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The Mermaid Princesses
The Mermaid Princesses Judy Allen Dodson Book Review Meet these three charming princess sisters, Anaya, Shante, and Kianna. They invite us into their underwater world with their bright and bold perso...
Dear Star Baby
Dear Star Baby Judy Allen Dodson Book Review Dear Star Baby by Malcolm Newsome is a heartwarming, sensitive, and beautifully written picture book that addresses the delicate subject of grief and loss...
Flipflopi
Flipflopi Judy Allen Dodson Book Review Have you ever wondered where all the trash in the ocean goes? Or, how plastics in the ocean are cleaned up and recycled? Well, this is the book for you. Fli...
Looking for Happy
Looking for Happy Judy Allen Dodson Book Review “Some days, Happy is Hard to Find” as we set out on a quest in this heartfelt and hopeful picture book, Looking For Happy, which follows a ...
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...
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...
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...
Blacktrospective 2005
Blacktrospective 2005 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/movies69.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2005 A Look Back at the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema by Kam Williams 2004 m...
The Known World
The Known World Thumper Book Review As is becoming an unbreakable and pleasurable yearly excursion, I attended the 2003 Book Expo America (BEA) in Los Angeles. I love the BEA. The convention is all...
Lackawanna Blues
Lackawanna Blues Brian Egeston lackaw3.jpg Film Review How Matriarchs Have Made Us A Film Review of Lackawanna Blues. Lackawanna Blues (2005) (TV) Directed by George C. Wolfe Written by Ruben Santi...
American Gun (2005) - Film Review
American Gun (2005) - Film Review Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/movies36.jpg Film Review Forest Whitaker Tops Ensemble Cast in ’Crash’-Style Melodrama American Gun Excellent (4 star...
Just Too Good to Be True
Just Too Good to Be True Thumper Book Review I never thought the moon would rise or the sun would set on the day that I would be writing a review on any E. Lynn Harris book. I use to be a fan of ...
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...
Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies
Things I Should Have Told My Daughter: Lies Kam Williams Book Review “In addition to being one of the most popular living playwrights in America, Pearl Cleage is a best-selling author with an...
Oh God!
Oh God! Paige Turner Book Review Sexuality is an extremely powerful force and a very real and large component of everyone’s existence. Yet black churches, like most religions through the ages, ...
Speaking of Summer
Speaking of Summer Brenda M. Greene Book Review Mental illness in fiction provides a lens and a relatively safe space by which readers can examine its complexity and impact on the lives of the indivi...
Southland
Southland Thumper Book Review In the beginning of my throes into books that I missed the first time around and cleaning out my library, one of my discoveries was the second novel by Nina ...
The Lottery
The Lottery Kam Williams images/51T6WQyz4yL._SL500_AA300_.jpg Film Review DVD Chronicles Competition for Admission to Harlem Charter School The Lottery Click to order via Amazon ...
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks Kam Williams Book Review “Described by the New York Times as ‘the accidental matriarch of the civil rights movement,’ the Rosa Parks who surf...
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...
Black Cops Against Brutality
Black Cops Against Brutality Kam Williams Book Review ’Police brutality reminds me of the darkness in history when the master whipped the slaves just because he could’ There can be no mo...
Jokes My Father Never Taught Me
Jokes My Father Never Taught Me Kam Williams Book Review "It was Thanksgiving. Dad had a lot of friends and family there, including’ a couple of girls stashed in the bedroom’ Fin...
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 ...
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...
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Kam Williams harry_16.jpg Film Review Harry Finds Himself Ostracized During His Fifth Year at Hogwarts Harry Potter and the Order of the ...
Blacktrospective 2006
Blacktrospective 2006 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/akeela46sm.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2006 ’ Annual Look Back at the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema by Kam Williams How d...
Push Has Come to Shove: Getting Our Kids the Education They Deserve (Even If It Means Picking a Figh
Push Has Come to Shove: Getting Our Kids the Education They Deserve (Even If It Means Picking a Figh Kam Williams Book Review "I’m often referred to as a ‘tough love’ principal&hell...
