Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

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

7 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. 

---

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

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. 

---

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

paperknotbooks's review

challenging dark hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Slavery, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Violence, and Police brutality

sarahaf712's review

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Violence, and Xenophobia

Infanticide

toorsdenote's review

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

Probably my favorite book of the year. You wouldn't think a reflection on how the US understands its own history of slavery would be a total page-turner, but the way the author set it up as a travelogue of historical sites keeps things really descriptive and conversational. And you can tell he's a poet. Really amazingly done.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Police brutality, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, Xenophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Rape and Sexual violence

cianarae's review

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Bullying, Slavery, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

skudiklier's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book is one of the most important things you could read right now. Clint Smith visits places like plantations, prisons, and New York City to see how different sites and organizations are dealing with their history of slavery and racism. He connects the past to the present, and shows how this country was founded and built on slavery, and how this inequality continues on. And he shows how critical it is that we change the way we teach children about slavery, and the stories we tell about slavery and the United States.

While the book deals with serious historical topics, it is also a story about his personal experiences visiting these places, and it flows like a narrative in many ways. Smith is a beautiful writer and poet, and this book is never dry or boring in any way. I felt fully captivated by it in a way that feels rare in nonfiction (outside of memoirs).

I learned so much from this book—so much that I wish was taught to me in school, that I wish was taught to everyone. I learned history that informs my opinions on mass incarceration, the Civil War, constitutional law, Wall Street, the Emancipation Proclamation, capitalism, colonization, and more. I took a lot of notes (and screenshots) while reading this book, and I don't know where to begin trying to include them in a review like this. But here are a couple quotes that stood out to me:

"oppression is never about humanity or lack thereof. It is, and always has been, about power."

"In 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, Black Americans owned only 0.5 percent of the total wealth in the United States. Today, that number has barely increased: Black people own about 1-1.5 percent of the nation's wealth. Despite the role Black Americans played in generating this country's wealth, they don't have access to the vast majority of it."

"I do not yet have all the words to discuss a crime that is still unfolding."

I normally say things like "people interested in (blank) should read this," or, "I would highly recommend this book to anyone," but this time I'm going to directly recommend this book to you. You, specifically, whoever is reading this—you should read How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith, as soon as possible. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company for the chance to review this ARC. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Torture, and Violence

Minor: Antisemitism, Bullying, Confinement, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault