Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

33 reviews

maddy4prezident's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

This book took me so long to read, because it was so much information and emotion to digest in each sentence—but it was well worth the read. It was well written and educational, even for someone who considers herself relatively well-educated on American and world history. I really and truly cannot recommend this book enough to everyone.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

crybabybea's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective sad

4.25

I loved the perspective author Clint Smith chose to take in this book. By combining historical research, journalistic-style interviews, and personal reflections, he exemplifies the theme of How the Word is Passed; that we need to get the facts of our history from those who lived it.
 
In doing so, he also explores the damage done by systemic repression of the true history of the United States. He skillfully critiques the education system, America's legal and political system, the medicine industry, and everything in between. It's truly astounding just how much history has been altered in the United States to preserve the sparkling image of freedom and justice our country claims to represent. It's equally harrowing to realize that the sheer amount of information here barely touches the surface of what the United States has swept under the rug, how many more places the author could have visited, how many more interviews could have been had (and how many possible interviewees have been lost), how many more organizations and people could have been implicated. Staggering.

Clint Smith is also very clearly a skilled writer, and is able to weave in beautiful prose and breath-taking moments of self-reflection. 

It's probably trite at this point to call books like this a "must read", but this is absolutely a must read.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

chels_ro's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

a informative book on the origins of chattel slavery to its modern connections of the prison industrial complex and civil rights. Smith breaks down common misconceptions and whitewashed history through each chapter as he visits a different place. my only complaint is that it’s not longer. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

smileymiley550's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mnatale100's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

overthinkereading's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative medium-paced

5.0

"What would it take - what does it take - for you to confront a false history even if it means shattering the stories you have been told throughout your life?"

How the Word is Passed fundamentally is a shattering of many stories, both those of the official record and those of legend and lore, in pursuit of the truth at the core of United States history: that slavery was central to our founding and is inextricable from every aspect of historical and contemporary American life.

Despite the (for some, painful) deconstruction inherent in Smith's work, he takes great care with presenting his research and experiences. It is obvious he brings a level of humanity, compassion, and artistry amid this reckoning, and even during the most harrowing passages of the book, his writing is profoundly beautiful.  (His experience as a poet is evident especially in descriptions of place).

To answer the question, "What would it take to confront our false history?" we ought to start here, with this book. Highly recommend.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lizziaha's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.5

Prose written by a poet is just so lovely. And it was interesting to see how a story takes shape: the twists and turns, the reconstructions and the lies. The way that place holds such a deep meaning, and that place is imbued with history. The way that we are still molding history, that our current actions are both informed by history and become history. This book is part of that story that we tell about history. One particular section that I (a white southerner educated in the public school system) plan to revisit is Smith’s discussion of the South’s rallying cry of States Rights and how the story diverges from the history. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wifeslife's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

rmperezpadilla's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

brynalexa's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Poetic, powerful, and thought-provoking. Filled in some gaps in my education while inspiring me to seek out more information on the world’s cruel history. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings