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Black Food
Black Food Robert Fleming Book Review Black food, aka Soul food, is celebrated all over the world for its delicious ingredients, tangy flavors, homegrown recipes, and traditional richness. This book,...
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 ...
Getting Up and Getting On
Getting Up and Getting On Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Time Can Help Heal Wounds Second time novelist MBridges is back with another Betty Jean title; Getting Up and Getting On. Th...
Blacktrospective 2008 - Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema
Blacktrospective 2008 - Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/the_se11.jpg Film Review Kam's Annual Assessment of the Best (and...
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 ...
Devil‘s Wake
Devil‘s Wake Emanuel Carpenter Book Review Something is turning the world into zombies. Perhaps it’s a virus or maybe even the latest flu vaccine. Whatever the cause, prevention is simple. Do...
Getting To The Good Part
Getting To The Good Part Thumper Book Review Hello. It only took me a few hours to read this bad boy. I guess I can qualify it as one of those books that can make you lose sleep. So, if some words ...
Madea’s Big Happy Family
Madea’s Big Happy Family Kam Williams images/73551_gal.jpg Film Review Tyler Perry Back in Drag for More Tomfoolery as Madea Madea’s Big Happy Family [2011] Rated PG-13 for profanity, m...
W. (2008)
W. (2008) Kam Williams w.htm13.jpg Film Review Oliver Stone Chronicles Bush’s Checkered Career with Damning Bio-Pic W. Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexual references, smoking, alc...
Brooklyn’s Finest
Brooklyn’s Finest Kam Williams images/img23.jpg Film Review Flawed NYPD Officers Featured as "Brooklyn’s Finest" Brooklyn's Finest Rated R for nudity, graphic sexuality, pe...
Review of A Raisin in the Sun DVD (2008)
Review of A Raisin in the Sun DVD (2008) Kam Williams a_rais29.jpg Film Review Diddy Stars in Adaptation of Classic Play Available on DVD A Raisin in the Sun Click to order vi...
Why Black People Can’t Lose Weight
Why Black People Can’t Lose Weight Kam Williams Book Review ’Weight loss. Why is it such a vicious circle? Why does it seem unattainable for us as a community, despite the hundreds of diet...
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...
Getting Our Breath Back
Getting Our Breath Back Linda Watkins Book Review Getting Our Breath Back, the debut novel, by author Shawne Johnson, is not your ordinary read. Passionate words float with a hypnotic, poetic rhythm ...
19 Years Old & 19 Men Later: A Memoir
19 Years Old & 19 Men Later: A Memoir Kam Williams Book Review “I wrote this book as a guide for young women so that they won’t make the same mistakes I’ve made… I really...
Blackout
Blackout Kam Williams jeffre35.jpg Film Review Straight-to-DVD Drama Revisits the Great Blackout of 2003 Blackout (2007) DVD Click to order via Amazon Audienc...
Snapshot
Snapshot Tony Lindsay Book Review In Snapshot, Camryn King demonstrates the power of a page turning thriller. Through King’s beautifully descriptive screens, narrative pace, believable dialog, ...
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth
Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth Kam Williams Book Review “This book is an attempt to reclaim, as much as possible, the Jesus of history, the Jesus of Christianity… whos...
What Next
What Next Paige Turner Book Review During these times of turmoil between the United States and Iraq the creative community is using the full extent of its powers to offer solutions. Walter Mosley, ...
The Girl Is in Trouble
The Girl Is in Trouble Kam Williams the-girl-is-in-trouble.jpg Film Review The Girl Is in Trouble In Theaters: Apr 3, 2015 LimitedOn DVD: May 11, 2015Runtime: 1 hr. 34 min.Rating: UnratedGenre: Myst...
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 ...
Next Day Air
Next Day Air Kam Williams next_d73.jpg Film Review Laughs Aplenty in Hilarious Homage to Blaxploitation Genre Next Day Air Rated R for violence, drug use, pervasive profanity and brief ...
Meet Dave (2008)
Meet Dave (2008) Kam Williams meet_d27.jpg Film Review Eddie Murphy Misfires as Brother from Another Planet Meet Dave Rated PG for action, suggestive...
