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Andrew Billingsley Scholar and Institution Builder: Essays and Tributes
Andrew Billingsley Scholar and Institution Builder: Essays and Tributes Robert Fleming Book Review What makes a scholar great? The easy answer is the prolonged effort of an individual to provide a la...
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...
PHD (Po Ho on Dope) to Ph.D.: How Education Saved My Life
PHD (Po Ho on Dope) to Ph.D.: How Education Saved My Life Anita Doreen Diggs Book Review PHD (Po Ho on Dope) to Ph.D.: How Education Saved My Life by Elaine Richardson begins in a poor and working c...
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...
Granddaddy’s Dirt
Granddaddy’s Dirt Thumper Book Review I started Granddaddy’s Dirt, the latest novel by Brian Egeston, with an awareness of the promise he displayed in Whippins, Switches and Peach Cobbler in ...
Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”
Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” Amanda Robinson Book Review American history is saturated with the flagrant oppression of African people and their descendants. We have recently been pr...
John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism
John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism Thumper Book Review I was looking forward to reading Keith Gilyard’s biography, John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism. J...
Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane’s Musical Journey
Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane’s Musical Journey Kam Williams Book Review “Music and religion were the twin forces that shaped John Coltrane’s early years. Both of his grandfathers were Me...
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...
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 ...
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 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...
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...
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...
October Baby
October Baby Kam Williams october_baby_2012_movie_poster.jpg Film Review Abortion Survivor Searches for Birth Mom in Modern Morality Play October Baby [2012] In Theaters: Mar 23, 2012 Limited ...
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...
Business Unusual
Business Unusual Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Being About the Lord’s Business Every so often, a self-published book beats the odds and grabs the attention of enough readers to draw an offe...
Destini the Chocolate Princess
Destini the Chocolate Princess Robert Fleming Book Review Joan Wright Lewis’ novel, Destini the Chocolate Princess, reveals a terrible affliction in our community; the degree of self-loathing b...
This Side of Glory
This Side of Glory Thumper Book Review This Side Of Glory: The Autobiography of David Hilliard and the Story of the Black Panther Party by David Hilliard and Lewis Cole On my continuing quest in read...
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...
Second Line Home: New Orleans Poems
Second Line Home: New Orleans Poems Rudolph Lewis Book Review June 2005, almost a decade ago, was the time I last visited New Orleans. It was still almost the Big Easy I knew in the mid-1980s. Seve...
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 ...
Conversation with the Mann
Conversation with the Mann Thumper Book Review Not since Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man has a first person narrative novel struck me with such a poignant sense of completeness and satisfaction a...
One Day I Saw a Black King
One Day I Saw a Black King Thumper Book Review Earlier this year, J. D. Mason had me singing her praises for her wonderful novel, And on the Eighth Day She Rested. Now I am at the mike again, ready ...
John McCain’s Racism and Why It Matters
John McCain’s Racism and Why It Matters Kam Williams Book Review ’’I hate the gooks,’ said John McCain in the year 2000. ’I will hate them as long as I live.&rsquo...
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 ...
Three Days Before The Shooting…
Three Days Before The Shooting… Robert Fleming Book Review When legendary African American writer Ralph Ellison died in 1994, everyone who loves good books mourned at his passing and wondered i...
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....
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...
Dark Midnight When I Rise
Dark Midnight When I Rise Paige Turner Book Review The history of blacks in America remains a vast uncharted territory. While the contributions of mainstream cultures have been duly recorded, the e...
A Call To Conscience
A Call To Conscience Thumper Book Review A Call To Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr is an excellent book that should serve as a wonderful introduction to the writing...
Sleep Don’t Come Easy
Sleep Don’t Come Easy Thumper Book Review I came across Sleep don't Come Easy by J.D. Mason and Victor McGlothin some time ago. I threw it in my ’to read’ pile when I spotte...
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...
The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism
The Legacy of Islamic Anti-Semitism Kam Williams Book Review ’Is Islamic anti-Semitism only a modern phenomenon? During the last fifteen years, certain Western scholars have t...
The Courage to Hope: How I Stood Up to the Politics of Fear
The Courage to Hope: How I Stood Up to the Politics of Fear Kam Williams Book Review “In the summer of 2010, Shirley Sherrod was catapulted into a media storm that blew apart her life…...
Restless City
Restless City Kam Williams restlesscity.jpg Film Review Harlem Provides Backdrop for Gritty Survival Saga Restless City [2012] In Theaters: Apr 27, 2012 (limited) Rated R for drug use and brief sex...
