Smith's book is in a class of its own. Such an intriguing, thought-provoking analysis on the lasting legacy of enslavement and how contemporary American deals with it. The book details Smith's visits to several sites around the country related to enslavement, from New York to Louisiana.

The strength of the book is in its accessibility. There have been other books written on the subject, and some that Smith even mentions within the pages of this book, but some are more academic. This book manages to fuse readability with the great commentary on those issues. For instance, Kevin Levin's book on the African American confederate myth is great research, but I don't see it being picked up by lots of casual readers and on book club lists. This book will be and should be.

The most fascinating chapter in the book was on Angola. As a history teacher, I have sought to make a connection between talking about enslavement, mass incarceration, and Angola; Smith provides a great overview and readable expose on the prison. It's worth picking up the book by itself.

For many, again, this will not be new information, but it is presented in a personable way that will allow for conversation and reflection. Smith does a great job explaining how people's emotions still carry weight regarding policy and attitudes in American society. He makes clear the long-term impact of such a horrible institution that after reading it is impossible to say that "it's time to move on"

This is one of those books I will be pressing into the hands of everyone I know. It’s a book going to the top of my #TeachBetterBooks list. It’s required reading.

In How the Word is Passed, Clint Smith visits historical sites that hold importance to the way we craft stories about slavery in this country (and beyond). Beginning in New Orleans and the Monticello plantation, he considers how the legacy of Thomas Jefferson still needs to be critically examined, and the unwilling of so many to complicate the narrative. His visit to Angola Prison reveals the replication of slavery and Jim Crow laws. At Whitney Plantation, he considers how the function of a plantation can change the narrative, while also questioning how the pressures of society and funding affect such a project. He wrestles with New York’s history in slavery and visits a confederate gathering. Traveling all the way to Goreè Island, the persistence of a European gaze on the history of enslavement in Senegal frames the experience of young Senegalese students reckoning with this history and the tourist destination/experience the buildings that held the enslaved.

What makes this book different and necessary is that Smith approaches storytelling with the deftness of a poet, immersing the reader in the physical and emotional detail of each of his visits. He critically examines who is telling what story: from the way they are dressed, to the specific language they use, to they way others react to them. He doesn’t take personal distance from any of these descriptions, rather, he demonstrates how history is an embodied experience through these descriptions and his own response to them. He allows us to follow the connections he makes from his scholarly training to other historical contexts as well moments of personal connection (which culminate in a beautiful epilogue with his grandparents). It’s deeply moving, bringing the complex and violent history of enslavement into today’s context.

In Smith’s striving to understand how the word about this history is passed—how it continued to specifically be crafted to conceal its truths in some places and the difficulty of that truth telling in others—he gifts the readers with the ability to see beyond the words we’ve been given and cultivates a desire to grasp the truth for ourselves.

Thank you.