Bourbon Street
Bourbon Street Thumper Book Review It has been a long while since I read a book as complex and gorgeous as Bourbon Street written by Leonce Gaiter. A novel which explores the spectrum of inner na...
Neglected but Undefeated: The Life Of A Boy Who Never Knew A Mother’s Love
Neglected but Undefeated: The Life Of A Boy Who Never Knew A Mother’s Love Carol Taylor Book Review Born in 1987, Jonathan Anthony Burkett has lived a young life that reads like fiction: vicious be...
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...
Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey
Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey Troy Johnson Book Review Hip-Hop Culture’s first OFFICIAL luxury, large format coffee table book will inspire, entertain and educate all generations of readers wit...
Forever
Forever RAWSISTAZ Book Review The title of McCann’s new book, Forever, made me wonder what really lasts forever, does life, love or even death? And why do we exert so much energy trying to make...
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...
Black in America
Black in America Kam Williams black_11.jpg Film Review Over-Hyped CNN Special Fails to Measure-Up to the Buzz Black in America Click to order via Am...
Gonna Lay Down My Burdens
Gonna Lay Down My Burdens Thumper Book Review On a rainy night, Desiree Sheffield calls Carmen Taylor (on the eve of Carmen’s wedding to Burl,) to come get her after another violent fight with...
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...
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...
Let the Lion Eat Straw
Let the Lion Eat Straw Thumper Book Review One of the residuals affect I had hoped would happen when African American literature was proven marketable was the rediscovery of previously pub...
Life: Four Quarters Plus Overtime
Life: Four Quarters Plus Overtime Robert Fleming Book Review Life: Four Quarters Plus Overtime, is truly wisdom from the ages. In this self-help guide. Floyd Griffin Jr., a man of many notable experi...
Killing the Messenger: A Story of Radical Faith
Killing the Messenger: A Story of Radical Faith Kam Williams Book Review "When a 19 year-old member of a Black Muslim cult assassinated Chauncey Bailey in 2007—the most shocking killing...
Grace After Midnight: A Memoir
Grace After Midnight: A Memoir Troy Johnson Book Review This Review Appears in the Fall 2007 Issue of Harlem World Magazine Felicia “Snoop” Pearson, of...
The Queen of Harlem
The Queen of Harlem Brian Egeston Book Review He has managed to fool us all! Because his previous work gave the impression that his was the authentic voice of the next generation of Black male southe...
It All Begins with ‘I’: The “New Rules” of Thinking and the Simple Secrets t
It All Begins with ‘I’: The “New Rules” of Thinking and the Simple Secrets t Kam Williams Book Review “What is your deepest desire? Probably the same thing most others really want: a happy an...
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...
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&...
Cash Crop
Cash Crop Kam Williams images/cashcropmovie.jpg Film Review Decriminalization Documentary Extols Virtues of Legalizing Marijuana Cash Crop Unrated Running time: 84 Minutes Distributor: Sier...
Circus
Circus Kam Williams circus10.jpg Film Review Russian Retrospective Features 1936 Film Indicting American Racism Circus (Tsirk) Unrated In Russian and English with subtitles. ...
Motion Sickness
Motion Sickness RAWSISTAZ Book Review Terry O’Neal shares her collection of poetry in her first book entitled Motion Sickness. It is a compilation of poems that range in topics including ...
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...
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...
My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past
My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past Kam Williams Book Review “When Jennifer Teege, a German-Nigerian woman, happened to pluck a library book from...
The Next Big Story
The Next Big Story Kam Williams Book Review "I began life as the child of a mixed-race marriage growing up in a white suburb, treated sometimes as a creature of bad circumstance… Bad things h...
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 ...
Black Swan
Black Swan Rondall Brasher Book Review When Poetry Takes Wing Black Swan by Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon was published in 2002. This lapse of time annoys me because I somehow missed this rare "lot...
Palmares
Palmares Robert Fleming Book Review No less than the esteemed late novelist Toni Morrison, the chief editorial gatekeeper of Random House, was stunned by the narrative power of Gayl Jones’ firs...
