Clint Smith

Clint Smith is the author and first person narrator of How the Word Is Passed. As a journalist, writer, and historian, Smith uses his first person point of view to examine and explore the ways in which “slavery is remembered and reckoned with” throughout American history and within its contemporary culture (6). In each chapter of the text, Smith describes his visits to “a mix of plantations, prisons, cemeteries, museums, memorials, houses, historical landmarks, and cities” in his own words and thus through his own lens (7). His distinct modes of seeing, processing, and interacting with these eight settings guide the reader through his overarching thematic explorations. While Smith is careful to leave room for the settings’ inhabitants, curators, guides, and visitors, he never pushes his own voice or perspective to the margins of the page. In allowing his experience onto the page, Smith therefore enacts his belief...