Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

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

27 reviews

jaiari12's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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analenegrace's review against another edition

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challenging informative

I was fortunate enough to meet Clint Smith and get a free signed copy at a university book event over a year ago, but I just now got to reading it. Smith is an amazing writer whose poetry clearly influences his prose, and it is written in such a compelling and beautiful book, even with the difficult subject matter.

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."

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leahkarge's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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rachbake's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Stunning. Should be required reading.

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sydapel's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective slow-paced

Part history compilation, part piece of journalism and partly the authors own reflections, but primarily I was fascinated by how Smith keeps coming back to how we teach others about slavery, both in America and abroad. A lot of the images described in this book, as well as the writing, will stick with me for a long time.

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paperknotbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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shieldbearer's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

Thoroughly researched with an extensive bibliography. A must-read.

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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

This is Smith’s first non-fiction, as he usually write poetry which comes through in the writing style of this work. He manages to place you in each of the locations as he describes the weather, the sounds, and the people around him. I learned and unlearned a lot of things from Smith’s book, continuing my education in the real history of the US (and in some cases Europe).

I know I say “this book is important” or “everyone should read this” quite often but if there’s only one book out of all my “should reads” that you grab, pick this one. It’s easily accessible in terms of language and content, not bogged down with information overload. Although it’s a heavy emotional read, it’s a fast read that had me staying awake late into the night.

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madradstarchild's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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caseythereader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

- I'm not sure if there's anything I can add to the discussion of HOW THE WORD IS PASSED, other than to concur with everyone that yes, this book is as vital and as good as everyone says it is.
- I learned a lot from this book: even if you're read a lot of history and antiracist literature, there's still more to excavate, and Smith brings it all up.
- Smith's inclusion of his personal experiences while visiting the sites in this book keep it from becoming a dry historical text. It does exactly what the sites are trying to do: bring the past into the present because it has never left us, as much as many of us try to pretend it has.

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