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The Story of Lovers Rock
The Story of Lovers Rock Kam Williams loversrock1.jpg Film Review Nostalgic Documentary Celebrates Influential Black Brit Music Genre The Story of Lovers Rock [2011] Unrated Running t...
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...
The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n’ Roll
The Chitlin’ Circuit and the Road to Rock 'n’ Roll Robert Fleming Book Review It’s a shame that nothing substantial has been written about that sacred Black entertainment network of the ...
Safe from the Neighbors by Steve Yarbrough
Safe from the Neighbors by Steve Yarbrough Thumper Book Review Reviewed by Thumper I came across Steve Yarbrough’s latest novel, Safe from the Neighbors, when I started my annual search on t...
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...
Sucka 4 Luv
Sucka 4 Luv Kam Williams sucka-4-luv.jpg Film Review Sucka 4 Luv (2014) Click to Buy or Rent This Film Unrated Running time: 84 minutes Distributor: Pierre Films Romance Film Review...
Good Hair
Good Hair Kam Williams images/img1C.jpg Film Review Chris Rock’s Lighthearted Look at Sisters’ ‘Dos Arrives on DVD Good Hair Click to order from Amazon Rated PG-1...
Mixed: My Life in Black and White
Mixed: My Life in Black and White Kam Williams Book Review ’Soon, two black security guards were buzzed through the doors toward me. My mouth stayed on full blast. ’Oh, sure, y’...
American Gangster
American Gangster Kam Williams washin61.jpg Film Review Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe Square-Off in Harlem Heroin-Trade Saga American Gangster (2007) Click to o...
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 ...
Harlem Godfather
Harlem Godfather Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Bumpy’s Widow Tells Her Story Harlem Godfather: The Rap on my Husband, Ellsworth ’Bumpy’ Johnson has been a long time coming on the h...
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...
Chocolate Sangria
Chocolate Sangria Thumper Book Review Reviewed by Thumper for AALBC.com I read Tracy Price-Thompson’s first book, Black Coffee, last year. I loved it and wrote a glowing review for it. Befor...
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...
Remembering Roots: How an American Classic Transformed the World
Remembering Roots: How an American Classic Transformed the World Robert Fleming Book Review Unfortunately, there were efforts to demean the late Alex Haley’s Roots: The Saga of an American Family whe...
The Sons of Shea
The Sons of Shea Robert Fleming Book Review In Dame DaVohn’s novel of self-determination and redemption, The Sons of Shea, the characters and plot seem ripped from the headlines. The ...
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 ...
Rock the Boat: How to Use Conflict to Heal and Deepen Your Relationship
Rock the Boat: How to Use Conflict to Heal and Deepen Your Relationship Kam Williams Book Review “This book is about the reality of relationships. It offers no comforting fantasies, false pro...
Think Like a Man Too
Think Like a Man Too Kam Williams think-like-a-man-too.jpg Film Review Think Like a Man Too In Theaters: Jun 20, 2014 Wide Rated PG-13 for profanity, drug use, crude humor, sexual references and ...
The Cabin in the Woods
The Cabin in the Woods Kam Williams cabininthewoods.jpg Film Review College Kids Hunted at Haunted House in Harrowing Horror Flick The Cabin in the Woods [2012] In Theaters: Apr 13, 2012 Wide Rated...
Delta Farce
Delta Farce Kam Williams delta_3.jpg Film Review Nothing Works in Ill-Conceived Army Comedy Delta Farce MPAA:Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor. Runtime: 90 min Release Date:11 May 2007 (USA) ...
Passing by Samaria
Passing by Samaria Paige Turner Book Review In the early days of the church, when doing the Lord’s work, Christians tried to pass by the town of Samaria, tried to evade visiting this unpleasan...
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...
Marvel’s Black Panther
Marvel’s Black Panther Brenda M. Greene Book Review The 2016 San Diego Comic-Con was a memorable moment for independent researcher and writer Todd Steven Burroughs. Burroughs begins Marvel’s Bl...
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...
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...
Why We Laugh
Why We Laugh Kam Williams images/whywelaugh.jpg Film Review Reverential Documentary Pays Homage to Black Pioneers of Comedy Why We Laugh Click to order via Amazon Unrated Running time:...
The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi by Chinedu Achebe
The Miseducation of Obi Ifeanyi by Chinedu Achebe Robert Fleming Book Review Some of the world’s finest fiction has been written by Nigerians. Let’s look at the writers from that area in...
Boss of Black Brooklyn, The Life and Times of Bertram Baker
Boss of Black Brooklyn, The Life and Times of Bertram Baker Brenda M. Greene Book Review Bertram Baker was a man of his times… Like Du Bois, Bertram believed in agitating to achieve political...
