Book Review

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates grabs you right from the beginning and refuses to let you go. The very first chapter, “Journalism Is Not a Luxury,” resonated with me immediately and with the mission of The DC Voice. The book starts with Coates recounting the summer of 2022, when he returns to Howard University to […]

I bought this book about three years ago. It rolled around from one part of the basement to another, finding itself in boxes to be donated, but it never quite made it out of the house. It wasn’t until I read Eddie Glaude Jr.’s Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul that

Like most books on the transatlantic slave trade, this book highlights the fact that slavery was common in Africa and other parts of the world. Prisoners captured in battle were commonly enslaved by their captors. It covers the Arab slave trade, which preceded the transatlantic slave trade by hundreds of years. It also delves into

The Washington Mall, in Southwest DC, home of most of DC’s notable landmarks and tourist destinations, is an area my parents spoke of with reverence. Whenever they ran into someone who lived in Southwest it was like a reunion. They would go on and on about people, events and remembrances for what seemed like hours.

Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital by Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove is a detailed, decade-by-decade walk through of the history of changes in the area that would become the home of the nation’s capital: Washington, D.C. It tracks the evolution of the D.C. area from the

This short read is one of the many accounts of the transatlantic slave trade and the culpability of African nations. It deals with both the transatlantic slave trade to the “Americas” and the East African/Indian Ocean slave trade fueled by “European greed.” It fueled the plantation economies of the new world and created a “human”

Be forewarned that as the forward says, this is not your typical autobiography. If you’re looking for splash and drama, you’ll be sadly disappointed. This book is more of a chronicle of events of a remarkable woman. Written matter-of-factly, it’s a journey through tumultuous times. It is written as any journalist would, answering the cornerstone

This short, tragic, gut-wrenching story of the death of 19-year-old Jordan McNair from an exertional heat-related injury is a very emotional read. His father, Marty McNair, walks you through the pain, acceptance, and advocacy he and his wife went through during the loss of their son. Mr. McNair walks you through his own personal litany

If you are looking for an overview of the extraordinary life of Ida B. Wells, this is the book for you. It’s told by her great-granddaughter Michelle Duster. It’s an account of the deterioration, strong will, and fight of Ida B. Wells in a male-dominated era. It also highlights slights by heralded African Americans such

Native Son grips you from the very beginning with the bad choices of its 20-year-old main character, Bigger Thomas. Those choices culminate in the murder and beheading of a white female heiress socialite who, along with her communist boyfriend, place Bigger in several racially awkward situations that culminate in the ultimate dilemma that leads to