriel’s Story
Gabriel’s Story Thumper Book Review Right now I’m scanning my slightly used memory attempting to determine the last time a debut novel moved me as much as Gabriel’s Story, the debu...
Reconsidering The Souls of Black Folk
Reconsidering The Souls of Black Folk Thumper Book Review To commemorate the 100th anniversary of The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois — of one of the most significant books ever publis...
A Fortune for Your Disaster
A Fortune for Your Disaster Brianna-Christine Alicea Book Review A Fortune for Your Disaster is a powerful, resonant poetry collection about forgiveness and grappling with physical and emotional viol...
The Prime Anniversary
The Prime Anniversary Brianna-Christine Alicea Book Review Jay Wright is an acclaimed poet, essayist, and playwright. Wright is the author of several collections of poetry, which include but are not ...
A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks
A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks Neoma Nwasike Book Review Gwendolyn Brooks was a very influential African American poet who became the first Black writer to win a Pulitzer Prize award (Poetry). In the ch...
How We Fight for Our Lives
How We Fight for Our Lives Brianna-Christine Alicea Book Review As a recipient of the Pushcart Prize, and fellowships from Cave Canem and Queer/Art/Mentorship, Saeed Jones is a poet and the author of...
Duende
Duende Robert Fleming Book Review Poet Quincy Troupe’s literary magic has elevated him to the forefront of modern American writers. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he, the son of a catcher in the ...
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...
I Am New Orleans
I Am New Orleans Robert Fleming Book Review American poet, author, filmmaker, and teacher Kalamu ya Salaam, a leading citizen of New Orleans’s 9th Ward, has always been a booster for the Cresce...
Breaking The Blank
Breaking The Blank Eryka Parker Book Review If poetry is an artful expression of the soul, the creators of Breaking the Blank understood the assignment. This compelling literary work proudly speaks o...
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,...
The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays
The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays Shaundale Rénā Book Review The Redemption Center Is Closed on Sundays was not at all what I expected. Although an avid reader, I challenged myself to enjoy ...
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...
The Talented Ripkins by Ladee Hubbard
The Talented Ripkins by Ladee Hubbard Brenda M. Greene Book Review Drawing from W.E.B. DuBois’s concept of the Talented Tenth, Hubbard’s debut award-winning The Talented Ribkins follows t...
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March Kam Williams Book Review “Jailed nine times before her 15th birthday, Lynda Blackmon Lowery refused to give u...
Mind Your Own Wellness: Turning Thoughts into Reality
Mind Your Own Wellness: Turning Thoughts into Reality Kam Williams Book Review "Most of us are fortunate to be born healthy. It is what we have learned and have chosen to put into our mouths that d...
Black Pulp
Black Pulp Robert Fleming Book Review In his succinct introduction, award-winning novelist Walter Mosley, creator of the noted private eye Easy Rawlins, explains the appeal of fiction printed i...
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...
Insignificant Others: Erotic Novellas
Insignificant Others: Erotic Novellas Anita Doreen Diggs Book Review Award winning authors, Pynk and Carol Taylor have written two original tales for Insignificant Others. Fans will love both sto...
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Connie Bradley Book Review I finally finished the 620-page The Warmth of Other Suns by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Isabel W...
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...
Once Is Never Enough
Once Is Never Enough Idrissa Uqdah Book Review If Loving You Is Wrong, I don't Want To Be Right The old rythmn and blues tune, If Loving You Is Wrong, I don't Want To Be Right aptly desc...
Ostinato Vamps: Poems
Ostinato Vamps: Poems Rondall Brasher Book Review For those who are not familiar with Wanda Coleman, she is the award-winning author of Bathwater Wine and Mercurochrome. She also gained c...
The No Excuse Guide to Success: No Matter What Your Boss—or Life—Throws at You
The No Excuse Guide to Success: No Matter What Your Boss—or Life—Throws at You Kam Williams Book Review “Life is not what you’ve been taught; it’s what you believe. It’s not ...
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...
Abide With Me
Abide With Me Paige Turner Book Review Warning: The following comments reveal a conflicted and divided point of view, a la the characters who populate the novels of E. Lynn Harris. Readers are ad...
Going Home In Chains: Stories
Going Home In Chains: Stories Robert Fleming Book Review Glenville Lovell, one of the foremost Caribbean writers, has written several novels, including the acclaimed Fire in the Canes, Too Beautifu...
My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte
My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte Robert Fleming Book Review My Song: A Memoir is the story of a blessed life, that of Harry Belafonte, the mythic musician, actor, humanitarian, and social activ...
