Book Review

DC Voice Book Club graphic featuring Chocolate City

Book Review: Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital

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 […]

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Book Review: The Slave Trade in Africa: The History and Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and East African Slave Trade across the Indian Ocean

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”

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Black and white portrait on book cover

Book Review: Crusade for Justice – The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells

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

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Smiling football player in orange jersey 70

Book Review: Can My Child Play? The Questions We Should Have Asked by Marty McNair

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

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Colorful illustrated portrait on book cover

Book Review – Ida B. The Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells

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

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Native Son book cover by Richard Wright

Native Son

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

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Black AF History book cover gold title

Book Review: Black AF History by Michael Harriot

Michael Harriot’s Black AF History is a bold, irreverent, and deeply insightful reexamination of American history that blends scholarship with razor-sharp wit. Harriot doesn’t just retell history—he interrogates it, exposing the contradictions between America’s ideals and its actions. With humor that ranges from laugh-out-loud funny to quietly biting, he dismantles the myths that have long

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