How the Word Is Passed

This book is Clint Smith's recounting of different historical places he visited around the world that had a connection to American slavery. He describes what he sees, who he meets, and the personal impacts these places had on him.

This book was harrowing. While I knew a lot of the horrors that happened during slavery, Smith had a way of wording things that made me really confront what that must have been like, instead of seeing it through the lens of time. These places are so important to our past, yet I had only heard of one of them. This in and of itself highlights how much the American education system leaves out from our teachings. Growing up in Texas, we were only vaguely taught about slavery. I knew it happened and I knew it was bad. It's been through my own research that I've truly discovered how disgusting it was. At the end of the day, Americans owned other humans. This book also shows that the North was not the savior of enslaved people. One of the places Clint Smith visits is NYC, where he showcases how prevalent slavery was even up North.

I think this book should be required reading in schools. I recommend and implore everyone to pick this up.