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...
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...
Thunder Soul
Thunder Soul Kam Williams images/thundersoul.jpg Film Review Reverential Bio-Pic Pays Tribute to Legendary H.S. Bandleader Thunder Soul Rated PG for smoking and mild epithets Running time: ...
God Ain’t Blind
God Ain’t Blind Idrissa Uqdah Book Review God Is Getting Tired And So Am I I think you have to really love the books and the characters in the God Don't Like Ugly series to still be reading th...
Split Indecision
Split Indecision Jayne Cubbage Book Review Before reading Split Indecision by Pierre Bateau, be sure to sit back and fasten your seatbelt because this book is going to take you on a wild ride. Bate...
The Deal
The Deal Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Money, Money, Money, Money…Money! Who wouldn't jump at an offer of five million dollars, free and clear? The main characters in Victoria Christopher...
Nappy Hair
Nappy Hair Troy Johnson Book Review One nap of her hair is the only perfect circle in nature. —from Nappy Hair I recently purchased Nappy Hair and have read it to my daughters. I must say c...
The Apostles
The Apostles Thumper Book Review Y Blak Moore’s second novel, The Apostles, started with bang and finished with the finesse of a water balloon kissing a concrete sidewalk. The novel about gan...
From Dusk To Dawn
From Dusk To Dawn Idrissa Uqdah Book Review The opening chapter of From Dusk To Dawn by first-time novelist Niambi Brown Davis reads like your average romance novel, but this reviewer found ...
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...
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...
The Best Man Holiday
The Best Man Holiday Kam Williams the-best-man-holiday.jpg Film Review Seasonal Sequel Finds Reunited BFFs Romancing and Reminiscing The Best Man Holiday In Theaters: Nov 15, 2013 Wide Rated ...
Getting It Wrong
Getting It Wrong Kam Williams Book Review "The latest twist in the history of stereotyping is that the black middle and upper classes are now the loudest voices. Bill Cosby and other...
By Love Possessed: Stories
By Love Possessed: Stories Emanuel Carpenter Book Review What’s it like to be in love on the island of Jamaica? Is it all about long walks on the beach, listening to Reggae music, and kissi...
Marriage 101
Marriage 101 Kam Williams Book Review ’Most of us have heard what the acronym BIBLE stands for: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. The Bible gives us everything we need ...
Hair Love
Hair Love Neoma Nwasike Book Review When you were a little Black girl, growing up, did you embrace your beauty? Did you love the deep richness of your blackness and the uniqueness of your hair? Do yo...
American Tapestry: The Story of the Black
American Tapestry: The Story of the Black Kam Williams Book Review “On November 4, 2008, Michelle Obama stood before a crowd of thousands of roaring, singing and weeping supporters in Chi...
Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate
Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate Kam Williams Book Review "Is it possible to talk about Muslims and terrorism without being called a bigot? …What happened to me was not about me a...
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...
Michelle Obama: A Life
Michelle Obama: A Life Kam Williams Book Review “Here is the first comprehensive account of the life and times of Michelle Obama, a woman of achievement and purpose—and the most unlik...
Wimbey’s Corner
Wimbey’s Corner Emanuel Carpenter Book Review At first glance, one might think that Wimbey’s Corner is a story about a big and black country bumpkin’ named Wayne Hunter who moves from a...
Trading Dreams at Midnight
Trading Dreams at Midnight Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Mothers and Daughters: A Family of Women For more than twenty years, Neena has been searching for her absent, mentally ill mother, F...
Going Home
Going Home Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Home Is Where The Heart Is Evelyn Palfrey is an author who writes romance novels. The unique thing about her books is that she writes romance for the "...
The Secret Life of Bees
The Secret Life of Bees Kam Williams the_se11.jpg Film Review Carolina Provides Scenic Rural Backdrop for Female Empowerment Flick Set during Civil Rights Era The Secret Life of Bees R...
Q: The Autobio of Quincy Jones
Q: The Autobio of Quincy Jones Paige Turner Book Review The new book, Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones reads almost like a fable or a fairy tale. The young Quincy Jones, with his twinkly eyes, wa...
