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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...
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus Kam Williams the-sweet-blood-of-jesus.jpg Film Review Da Sweet Blood of Jesus [2015] In Theaters: Feb 13, 2015 LimitedRating: UnratedGenre: Drama Runtime: 2 hr. 3 min.Stu...
In Trembling Boldness: Wisdom for Today from Ancient Jesus People
In Trembling Boldness: Wisdom for Today from Ancient Jesus People Denolyn Carroll Book Review The book In Trembling Boldness: Wisdom for Today from Ancient Jesus People brings us newly discovered wri...
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 ...
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...
Too Beautiful For Words
Too Beautiful For Words Thumper Book Review Too Beautiful For Words, the debut novel by Monique W. Morris, is a small little miracle of a book. In a novel that is steeped in reality, under the grimme...
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...
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...
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...
In the Mix
In the Mix Kam Williams in_the41.jpg Film Review Usher Moonlights as Mafia Bodyguard in Cross-Cultural Romance In the Mix Rated PG-13 for sex, expletives and violence. Running time: 97 minutes Di...
Living Water
Living Water Paige Turner Book Review The Woman at the Well is a well-known bible story that almost begs for deeper examination. Her conversation with Jesus, and His promise of "living wa...
Color of the Cross
Color of the Cross Kam Williams color_60.jpg Film Review Crucifixion Revisited with Black Jesus as Victim of Bias Crime Color of the Cross Film Review by Kam Williams Was Jesus a black man?...
Tales of a Jailhouse Librarian: Challenging the Juvenile Justice System One Book at a Time
Tales of a Jailhouse Librarian: Challenging the Juvenile Justice System One Book at a Time Carol Taylor Book Review After almost thirty years as a high school teacher Marybeth Zeman quits her teach...
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...
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...
Rising
Rising Thumper Book Review Rising, Darnella Ford’s fictional debut is explosive. It is the story of a young girl who lives through a number of tragic occurrences. Rising hits the ground runni...
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...
The Skull Cage Key
The Skull Cage Key Thumper Book Review The Skull Cage Key, the science fiction debut thriller by Michel Marriott; takes place in 2041 Harlem, centering on the murders of rich, white people....
Passin'
Passin' Idrissa Uqdah Book Review Is The Grass Any Greener On The Other Side? That is what Shanika Ann Jenkins seeks to find out as she applies for a position at a prestigious PR firm in New...
Once Upon a Lie
Once Upon a Lie Carol Taylor Book Review Once Upon a Lie is timely and timeless story of an unlikely friendship, doomed love, and tragedy, that asks the questions: Can we escape our circumstances and...
I Missed the Bus, But I Arrived On Time!
I Missed the Bus, But I Arrived On Time! Robert Fleming Book Review Our reading community gets tired of memoirs celebrating guns, drugs, loose morals, and general mayhem. Willis L. Drake’s reco...
Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me
Soulacoaster: The Diary of Me Jesse Washington Book Review Let’s get this out of the way up front: R. Kelly’s autobiography does not discuss what really happened with the sex tape th...
The Black Clergy’s Misguided Worship Leadership
The Black Clergy’s Misguided Worship Leadership Robert Fleming Book Review With this defiant publication, The Black Clergy’s Misguided Worship Leadership, Dr. Christopher C. Bell, Jr....
Strongholds
Strongholds Idrissa Uqdah Book Review The second book in the Blessed Trinity trilogy by best selling Christian fiction author, Vanessa Davis Griggs is a story full of the challenges that c...
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...
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...
The Cross & the Lynching Tree
The Cross & the Lynching Tree Kam Williams Book Review “The cross and the lynching tree are separated by nearly 2,000 years. One is the universal symbol of Christian faith; the other is the q...
Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter
Lessons from Life Bible: Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter Kam Williams Book Review "Throughout the years of his public life, former President and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Jimmy Carter has live...
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...
Lord, Save Us from Your Followers
Lord, Save Us from Your Followers Kam Williams images/img64.jpg Film Review Faith-Based Documentary Questions Whether Christianity Has Lost Its Way Lord, Save Us from Your Followers Rated...
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...
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...
Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman&rquo;s Film
Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman&rquo;s Film Akilah Monifa Book Review This historical novel is actually a sequel to the movie of the same title. The book although stee...
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...
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...
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...
Kabu Kabu
Kabu Kabu Robert Fleming Book Review American-Nigerian author Nnedi Okorakor’s first short fiction collection, Kabu Kabu, takes the reader by surprise, with its heady mix of fantasy, scien...
