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.