G
G Kam Williams g.htm13.jpg Film Review Great Gatsby in Blackface Gets a Gangsta Makeover G R for sex, expletives and brief violence. Running time: 96 minutes Distributor: Andrew Lauren Productions...
Sankofa University: Studying African-Centered History and Culture
Sankofa University: Studying African-Centered History and Culture Robert Fleming Book Review Dr. Burnett Kwadwo Gallman’s Sankofa University: Studying African-Centered History And Culture, is a...
The Drift
The Drift Thumper Book Review Without getting a chance to miss him after the publication of his magnificent Conversation With The Mann, John Ridley delivers a second, equally splendid, novel, The D...
A Man Most Worthy
A Man Most Worthy Thumper Book Review Imagine the man who has every material possession his heart ever desires. One day, after all of his battles have been fought, and the dragons have been slain, ...
Freedom's Journal: The First African-American Newspaper
Freedom's Journal: The First African-American Newspaper Kam Williams Book Review “While the Constitution declares that all men are born free and equal, the wise corporation of the city of...
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...
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...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Kam Williams tinker_film.jpg Film Review It’s Spy vs. Spy in Adaptation of John le Carre Cold War Thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy [2011] Rated R for vi...
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 ...
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...
At The Hands Of Persons Unknown
At The Hands Of Persons Unknown Thumper Book Review Before I read the first word on the first page of At The Hands Of Persons Unknown by Philip Dray, as I looked at the book jacket front cover, strai...
I Hate Muscular Dystrophy: Loving a Child with a Life-Altering Disease
I Hate Muscular Dystrophy: Loving a Child with a Life-Altering Disease Kam Williams Book Review "This is a personal story of a family’s ability to love and support each other through the...
The Arc of Truth: The Thinking of Martin Luther King Jr.
The Arc of Truth: The Thinking of Martin Luther King Jr. Robert Fleming Book Review From the start of his singular journey to confronting cultural bigotry and moral chaos, Dr. Martin Luther King stoo...
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...
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...
Buffalo Gordon on the Plains
Buffalo Gordon on the Plains Thumper Book Review Reviewed by Thumper There are times when I get tired of the same ole, same ole in commercial fiction. Every now and then, I need a break from the ...
Baggage Claim
Baggage Claim Kam Williams baggage-claim.jpg Film Review Baggage Claim In Theaters: Sep 27, 2013 Limited Rated PG-13 for profanity and sexuality Running time: 96 minutes Comedy Directed By: Dav...
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...
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,...
Saxophone Colossus
Saxophone Colossus Robert Fleming Book Review In the history and world of jazz, there is a singular group of adventurers, innovators, pioneers, and mavericks. Aidan Levy's mammoth biography of ja...
The Dow Twins' Legacy: 50 Years of Disco Reflections
The Dow Twins' Legacy: 50 Years of Disco Reflections Michael A. Gonzales Book Review Coming of age in the disco era 1970s, even as a kid, I knew about the cool clubs where people dressed fly and boog...
The Olympian: An American Triumph
The Olympian: An American Triumph Emanuel Carpenter Book Review What must it have been like to be the first African-American Olympic gold medalist? Would the feat have instilled pride in a nation w...
The Lazarus Parable: A Revelation for the 21st Century
The Lazarus Parable: A Revelation for the 21st Century Connie Bradley Book Review The Lazarus Parable by John C. Bonner is an apocalyptic tale which chronicles what the future holds for the planet ...
Beasts of No Nation
Beasts of No Nation Robert Fleming Book Review As John A. Williams, that black titan of letters, often says ’there can never be enough political novels written by our community,’ the num...
The Clan of Southern Man
The Clan of Southern Man Robert Fleming Book Review Any serious student of African-American history could point to the rich, informative contents of two iconic publications: Chancellor Williams&rsquo...
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...
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...
A Kosher Christmas: ’Tis The Season To Be Jewish
A Kosher Christmas: ’Tis The Season To Be Jewish Kam Williams Book Review “Why does Christmas evoke strong feelings among Jews in the United States? Of all the national holidays, only Christ...
Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama
Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama Kam Williams Book Review “Barack Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention instantly catapulted him into the national spotlight and...
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...
Invasion of the Baby Daddy
Invasion of the Baby Daddy Emanuel Carpenter Book Review In the debut novel "Invasion of the Baby Daddy," debut author Dr. John Bell tells of the personal relationship struggles of protagonist Mark S...
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...
The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom
The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom Kam Williams Book Review "What I hope to do with this book is reach out to anyone who wants to get a leg up on their own careers&...
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 ...
