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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...
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...
Street Journeys
Street Journeys Kam Williams street-jouneys-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Street Journeys (2011) Director: Tracy Christian Kenya, 2011, Duration 58 min., English & Swahili In the he...
Water Street
Water Street Thumper Book Review Recently, I had the pleasure of reading the short story collection, Water Street, written by Crystal E Wilkinson. I loved it. The short stories are slices of the l...
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...
Howard Street
Howard Street Tony Lindsay Book Review Writers are introduced to the craft of writing through a variety avenues: reading, experience, teaching, and mimicking. Writers often copy the skill sets of tho...
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, ...
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...
Post Black: How a New Generation Is Redefining African-American Identity
Post Black: How a New Generation Is Redefining African-American Identity Kam Williams Book Review "In this book, I will not detail every pathological condition that ever existed in African-American...
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...
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...
21 Jump Street
21 Jump Street Kam Williams 21jumpstreet.jpg Film Review Polar Opposite Partners Infiltrate H.S. in Unlikely-Buddies Comedy 21 Jump Street [2012] In Theaters: Mar 16, 2012 Wide R, 1 hr. 49 min. A...
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...
To Live & Die in Amerikkka
To Live & Die in Amerikkka Kam Williams images/to_live_and_die_in_amerikkka.jpg Film Review Shocking Documentary Bemoans Skyrocketing Homicide Rate in Baton Rouge To Live & Die in Ame...
Moon
Moon Thumper Book Review Allow me to state up front that I am a huge fan of Jewell Parker Rhodes; have been since I read one of her earlier novels, Magic City. I got extremely excited when I ...
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...
Shades of Jade
Shades of Jade Thumper Book Review I was debating on whether I should start this review by writing All Hail The New Queen. Why not? I'll only live once, so, All Hail The New Queen of AA mystery...
Joyful Noise
Joyful Noise Kam Williams joyfullnoisemoiveposter.jpg Film Review Joyful Noise [2012] In Theaters: Jan 13, 2012 Wide Warner Bros. Pictures PG-13, 1 hr. 58 min. Comedy Directed By...
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...
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...
F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature
F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature Kam Williams Book Review “Drawing on nearly 14,000 pages of newly released FBI files, F.B. Eyes exposes the Bu...
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...
White House Diary
White House Diary Kam Williams Book Review "During my four years in the White House, I kept a personal diary by dictating my thoughts and observations several times each day… When dictatin...
Meeting David Wilson
Meeting David Wilson Kam Williams meetin7.jpg Film Review MSNBC Special to Feature Reunion of Blacks and Whites Linked to Ancestors from Same Slave Plantation Meeting David Wilson Unrated...
Skin
Skin Kam Williams skin.h6.jpg Film Review Apartheid Poses Problem for White Couple with Black Baby Skin Click to order via Amazon Rated PG-13 for violence, ...
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...
Better Mus' Come: In Theaters: March 15, 2013
Better Mus' Come: In Theaters: March 15, 2013 Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/better-mus-come.jpg Film Review Better Mus’ Come In Theaters: Mar 15, 2013 Limited Written and Directed by Stor...
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...
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...
Butter: Novellas, Stories, and Fragments
Butter: Novellas, Stories, and Fragments Robert Fleming Book Review Recently, I received a letter from lit legend Gayl Jones, saying that she wasn’t writing anymore. Discovered by iconic editor...
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. ...
Fishing for Love on the Net
Fishing for Love on the Net Kam Williams Book Review ’Many people have tried online dating with no success. The steps necessary to secure love online still remains a mystery. Many more ...
Life as a Single Mom
Life as a Single Mom Kam Williams Book Review ’’Being a single mom isn't easy,’ is something I hear constantly over and over throughout my travels, and I mostly hear it fro...
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...
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 ...
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...
The Ancestors
The Ancestors Thumper Book Review The Ancestors is an anthology featuring stories by authors L.A. Banks, Tananarive Due and Brandon Massey. I am always happy to come across science fiction ...
Selma
Selma Kam Williams selma-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Selma In Theaters: Dec 25, 2014 Limited, Jan 9, 2014 Wide PG-13 (for disturbing thematic material including violence, a suggestive moment, and...
Take Me to the River
Take Me to the River Kam Williams take-me-to-the-river-300.jpg Film Review Take Me to the River (2014) In Theaters: Sep 12, 2014 Limited Rated: PG Running Time: 95 Minutes Musical & Performi...
Blacktrospective 2011 - Annual Assessment of the Best in Black Cinema
Blacktrospective 2011 - Annual Assessment of the Best in Black Cinema Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/thehelpposter.jpg Film Review Blacktrospective 2011 - Annual Assessment of the Best in Bl...
Reversal of Trends: A Black Man’s Journey across the Mason-Dixon Line
Reversal of Trends: A Black Man’s Journey across the Mason-Dixon Line Robert Fleming Book Review Often, memoirs can be self-indulgent, unimaginative, and a cheesy promotion of self. That’s not ...
The Rich and the Rest of Us
The Rich and the Rest of Us Kam Williams Book Review “This book serves as a counterpoint to [those] who luxuriate in denying the reality of America’s poor… Poverty of all colors ...
