Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

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

20 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Colonisation, Gore, Classism, Death, Racial slurs, War, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Child abuse, and Child death

zosiablue's review

challenging informative sad medium-paced

4.25

Incredibly powerful and personal. The author visits sites around US (and one in Africa) to explore those places' relationships with slavery. Most of the history I didn't know, including the chapter about the cemetery a mile from my parents' house, one I drove by every day on my last visit. The Angola prison section was especially shocking to me; I didn't know there was a gift shop attached to the prison mocking its cruelty. I also appreciated how the author was open about his own gaps here - parts he didn't know or details he focused on that later he realized weren't important. Smith is a poet, so occasionally the writing got a little purple, but not enough to detract. An important book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Genocide, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Classism, Colonisation, and Racism

Moderate: Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, and Grief

wifeslife's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual violence, Rape, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Genocide, Slavery, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Child death, Death, Deportation, Violence, Police brutality, Racial slurs, and Racism

brynalexa's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Poetic, powerful, and thought-provoking. Filled in some gaps in my education while inspiring me to seek out more information on the world’s cruel history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Slavery, Bullying, Torture, Violence, Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Kidnapping, Death, Death of parent, Excrement, Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Xenophobia

analenegrace's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Classism, War, Racism, Genocide, Grief, Violence, Murder, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Confinement, Death, Medical content, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Trafficking

zachtrotz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery

Moderate: Physical abuse, Genocide, and Rape

leahkarge's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Trafficking, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Genocide, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Racial slurs, Classism, Death, Torture, Violence, Racism, and Rape

rachbake's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Stunning. Should be required reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Rape, Slavery, Genocide, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Police brutality, Racism, and Murder

bookedbymadeline's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, Death, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape, Child death, Kidnapping, War, and Genocide

Minor: Police brutality

belle2008's review

challenging informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Racism, Death, Genocide, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence