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African American Literature Book Club's
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| AALBC.com BEST SELLING BOOKS | ||||||||||||||||||
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The top 25 selling fiction and nonfiction
books from All of 2009 (2,186 different titles sold!)
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 1 - Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans2 - The Isis Papers: The Keys to the Colors by Frances Cress Welsing 3 - Cool, Confident and Strong: 52 Power Moves for Girls by Cassandra Mack 4 - Dear G-Spot: Straight Talk About Sex and Love by Zane 5 - Christopher Columbus and the Afrikan Holocaust: Slavery and the Rise of European Capitalism by Dr. John Henrik Clarke |
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| AUTHORS YOU SHOULD KNOW | ||||||||||||||||||
 Lucille Cliftonhttp://aalbc.com/authors/lucille_clifton.html In 2007, Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010) became the first African American woman to win the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, one of the most prestigious American poetry awards and one of the largest literary honors for work in the English language. Clifton has also won the National Book Award in poetry for Blessing the Boats, and is the only author ever to have two collections, Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir and Next: New Poems, named finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in one year. |
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 Carol
Taylorhttp://aalbc.com/authors/carol_taylor.html Taylor, a former Random House book editor, has been in book publishing for over 16 years and has worked with many of today's top black writers. Carol has been featured in Essence, Ebony, Black Enterprise, Honey, BET, Heart and Soul, The Boston Globe, The Daily News, The Chicago Sun-Times and Publisher's Weekly among many other publications. She has also appeared on BET Tonight with Ed Gordon and ABC Eyewitness News. She is also the editor of the bestselling Brown Sugar series. |
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 Leonce
Gaiterhttp://aalbc.com/authors/leonce_gaiter.html Raised in New Orleans, Washington D.C., Germany, Missouri, Maryland and elsewhere, Leonce Gaiter is the quintessential army brat—rootless, restive, and disagreeable. He began writing in grade school and continued the habit through his graduation from Harvard. He moved to Los Angeles and put his disagreeability to work in the creative and business ends of the film and music industries. His nonfiction writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Times, LA Weekly, NY Newsday, The Washington Post, Salon, and in national syndication. His short fiction has appeared in the literary magazine Archipelago. His thriller "Bourbon Street" was published by Carroll & Graf in 2005. He currently lives in Northern California. |
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 James E. Cherryhttp://aalbc.com/authors/james_cherry.html Cherry is the founder/president of The Griot Collective of West Tennessee, a 501(c)(3) literary arts organization where he conducts a monthly poetry workshop. He serves as Artist in Residence for the Tennessee Arts Commission with a primary focus of dealing with troubled teens through both the written and spoken word. He resides in Tennessee with his wife, Tammy. |
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| AALBC.com BOOK REVIEWS (Fiction) | ||||||||||||||||||
 Cougar Tales
by Evelyn Palfrey, Sandra Kitt, and Laura Castorohttp://aalbc.com/reviews/cougar_tales.html Cougar Tales is a delightful set of stories about older women who are reluctant to accept the attentions of a younger man. I enjoyed them very much. What I didn’t enjoy were the repeated and I mean REPEATED typos in the book. I am not talking about an uncorrected proof, or a review copy. I purchased this book at an on-line bookstore. The first story had so many errors that it was hard to keep the flow of the storyline. This was repeated throughout the book. All of the stories had too many errors. It pissed me off that the publisher did not care enough about the reader to give us a quality product. None of the authors in this anthology have released poorly edited books, so I am sure the errors can not be attributed to the authors, but to the publisher. |
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 Secrets and
Lies by Rhonda McKnight http://aalbc.com/reviews/secrets_and_lies.html Rhonda McKnight's debut novel, Secrets and Lies is about a married couple who despite their comfortable financial situation are a family in crisis. Jonah Morgan's successful practice in Pediatric Cardiology allows his wife Faith to be a stay-at-home mother to their two children in a beautiful house in an affluent Atlanta neighborhood with good schools and wonderful friends and neighbors. They drive the best cars, wear expensive clothes and their children are exposed to everything good that life has to offer. The author makes good use of this crisis situation in Faith and Jonah's lives. You won't be disappointed with this story. It makes for a night of good reading as they both find healing in a way that mends their family's torn lives. |
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 Not Guilty of
Love by Pat Simmonshttp://aalbc.com/reviews/not_guilty_of_love.html Romance readers will enjoy this novel because it's not your usual Christian fiction. It's a real love story. Many times, Christian fiction is too preachy and full of literary fluff with a happily-ever-after storyline that only Christian folk can relate to. This is not the case with Not Guilty of Love. Simmons takes the time, the creativity and the imagination to give readers a story that almost everyone can relate to. I'm looking forward her next book. I hear this is a trilogy. |