The Vixen Diaries
The Vixen Diaries Kam Williams Book Review "From the night we met in April 2005, I knew he was the one for me and that I would love him all the remaining days of my life. Our relationshi...
Trouble the Water
Trouble the Water Kam Williams troubl1.jpg Film Review Shocking Katrina Documentary Created from Real-Time, Home Movies Shot by Storm Victim Trouble the Water Unrated Running time: 96 minute...
The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises Kam Williams dark-night-rises-banner.jpg Film Review Batman Emerges from Exile to Battle Terrorist in Trilogy Finale The Dark Knight Rises In Theaters: Jul 20, 2012 Wide ...
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...
Are We Done Yet?
Are We Done Yet? Kam Williams are_we3.jpg Film Review Slapstick Sequel Actually an Improvement on the Original Formula Are We Done Yet? Rated PG for sexual innuendo and mild epithets. Ru...
Get Rich or Die Tryin’
Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Kam Williams get_ri2.jpg Film Review 50 Cent Dies for Our Sins in Disappointing Screen Debut Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Rated R: for full frontal male nudity, topless fe...
Shayla Sweet and Her Magical Pen
Shayla Sweet and Her Magical Pen Denolyn Carroll Book Review “…And a little child shall lead them…” (Isaiah 11:6 NKJV). While spending summer break at her grandmother Nani&...
Black Hands White House: Slave Labor and the Making of America
Black Hands White House: Slave Labor and the Making of America Robert Fleming Book Review Renee K. Harrison, an associate professor of African American and US religious history at Howard University, ...
My Hair Can
My Hair Can Shaundale Rénā Book Review Profoundly inspiring, My Hair Can is a picture book full of wit and charm. Each page is vibrant and affirms joy and positivity for little Black boys and girls a...
Goony Goo-Goo and Ga-Ga Too!
Goony Goo-Goo and Ga-Ga Too! Kelly Starling Lyons Book Review Drawing inspiration from her own children, author Kia Morgan Smith has written a fun picture book about the trials and triumphs of ...
Thank You, Omu!
Thank You, Omu! Neoma Nwasike Book Review How important is community to you? Is it at the epicenter of your heart, and do the people who make up your unique and wonderful community, allow you to thri...
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...
Oil and Water and Other Things That don’t Mix
Oil and Water and Other Things That don’t Mix Robert Fleming Book Review If you take a trip to the once-scenic Gulf Coast, you will see there is more to be done in the restoration and rejuvenation...
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...
Hair Power - Skin Revolution: A Collection of Poems and Personal Essays by Black and Mixed-Race Wome
Hair Power - Skin Revolution: A Collection of Poems and Personal Essays by Black and Mixed-Race Wome Kam Williams Book Review "I can honestly say I have a passion for language… I enjoy writi...
The New Brownies’ Book
The New Brownies’ Book Clarence V. Reynolds Book Review In the November 1910 premier issue of The Crisis, the official journal of the NAACP, historian, scholar, civil rights activist, sociologist, an...
Lion’s Blood
Lion’s Blood Thumper Book Review Steven Barnes, has emerged with one of the best books of 2002, a novel that explores a "what if" question; What if the United States of America had a past w...
And On The Eighth Day She Rested
And On The Eighth Day She Rested Thumper Book Review Lately, I have been in one of my lazy reading moods. I wanted a book that would go easy on my ol’ noggin. As you all know, my normal readi...
Riot and Remembrance
Riot and Remembrance Thumper Book Review Although some say that times and attitudes are changing, I’m rather skeptical. Only now am I aware of events, individuals that I should have been introd...
Perfect Combination: Seven Key Ingredients To Happily Living & Loving Together
Perfect Combination: Seven Key Ingredients To Happily Living & Loving Together Kam Williams Book Review “Jamillah and David Lamb are the dynamic couple behind the successful Off-Broadway play...
God’s Will and Other Lies: Stories
God’s Will and Other Lies: Stories Camille-Yvette Welsch Book Review “[T]here was so much hurt and pain and fear and sorrow … that I needed more than one kind of song to sing,” says...
