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Beasts of the Southern Wild
Beasts of the Southern Wild Kam Williams beasts-of-the-southern-wild.jpg Film Review Carefree Cherub Laments Climate Change in Enchanting Cautionary Parable Beasts of the Southern Wild In Theaters: ...
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...
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...
They Tell Me of a Home
They Tell Me of a Home Thumper Book Review I was in the mood for a Southern gothic novel. For those of you who may not know, a Southern gothic novel is one that takes place in the S...
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...
Unburdened by Conscience: A Black People’s Collective Account of America’s Antebellum So
Unburdened by Conscience: A Black People’s Collective Account of America’s Antebellum So Kam Williams Book Review "While pursuing my Bachelor of Arts degree in college, I took a lot of history cour...
Two Wings to Veil My Face
Two Wings to Veil My Face Tony Lindsay Book Review There is genre fiction, and there is literary fiction. Within these two categories are groups; in part, genre fiction consists of mystery, romance, ...
Dr. No
Dr. No Robert Fleming Book Review “…a hilarious, fantastic satire of our times and culture.” —Robert Fleming Bestselling author Percival Everett is a literary alchemist wi...
Kinyarwanda
Kinyarwanda Kam Williams images/kinyarwanda_movie_poster.jpg Film Review Rwandan Tragedy Revisited in "Crash"-Like Ensemble Drama Read an interview with the film maker Alrick Brown Kinyarwanda ...
Vanishing Pearls: The Oysterman of Pointe a la Hache
Vanishing Pearls: The Oysterman of Pointe a la Hache Kam Williams array.jpg Film Review Vanishing Pearls: The Oysterman of Pointe a la Hache In Theaters: April 18, 2014 (limited) on Netflix Writte...
Wench
Wench Thumper Book Review I had a feeling that even though we are educated enough in the institution of slavery, there are still aspects that take me by surprise. Dolen Perkins-Valdez debut...
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...
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...
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...
Strange Fruit
Strange Fruit Paige Turner Book Review "Anatomy of a Mind Blowing Song" One of the most deeply satisfying and thought provoking books traces the anatomy of a rarely remember song from...
I Am New Orleans
I Am New Orleans Robert Fleming Book Review American poet, author, filmmaker, and teacher Kalamu ya Salaam, a leading citizen of New Orleans’s 9th Ward, has always been a booster for the Cresce...
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...
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...
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...
Color Me Butterfly
Color Me Butterfly Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Domestic Abuse: A Generational Curse?This book spans a 60 year period in the lives of a family of strong African American women who survived domestic a...
Summer Snow
Summer Snow Thumper Book Review Summer Snow: Reflections from a Black Daughter of the South, is a collection of essays by Trudier Harris, based on her memories, observations and opinions that came ...
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...
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...
We Gotta Have It
We Gotta Have It Kam Williams Book Review ’We Gotta Have It represents twenty years of seeing a new generation of Black movies. Before this journey began in 1986, with Spike Lee’s She...
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...
Mississippi Damned
Mississippi Damned Kam Williams mississippi-damned.jpg Film Review Mississippi Damned In Theaters: January 16, 2009 (limited) on Netflix Written and Directed by: Tina Mabry Rating: UnratedGe...
Precious
Precious Kam Williams precio2.jpg Film Review Lee Daniels’ Long-Anticipated Sundance-Winner Lives up to the Buzz Precious Click to order DVD via Amazon Rated R fo...
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...
Born into Brothels
Born into Brothels Kam Williams born_i24.jpg Film Review Academy Award-Winning Documentary Showing at Human Rights Watch Festival Born into Brothels Click to order vi...
Dear White People
Dear White People Kam Williams dear-wite-people-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Dear White People In Theaters: Oct 17, 2014 Limited On DVD: Feb 3, 2015 Rated R for profanity, ethnic and sexual prefe...
Blacktrospective 2009 - Kam’s Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema
Blacktrospective 2009 - Kam’s Annual Assessment of the Best (and Worst) in Black Cinema Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/precious_movieposter.jpg Film Review Kam's Annual Assessment of the Best ...
I Will Follow
I Will Follow Kam Williams images/iwillfollow.jpg Film Review Bittersweet Drama Chronicles Day in the Life of Grief-Stricken Caregiver I Will Follow Order via Amazon.com Unrated ...
Children of the Waters
Children of the Waters Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Blood Ties, Family Lies Carleen Brice has returned to the literary scene with her second novel, Children of the Waters and she’s ...
Harlem Crossroads
Harlem Crossroads Kam Williams Book Review ’The story I tell begins with an introductory account of how photography came to Harlem- that is, how Harlem became, after the Renaissance and at...
Gift of Truth
Gift of Truth Michelle Paynter Book Review There are literary craftsmen who spend a lifetime writing in one particular genre, and there are others who possess a creative and literary zeal, which ...
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...
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...
