Wow!! This book is fantastic and more people need to know about it. I was intrigued by the description and I ended up reading the entire book yesterday. I could not put it down and I am so sleepy today! But it was worth it.

Set in 2024, in Baltimore, with an only slightly dystopic presidential candidate who promises to make America great again and brings out the racism simmering in many Americans, the story was intense and powerful and rewarding. I REALLY hope that there is a sequel, I would love to follow these characters further.

The Black Cell is about a cell of the Black Liberation Movement, which teaches about racism, white supremacy, and the oppressive history of America that isn't taught in schools. The members of the black cell in Baltimore organize for resistance as the Alt (the fictional Trump followers) start coming out of the woodwork, forming militias, and harassing Black and brown people across the country. The members get arms training and work together to build community and support each other, fundraise, and take care of their own.

The story follows four main characters who join the black cell and their journey in learning about systemic racism and how it's affected them and their own families. Some journeys are bumpier than others as they face internalized racism as well. This book does not hold back in terms of talking about racism in America, white supremacy, and how, unless a person is actively anti-racist and fighting for Black liberation, then they're part of the problem. Read it!

The Black Cell was one of nine books I gave five stars in 2022. It’s been a while, and it is rare, that I read a book in which fiction/art imitates life so closely. I loved this book and will be following this author’s work closely in the future.

Set in the near future, in 2024, in Baltimore, against a backdrop of an impending US presidential election in which the present Black incumbent is likely to be ousted by a right-wing Republican candidate, Reginald Sumter, who is backed by followers called The Alt, police brutality against Black people is at an all-time high. The novel explores what might happen if those oppressed people decide to fight back. It imagines a secret organisation of Black men and women who train for armed resistance to the prevailing white supremacy. At its heart is Corey Masters, a young black man who is traumatised by his experience of racism during his childhood, and this is exacerbated after a false arrest and beating by the police. His roommate introduces him to the Black Cell, which allies itself with La Lucha (its latinx counterpart). Together the two groups number their membership in the millions, and the novel explores the potential power of Black people if they should unite against white supremacy and the endemic racism that has oppressed them for so long. It examines the legal, political, social and economic consequences of racism, and the corroding effect of constant injustice. It’s a powerful and engaging novel, a Black dystopia grounded in the author’s own experience as a Baltimore activist and educator. It offers a coruscating portrait of how Black people are often viewed and treated, and how their daily lives are impacted. The novel is well-structured and well-paced, but I found it too didactic and it lacked subtlety and nuance. I felt at times I was being lectured at, with too much exposition. I also felt that the blurb does the book a disservice in stating that it is unapologetically targeted at Black readers, as I feel that it deserves a far wider readership, perhaps in particular a White one. Although I have my reservations about the book’s literary merits, I still feel that it is an important and relevant examination of endemic racism and will surely strike a chord with a wide and varied readership – including possibly a racist one. This is a book for everyone who looks for enlightenment in their reading and wishes to engage with our contemporary flawed society.

Love this book. Really did a great job of capturing the reality of what many face in these environments. Would recommend to any friend.

Interesting premise, but the book turns out to be more educational history/theory for the improvement of Black lives in the US than literary work. Which is good if that's your goal, but as a reader who already knew most of the things being explained it became boring quickly.

This is the dystopian novel of our time. Set in the near future, 2024, in Baltimore, MD, The Black Cell is a novel about blackness, racism, and revolution. The novel centers on the development of a Black Resistance Movement in Baltimore and revolves around the experiences of four Black protagonists, who become involved in some way in this movement. Tasia is a young black single mother, a university student, a young woman trying to understand how to live her life and raise her daughter. Lisa is a young married woman, a wife and mother to two black children, a woman who has internalized the racism of the world, turned that knife inward. She comes to terms with how whitewashed her life has become. Donovan is her male/masculine counterpart, a young, professionally successful black man who has a penchant for white women and who is ashamed of his black culture and heritage. He too comes to a confrontation with himself. Corey is a young black teenager, Tasia's counterpart, trying to figure out his place in the world and what he can do to make it better.

This novel is ideal for young adult readers, university and high school students, anyone who is at the beginning of their journey towards decolonization, regardless of their own personal heritage and background.

The Black Cell by Wendy Shaia offers a road map for what Black liberation, collective healing, social justice and racial justice could look like in the future. The most powerful aspect of reading this book is that I've never read anything like it. When we talk about racial and social justice we often talk in terms of our hopes, dreams and theoretical possibilities. This is the first time I've read a story that actually shows the reader what justice looks like in action and what it requires from us both within our own communities and from those who would call themselves allies.

Thank you so much, Wendy Shaia, for offering this story to the world. This is going to be a groundbreaking release that will open the door to exploration, conversation, and possibility towards breaking down and rebuilding a more equitable world and dismantling white supremacy and the systems of hate and oppression it upholds. Thank you to the author and publisher for the E-Arc copy.

I’ll come back with a more detailed review but omg I love this book so much. It’s 100% a page turner. I didn’t want to put it down. I will be raving about this book up until pub date. Wendy, you put your foot in this!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!