Conversations With Octavia Butler
Conversations With Octavia Butler Robert Fleming Book Review As the sole major black female author of science fiction throughout her career, Octavia Butler reshaped the fictional world of fantasy ...
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...
The Lost German Slave Girl
The Lost German Slave Girl Paige Turner Book Review Only the great American melting pot could provide a setting where an Australian author recounts the tale of an orphaned German immigrant who was ...
Delightfulee
Delightfulee Robert Fleming Book Review One of Jazz’s trumpet kings, Dizzy Gillespie, a founder of bop, considered Lee Morgan one of the major post-bop trumpet stylists, along with Fr...
The Emperor of Ocean Park
The Emperor of Ocean Park Thumper Book Review Conservative Pundit’s Mystery Novel Only Partly Successful Stephen L. Carter makes his debut as a fiction writer with The Emperor of Ocean Par...
The Culinary Art Portfolio of Josephine E. Jones
The Culinary Art Portfolio of Josephine E. Jones Carol Taylor Book Review The Culinary Art Portfolio is neither a cookbook nor a how-to-book. It’s a portfolio, with ready- to-frame prints of th...
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...
Extraordinary
Extraordinary Kam Williams Book Review "John and Angelena Rice were extraordinary, ordinary people. They were middle-class folks who loved God, family, and their country. I don’t think th...
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...
Thieves’ Paradise
Thieves’ Paradise Thumper Book Review Every summer I look forward to a new Eric Jerome Dickey novel. This year Dickey delivers one that I absolutely love! Thieves’ Paradise is a tight, smart, q...
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 ...
The Bondwoman’s Narrative
The Bondwoman’s Narrative Paige Turner Book Review In the 1850s a female slave owned by John Wheeler, a North Carolina plantation owner and minor government official, escaped and fled to freedom. Sh...
Defying the Odds
Defying the Odds Kam Williams Book Review ’Whether the threat is a burning cross in a sleepy Southern town, or a female doctor bucking the whites-only hiring policies of a city h...
Learning about the Africans That Came to the Americas!
Learning about the Africans That Came to the Americas! Kam Williams Book Review "When I looked at my small son and wondered what types of information would be important for him to learn that I...
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...
Belle
Belle Kam Williams belle.jpg Film Review Belle In Theaters: May 2, 2014 Limited Rated PG for smoking, mature themes and ethnic insensitivity. Running time: 104 minutes Drama Directed By: Amma As...
Flight
Flight Kam Williams flight-moive-poster.jpg Film Review Hero Pilot Participates in Cover-Up in Special F/X-Driven Legal Thriller Flight (2012) In Theaters: Nov 2, 2012 Wide Drama Directed By: Robert...
Forty Million Dollar Slaves
Forty Million Dollar Slaves Kam Williams Book Review "The Belt carries young black athletes out of black America and introduces them to a world with very few African-Americans, a world o...
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...
Melancholia
Melancholia Kam Williams melancholia.jpg Film Review Siblings React Differently to Impending Extinction-Level Event in Apocalyptic Adventure Melancholia [2011] Rated R for sexuality, profanity a...
Hancock
Hancock Kam Williams hancoc6.jpg Film Review Hancock (2008) Rated PG-13 for profanity and sci-fi violence. Running time: 92 minutes Studio: Columbia Pictures Film Review...
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...
The Hurricane
The Hurricane Michael Dequina images/the16.37.jpg Film Review Rubin "Hurricane" Carter’s 1962 knockout punch against Florentino Fernandez came in the first round...
All About the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can’t Save Black America
All About the Beat: Why Hip-Hop Can’t Save Black America Kam Williams Book Review ’There is apparently something about hip-hop that distracts people into, in some part of their br...
Ghetto Nation
Ghetto Nation Kam Williams Book Review ’Ghetto no longer refers to where you live, it is how you live. It is a mind-set’ a mind-set that thinks the M words — monogamy and marr...
The Myth of Race/The Reality of Racism: Critical Essays
The Myth of Race/The Reality of Racism: Critical Essays Kam Williams Book Review “From today’s perspective in a media-soaked world all too familiar with the genomic footprints of huma...
Premium Rush
Premium Rush Kam Williams premium-rush-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Manhattan Serves as Backdrop for Adrenaline-Fueled Bike Thriller Premium Rush (2012) In Theaters: Aug 24, 2012 Wide Rated PG-13 ...
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...
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas Kam Williams images/haroldandkumxmas.jpg Film Review Holiday-Themed Sequel Features "Pot"-pourri of Stoner Hijinks A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Chri...
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 ...