Black History Month Book Discussion: How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith

Join us for a discussion of How the Word is Passed: a reckoning with the history of slavery across America by poet Clint Smith. Books will be available at the library by the end of January and the title is available through Libby (our ebook app).

The June 2021 edition of Bookpage says that "Smith's fascinating, nuanced book illuminates [our] struggle to acknowledge and reckon with [our] histories on both individual and societal levels."

The New York Times states, "The result is a tour of tours and a reckoning with reckonings, which sketches an impressive and deeply affecting human cartography of America’s historical conscience. The book’s standout quality is the range and sincerity of its encounters. Smith walks with tourists, guides, teachers, scholars, ex-convicts, local historians and heritage zealots, managing to catch nearly everyone in a moment of unscripted candor." [June 20, 2021. Listed as one of Top Ten Books of 2021]

Kirkus Reviews calls this book "a brilliant, vital work about 'a crime that is still unfolding.'" [June 1, 2021]

Here are some discussion questions to consider https://cms.library.wisc.edu/gobigread/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2022/07/How-the-Word-Is-Passed-Discussion-Questions.pdf