Powerhouse Radio: Rough Roads, Radiance, and Rebirth
Powerhouse Radio: Rough Roads, Radiance, and Rebirth Ahmad Wright Book Review It is not often that a living person’s résumé reads as a memoir, however, Powerhouse Radio: Rough Roa...
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...
Soul Poems for My Sistas
Soul Poems for My Sistas Felicia Pride Book Review Poetry is one literary form that far too many attempt with the misguided notion that it is easy to write. Between the length or the ability...
Why I Sued the Bible Publishers
Why I Sued the Bible Publishers Robert Fleming Book Review If there was ever a book title that yelled its intentions, this is it. The book’s author, Bradley Fowler, one of the faithful of Presb...
The Icarus Girl
The Icarus Girl Paige Turner Book Review Jessamy Harrison is an eight year-old, Afro-British girl, who writes haiku, reads Shakespeare, and just skipped a grade in school. Jess’ parents...
Adam by Adam
Adam by Adam Thumper Book Review ’Never let anyone keep you contained and never let anyone keep your voice silent.’ -Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. to a young Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. If I were...
Adam by Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
Adam by Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Thumper Book Review ’Never let anyone keep you contained and never let anyone keep your voice silent.’ -Adam Clayton Powell, ...
New Kid
New Kid Tony Lindsay Book Review Jerry Craft’s graphic novel New Kid is a humorous teaching experience for any reader. Be warned, laughing out loud will occur while reading the text. The young ...
How to be an Antiracist
How to be an Antiracist Tony Lindsay Book Review How to be an Antiracist is an instructional text written by historian, professor, and bestselling author Ibram X. Kendi. The teaching text begins by i...
Ain’t Nothing Like Freedom
Ain’t Nothing Like Freedom Kam Williams Book Review “Elected six times to the House from the state of Georgia, Cynthia McKinney cut a trail through Congressional deceit like a hot ember throug...
Not Guilty of Love by Pat Simmons
Not Guilty of Love by Pat Simmons Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Doing It God's Way Christian Author Pat Simmons has written a wonderful sequel to her debut novel, Guilty of Love in her third rel...
The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House
The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House Kam Williams Book Review "On February 10, 2007, Barack Hussein Obama stood before thousands waiting in the cold in front of the Old Stat...
The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Decline of Black Politics
The Price of the Ticket: Barack Obama and the Rise and Decline of Black Politics Kam Williams Book Review “Barack Obama’s triumph in the presidential election of 2008… contains ...
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...
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...
How She Move
How She Move Kam Williams how_sh32.jpg Film Review Promising Prep Student Returns to Ghetto Roots in Inspirational Dance Saga How She Move Click to order via Amazon Theatr...
ASCLEPIUS
ASCLEPIUS Robert Fleming Book Review Someone is killing all of the doctors opposed to the monopoly of the big drug companies. Those committed to the world of alternative medicine become aware of the ...
The Avengers
The Avengers Kam Williams samuel_avenger.jpg Film Review Superheroes Unite to Save the Planet in ‘Marvel’ous Comic Book Adaptation The Avengers [2012] In Theaters: May 4, 2012 Wide Ra...
Camilla&squo;s Roses
Camilla&squo;s Roses Thumper Book Review Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! *smile* No, my sugar level is not low. I am of sound mind. I know that I ...
The Last Love Letter
The Last Love Letter Robert Fleming Book Review Amanda Easton, the author of The Last Love Letter, has a history of letter writing going back to her college days when she sometimes said the...
Buying Time
Buying Time Idrissa Uqdah Book Review For The Love of Money Murder mysteries are fast becoming one of my favorite genres and author Pamela Samuels Young comes highly recommended. Her books ha...
Hope on a Tightrope
Hope on a Tightrope Kam Williams Book Review ’We are now in one of the most truly prophetic moments in the history of America. The poor and very poor are sleeping with self-de...
The Audacity of Hope
The Audacity of Hope Kam Williams Book Review ’There’s a school of thought that sees the Founding Fathers only as hypocrites and the Constitution only as a betrayal of the grand ideal...
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 ...