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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...
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 ...
The Gem Connection
The Gem Connection Robert Fleming Book Review This is the usual jewel heist, complicated by a ruthless murder. These are the facts: Wealthy jeweler Clinton Windell, a man who is used to getting his o...
Such a Pretty Face
Such a Pretty Face Emanuel Carpenter Book Review Mia Sanchez has issues. Her waistline is increasing. Her co-worker is jealous of her success and may be out to get her. And to top it off, her live-i...
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...
Consumed…
Consumed… Jacqueline Jones LaMon Book Review AALBC.com review by Jacqueline Jones LaMon I firmly believe that there are no coincidences in this life, that we are presented with that which is f...
The Face That Changed It All
The Face That Changed It All Kam Williams Book Review “Beverly Johnson made history in 1974… [as] the first African-American woman… whose face appeared on the cover of the world...
New England White
New England White Kam Williams Book Review ’I like writing [about] this world for the same reason that others like reading [about] it: the black upper class is a continuing fascination, an...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 World Has Changed: Conversations with Alice Walker
The World Has Changed: Conversations with Alice Walker Thumper Book Review The World Has Changed: Conversation with Alice Walker edited by Rudolph Byrd is a type of book that I had not seen befor...
The Global Obama: Crossroads of Leadership in the 21st Century
The Global Obama: Crossroads of Leadership in the 21st Century Kam Williams Book Review “Barack Obama [has] garnered higher approval ratings in most parts of the world than in the United S...
The World According to Fannie Davis
The World According to Fannie Davis Tony Lindsay Book Review The World According to Fannie Davis is the story of a Black woman who became a numbers’ banker, which was a miraculous accomplishmen...
Blacktop Wasteland
Blacktop Wasteland W. Paul Coates Book Review Black Top Wastland a Conversation With S A Cosby and Paul CoatesAug 30, 2020 06:00 p.m. Eastern Time Register S. A. Cosby has written a winning book ...
Blacktop Wasteland
Blacktop Wasteland W. Paul Coates Book Review Black Top Wastland a Conversation With S A Cosby and Paul CoatesAug 30, 2020 06:00 p.m. Eastern Time Register S. A. Cosby has written a winning book ...
The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World
The New Age of Empire: How Racism and Colonialism Still Rule the World Robert Fleming Book Review It’s always beneficial to understand how learned minds, from abroad, view our current world wit...
What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman
What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk with Howard Thurman Robert Fleming Book Review This was a labor of love. Over seven years ago, it was the mission of Dr. Lerita Coleman Brown, a Harvard-tr...
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...
Praedamus Let Us Prey Selling Heaven: It’s All An Illusion
Praedamus Let Us Prey Selling Heaven: It’s All An Illusion Kam Williams Book Review “Religion plays an important part in most people’s lives… Many of us have absolute and often b...
Paul Mooney: It’s The End of the World
Paul Mooney: It’s The End of the World Kam Williams images/paul_mooney.jpg Film Review Paul Mooney Concert Flick Shot at Strip Club Paul Mooney: It’s The End of the World Very Good (3 star...
The Weird World of Blowfly
The Weird World of Blowfly Kam Williams blowfly.jpg Film Review Godfather of Rap Belatedly Gets His Due in Jaw-Dropping Bio-Pic The Weird World of Blowfly [2011] Click to order...
The Meaning of Michelle
The Meaning of Michelle Kam Williams Book Review “Michelle Obama is unlike any other First Lady in American History. From her first moment on the public stage, she has challenged traditional Am...
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...
Transitioning to Real Life
Transitioning to Real Life Jamie Walker Book Review It isn't easy transitioning from college to the real world, but in Transitioning to Real Life: A Common Sense Guide for the African American ...
City Son: Andrew W. Cooper’s Impact on Modern-Day Brooklyn
City Son: Andrew W. Cooper’s Impact on Modern-Day Brooklyn Robert Fleming Book Review So many African-American newspapers and publications have vanished from view, but their impact remains on the...
The Other Side of Losing
The Other Side of Losing Kam Williams Book Review ’The Curse of the Goat’ Real Cubs fans don't talk about it much, no more than once or twice a season. Usually it’s ...
My Long Trip Home: A Family Memoir
My Long Trip Home: A Family Memoir Kam Williams Book Review "His father, Syl Whitaker, was the charismatic grandson of slaves… His mother, Jeanne Theis, was a shy, World War II refugee from ...
Inspiration: Profiles of Black Women Changing our World
Inspiration: Profiles of Black Women Changing our World Kam Williams Book Review “Inspiration allows 30 exceptional people to tell their unique stories. Each of these women takes us on her li...
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...
Forty Million Dollar Slaves
Forty Million Dollar Slaves Kam Williams Book Review "The Belt carries young black athletes out of black America and introduces them to a world with very few African-Americans, a world o...
