A review by avhollow
Jam on the Vine by LaShonda Katrice Barnett

4.0

Magnificent. A story that encompasses the personal and the societal. Through Ivoe, her family, and her lovers, the author examines the challenges imposed by white people against black justice movements from the 1890s-1920s. The central part of the story follows Ivoe’s struggle to break into journalism, her exploration of abuses by the criminal justice system, and her changing views on how best to fight for justice and rejection of respectability politics as a means of achieving justice. The only thing holding it back from 5 stars is that the last part moves away from the personal, instead focusing on articles written in Ivoe’s paper and looking at the wider black newspaper industry, and becomes less engaging as a result. The section does give good information on some of the major papers of the time, including a reference to William Trotter that doesn’t name him directly that I can remember, but instead relies on the name of his paper and his dynamic personality to identify him. There are several other such real life papers and people identified.

The writing is brilliant and incorporates poetic flourishes throughout that ground the story in time and place while giving each character a distinctive voice.