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Reviews tagging 'Violence'
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
70 reviews
overthinkereading's review against another edition
5.0
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.
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
zosiablue's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Kidnapping, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, and Grief
isleofwoman's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Racism, Slavery, and Violence
Moderate: Racial slurs
houseren's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Racism and Violence
wifeslife's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation
brynalexa's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
amsswim's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
discarded_dust_jacket's review against another edition
3.5
The locations themselves were well-curated: highlighting both places where we, as present day Americans, are attempting to reckon with our nation’s past relationship with chattel slavery, and places where we are instead choosing to prioritize comfort over truth.
It asks us to question (among other things) all we’ve been taught about a) those who were supposedly “the good guys” like Thomas Jefferson, and b) the “innocence” of northern cities, both pre- and post-civil war. It asks us not to shy away from discomfort, but to face the ugly truth head on. And no matter what was being discussed, it continued to remind us of the personhood of enslaved people—never allowing us to reduce the enslaved population of the United States to a faceless, amorphous concept in our minds, but instead repeatedly giving enslaved people names, identities, cultures, and deep familial bonds. Always always always reminding us: these were human beings. These were people. I really appreciated that aspect of Smith’s storytelling.
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Colonisation
jaiari12's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Trafficking, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism
analenegrace's review against another edition
I cannot recommend reading this book, especially if you're trying to deconstruct what racism in America looks like. While there are so many lines I marked as pivotal to the book, the most important comes on page 289 in his epilogue,
"The history of slavery is the history of the United States. It was not peripheral to our founding; it was central to it. It is not irrelevant to our contemporary society; it created it. This history is in our soil, it is in our policies, and it must, too, be in our memories."
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, War, and Classism