If My Hair Had a Voice
If My Hair Had a Voice Lisa Y? Wilson Book Review When another comb loses the battle with Kimya’s natural coils, feeling shame she apologizes and asks, “Can’t we just straighten it?...
White Boy/Black Girl
White Boy/Black Girl Eryka Parker Book Review The recently published White Boy/Black Girl: What Our Differences Can Teach Us, One Honest Conversation at a Time by Adaeze and Chad Brinkman is a though...
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 ...
The Ecstatic
The Ecstatic Thumper Book Review In a landmark volume on cultural stereotypes, Yuval Taylor (Faking It) and Jake Austen, the editor of Roctober Magazine, detail the history of the significance of...
Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop
Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop Robert Fleming Book Review In a landmark volume on cultural stereotypes, Yuval Taylor (Faking It) and Jake Austen, the editor of Roctober M...
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...
Turn the Page and You Don’t Stop: Sharing Successful Chapters in Our Lives with Youth
Turn the Page and You Don’t Stop: Sharing Successful Chapters in Our Lives with Youth Kam Williams Book Review “Why read? Reading isn’t just for sissies, or nerds or geeks. Research...
Cowards and Angels
Cowards and Angels Robert Fleming Book Review In this slender novel, Cowards and Angels, Aileen Muhammad tries to do an almost impossible task in African American literature, to recreate a modern...
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...
Social Crisis and Social Demoralization
Social Crisis and Social Demoralization Kam Williams Book Review ’American race relations are closely tied up with social status. Race relations’ reflect the economic and social force...
My Sisters’ Voices
My Sisters’ Voices Linda Watkins Book Review "And special thanks go to all those individuals who follow me in stores, call me derogatory and offensive names, and keep me from doing and achieving...
Love Unlimited
Love Unlimited Paige Turner Book Review The man is known by many names: The Maestro; The Icon of Love; The First, Last and Everything! In his new autobiography, recording legend Barry White lives up ...
Colored Sugar Water
Colored Sugar Water Thumper Book Review Another moment of truth, I didn't care for Venise Berry’s new novel of the super-natural meets Jesus, Colored Sugar Water, at all. Although Colored S...
Relationships
Relationships Tiffany M. Davis Book Review Leonard Jenkins II’s first book, Relationships (Volume I): Lessons Before Dying, is a tale of love (finding it, losing it, keeping it) set against an ...
No More Sheets
No More Sheets Linda Dominique Grosvenor Book Review No More Sheets by Juanita Bynum is the lay it on the line/tell it like it is approach to sex in the 90’s. In this book Juanita exposes hers...
Between the World and Me
Between the World and Me Kam Williams Book Review “In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about american history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for h...
Watch Us Rise
Watch Us Rise Vanessa Vanzie Book Review Oh, to go back in time when life was simpler and filled with of fun, friends and family. Reminiscing on all the highs of your first crush and lows of your fir...
The Origin of Others
The Origin of Others Tony Lindsay Book Review The title of Toni Morrison’s new book, The Source of Self-Regard, propels one to ponder, and the extended thought is due to the dual functions of t...
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...
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 Unsettled
The Unsettled Donna Hill Book Review Similar in the bold and empathetic style of her debut novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, author Ayana Mathis’s newest tome, The Unsettled, weaves an intric...
Jesus and the Abolitionists
Jesus and the Abolitionists Shaundale Rénā Book Review At first glance, I was drawn to Jesus and the Abolitionists: How Anarchist Christianity Empowers the People because of its eye-catching cover. I...
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...
A Day Late and a Dollar Short
A Day Late and a Dollar Short Paige Turner Book Review The publishing world and the legions of Terry McMillan fans can now officially exhale. McMillan’s long awaited "serious" nov...
Perfect Timing
Perfect Timing Tiffany M. Davis Book Review Brenda Jackson’s second full-length fiction work Perfect Timing, is a novel about losing, finding, and maintaining friendship and love. Mrs. Jackson ...
Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an an American Cuisine
Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an an American Cuisine Kam Williams Book Review From frontier cabins to plantation houses to the White House, from steamboat galleys and Pullman kitchens to pub...