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 ...
Rockin around That Christmas Tree
Rockin around That Christmas Tree Thumper Book Review Denise Morrison has been married to her husband Edward Morrison for over 27 years. The couple has two children, Anthony and Christine.&nb...
The Water Dancer
The Water Dancer Tony Lindsay Book Review To mix magical realism with historical fiction is a bold task. To discuss the topic of family pride from the perspective of the offspring of a slave and a ma...
The Wanderers
The Wanderers Eryka Parker Book Review The Wanderers by Mphuthumi Ntabeni is political fiction that straddles the line between novel and essay collection, weaving together themes of exile, faith, and...
Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor
Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor Kam Williams Book Review ‘Hokum is my chance to recognize and thank the black upper-, middle-, low-, and no-class clown for being more than comic...
The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays
The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays Shaundale Rénā Book Review The Redemption Center Is Closed on Sundays was not at all what I expected. Although an avid reader, I challenged myself to enjoy ...
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...
Madea Goes to Jail
Madea Goes to Jail Kam Williams madea_1.jpg Film Review Tyler Perry’s Back in Drag for Another Modern Morality Play Madea Goes to...
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 ...
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...
Decoded
Decoded Kam Williams Book Review "My life after childhood has two main stories: the story of the hustler and the story of the rapper, and the two overlap as much as they diverge. I was on the str...
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...
Playing with Destiny
Playing with Destiny Thumper Book Review As incredible as it may seem, I’m a tad bit in shock. I recently finished reading and actually LOVING a novel published by BET under its Sepia imprint;...
Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15
Losing My Cool: How a Father’s Love and 15 Kam Williams Book Review "Since the dawn of the hip-hop era in the 1970s, black people have become increasingly freer and freer as individuals, with a wid...
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...
Shadows of the Blues
Shadows of the Blues Emanuel Carpenter Book Review In Whitney J. Leblanc’s sequel to "Blues in the Wind," readers are introduced to the lives of the Ferguson and Broussard familie...
Go Cook Something: A Cooking Survival Guide for Active Independent Children
Go Cook Something: A Cooking Survival Guide for Active Independent Children Kam Williams Book Review "My Mom and Dad separated when I was still in Underoos, so I’ve had to help Mom a lot&hell...
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention Robert Fleming Book Review Dr. Manning Marable, a professor of history at Columbia University and author of fifteen books, knew how important and controversial ...
Player Haters
Player Haters Thumper Book Review No one writes drama like Carl Weber. I don’t know how he does it. He keeps throwing out books that I swallow whole with no salt or pepper while having a croo...
As If Nothing Happened
As If Nothing Happened Tiffany M. Davis Book Review "And in the nine years she had known Joya, since freshman year, and in the eight years they had known Yvonne, the three had never become dist...
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 ...
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...
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...
I Want You to Shut the F#ck Up: How the Audacity of Dopes Is Ruining America
I Want You to Shut the F#ck Up: How the Audacity of Dopes Is Ruining America Kam Williams Book Review “The American Dream is in dire need of a wake-up call… If only Uncle Sam could see...
Mama Made the Difference
Mama Made the Difference Kam Williams Book Review ’My mother was a most remarkable person. She embodies the reasons that I esteem mothers so highly. In fact, when people ask me why muc...
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation Kam Williams https://aalbc.com/reviews/images/birth-of-a-nation-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Reverential Biopic Revisits Life of Infamous Slave Revolt Leader Excellent (4 star...
12 Years a Slave
12 Years a Slave Kam Williams 12-years-a-slave-movie-poster.jpg Film Review Chiwetel Ejiofor Stars in Adaptation of Solomon Northup’s Memoir In Theaters: Oct 18, 2013 Limited November 1,...
The Cutting Season: A Novel
The Cutting Season: A Novel Emanuel Carpenter Book Review Attica Locke’s (Black Water Rising) latest novel, The Cutting Season, takes place on a sugar cane plantation in Louisiana. Though the s...
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...
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 "...
Violet of a Deeper Blue
Violet of a Deeper Blue Thumper Book Review Violet Of A Deeper Blue is the story of Brandon Northcross, a young black MBA graduate from Dartmouth who previously lived in New Hampshire. Brandon had re...
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 ...
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 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...
Love In A Carry-On Bag
Love In A Carry-On Bag Idrissa Uqdah Book Review As Wild As The Wind Modern technology has made a long-distance love affair more of a reality. The characters in this novel took the concept and made...