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 God Ain't Blind
by Mary Monroe http://aalbc.com/reviews/god_aint_blind.html Now I have to admit that I am a long-time Mary Monroe fan. Her stories rate up there at the top of fiction reader's most loved novels. Her characters have always been some of the most interesting people that I have never met; so I am sorry to report that her latest in the series, God Ain't Blind; did not do it for me this time. Mary Monroe has been hailed as a masterful storyteller and is a New York Times bestselling author. Mary, Mary, Mary! Why didn't you re-think this one? |
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 The Ex Chronicles: A Novel by Carol Taylorhttp://www.aalbc.com/reviews/exchronicles.html If any of you have been following me for any length of time, you are well aware of how I feel about the 3, 4 sista-girlfriends novels that had become the staple of African-American literature. Novels that feature women characters who have no family other their small circle of friends, and the focus is always on how they lose love, or been with the wrong man, but after a tragic event, they solidify the romance to the man they did not expect to be hooking up with. I grew tired of these books years ago. I was not in the market to revisit those days. Imagine my surprise when I got a copy of The Ex-Chronicles by Carol Taylor. When the novel crossed my desk, I tossed it to the side and thought; somebody obviously did not know me. I was drawn to the novel anyway. When I became aware that Taylor was the editor of the Brown Sugar collection, I was intrigued. I read and loved Brown Sugar. On the back of Brown Sugar’s reputation, I put The Ex-Chronicles in my “to read” pile. I’m glad I did. There was more substance in The Ex-Chronicles than I suspected. Easy to read, fast paced, and enthralling, The Ex-Chronicles is a damn good book. I enjoyed it! |
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 Buying Time by Pamela Samuels Younghttp://www.aalbc.com/reviews/buying_time.html Murder mysteries are fast becoming one of my favorite genres and author Pamela Samuels Young comes highly recommended. Her books have a pretty large following of readers who trust her to give them a great storyline with a very well paced plot and plenty of action. Young's latest release; Buying Time lived up to her stellar reputation. I literally could not put this book down. The characters were varied. Waverly Sloan is a recently disbarred lawyer whose high-maintenance, spoiled wife Deidra spends his money faster than he can earn it. Waverly, a nice guy whose average looks normally puts a woman like Deidra out of his league, is so happy to have her that he has always allowed her mega spending. Deidra, on the other hand feels entitled. She married him expecting the good life. |
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| AALBC.com BOOK REVIEWS (Non-Fiction) | ||||||||||||||||||
 Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original
by Robin D. G. Kelleyhttp://aalbc.com/reviews/thelonious_monk.html Highly detailed, stunning, and comprehensive, Robin Kelley’s excellent biography of innovative jazz pianist Thelonious Sphere Monk dismisses the previously publicized myth of the allegedly eccentric, bizarre oddball, who was named “the High Priest of Bebop.” Many of the popular articles and documentaries about Monk perpetuated various rumors and falsehoods surrounding the man, musician, father, and husband, including the much acclaimed Clint Eastwood-produced film which showed the slow slide of the genius into emotional and physical disarray. With Kelley’s incisive analysis of Monk, new light is shed on the man, without the negative psychological labeling or the tabloid “warts-and-all” viewpoint. |
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 The Entrepreneur Guide 2010 Edition
by Owen O. Danielshttp://aalbc.com/reviews/entrepreneur_guide_2010_edition.html The book is the brainchild of Owen O. Daniels, who recently returned to the States after serving his second tour of duty over in Iraq. Besides rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army, the author has also earned a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from John Jay College in New York, and a Master’s in Computer Science with a minor in Business Administration from Webster College in St. Louis. This unique combination of skills obviously came in very handy in enabling Daniels to craft a sensible step-by-step resource designed to address any question which might arise in the mind of a budding entrepreneur en route to making that first million. Succinctly written in layman’s terms the average educated person can understand, the user-friendly text virtually takes you by the hand and walks you through the typical start-up process in sequential fashion. |
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 Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority by Tom
Burrellhttp://www.aalbc.com/reviews/brainwashed.html Ever since the dawn of the nation when the Founding Fathers deliberately rationalized slavery by spreading the big lie that black people were inferior, African-Americans have suffered from serious self-esteem issues. But why has this phenomenon continued to persist so long past emancipation and the elimination of the Jim Crow system of segregation? This is the nagging thought which inspired Tom Burrell to write Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority. After all, as an advertising executive with 45 years in the business, he is well aware of the power of propaganda. So he knows that American society has done such a good job on the minds of blacks that they have not only internalized but have willingly participated in the perpetuation and further dissemination of nearly every negative stereotype propagated about them by the media. |
