Reviews tagging 'Violence'

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

70 reviews

raebelanger's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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westeggspinster's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad fast-paced

5.0

Required reading to learn about the effects of slavery on modern American culture 
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maddy4prezident's review against another edition

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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.
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crybabybea's review against another edition

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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.
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hellavaral's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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ckozik1017's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative tense medium-paced

5.0

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mnatale100's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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anna_rubin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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befthhh's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Beautiful prose. Incredibly valuable and insightful read. Smith is a an excellent storyteller. 
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kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

Powerful. Compelling. Devastating. I learned a lot I didn’t know about myriad locations around the country (and world) that were and still are institutions of slavery and oppression. There’s a lot to unpack and reckon with about our history as a nation in this book and I think it’s worth the discomfort to know more about the nation’s real history. 
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