Kwanzaa: From Holiday to Everyday
Kwanzaa: From Holiday to Everyday Kam Williams Book Review ’One of the reasons Kwanzaa has been widely embraced is that it speaks directly to the need many feel for a self-determi...
Mimi’s Village and How Basic Health Care Transformed It
Mimi’s Village and How Basic Health Care Transformed It Kam Williams Book Review “Mimi’s fictional village is like thousands of real villages in the developing world, where health care...
Real Men Cook
Real Men Cook Kam Williams Book Review "Increasingly, African-American men in particular are often portrayed as criminals, drug addicts, absentee fathers, and jailbirds. Seldom are they...
A Distant Shore
A Distant Shore Linda Watkins Book Review Caryl Phillips may have out done himself with his newest novel, A Distant Shore. It is in my opinion one of the most accomplished works I have read this ye...
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 ...
My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte
My Song: A Memoir by Harry Belafonte Robert Fleming Book Review My Song: A Memoir is the story of a blessed life, that of Harry Belafonte, the mythic musician, actor, humanitarian, and social activ...
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...
A Feast of Peonies
A Feast of Peonies Thumper Book Review Within the first four pages of A Feast of Peonies, the 165-page debut novel by Obi; I was both intrigued, and mesmerized. This electrifying novel centers on a...
Beyond Glory
Beyond Glory Thumper Book Review Warning! I’ve been cleaning up my library again-meaning I’m about to review an old book. I have two walls full of bookshelves, whose...
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...
Holly
Holly Thumper Book Review French is brilliant. French’s follow up to the equally magnificent Billy. One of the few books that I have to disagree with it’s publishers’ summary of t...
I Wish I Had A Red Dress
I Wish I Had A Red Dress Thumper Book Review I’m going to be upfront. The review will be short and sour. I Wish I Had A Red Dress, Pearl Cleage’s new novel, we return to Idlewood, Michiga...
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...
Sing, Unburied, Sing
Sing, Unburied, Sing Tony Lindsay Book Review What Jesmyn Ward offers the reader in Sing, Unburied, Sing is an example of family. Ward creates a family that sees ghosts, a family that talks to animal...
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...
Evil Never Sleeps
Evil Never Sleeps Andre Seewood Book Review If the short story is a lost art, then you wouldn’t know it from reading Robert Fleming’s latest collection of story stories, Evil Never Slee...
Badass Black Girl: Questions, Quotes, and Affirmations for Teens
Badass Black Girl: Questions, Quotes, and Affirmations for Teens Carol Taylor Book Review Dear Badass Black Girl, You are a true warrior who inherited the strength, courage, wisdom, love, and di...
Will
Will Robert Fleming Book Review There are millions of success stories in America. This is one of them. Film superstar Will Smith’s memoir, Will, is almost a fantasy comprised of Yankee success,...
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&...
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...
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...
Searching for Agabus: Embracing Authenticity and Finding Your Way to You
Searching for Agabus: Embracing Authenticity and Finding Your Way to You Robert Fleming Book Review What is “an authentic self?” Michael Walrond, a well-known keynote speaker and the past...
Jelani’s Key
Jelani’s Key Mel Hopkins Book Review Pain into Promise An immeasurable loss leads to a journey of cultural enlightenment, friendship, and self-discovery for 11-year-old protagonists Jelani and Bak...
The Rise of Rage
The Rise of Rage Robert Fleming Book Review During these current chaotic times, the current surge of subway crime in major cities, road rage on streets and highways, and mass shootings across the cou...
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...
Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou
Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wisdom and Spirit of Maya Angelou Kam Williams Book Review “‘Words mean more than what is set down on paper,’ Maya Angelou wrote in her groundbreaking m...
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...
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...
White Guilt
White Guilt Kam Williams Book Review ’Clearly a mission of the current Bush presidency has been to destigmatize contemporary conservatism. Bush has accepted that he operates in the ...
Identity: Your Passport to Success
Identity: Your Passport to Success Kam Williams Book Review “The core idea of the book is this: Your happiness and success in life flow from becoming clear about who you are and establishing ...
The Bridge
The Bridge Thumper Book Review The Bridge, the second novel by Solomon Jones, should blow open the doors that his debut novel, Pipe Dreams did not. I am getting excited simply remembering the book ...
Orange Mint and Honey
Orange Mint and Honey Idrissa Uqdah Book Review A Daughter’s Song. Much has been written about mother/daughter relationships in African American literature. It seems to be a very ...
True Love
True Love Kam Williams Book Review “This is a story of love. It started when love was lost and I felt as if my world had fallen apart. What followed was a transformative journey, through t...
The Right Mistake
The Right Mistake Thumper Book Review I don't need to ask, what did I do to deserve such good fortune? I stay good. It’s my natural state of being. *LOL* Although I did not ask i...
Touched
Touched Walter Benefield Book Review Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "We are not makers of history. We are made by history, Dr. Matthew (Matty) Allen Green knows this all to well. On his first nig...