The Gods of the Bacteria: The World Before Darwin
The Gods of the Bacteria: The World Before Darwin Robert Fleming Book Review Dr. Billy Earley, a veteran practitioner and graduate from the Charles Drew School of Medicine and Science, brings his e...
Black Like You
Black Like You Kam Williams Book Review ’Listening to Knipp, a white man, impersonating Shirley Q. Liquor, a Black woman, was one thing. Actually seeing a white man in blackface dra...
Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina
Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina Kam Williams Book Review “Blacks in the segregationist United States of America of the 30s and 40s fought back with inherent toug...
Not a Day Goes By
Not a Day Goes By Paige Turner Book Review Lifestyles of the Bitch and Famous If you enjoy the big payback and revenge, then popular writer E. Lynn Harris’ is "da man", and his lat...
Legend of the Orange Scepter
Legend of the Orange Scepter Robert Fleming Book Review It’s very difficult to write a Young Adult fiction. Also, the difficulty only increases when you add elements of science fiction and fant...
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream?
Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? Kam Williams heist.jpg Film Review Wall Street Exposé Chronicles Systematic Dismantling of Financial Protections Heist: Who Stole the American Dream? In...
Prodigal
Prodigal Chauncey Ridley Book Review David Covin’s Prodigal is a well-tuned engine of richly resonant, polysemous form firing on all cylinders: a hip, ripping thriller set in the mean streets o...
Reputations Fade Away
Reputations Fade Away Kam Williams Book Review ’I can understand and relate to why most black men are giving up on life, especially the ones my age’ Only a few of us mak...
The Lace Wig Bible: How to Style
The Lace Wig Bible: How to Style Kam Williams Book Review “You cannot be a top hair stylist today without working with some types of wigs or hair extensions… I have been blessed to hav...
Race
Race Kam Williams Book Review “There is a lot to learn from this book. If you are feeling cynical and discouraged that you can’t fight the powerful, read it! If you want to learn the ...
White Coat Fever
White Coat Fever Thumper Book Review Roland S. Jefferson, author of the classic The School on 103rd Street, is back on the scene with his latest novel, White Coat Fever. The title of the novel is...
The Conversation
The Conversation Kam Williams Book Review ’One of the things I’ve heard a lot from young brothers and sisters during my recent travels is ’I want a woman like Mich...
Jesus Boy
Jesus Boy Thumper Book Review I have a question for you: have you ever heard of anything; a food dish, a recipe, a car or a book, that by the description alone, you knew, KNEW it was going ...
The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership
The Rejected Stone: Al Sharpton and the Path to American Leadership Kam Williams Book Review “As you read through the following pages and get a sense of my journey and the lessons I’ve...
Yoga
Yoga Kam Williams Book Review “This book is for you, the everyday person, the person who works, has a family (or not) and wants to stay stress-free, happy, fulfilled and healthy. This book ...
Martin Luther King Bullavoid: Imploding Communities
Martin Luther King Bullavoid: Imploding Communities Carol Taylor Book Review “Amid mounting threats to his life, Martin Luther King chose to step onto the second floor balcony of the Lorrai...
Grandpa! Tell Us a Story
Grandpa! Tell Us a Story Emanuel Carpenter Book Review He began taking the shells out of the gun and sighting down the barrel, and pulled the trigger listening to the c...
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...
Blackout
Blackout Kam Williams Book Review "It may be difficult for us today to understand both the vastness of American racism or th...
The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom
The Brand Within: The Power of Branding from Birth to the Boardroom Kam Williams Book Review "What I hope to do with this book is reach out to anyone who wants to get a leg up on their own careers&...
High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Kn
High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Kn Kam Williams Book Review “As a youth, Carl Hart didn’t realize the value of school; he studied ...
The Hood Health Handbook
The Hood Health Handbook Kam Williams Book Review "In all my world travels, never have I picked up a book with the kind of love, concern and information that I’ve seen put into this book&hell...
Rhythm for Sale
Rhythm for Sale Kam Williams Book Review “I went into the Countee Cullen library… and saw a book titled: The Harlem Renaissance: A Historical Dictionary for the Era… I peeked i...
Baring My Soul
Baring My Soul Rondall Brasher Book Review I have just finished a collection of poems called Baring My Soul by Stacey Renee Tolbert aka "The Brown Suga Poet". It was my first introduction ...
Fire In A Canebrake
Fire In A Canebrake Thumper Book Review "’If all it’s going to do is stir up old memories, it can’t do anything but hurt folks. Who wants to talk about Nagasaki and Hiroshim...
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 ...
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...
Zone One: A Novel
Zone One: A Novel Robert Fleming Book Review As one of the finest word craftsmen of his generation, Colson Whitehead has shown a high degree of imaginative skill and creativity, turning each genre ...
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...
Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues
Jimmy’s Rhythm & Blues Clarence V. Reynolds Book Review This year, we will celebrate the centennial of the birth of prominent writer, civil rights activist, and intellectual James Baldwin. Born in Ha...
