Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
51 reviews
amsswim's review
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.
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
discarded_dust_jacket's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
This is such a poignant and well-written book. Smith has such a talent for making the locations mentioned (and by extension, their history) so viscerally tangible; it felt like you were standing there with him, experiencing the weight of those places alongside him.
The locations themselves were well-curated: highlighting both places where we, as present day Americans, are attempting to reckon with our nation’s past relationship with chattel slavery, and places where we are instead choosing to prioritize comfort over truth.
It asks us to question (among other things) all we’ve been taught about a) those who were supposedly “the good guys” like Thomas Jefferson, and b) the “innocence” of northern cities, both pre- and post-civil war. It asks us not to shy away from discomfort, but to face the ugly truth head on. And no matter what was being discussed, it continued to remind us of the personhood of enslaved people—never allowing us to reduce the enslaved population of the United States to a faceless, amorphous concept in our minds, but instead repeatedly giving enslaved people names, identities, cultures, and deep familial bonds. Always always always reminding us: these were human beings. These were people. I really appreciated that aspect of Smith’s storytelling.
The locations themselves were well-curated: highlighting both places where we, as present day Americans, are attempting to reckon with our nation’s past relationship with chattel slavery, and places where we are instead choosing to prioritize comfort over truth.
It asks us to question (among other things) all we’ve been taught about a) those who were supposedly “the good guys” like Thomas Jefferson, and b) the “innocence” of northern cities, both pre- and post-civil war. It asks us not to shy away from discomfort, but to face the ugly truth head on. And no matter what was being discussed, it continued to remind us of the personhood of enslaved people—never allowing us to reduce the enslaved population of the United States to a faceless, amorphous concept in our minds, but instead repeatedly giving enslaved people names, identities, cultures, and deep familial bonds. Always always always reminding us: these were human beings. These were people. I really appreciated that aspect of Smith’s storytelling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Colonisation, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Murder, Racism, Slavery, Torture, and Violence
jaiari12's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
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
heatherilene's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Sexual assault, Classism, Racism, Violence, Slavery, Child death, and Confinement
leahkarge's review
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
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
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Stunning. Should be required reading.
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
sarahbythebook's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
In this moving exploration of places with inseverable ties to America's practice of slavery, Clint Smith brings his readers with him to grapple with the memory of slavery, examine how it is remembered, explore how it should be remembered, and meet the people both helping and hindering this country with an honest reckoning. There are examples of good-faith efforts and intentional obstruction as well as demonstrations of the vast web of slavery economics that often gets forgotten in our collective national memory.
How the Word is Passed is not a history of chattel slavery. It isn't a history of post-Civil War emancipation. It is a history of memory. The Germans have a word for this specifically with regard to the Holocaust: Vergangenheitsbewältigung, literally the overcoming of problems of the past. While the history of the practice of slavery itself is not something everyone needs to dive deep to understand, this history of how we remember is important to everyone because our collective national memory of African enslavement was tailored by pro-Confederate groups after the Civil War, sanitized and made consumable. It is not the truth, even if it feels more comfortable to us. This practice of questioning, dismantling, and reshaping the average American's understanding of how slavery impacted societies then and how it continues to impact society now is one of the many avenues to bring about much needed change.
White Americas practice of enslaving people of African descent is a difficult subject even for those of us who want to have the hard conversations. Smith and those who are working to improve our collective national memory--to make it more honest and move away from nostalgia--are gentle but firm, asking hard questions and expecting those listening to engage with the discomfort that comes from such discussions.
The first two chapters of this book hit especially close to him for me, literally. As a Louisiana native, I grew up going to plantations and Civil War battle grounds for classes and for family outings. As I've gotten older, visiting these sites has gotten harder specifically for the issues Smith highlights in this book. The enslaved people on those plantations are still rarely talked about on tours, though I do believe some places are improving. In my 18 years in the state, however, I had never even heard of the Whitney Plantation. It is now on my list of places to visit as soon as I am able.