Blacklash: How Obama and the Left Are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation
Blacklash: How Obama and the Left Are Driving Americans to the Government Plantation Kam Williams Book Review “There is this strange notion that because I am black I should agree with all blac...
Corruption Officer: From Jail Guard to Perpetrator inside Rikers Island
Corruption Officer: From Jail Guard to Perpetrator inside Rikers Island Kam Williams Book Review “This shocking memoir from a former corrections officer… shares an eye-opening, gritty,...
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...
Silent Conspiracy
Silent Conspiracy Thumper Book Review Damn, that was good! I have to stand up and applaud! I’ve just finished what I consider one of the best mysteries that I’ve read all year. With the ...
Sojourner’s Dream
Sojourner’s Dream Idrissa Uqdah Book Review An Inside Look At The Atrocities of War In Rwanda I approached the novel, Sojourner’s Dream by first time author Angeline Bandon-Bibum expecting a ...
An Uncaged Eagle -- True Freedom
An Uncaged Eagle -- True Freedom Kam Williams Book Review "This autobiography tells the story of my life while highlighting some of the tremendous people who helped me overcome adversities I fa...
Color Him Father
Color Him Father Kam Williams Book Review Book Reviewed by Kam Williams ’My dad has a gentle spirit and quiet determination. He worked 30 years for the U.S. Postal Service, beginning as the ...
Don’t Let "IT" Get You!
Don’t Let "IT" Get You! Kam Williams Book Review ’Success means nothing, if we are not healthy enough to enjoy it. I urge you to make your health a priority’ This book&rsquo...
Enough
Enough Kam Williams Book Review "Reparations sends a message to Americans of every other race that blacks are wards of the state because they are a broken people. Social ills in the black com...
Fifteen Steps to Corporate Feudalism: How the Rich Convinced America’s Middle Class to Eli
Fifteen Steps to Corporate Feudalism: How the Rich Convinced America’s Middle Class to Eli Kam Williams Book Review “Today, there is little doubt that the U.S. middle class is shrinking&hellip...
Front Row Seat: A Photographic Portrait of the Presidency of George W. Bush
Front Row Seat: A Photographic Portrait of the Presidency of George W. Bush Kam Williams Book Review “I was privileged to work with Eric Draper during my entire Presidency. I got to know him ...
Going Natural: How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair
Going Natural: How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair Kam Williams Book Review "Five years ago… I knew nothing about my natural hair. It was that mess that grew out of my head… which...
Historical Dict. of African-American TV
Historical Dict. of African-American TV Kam Williams Book Review ’Most African-Americans who recall early television will say the first nationwide black-cast TV series they saw was Amos &...
How To Think Big
How To Think Big Kam Williams Book Review "I am not a genius. I am not a prodigy or sensation or phenomenon. I am just like you. At the age of 19, I founded my first company. After graduat...
Supreme Discomfort
Supreme Discomfort Kam Williams Book Review ’[Clarence] Thomas once said he would never accept a race-based job, and yet he spent an entire federal career in such positions’ The irony i...
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 ...
Going Home In Chains: Stories
Going Home In Chains: Stories Robert Fleming Book Review Glenville Lovell, one of the foremost Caribbean writers, has written several novels, including the acclaimed Fire in the Canes, Too Beautifu...
Mary Wells: The Tumultuous Life of Motown’s First Superstar
Mary Wells: The Tumultuous Life of Motown’s First Superstar Robert Fleming Book Review One of the most captivating personalities on the Motown roster during its glory days, singer Mary Wells was a f...
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...
Standing in the Need of Prayer
Standing in the Need of Prayer Rondall Brasher Book Review Standing in the Need of Prayer is a book dedicated the diverse and powerful subject of Black prayer. The photographs and other anthropologi...
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...
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...
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...
Dive
Dive Thumper Book Review Dive serves as a heavy, textured and elaborately engraved calling card to an awesome, beautiful, new voice on the horizon. Dive is the debut novel by Lisa Teasley. Dive, ...
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...
High Waters
High Waters Thumper Book Review High Waters, a novel by Suzon Tropez, is a novel that I am unsure as to what the storyline or the point of the novel is. I think it is a novel about an older black ...
Naughty or Nice
Naughty or Nice Thumper Book Review It’s Christmas time for the McBroom sisters and all three got man trouble. Frankie, the oldest sister, can’t seem to find Mr. Right in her everyday l...
Jelly Roll: A Blues
Jelly Roll: A Blues Rondall Brasher Book Review Please allow me to set off the mood of this review by quoting one of my favorite Blues songs: I’ve been downhearted baby Ever since th...