Love In A Carry-On Bag
Love In A Carry-On Bag Idrissa Uqdah Book Review As Wild As The Wind Modern technology has made a long-distance love affair more of a reality. The characters in this novel took the concept and made...
Cooked
Cooked Kam Williams Book Review ’My father left when I was one or two years old. It was just my mother, my sister, Cali Slim, and me living in South Central. I only saw my dad on holidays ...
Money: What Financial "Experts" Will Never Tell You
Money: What Financial "Experts" Will Never Tell You Shannon Simpson Book Review When I moved to Washington, D.C. in 2007, I was in for a rude awakening. I looked at my income compared to...
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...
Peeples
Peeples Kam Williams peeples-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Peeples (2013) In Theaters: May 10, 2013 Wide Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexuality and drug use) Running time: 95 minutes Comedy Dire...
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...
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...
Sasha’s Way
Sasha’s Way Mercedes Allen Book Review Until I watched Pulp Fiction, the movie, I was not very knowledgeable about Pulp Fiction, the genre of literature. My observation was that it’s n...
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...
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...
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 ...
Obsessed
Obsessed Kam Williams obsess16.jpg Film Review Temp Stalks Happily-Married Boss in Harrowing Psychological Thriller Obsessed Rated PG-13 for sexuality, violence, suggest...
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...
Daddy’s Little Girls
Daddy’s Little Girls Kam Williams daddy’15.jpg Film Review Frigid Attorney Melts for Amorous Auto Mechanic in Charming, if Predictable, Romantic Comedy Daddy’s Little Girls Film Re...
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...
Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story
Ain’t But a Few of Us: Black Music Writers Tell Their Story Robert Fleming Book Review Jazz is dead! If you believe that mess, you must not listen to radio or read any of the mainstream media. Howeve...
Divas on Screen: Black Women in American Film
Divas on Screen: Black Women in American Film Kam Williams Book Review I admit that the things that form my initial impressions of a book are somewhat shallow. I love a good book cover, whether it...
After Hours
After Hours Thumper Book Review Honestly (as if there’s any other way I can come), I wasn’t going to read After Hours: A Collection of Erotic Writing by Black Men, the latest anthology ...
Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern
Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern Kam Williams Book Review “From his humble beginnings in Sumter, South Carolina to his prominence on the Washington, D.C. political scene as the third...
Mister and Lady Day Billie Holiday and the Dog Who Loved Her
Mister and Lady Day Billie Holiday and the Dog Who Loved Her Kam Williams Book Review “The great jazz singer Billie Holiday, known as Lady Day, had fame, style, a distinctive singing voice&md...
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...
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...
Different and the Same
Different and the Same AALBC Staff Writer Book Review In an age where there is a proliferation of emotional and physical Black trauma, that is videotaped and viewed widely online, we should strive to...
Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne
Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne Kam Williams Book Review “This groundbreaking biography… illuminates the life and accomplishments of pioneering journalist Ethel Lois Payne, while also...
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...
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...
A Memory of Fictions (or) Just Tiddy-Boom
A Memory of Fictions (or) Just Tiddy-Boom Robert Fleming Book Review So many books written by gay, Black men do not explore the inner emotional terrain of their character. That is why this vast, dram...
Moses and the Monster and Miss Anne
Moses and the Monster and Miss Anne Thumper Book Review I admit that the things that form my initial impressions of a book are somewhat shallow. I love a good book cover, whether it is pictures or ...
Sincerely Speaking Spiritually
Sincerely Speaking Spiritually Robert Fleming Book Review Like many successful self-help books, Sincerely Speaking Spiritually, celebrates verses of faith and inspiration in the Holy Word. Its author...
Creating Black Americans
Creating Black Americans Kam Williams Book Review ’Over the course of more than two centuries, black American artists have represented their history- scrupulously, meaningfully, and brilliantl...
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...
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; ...
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...
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 (...
It’s A Thin Line
It’s A Thin Line Thumper Book Review It’s A Thin Line may be the title to Kimberla Lawson Roby’s latest novel, but it also describes the condition of my last nerve that this book jumped ...
The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America
The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America Kam Williams Book Review “How is it that a Jewish prophet from the Roman era ran so explosively into the American obsession...
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...
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...
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...
Living Water
Living Water Paige Turner Book Review The Woman at the Well is a well-known bible story that almost begs for deeper examination. Her conversation with Jesus, and His promise of "living wa...
Blend In or Fade Out: A Memoir
Blend In or Fade Out: A Memoir Robert Fleming Book Review The main theme of identity takes center stage in Colnese M. Herndon’s emotional riveting memoir, Blend In Or Fade Out, as the writer in...
