"The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood" by David Simon and Edward Burns is one of the most saddening and inspiring books I've ever read. The book follows the lives of residents near the corner of West Fayette and Monroe Streets in West Baltimore over the course of a year in the early 90's. The authors lay bare how a history of poverty, crime, and drug addiction tore apart the neighborhood, families, and individuals.

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12 Years a Slave is a movie about the unfortunate life events of Solomon Northup. Solomon was lured away from home under false pretenses, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. He then spent 12 years of his life yearning for his family and suffering under the false identity of "Platt". In this book and movie review, I discuss the themes of desperation, hope, coping, and survival.

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"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" tells the story of Harriet Jacobs, a fugitive slave who escaped North with hopes of reuniting with her children. A quick but thought-provoking read, the book touches on several social issues. One of the primary themes is the impact of limited civil rights on slave women and their ability to protect themselves and their children. Visit NoireHistoir.com for text and video.

Hello and welcome to Noire Histoir, a podcast where I share and discuss Black history and literature from my Noire perspective. In this introductory episode, I'll tell you a bit about myself and what you can expect from the podcast.

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