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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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Emotions
Emotions Tiffany M. Davis Book Review Emotions certainly contained a lot of them. Love, lust, jealousy, rage’Mr. McCann left no stone unturned in this novel about relationships between both the...
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...
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...
What If It Feels Good?
What If It Feels Good? Idrissa Uqdah Book Review It’s A Thin Line Between Seduction and Child Abuse This debut novel, What If It Feels Good? by D.J. McLaurin was a rip-roaring read full of ...
Amistad
Amistad Michael Dequina images/amista36.jpg Film Review Amistad Rated R for some scenes of strong brutal violence and some related nudity. Starring: Morgan Freeman …...
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 ...
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...
Hustle & Flow
Hustle & Flow Michael Dequina hustle62.jpg Film Review Hustle & Flow Directed by Craig Brewer Written by Craig Brewer Rated R for sex and drug content, pervasive language and some violence....
Incognito: An American Odyssey of Race and Self-Discovery
Incognito: An American Odyssey of Race and Self-Discovery Kam Williams Book Review I grabbed the phone and punched in the number… my heart pounding… My dad… Thirty years late...
You Got Served
You Got Served Michael Dequina yougot8.jpg Film Review Michael Dequina’s Review of You Got Served You Got Served (PG-13) Buy The Soundtrack Anyone who buys a ticket for Y...
Bamboozled
Bamboozled Michael Dequina images/bamboozled.jpg Film Review Bamboozled Release Date: October 6th, 2000 (LA/NY); October 20th, 2000 (wide/moderate) MPAA Rating: R (for strong la...
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...
The Brothers
The Brothers Michael Dequina The_Brothers_movie-poster.jpg Film Review The Brothers (2001) Click to order via Amazon Written and Directed by Gary Hardwick Rating: R (for strong sexual content an...
Love & Basketball
Love & Basketball Michael Dequina http://aalbc.com/reviews/images/love.jpg Film Review Reviewed by Michael Dequina Love & Basketball (2000) Starring: Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps Director: G...
Dreamgirls (2006)
Dreamgirls (2006) Michael Dequina dreamg1.jpg Film Review Dreamgirls (2006) Rated PG-13 for sex, expletives, and drug use. Running time: 125 minutes Studio: Dreamworks Pictures Review...
The Orig. Kings of Comedy
The Orig. Kings of Comedy Michael Dequina images/the_or7.jpg Film Review 2000 Paramount Pictures Staring: Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and ...
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...
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 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...
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...
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...
We’ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America
We’ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America Eryka Parker Book Review We’ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America by Michael I...
A Matter of Life or Death: Why Black Men Must Save Black Boys in America’s Public Schools
A Matter of Life or Death: Why Black Men Must Save Black Boys in America’s Public Schools Kam Williams Book Review “Life for many black boys is akin to a war. Wars on their minds, souls, spi...
Child
Child Kam Williams Book Review “In this wise and funny memoir, Ylonda Gault Caviness describes her journey to the realization that all the parenting advice she was obsessively devouring, as...
Place of Cool Waters
Place of Cool Waters Michael A. Gonzales Book Review As a book critic, I rarely know what to expect when handed a project to review. There are veteran writers who drop projects that make me question ...
Driven from Within
Driven from Within Kam Williams Book Review ’That day I met Phil Knight for the first time. Neither of us could imagine what the next 20 years together would produce’ Nike was the perfec...
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...
Dead Presidents
Dead Presidents Ted Prigge images/dead.h42.jpg Film Review DEAD PRESIDENTS (1995) (out of a possible ) Directors: Allen and Albert Hughes Writer: Michael Henry Brown (based on a...
Hitch
Hitch Michael Dequina news_f12.jpg Film Review Hitch Buy the DVD Via Amazon Directed by Andy Tennant Writing credits (WGA) Kevin Bisch (written by) Will Smith …. Alex ’Hitch&rsq...
Sicko
Sicko Kam Williams sicko.3.jpg Film Review Michael Moore Takes Aim at America’s Healthcare System in Eye-Opening Expose’ Sicko Rated PG-13 for brief s...
Barbershop 2
Barbershop 2 Michael Dequina barber7.jpg Film Review Barbershop 2: Back in Business (PG-13) Buy Soundtrack The subtitle of Barbershop 2: Back in Business pretty much sums up the film....
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...
Fruitvale Station
Fruitvale Station Kam Williams fruitville-station.jpg Film Review Bittersweet Biopic Recounts Final Hours in Oscar Grant’s Life The video is a news report which includes video of Oscar Grant I...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America Kam Williams Book Review “America is in trouble, and a lot of that trouble—perhaps most of it—has to do with race. Everywhere we tu...
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...
