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Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
27 reviews
westeggspinster's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Violence, and Police brutality
maddy4prezident's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and Police brutality
crybabybea's review against another edition
4.25
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.
Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Murder
siobhanward's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fascinating read I never would have come across without the NYT list, so I'm grateful to have found it. Through his research, Smith visits eight significant sites related to American slavery. Each site offers new insight and a new part of the history of slavery and Smith's story is told well. I especially appreciated that he went out of his way to speak with people, Black, white, old, young, like him or not to get their insights into the place. Obviously some of these conversations must have been uncomfortable but they added so much perspective to the book that might have been otherwise lost.
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Racial slurs
Minor: Police brutality
chels_ro's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, and Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Rape, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping
hellavaral's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism
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
nishapan's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Police brutality, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Colonisation
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