Through them, the reader is able to dive deeper into the journey these enslaved people endured as they came to their new “home” in the swampy woodlands of Mississippi. To trust a “person of God” only to have them obliterate your people and your home is the ultimate betrayal and my heart broke for the King and she had that burden to shoulder as she rocked on a boat, tied down, as they crossed the Atlantic.Īs I mentioned above, the cast of secondary characters are well-developed and add such nuance to the story overall. Assumedly fictonal, it quite clearly painted a picture of a happy and celabratory culture that was so completely blindsided by the “missionary” infiltrators, that I also felt gutted after reading it. One of the most emotionally impactful things Jones did in this book was to take his readers to the village that was soon overtaken by these white monsters – something I’ve never read about before. If someone has only experience religion and Bible teachings in a negative and self-serving manner, there’s no reason to believe that they will find grace, truth, and healing in it. Jones’ use of religious undertones – from the names of the characters to the names of the chapters – really made me evaluate the way the Bible and it’s teachings can be misconstrued and weaponized to placate a group of people. While it’s nothing new, it is disheartening to see Biblical truth twisted to meet one’s agenda, and I can understand why many people are being turned off from religion. So much of this story cut straight to my heart.

The rich cast of secondary characters shine as well as they care for one another and try to ease the burden of life the enslaved exist under at Halifax. At the heart of the book is the love between Isaiah and Samuel…two enslaved Black men that find solace in each other, something that is increasingly threatened as the dark sides of “Empty” are revealed. The story of the Halifax plantation is layered with themes of love, racism, class, slavery, and white privilege. Swirling beneath him were the ways in which not having lawful claim to yourself diminished you, yes, but in another way, condemned those who invented the disconnection.” Robert Jones, Jr., “The Prophets” “But he did think about the ways in which his body wasn’t his own and how that condition showed up uniquely for everyone whose personhood wasn’t just disputed but denied.

This book blew me away! It’s a masterpiece that I will reflect on for a very long time.

The prophets jones