Thru My Eyes
Thru My Eyes Kam Williams Book Review ’Growing up in Iran, I had often heard of dervishes, people who possess a dynamic, heightened sense of awareness. Much like the shaman or the prophet, th...
A Person of Interest
A Person of Interest Thumper Book Review I have begun looking forward to reading novels written by Ernest Hills. I became a fan of his work after reading two of his previous novels; ...
King’s Faith
King’s Faith Kam Williams kings-faith-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Reformed Gangsta Seeks Redemption in Modern Morality Play King’s Faith (2013) In Theaters: Apr 26, 2013 Limited Rated PG-13 ...
Madea’s Witness Protection
Madea’s Witness Protection Kam Williams madeas-witness-protection.jpg Film Review Tyler Perry and Eugene Levy Make for Strange Bedfellows in Fish-Out-of-Water Comedy Madea’s Witness Protec...
Marley
Marley Kam Williams marely2012_movie_poster.jpg Film Review Revealing Biopic Chronicles Personal Life and Musical Career of Revered Reggae Icon Marley [2012] Order via Amazon.com In Theaters: A...
Never Die Alone
Never Die Alone Troy Johnson never_19.jpg Film Review The following is not a review, but informational material for the movie NEVER DIE ALONE Order Movie-Original Pos...
Notorious
Notorious Kam Williams jamal_17.jpg Film Review Warts-and-All Bio-Pic Recounts Rise and Fall of Biggie Smalls Notorious Rated R for nudity, drug use, graphic sexuality, ethnic slurs and p...
The Prince of Broadway
The Prince of Broadway Kam Williams images/princeofbroadway.jpg Film Review African Street Hustler’s Life Complicated by Baby-Mama Drama Prince of Broadway [2010] Unrated Running time: 100...
Restless City
Restless City Kam Williams restlesscity.jpg Film Review Harlem Provides Backdrop for Gritty Survival Saga Restless City [2012] In Theaters: Apr 27, 2012 (limited) Rated R for drug use and brief sex...
A Streetcar Named Desire (Review of the Broadway Play)
A Streetcar Named Desire (Review of the Broadway Play) Troy Johnson atreetcardposter.jpg Film Review Parker & Underwood Bring New Brilliance to Williams’ Streetcar Tennessee Williams&...
Stomp the Yard
Stomp the Yard Kam Williams stomp_6.jpg Film Review Black Greek Goes Gaga Over Curvy Coed in Coincidence-Driven Melodrama Stomp the Yard Rated PG-13 for sexuality, profanity, ethnic slurs and...
Things Never Said
Things Never Said Kam Williams things-never-said.jpg Film Review Battered Wife Finds Strength in Poetry in Female Empowerment Flick Things Never Said In Theaters: Sep 6, 2013 Limited Rated R for s...
Tower Heist
Tower Heist Kam Williams towerheist.jpg Film Review Victims Turn Tables on Con Man in Murphy-Stiller Buddy Comedy Tower Heist Rated PG-13 for profanity and sexuality. Running time: 104 Minute...
Very Young Girls
Very Young Girls Kam Williams very_y1.jpg Film Review NYC Documentary Shows It’s Hard Out There for a Ho, Too Very Young Girls Unrated Running time: 83 minutes Studio: Swinging T...
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...
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....
Behind those Books (press release)
Behind those Books (press release) Troy Johnson images/behindthosebooks.jpg Film Review Behind Those Books: A Thought Provoking Documentary Tackling Societal Ills Through Literature Behind Th...
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...
The Boys of Baraka
The Boys of Baraka Kam Williams the_bo3.jpg Film Review Kenya as Alternative to Mean Streets of Baltimore The Boys of Baraka Directed by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady Genre: Documentary Runtime: 8...
Bushwick Homecomings
Bushwick Homecomings Kam Williams bushwi45.jpg Film Review College Grad Returns to Roots to Reminisce and to Find ’Hood Undergoing Urban Renewal Bushwick Homecomings Unrated ...
Freakonomics
Freakonomics Kam Williams images/kidfromfreakonomics.jpg Film Review Controversial Economics Best Seller Adapted to Screen Freakonomics [2010] Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality, nudity, drug ...
GhettoPhysics
GhettoPhysics Kam Williams images/ghettophysics.jpg Film Review Radical Fringe Flick Breaks World Down to Pimp and Hos GhettoPhysics: Will the Real Pimps and Hos Please Stand Up! Rated R for...
A Great Day in Harlem
A Great Day in Harlem Kam Williams a_grea34.jpg Film Review DVD Documentary on the Anatomy of Historic Jazz Photo A Great Day in Harlem Click to order via Amazon Plot Synopsis: Art Kane, now...
Harlem Aria
Harlem Aria Kam Williams images/img33.jpg Film Review Opera Serves as Fulcrum for Unfunny, Unlikely-Buddy Comedy Harlem Aria Rated R for crude and profane language. Running time: 100 Minut...
Jamesy Boy
Jamesy Boy Kam Williams jamesy-boy.jpg Film Review Jamesy Boy In Theaters: Jan 17, 2014 Limited On DVD: Feb 24, 2014 Click to order via Amazon Unrated, 1 hr. 49 min. Drama, Kids & Family,...