Momma: Gone
Momma: Gone Tony Lindsay Book Review Nina Foxx’s personal story Momma: Gone is full of literary surprises. The reader’s expectations and predictions that are garnered from the story-line ...
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...
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 ...
Loving
Loving Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/images/loving.jpg Film Review Excellent (4 of 4 stars) Rated PG-13 for mature themes and ethnic slurs Running time: 123 minutes Studio: Big...
Bibsy
Bibsy Carol Taylor Book Review “Langston County is tucked into the southern tip of New York State, wedged between the Hudson River and the New Jersey state line. And it was home to Jake Tuck...
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...
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...
Peony’s Daughters
Peony’s Daughters Idrissa Uqdah Book Review A Mother With Crosses To Bear Although not categorized as Christian Fiction, Peony’s Daughters by Leceila Turnage is a very spiritual read w...
Likeness of Being
Likeness of Being Jamie Walker Book Review In Likeness of Being: A Poetic Look at Friends and Strangers, poet Nathan M. Richardson offers readers an invitation to his soulful, Southern roots. Full ...
An Illuminated Life
An Illuminated Life Kam Williams Book Review ’Princeton University was a particularly interesting place for Belle to first be on her own and living as white… Princeton was c...
Blackout
Blackout Kam Williams Book Review "It may be difficult for us today to understand both the vastness of American racism or th...
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...
Don’t Make a Black Woman…
Don’t Make a Black Woman… Kam Williams Book Review Madea’s Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life: #1 spot on the New York Times best sellers list (May 2006). "Whoever came...
Sap Rising
Sap Rising Thumper Book Review There’s music in the trees. Whether the trees are standing still under the blue cloudless sky, or in its embarrassed nakedness under gray heavens with biting wint...
Dakota Grand: A Novel
Dakota Grand: A Novel Brian Egeston Book Review There are codes within creeds and creeds within cliques. Perhaps this is the most subliminal, if not unintentional, message in Kenji Jasper’s lat...
Book of Letters
Book of Letters Robert Fleming Book Review Mary J. Taylor’s Book Of Letters is just that, a book of letters from the Old School of storytelling. The series of sepia cultural flashbacks moves th...
Merritt Magic
Merritt Magic Robert Fleming Book Review Melinda Merritt’s nonfiction book, Merritt Magic, is a publication that defies category. In these pages, the reader will discover a reflective, mythical...
New Harmony: A Mother’s Story of Love and Loss
New Harmony: A Mother’s Story of Love and Loss Robert Fleming Book Review A complete reading of this debut novel by Leon E. Pettiway, a professor emeritus at Indiana University and an ordained Buddhi...
Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History
Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History Kam Williams Book Review ’If you are able to see [your ancestors&...
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 ...
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original Robert Fleming Book Review Highly detailed, stunning, and comprehensive, Robin Kelley’s excellent biography of innovative jazz pian...
White Flight
White Flight Kam Williams Book Review "At the start of the 21st Century, the politics created by white flight are not simply still present; they are predominant. Despite its fundamental im...
Lincoln
Lincoln Kam Williams lincoln-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Civil War Docudrama Revisits Great Emancipator’s Team of Rivals Lincoln (2012) In Theaters: Nov 16, 2012 Wide Rated PG-13 for gruesom...
Looking for Lincoln
Looking for Lincoln Kam Williams lookin7.jpg Film Review Checkered Legacy of Lincoln Revisited by PBS Series Looking for Lincoln Click to order via ...
The Wood
The Wood Kam Williams images/thewoo35.jpg Film Review THE WOOD Paramount Director - Rick Famuyiwa Starring - Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones, Taye Diggs Comedy 112 min Rated R So-called "urban&...
Black Snake Moan
Black Snake Moan Kam Williams black_3.jpg Film Review Bible-Thumping Bluesman Tames Wanton Woman in Tawdry Tale of Sin and Redemption Black Snake Moan Rated R for profanity, nudity, gr...
Idlewilde
Idlewilde Kam Williams idlewi20.jpg Film Review Musical Set at Southern Speakeasy Released on DVD Idlewild Click to order via Amazon R for profanity, ethnic slurs, nudity, sexuality and violence. R...
Granddaddy
Granddaddy Carol Taylor Book Review Granddaddy is a poignant literary novel, told mostly in a stream of conscious narrative, that traces a family’s emotional journey through their memories of t...
Love
Love Thumper Book Review For those of you who don’t know me or have not read any of my reviews, I have a tendency of getting extremely excited over republished books written by African Amer...
Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire
Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire Kam Williams Book Review ’Arguably, Drusilla Dunjee Houston was one of the most important African-American women writers of the 20th Centu...
The Womanizers
The Womanizers Thumper Book Review How can I put this,The Womanizers by Dwayne S. Joseph could be classified as a literary "throwback"? Although the novel is not as wearable as a replica o...
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...
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...
Squirrels & Puppies: Dark Morality Tales
Squirrels & Puppies: Dark Morality Tales Robert Fleming Book Review In the foreword of Squirrels & Puppies, Mebane’s second book, the author has fun with the reader, saying in a tongue-in...