That Mean Old Yesterday: A Memoir
That Mean Old Yesterday: A Memoir Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Paint a picture of a little brown girl who walks in fear and sadness. Her dark story is told in Stacey Patton’s memoir, Tha...
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 ...
The Nat Turner Insurrection Trials
The Nat Turner Insurrection Trials Emanuel Carpenter Book Review Was Nat Turner a hero or a savage? After reading the new book from legal scholar Walter L. Gordon III, you may change your mind abou...
Chasing The 400
Chasing The 400 Idrissa Uqdah Book Review The African American Caste System When you think about the caste system you think of the poor in countries like India where there is a division of society ...
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...
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...
A Mighty Love
A Mighty Love Linda Watkins Book Review Relationship novels are for escapism. The content should tantalize the reader’ evoke deep emotion and keep one’s attention. Unfortunately, A Might...
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 ...
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...
Brown Glass Window
Brown Glass Window Thumper Book Review I’ve been waiting a long time for this and it is a privilege and a pleasure to state that Devorah Major’s new novel Brown Glass Window is out ...
A Thirst For Rain
A Thirst For Rain Tiffany M. Davis Book Review A Thirst For Rain is a multigenerational novel set in Trinidad. It is a tale about demons both real and perceived, and how deceptively simple it is to o...
Charcoal Joe
Charcoal Joe Tony Lindsay Book Review What was refreshingly abundant in Walter Mosley’s Charcoal Joe was Black male characters. From strong Black men to Black men seeking guidance, the reader w...
Sweet Sorrel Stand
Sweet Sorrel Stand Pamela Shivdyal Book Review Teaching kids about money from an early age can help them learn healthy financial habits that will last a lifetime. Yolanda T. Marshall, shares her Cari...
Bamboozled by Jesus
Bamboozled by Jesus Carol Taylor Book Review Part self-help, part comedic memoir, part inspirational and motivational how-to, Yvonne Orji’s Bamboozled by Jesus is heartfelt and relatable advice...
The Third Verse
The Third Verse Robert Fleming Book Review America is a glorious idea founded on democracy and equality for all. When Jerry Canada, a former trial lawyer and New Yorker, chooses one of the most famou...
Burial Ground
Burial Ground Eryka Parker Book Review I recently spent time diving into the pages of Burial Ground, a collection of poetry by Glenda R. Taylor. The ethereal cover and enticing description sucked me ...
Dancing the Afrofuture: Hula, Hip-Hop, and the Dunham Legacy
Dancing the Afrofuture: Hula, Hip-Hop, and the Dunham Legacy Karen Brown Book Review I had just recently attended the 2024 International Conference and Festival of Blacks in Dance in Memphis, Tenness...
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...
When It All Falls Down
When It All Falls Down Ahmad Wright Book Review Remember when Colin Kaepernick knelt during the national anthem in 2016? When HBO’s Insecure, created and produced by Issa Rae in 2016, was must-...
Brown Boys Rule
Brown Boys Rule Clarence V. Reynolds Book Review While listening to a recent meditation session on the app Happier—one of my favorites—I was reminded of the importance of embracing wo...
The Wounds Are the Witness
The Wounds Are the Witness Denolyn Carroll Book Review The Wounds Are the Witness speaks to the often disregarded or denied cycles of pain and trauma among marginalized and disenfranchised people, wh...
The Love Habit
The Love Habit Eryka Parker Book Review In The Love Habit: Daily Self-Care Practices for a Happier Life & Healthier Relationships, author and relationship expert Rainie Howard provides a guide to tra...
More Like Wrestling: A Novel
More Like Wrestling: A Novel Thumper Book Review More Like Wrestling, the debut novel by Danyel Smith, is centered on the close relationship between two sisters. This was a vexing book…emo...
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...
David and Goliath: Underdogs
David and Goliath: Underdogs Kam Williams Book Review “Three thousand years ago on a battlefield in ancient Palestine, a shepherd boy felled a mighty warrior with nothing more than a stone an...