Love
Love Thumper Book Review Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison released a new novel, adding another jewel to her already brilliant literary crown. Love, Morrison’s eighth novel, introduces...
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...
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...
Blacktop Wasteland
Blacktop Wasteland W. Paul Coates Book Review Black Top Wastland a Conversation With S A Cosby and Paul CoatesAug 30, 2020 06:00 p.m. Eastern Time Register S. A. Cosby has written a winning book ...
Blind Light
Blind Light Carol Taylor Book Review In 2001, visionary social justice advocate, Glenda R. Taylor was struck with a potentially devastating illness that took most of her sight. Instead of retreating ...
Blacktop Wasteland
Blacktop Wasteland W. Paul Coates Book Review Black Top Wastland a Conversation With S A Cosby and Paul CoatesAug 30, 2020 06:00 p.m. Eastern Time Register S. A. Cosby has written a winning book ...
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...
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...
Black Folk Could Fly
Black Folk Could Fly Robert Fleming Book Review Some of our literary greats fly under the radar. The unexpected death of the late great author Randall Kenan in 2020 at age 57 brought him well-deserve...
Dr. No
Dr. No Robert Fleming Book Review “…a hilarious, fantastic satire of our times and culture.” —Robert Fleming Bestselling author Percival Everett is a literary alchemist wi...
Lost in Language & Sound: Or How I Found My Way to the Arts: Essays
Lost in Language & Sound: Or How I Found My Way to the Arts: Essays Alvin Romer Book Review Poetry and prose if presented and mixed well with a demonstrative esthetic can work wonders for anyone try...
Step Out on Nothing
Step Out on Nothing Kam Williams Book Review ’We all have those defining moments in our lives. Moments of great joy. Moments of unspeakable sadness and fear. We usually thi...
Kevin and His Dad
Kevin and His Dad Kam Williams Book Review ’What could be better for a young boy than to spend a whole day with his father! With mom away on a Saturday, that’s exa...
The People Could Fly
The People Could Fly Kam Williams Book Review "The People Could Fly is one of the most extraordinary, moving tales in black folklore… [It] is a detailed fantasy of suffering, of magi...
The Breakthrough
The Breakthrough Kam Williams Book Review ’If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream ...
The Henry Louis Gates
The Henry Louis Gates Robert Fleming Book Review Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of the nation’s most acclaimed scholars, is a masterful jack of all trades, including educator, editor, critic and ...
Precious
Precious Kam Williams precio2.jpg Film Review Lee Daniels’ Long-Anticipated Sundance-Winner Lives up to the Buzz Precious Click to order DVD via Amazon Rated R fo...
Real Steel
Real Steel Kam Williams images/realsteel2.jpg Film Review Father and Son Belatedly Bond in Rock‘em-Sock‘em Robot Saga Real Steel Rated PG-13 for violence, intense ac...
Soul Food Junkies
Soul Food Junkies Kam Williams Soul-Food-Junkies-poster.jpg Film Review Soul Food Junkies - Premiering January 2013 on Independent Lens Soul Food Junkies 64 minutes In this PBS ...
The Souls of Black Girls
The Souls of Black Girls Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/the_so37.gif Film Review Provocative Documentary Examines Image of Black Females Propagated by the Media The Souls of Blac...
Toe to Toe
Toe to Toe Kam Williams images/img4B.jpg Film Review Coeds Lock Horns and Lacrosse Sticks in Cross-Cultural Drama Toe to Toe (2010) Unrated Running time: 104 Minutes Distr...
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 ...
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 ...
Beloved
Beloved Michael Dequina images/belove43.jpg Film Review BELOVED (1998) Based on Toni Morrison’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel MPAA: Rated R for violent images, sexuality and nudity...
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...
Freedom Riders (American Experience)
Freedom Riders (American Experience) Kam Williams images/Sprite%20117.jpg Film Review American Experience: Freedom Riders Click to buy via Amazon.com Number of discs: 1 Rated: NR (...
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...
House of Payne, Volume 4
House of Payne, Volume 4 Kam Williams house_26.jpg Film Review House of Payne, Volume 4 Click to order via AmazonUnrated Running time: 440 minutes Studio: Lionsgat...
Better Mus' Come: In Theaters: March 15, 2013
Better Mus' Come: In Theaters: March 15, 2013 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/better-mus-come.jpg Film Review Better Mus’ Come In Theaters: Mar 15, 2013 Limited Written and Directed by Stor...