Landon Woodson's quiet confidence is a great vehicle for expressing the perspective that permeates this important audiobook about racism. The young actor connects in a balanced way with the author's mission to call out the realities of slavery and the rationales, denials, and hypocracy associated with its continuing effects on African-Americans. Woodson's matter-of-fact tone helps listeners absorb these realities with equanimity. The author is a novelist, essayist, and literature teacher who says race is an obsolete concept, a loosely applied type of class distinction. Based on meticulous historical research, his latest book is an accessible account of racial subjugation and marginalization as it's been practiced across the globe. The blend of this balanced writing and the narrator's approach make this a go-to audio for anyone desiring enlightenment about these issues.
Pub Date: 2020
Duration: 8 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781549174247
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
What makes Dominic Hoffman such a fine narrator is the clarity of his delivery and his vocal agility. He sounds like he is inside Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s, brilliant mind, and he moves adroitly from the author’s knowing perspective to “signifying” in the style of African American folklore. His voice is conversational and his tone thoughtful as he takes the listener from the works of eighteenth-century poet Phyllis Wheatley to the abolitionist polemics of Frederick Douglass and sociological perspectives of W.E.B. Du Bois. Through this work, subtitled “Writing the Race,” historian, filmmaker, and PBS host Gates gives the listener a distinct frame through which to view African American history. This fine audiobook adds to the Harvard historian’s exceptional body of work.
Pub Date: 2024
Duration: 7 hrs
DD ISBN: 9780593829110
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Performing this moving history from surviving members of the iconic singing group The Blind Boys of Alabama, Phil Morris captures the joys, hardships, and pathos woven into their 80-plus years of performing Black gospel music. You can hear the reverence Morris feels as he describes the pivotal periods of American history the evolving members of the group somehow survived. Their journey, skillfully organized by music journalist Lauterbach, is captivating. The Blind Boys' origins can be found in the early a cappella collaborations of several teenagers in Alabama, scrappy kids who loved harmonizing and sharing the spiritual and cultural truths of mid-twentieth-century America. From street singing to the Grammy Awards and presidential performances, these storylines and their historical context will be hard for listeners to pause.
Pub Date: 2024
Duration: 7 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781668637548
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
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