Zane’s Z-Rated: Chocolate Flava 3
Zane’s Z-Rated: Chocolate Flava 3 Robert Fleming Book Review Some years ago, Zane shocked the square world in the black literary community with her series of raunchy, raw erotic tales delivered onl...
When Frogs Grow Feet: The Un-Aborted Are Alive and Well
When Frogs Grow Feet: The Un-Aborted Are Alive and Well Robert Fleming Book Review While When Frogs Grow Feet’s blurb links its juicy contents to Henry Miller’s classic wanton tale, Tro...
Black Pulp
Black Pulp Robert Fleming Book Review In his succinct introduction, award-winning novelist Walter Mosley, creator of the noted private eye Easy Rawlins, explains the appeal of fiction printed i...
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...
Miracle at St. Anna
Miracle at St. Anna Thumper Book Review I wish all of my review assignments were like this one. It came upon me unexpectedly. I don’t need advance warnings when good things come my way, thoug...
Vanishing Rooms
Vanishing Rooms Thumper Book Review Upon my first glance at Vanishing Rooms, the debut novel by the late poet/novelist Melvin Dixon, I thought — in my mind’s voice that sounds like Billie...
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...
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...
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...
Inner-City Interludes
Inner-City Interludes Jayne Cubbage Book Review Inner-City Interludes by Hoezee probably won’t go down in history as a literary classic. Perhaps as an ode to the ’hood’ and...
The Black Chicago Renaissance
The Black Chicago Renaissance Kam Williams Book Review “Beginning in the 1930s and lasting into the 1950s, black Chicago experienced a cultural renaissance that rivaled and, some argued, exce...
Nicki Minaj: The Woman Who Stole the World An Unauthorized Biography
Nicki Minaj: The Woman Who Stole the World An Unauthorized Biography Kam Williams Book Review “This is the story of Onika Tanya Maraj, born on December 8, 1982 in St. James, a suburb of Trini...
Abide With Me
Abide With Me Paige Turner Book Review Warning: The following comments reveal a conflicted and divided point of view, a la the characters who populate the novels of E. Lynn Harris. Readers are ad...
Temptation
Temptation Linda Dominique Grosvenor Book Review Temptation is a refreshing literary effort by first time novelist Victoria Christopher Murray. This book has crossed the line into mainstream fiction,...
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 ...
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 ...
It’s All Love
It’s All Love Robert Fleming Book Review If there is a commodity that is seriously misunderstood in our community, it is the emotion of love which binds us to each other. Marita Golden, a p...
Role Call
Role Call Rondall Brasher Book Review I encounter many literary anthologies that try to appease my appetite for new talent. But most of them fall short of their mark, and few of these collections ar...
A House Is Not a Home
A House Is Not a Home Thumper Book Review The song says it’s hard to say goodbye’humph, not when the guests have overstayed their welcome it Ain't. At that time, saying goodbye is th...
Black Like Us
Black Like Us Thumper Book Review Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual African American Fiction, the latest anthology of gay/lesbian AA literature, is, in a word, splendid. Showcas...
Blues In The Wind
Blues In The Wind Thumper Book Review Whitney LeBlanc makes his literary debut with an impressive, multidimensional, highly entertaining family drama, written in the glory of the blues. I threw ope...
Daddy Interrupted
Daddy Interrupted Thumper Book Review Van Whitfield has made me a happy man with his new novel, Dad Interrupted because Shawn Wayne is back in the house! I am crazy about Shawn Wayne. I am not a bi...
Every Tongue Got To Confess
Every Tongue Got To Confess Thumper Book Review I’m about to write words that I never thought that I would write. I never believed that I would ever be in the position of reviewing the newest, ...
God Don’t Like Ugly
God Don’t Like Ugly Thumper Book Review "I was hoping when I started God don't Like Ugly that it wasn't the typical girl-coming-of-age story. Alongside you-go-girl books, girl-coming-of...
Harlem Redux
Harlem Redux Thumper Book Review Persia Walker busts on the literary scene burnin’ rubber and smokin’ with her debut novel, Harlem Redux, a multi-faceted fictional tapestry. Harlem Redux...
I’m Telling
I’m Telling Thumper Book Review For those who are curious as to whether Karen E. Quinones Miller successfully evades the mythical writers’ "sophomore slump" with her latest novel, I&...
Love
Love Thumper Book Review Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison released a new novel, adding another jewel to her already brilliant literary crown. Love, Morrison’s eighth novel, introduces...
Low Road
Low Road Thumper Book Review Donald Goines has become, decades after his death, one of the most influential African American authors in the African-American literary canon. The realism, the violenc...
Street Judge
Street Judge Thumper Book Review In his fiction debut Judge Greg Mathis, star of the syndicated Judge Mathis TV show, releases Street Judge, a mystery/thriller with a message. Although I ha...