Who Does She Think She Is
Who Does She Think She Is Thumper Book Review Demons and condemned souls must be having snowball fights in Hell because I not only read another Benilde Little book; I actually liked it. I know, I kn...
The God Who Begat a Jackal
The God Who Begat a Jackal Thumper Book Review The great author of American letters, Albert Murray, wrote in his recently published book From The Briarpatch, ’The goal of the serious storytelle...
The End of Poverty
The End of Poverty Kam Williams images/img2A1.jpg Film Review Globalization Documentary Discusses Paradox of Poverty in Era of Unparalleled Wealth The End of Poverty? Unrated ...
Life AFTER the Down Low
Life AFTER the Down Low Carol Taylor Book Review Life After the Down Low is Ingrid M. Ellis’ honest and harrowing account of her life after finding out that her husband, Bobby, the man she thou...
Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama
Rising Star: The Making of Barack Obama Kam Williams Book Review “Barack Obama’s speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention instantly catapulted him into the national spotlight and...
Lizzie & McKenzie’s Fabulous Adventures: Mayhem in Madrid
Lizzie & McKenzie’s Fabulous Adventures: Mayhem in Madrid Troy Johnson Book Review Lizzie & McKenzie’s Fabulous Adventures: Mayhem in Madrid is the first book in a series of chapter books t...
The Dagger
The Dagger Hedi Harrington Book Review Timothy George’s 2016 novel, The Dagger, should come with a warning to all readers: “Fasten your seatbelts.” The fast-paced thriller is a sequ...
The Summer of my Fifteenth Year
The Summer of my Fifteenth Year Robert Fleming Book Review There are so many gems to be discovered in independent publishing. Every now and then, you come across the book that makes your mind sit up ...
Why Men Fear Marriage
Why Men Fear Marriage Mel Hopkins Book Review WANTED: “Single Women” In 2050, women internment camps populate the Pacific coastline. This housing once reserved for Japanese Americans...
21 Nights by Prince
21 Nights by Prince Thumper Book Review My number one is Aretha Franklin. Aretha Franklin is my favorite artist of all times. When I was 13 years old, her album, I Never Loved a Man, save...
Traffic
Traffic Marvin X movietraffic.jpg Film Review There are many classic films on drugs and addiction, Traffic is now one of them. — Marvin X Traffic Click to order via Amazon Dir...
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...
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...
The Covenant with Black America
The Covenant with Black America Kam Williams Book Review Book Review by Kam Williams "Why a Covenant with Black America? In short, because’ without organization, black folk will ...
Bright Eyes
Bright Eyes Troy Johnson Book Review Here, Cheryl Willis Hudson co-author of: Bright Eyes, Brown Skin, helps young children see the beauty of their physical characteristics. Bright eyes, brown sk...
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 "...
I am Barack Obama
I am Barack Obama Kam Williams Book Review "This book tells a story of how a child can change the world. It creates a space where children can experience the extraordinary life of P...
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 ...
White Gold
White Gold Carol Taylor Book Review This sweeping historical novel follows aspiring railroad engineer, William Roberson, from his Jamaican homeland in 1897 at 16, to Panama, to help build the Pan...
Seaside Stories
Seaside Stories Robert Fleming Book Review There should be more African-American fiction like this, recapturing a time when our communities were more-or-less intact and families were solid. S. R...
The Justice Imperative: How Hyper-Incarceration Has Hijacked the American Dream
The Justice Imperative: How Hyper-Incarceration Has Hijacked the American Dream Kam Williams Book Review “Our criminal justice system is in need of reform. [It] costs the taxpayers too much, ...
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Kam Williams Book Review "Henrietta died in 1951 from a vicious case of cervical cancer… But before she died, a surgeon took samples of her tumor and put...
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...
If You Can See It
If You Can See It Kam Williams Book Review “People want to know how a youngster from poverty, who failed his way through public school, got caught up in the 80’s crack epidemic, got i...
Soul Recovery: 12 Keys to Healing Addiction
Soul Recovery: 12 Keys to Healing Addiction Kam Williams Book Review “This is a book about recovery—my recovery—from addiction to drugs, specifically cocaine. But… my addic...
The Stork Market
The Stork Market Kam Williams Book Review ’Adoption pits woman against woman, rich against poor, making it painfully difficult to look at and admit. Adoption is racist and classist and of...
The Olympian: An American Triumph
The Olympian: An American Triumph Emanuel Carpenter Book Review What must it have been like to be the first African-American Olympic gold medalist? Would the feat have instilled pride in a nation w...
The Rise: Creativity
The Rise: Creativity Kam Williams Book Review “This book is about the advantages that come from the improbable ground of creative endeavor. Brilliant inventions and human feats that have co...
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...
The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women
The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women Kam Williams Book Review “I know what they say about me—that I am too quiet and low-key, unassuming, even clueless. Not the one...
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...