More startling, though, was the chapter on the Louisiana State Penitentiary, or Angola. I drove past the turn-off for the prison every time I traveled to Arkansas to visit family. I passed the same road and got stuck in the Angola Prison Rodeo traffic on a regular basis when I volunteered at a Girl Scout camp nearby. I knew of the prison, and I grew up with my mother being horrified by the rodeo, but the rest of what Smith lays out was news to me. I was also well aware of the convict lease system that takes advantage of the state's imprisoned population. Even Louisiana's heinous lack of unanimous jury was something I had learned about just recently before reading this book. But the fact that you could tour the prison, even death row? That it was a former plantation? That the incarcerated workers make only seven cents an hour for their labor? I'm horrified and hope even more for the continued push for reforms in the state.
I hope that our country is moving in the right direction when it comes to our collective understanding of slavery and the role it has played in the continued subjugation of Black Americans. Clint Smith's How the Word is Passed gives some hope to that end but also highlights just how far we have to go.
How the Word is Passed is not a history of chattel slavery. It isn't a history of post-Civil War emancipation. It is a history of memory. The Germans have a word for this specifically with regard to the Holocaust: Vergangenheitsbewältigung, literally the overcoming of problems of the past. While the history of the practice of slavery itself is not something everyone needs to dive deep to understand, this history of how we remember is important to everyone because our collective national memory of African enslavement was tailored by pro-Confederate groups after the Civil War, sanitized and made consumable. It is not the truth, even if it feels more comfortable to us. This practice of questioning, dismantling, and reshaping the average American's understanding of how slavery impacted societies then and how it continues to impact society now is one of the many avenues to bring about much needed change.
White Americas practice of enslaving people of African descent is a difficult subject even for those of us who want to have the hard conversations. Smith and those who are working to improve our collective national memory--to make it more honest and move away from nostalgia--are gentle but firm, asking hard questions and expecting those listening to engage with the discomfort that comes from such discussions.
The first two chapters of this book hit especially close to him for me, literally. As a Louisiana native, I grew up going to plantations and Civil War battle grounds for classes and for family outings. As I've gotten older, visiting these sites has gotten harder specifically for the issues Smith highlights in this book. The enslaved people on those plantations are still rarely talked about on tours, though I do believe some places are improving. In my 18 years in the state, however, I had never even heard of the Whitney Plantation. It is now on my list of places to visit as soon as I am able.
More startling, though, was the chapter on the Louisiana State Penitentiary, or Angola. I drove past the turn-off for the prison every time I traveled to Arkansas to visit family. I passed the same road and got stuck in the Angola Prison Rodeo traffic on a regular basis when I volunteered at a Girl Scout camp nearby. I knew of the prison, and I grew up with my mother being horrified by the rodeo, but the rest of what Smith lays out was news to me. I was also well aware of the convict lease system that takes advantage of the state's imprisoned population. Even Louisiana's heinous lack of unanimous jury was something I had learned about just recently before reading this book. But the fact that you could tour the prison, even death row? That it was a former plantation? That the incarcerated workers make only seven cents an hour for their labor? I'm horrified and hope even more for the continued push for reforms in the state.
I hope that our country is moving in the right direction when it comes to our collective understanding of slavery and the role it has played in the continued subjugation of Black Americans. Clint Smith's How the Word is Passed gives some hope to that end but also highlights just how far we have to go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Slavery
Moderate: Colonisation, Violence, and Racial slurs
wlreed312's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Absolute must read. Beautifully written, heartbreaking, and hopeful all at the same time. This is a stunning work
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Slavery, Racism, Racial slurs, and Physical abuse
caitlin_bookchats's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Wow, this book is worth all the praise. Smith takes us to each place along his journey and helps us feel we are there while simultaneously holding our hands and showing us the things we wouldn't see without him.
He manages to have such compelling conversations with people in each place and bring us into those conversations at well. Thinking about how we remember things and how we pass on that remembrance to others or to future humans and in doing so how we are telling them and ourselves the stories we want to hear.
Just a spectacular read all around.
He manages to have such compelling conversations with people in each place and bring us into those conversations at well. Thinking about how we remember things and how we pass on that remembrance to others or to future humans and in doing so how we are telling them and ourselves the stories we want to hear.
Just a spectacular read all around.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery and Racism
Moderate: Violence and Racial slurs
Minor: Colonisation
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. 💗
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. 💗
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Trafficking, and Hate crime