How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America [B0684]

2022 PB. National Book Critics Circle Award Winner. Stowe Prize Winner. One of President Obama's Favorite Books. And already banned in some places as 'Racially Divisive'. . .

This compelling #1 New York Times bestseller examines the legacy of slavery in America--and how both history and activism continue to shape our everyday lives. Beginning in his hometown of New Orleans, Clint Smith leads the reader on an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks--those that are honest about the past and those that are not--that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nation's collective history, and ourselves. It is the story of the Monticello Plantation in Virginia, the estate where Thomas Jefferson wrote letters espousing the urgent need for liberty while enslaving more than four hundred people. It is the story of the Whitney Plantation, one of the only former plantations devoted to preserving the experience of the enslaved people whose lives and work sustained it. It is the story of Angola, a former plantation-turned-maximum-security prison in Louisiana that is filled with Black men who work across the 18,000-acre land for virtually no pay. And it is the story of Blandford Cemetery, the final resting place of tens of thousands of Confederate soldiers.

A deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country's most essential stories are hidden in plain view--whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods like downtown Manhattan, where the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women, and children has been deeply imprinted. Informed by scholarship and brought to life by the story of people living today, Smith's debut work of nonfiction is a landmark of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country and how it has come to be.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "Such a beautifully written book about the harrowing reality of slavery in the United States. This was incredibly eye opening and I cannot recommend it enough."; "This is a thorough thoughtful book. It is part memoir, part travel narrative/ pilgrimage, part history of slavery, Jim Crow and racism. Towards the end, the author's grandparents share their memories with their grandson. This book made me think and it made me feel."; "Clint Smith visited 6 sites in the U.S. and 1 on Africa's west coast, all with deep slavery history to write this unflinching non-fiction book. He stays on topic, never excusing those who perpetuated and tried to rationalize the institution that was a cruel moral travesty in its time, as well showing the wrong thinking of those who quickly change the subject if the topic of slavery comes up today. "