A2: A Scholarly Poetical Science Discourse
A2: A Scholarly Poetical Science Discourse Ahmad Wright Book Review Afrocentric themes find themselves cast through an academic lens of creativity, analysis, and cultural criticism in this revised, s...
The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give Kam Williams images/the-hate-you-give-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Amandla Stenberg Stars in Adaptation of Searing, Inner City Saga Excellent ★★★★ (out...
Womanish Theology
Womanish Theology Eryka Parker Book Review “How differently would Black girls see the world or themselves had they [been] represented and treated as imago Dei [created in the image and likeness...
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain
Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain Kam Williams kevin-hart-let-me-explain.jpg Film Review Hottest Stand-Up Comic Wows Sold-Out Garden in Concert Tour Finale Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain In Theaters: Jul 3, 20...
Uncle Tom: A Oral History of the American Black Conservative
Uncle Tom: A Oral History of the American Black Conservative Troy Johnson https://aalbc.com/reviews/images/Uncle-tom-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Rating: NR Genre: Documentary Directed By: Just...
What Black Men Think
What Black Men Think Kam Williams what_b40.jpg Film Review Thought-Provoking Documentary Examines "What Black Men Think" What Black Men Think Click to order via Amazon...
The Black Agenda
The Black Agenda Robert Fleming Book Review Who was Glen Ford? If you ask that question of some of the best critical thinkers in the Black community, they would say Ford was one of the most capabl...
Black Power, Black Lawyer: My Audacious Quest for Justice
Black Power, Black Lawyer: My Audacious Quest for Justice Carol Taylor Book Review Much more than a memoir, Black Power, Black Lawyer traces not only Nkechi Taifa’s personal life, and her decad...
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...
Dear Revolutionaries: A Field Guide for a World beyond the Church
Dear Revolutionaries: A Field Guide for a World beyond the Church Robert Fleming Book Review In this modern age of random death and mayhem, there are powerful voices shouting for the church to retake...
Chasing Me to My Grave
Chasing Me to My Grave Robert Fleming Book Review This enthralling memoir is one of the most heralded books about the life, imagination, and cultural influences of an African American man who goes to...
Black Boys, I See You
Black Boys, I See You Kirkus Book Review STARRED REVIEW Written from a place of love and deeply attuned to the emotional needs of Black boys. A kid lit giant extends a mighty message of love. ...
Take Back Your Family
Take Back Your Family Kam Williams Book Review ’If this book can serve any purpose in your life, hopefully it will be as a reminder that there’s truly nothing out there ...
Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope
Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope Kam Williams Book Review ’I will never forget the unabashed affection the president-elect displayed [Election Night] as, with the whole worl...
Outliers
Outliers Kam Williams Book Review ’This is a book about outliers, men and women who do things that are out of the ordinary. I’m going to introduce you to one kind of out...
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...
Sittin’ In The Front Pew
Sittin’ In The Front Pew Thumper Book Review Sittin’ In The Front Pew is the latest novel by Parry "EbonySatin" Brown. This tale showcases the reactions a family to the death of its ...
Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix
Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix Kam Williams Book Review "To really know about a person, you have to do things that they did, and see the things that they saw. So I li...
Punta Soul
Punta Soul Kam Williams punta_28.jpg Film Review PARANDA MEDIA 80 Vaughn Avenue, New Rochelle, NY 10801 Contact: Margery Laing 914-393-3037 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Februa...
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie
Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie Kam Williams evocateur.jpg Film Review Biopic Revisits Rise and Fall of Talk Show Flash in the Pan Évocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. M...
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...
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...
Say It Loud! Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African-American Identity
Say It Loud! Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African-American Identity Kam Williams Book Review "This is the second anthology of great speeches by African-Americans meant for the eye and ea...
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...
Bill Clinton and Black America
Bill Clinton and Black America Walter Benefield Book Review Bill Clinton came to the presidency of the United States inheriting a less than admirable race relations history from his predecessors. Wha...
Freedom’s Daughters
Freedom’s Daughters Paige Turner Book Review “Women hold up half the sky” is one of Chinese revolutionary Mao Tse Dung’s most often quoted statements. However readers of Freedom&rsq...
There Are Dinosaurs in the Library!
There Are Dinosaurs in the Library! Judy Allen Dodson Book Review Let’s take trip to the library with Mrs. Baker and her third-grade class. As we all know the library is a space filled with boo...
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...
In Search of Nella Larsen
In Search of Nella Larsen Thumper Book Review I’m back! It’s good to be back, although I have to tell you that it took me a minute to find groove, before I was able to fall int...