Review: How The Word Is Passed
How The Word Is Passed by Clint Smith Published 2021 This is a hard book to stomach. But isn't that the point? Slavery is not pretty. It cannot be wrapped and presented neatly with a bow. It is violent and dehumanizing. It is degrading and horrific. And, if you have taken a history class in the United States of America, you have likely not even heard the stories Clint Smith covers. Smith delved into stories I did not know about Monticello Plantation, Whitney Plantation, Angola Prison, Blandford Cemetery, Galveston Island, New York City, and Goree Island. This is not to say I have never heard of these places. I knew Jefferson lived at Monticello. I have been to Galveston and knew a very simplistic history of Juneteenth. Everyone knows stories about New York City. This is more to say that I did not know how deeply entrenched these places were in the history of slavery in our country. I did not know of the children Jefferson fathered with Sally Hemmings. I did not know th...