Elizabeth’s Song
Elizabeth’s Song Linda Watkins Book Review I am aware that surprises come in many forms, and in many ways. And I was glad when I discovered Elizabeth’s Song, by author, Michael Wenberg, and il...
Black Coffee
Black Coffee Emanuel Carpenter Book Review In “Black Coffee,” the sequel to R.L. Byrd’s “Looking for Sweet Love,” men take center stage. In this testosterone-driven n...
Searching for Agabus: Embracing Authenticity and Finding Your Way to You
Searching for Agabus: Embracing Authenticity and Finding Your Way to You Robert Fleming Book Review What is “an authentic self?” Michael Walrond, a well-known keynote speaker and the past...
We Refuse to Be Silent
We Refuse to Be Silent Robert Fleming Book Review Back in 2014, after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, journalist and writer Angela P. Dodson got the idea then for her recently publi...
Our Kind of People
Our Kind of People Paige Turner Book Review A comedian joked that ethnic groups need an elite "Royal Family" to look up to. He mentioned that most WASPS identify with the British Royal fami...
Distant Lover
Distant Lover Thumper Book Review "Ooooo, she makes me SICK!! She does this to me every time!" I heard this from my good friend Steve right after I said hello when I answered the phone. A...
Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice System
Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice System Kam Williams Book Review “The August 9th fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by poli...
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...
Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice Sys
Justice While Black: Helping African-American Families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice Sys Kam Williams Book Review “The August 9th fatal shooting of teenager Michael Brown by police ...
Love in the Age of Dragons
Love in the Age of Dragons Robert Fleming Book Review Fatima R. Henson’s Love In The Age Of Dragons has all of the best ingredients of fantasy, speculative fiction, and science fiction. There i...
Pain & Gain
Pain & Gain Kam Williams pain-and-gain-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Crime Caper Recreates Real-Life Kidnapping Plot Pain & Gain (2013) In Theaters: Apr 26, 2013 Limited Rated R for graphic nudi...
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...
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...
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...
The Great Deluge
The Great Deluge Kam Williams Book Review ’One person not seen on the streets, at the Superdome, or on a rescue boat of any kind was Mayor Nagin. Since the storm had approached the Crescent C...
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...
Without the King
Without the King Kam Williams withou27.jpg Film Review The Misadventures of Mswati in Swaziland Without the King Director - Michael Skolnik Run Time - 84 Minutes Language - English and siSwati Fo...
A Haunted House 2
A Haunted House 2 Kam Williams haunted-house2-movie-review.jpg Film Review A Haunted House 2 In Theaters: Apr 18, 2014 Wide Running time: 87 minutes Rated R for violence, graphic sexuality, front...
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete Kam Williams mister-and-pete-the-kids.jpg Film Review Abandoned Kids Fend for Themselves in Gritty, NYC Saga The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete Av...
Traffic
Traffic Marvin X movietraffic.jpg Film Review There are many classic films on drugs and addiction, Traffic is now one of them. — Marvin X Traffic Click to order via Amazon Dir...
Daughters of Men
Daughters of Men Kam Williams Book Review ’Good black fathers are far more plentiful than either the media or warped social science would have us believe’ The moral beau...
I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to "The Blind Side" and Beyond
I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to "The Blind Side" and Beyond Kam Williams Book Review "I didn’t write this book just to revisit The Blind Side… I want to help sepa...
Bass Clef Bliss
Bass Clef Bliss Kam Williams bass-clef-bliss-movie-poster.jpg Film Review African-American Mother and Son’s Adjustment to Autism Chronicled in Inspirational Film Bass Clef Bliss In Theaters:...
Lord, Save Us from Your Followers
Lord, Save Us from Your Followers Kam Williams images/img64.jpg Film Review Faith-Based Documentary Questions Whether Christianity Has Lost Its Way Lord, Save Us from Your Followers Rated...
Top Five
Top Five Kam Williams Top-Five-Movie-Poster.jpg Film Review Top Five In Theaters: Dec 12, 2014 Wide R (for strong sexual content, nudity, crude humor, language throughout and some drug use) Run...
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 ...
Endgame
Endgame Kam Williams endgam10.jpg Film Review South African Docudrama Chronicles Demise of Apartheid Endgame Rated PG-13 for violence, profanity and disturbing images. In En...
Iron Lady
Iron Lady Kam Williams theironlady_movieposter.jpg Film Review Streep Delivers Oscar-Quality Performance Impersonating Brit PM The Iron Lady Rated PG-13 for violent images and brief nudity. R...
The Gem Connection
The Gem Connection Robert Fleming Book Review This is the usual jewel heist, complicated by a ruthless murder. These are the facts: Wealthy jeweler Clinton Windell, a man who is used to getting his o...