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errynnnn's review
5.0
Blackout poetry is very hard to create, however this work just blew my mind. Very well thought out and crafted, couldn’t get enough!! Looking forward to reading more of Smith’s work!
bhrtng's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
5.0
Dark Testament is a collection of blackout poetry derived from Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. The author, Crystal Simone Smith, wanted to pay homage to the many Black lives cut short by police brutality and racism. As a mother to a son, she found herself reckoning with the grief of knowing her own child is vulnerable to a similar fate based solely on the color of his skin. I found the poems to be moving and impactful. There are two parts, separated by full color glossy pages with murals and tributes to some of the lives lost. Smith does an excellent job of highlighting the portions of the original text to striking effect, with some poems dedicated to the honored dead and some to their mothers. I recognized some of the names, but not all of them, so I did take some time to look up their stories. This is a moving book of poetry and tribute to the Black lives cut short by violence. Highly recommend.
_mjmp_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
afro8921's review
4.0
Dark Testament uses the blackout poetry from in such a affective way. The original text used to create the poems is from Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. Ms. Smith manages to marry the words of George Saunders with the tragedy of killings of unarmed black people in a way that brings new reader to George Saunders text but, also shows the cyclical nature of violence against black people.