Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

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

19 reviews

lizziaha's review against another edition

4.5

Prose written by a poet is just so lovely. And it was interesting to see how a story takes shape: the twists and turns, the reconstructions and the lies. The way that place holds such a deep meaning, and that place is imbued with history. The way that we are still molding history, that our current actions are both informed by history and become history. This book is part of that story that we tell about history. One particular section that I (a white southerner educated in the public school system) plan to revisit is Smith’s discussion of the South’s rallying cry of States Rights and how the story diverges from the history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Confinement, Grief, Murder, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Child death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Slavery, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Torture

Moderate: Deportation

nishapan's review

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Trafficking, Death, Racial slurs, and Slavery

amsswim's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I very much encourage everyone to read or listen to this book. Follow the author to important heritage sites to the legacy of slavery through the US and beyond; plantations, prisons, confederate cemeteries.  Made me very reflective on random interactions I have had over the years and how the people in my family history may have interacted. The content is graphic and unflinching, which is entirely necessary. It is also one of the best written non-fiction books I have read, I believe because you are going on a journey with the author. I am unable to summarize so much of one amazing book, so I am just going to say again read it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, Trafficking, Racism, Confinement, Murder, Racial slurs, Bullying, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Slavery, Sexual violence, and Rape

jaiari12's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Racism, Classism, Police brutality, Violence, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Murder, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Racial slurs

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

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

tlaynejones's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

This was such an excellent book. I have an interest in learning about the system of enslavement and exploitation of Black, Indigenous and other Peoples of Colour that the USA has been built upon, so I had high expectations for this one. It was even better than I hoped. Smith has framed his examination of history through visits to key locations in the USA and Africa. He writes in a style that is a mix of conversational anecdotal experiences, and beautifully framed observations and analysis. It was extremely readable and engaging, not dry at all. 
I was filled with all the feelings as I listened to this book. I feel so strongly that we all, but especially those of us from privileged positions, have a responsibility to learn, and to unlearn our histories. 
Highly recommended. Go get this one. Read it. 
Let me know what you think. 
❤️📚
** edit. This is a book about the profoundly violent exploitation of Black people for hundreds of years, and the white people who blithely (and often proudly) committed this violence. There are many depictions of white people doing and saying violent and callous things towards Black people, and then justifying themselves. There are many CW for Black readers, and for other people of colour. 💗

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Hate crime

bgirl1214's review

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Confinement, Hate crime, Trafficking, Colonisation, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Medical trauma, Gore, Torture, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Cultural appropriation, Sexual violence, Child death, and Grief

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