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 Why
Do Black People Love Fried Chicken? And Other Questions You’ve Wondered
but Didn’t Dare Ask by Nashieqa Washingtonhttp://aalbc.com/reviews/why_do_black_people.html Basically, her book is designed to address 66 of the most common questions that curious white people have repeatedly asked her about African-Americans, ranging from “What is CPT?” (The true black ETA at an affair) to “Why don’t black people get wrinkles?” (Because black don’t crack) to “Do blacks deserve reparations? (Yes, past due wages, plus interest) to “Can black people be racist?” (No.). Nashieqa doesn’t presume to speak for all black people, instead stipulating that her conclusions were arrived at based upon anecdotal evidence and her own personal observations, not anything scientific. Thus, her responses are intended to entertain as much as they elucidate. Sometimes, she even admits to being stumped, like by the query, “Why do black people talk to the movie screen?” |
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 The Denzel Principle: Why Black Women Can’t Find Good Black Men
by Jimi Izraelhttp://aalbc.com/reviews/the_denzel_principle.html At first, I thought this book was just Jimi’s way of getting even, and settling a score in a very public fashion with ex-wives Frances and Leslie. But no, he sees their discontent and behavior as par for the course, since in his eyes black females in general set their standards too high and exchange vows with unrealistic expectations of brothers. So, it is no surprise that he would also blame the fact that two-thirds of all African-American marriages end in divorce “less on black men and more on black women and their inability to make good choices.” I doubt that this is the definitive primer on how to find a good black man, unless you’re inclined to take advice from a guy who, for instance, would discourage you from falling for an ex-con by simply saying “That’s [bleep]-ing stupid! Holy [bleep]!” However, as the colorful, comical and relentlessly-raw reflections of a miserable two-time loser with some serious unresolved anger issues, this memoir rates an A+. But when it comes to dating do’s and don’ts, you might want to get a second opinion. |
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 The Black Clergy's Misguided Worship Leadership
by Christopher C. Bell, Jr. Ed.http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/the_black_clergys_misguided_worship_leadership.htm With this defiant publication, The Black Clergy's Misguided Worship Leadership, Dr. Christopher C. Bell, Jr. states his position that white idols have inflicted Blacks with "debilitating white superiority syndrome," adding an element of insidious "emotional emasculation" of Black men in an unfeeling American society. For Dr. Bell, he sees the detrimental effect upon our young males, who act out in negative ways of delinquencies, violence, and crime leading to prison. Framed as petition with supporting research, Dr. Bell implores the Black Church in this book to stop the worship of a white Jesus Christ, a blue-eyed and blonde deity resembling the actor Jeffrey Hunter or Max Von Sydow. The worship of a white idol stresses the traditional superiority of whites and promotes the notion that God is a white male, according to the author. He sees the open-minded innocence of Black children soaking up into their little minds, absorbing all the tenets of white racism, white privilege, and white supremacy. |
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| AALBC.com INTERVIEWS | ||||||||||||||||||
 Zetta Brown
- Scotland's
Zane
Hits Big in Publishing World http://aalbc.com/authors/zetta_brown.html The international publishing world is taking notice off Zetta Brown’s red hot L-L Publications with its line of unorthodox commercial books. Based in Scotland, L-L Publications and its sister imprint, Logical-Lust, have made profitable inroads across the European continent, and now it has America in its sights. Several of its books have garnered acclaim and critical praise. The following interview with Robert Fleming and Zetta Brown covered many subjects such as censorship, self-publishing, the profit-loss obsession of mainstream publishing, erotica, sex, the craft of writing, and the difference between European vs. American sensibilities. |
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 Joumana Kidd - The “Let’s Talk about Pep” Interviewhttp://www.aalbc.com/reviews/joumana_kidd.html In the wake of the tabloid attention devoted to both her very rocky marriage and her messy divorce, Joumana devoted herself to raising her three children: son TJ, and twin girls Miah and Jazelle. Here, she talks about the delicate balance of her home and love lives, now that she’s decided to date again and to let the cameras chronicle her every intimate moment on the new VH1 reality show “Let’s Talk about Pep.” |
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 Tracy Morgan - The
“Cop Out” Interviewhttp://aalbc.com/reviews/tracy_morgan_the_cop_out.html Brooklyn-born Tracy Morgan started out in showbiz in his teens, doing standup until he was invited to join Saturday Night Live’s ensemble cast in 1996. During his seven seasons on SNL, the colorful comedian played such memorable characters as Brian Fellows, Astronaut Jones and Woodrow while also doing impersonations of everyone from Al Sharpton to Star Jones to Aretha. Currently, Tracy is co-starring opposite Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin on the Emmy-winning NBC series “30 Rock.” Meanwhile, on the big screen, he’s made such movies as G-Force, Head of State, How High, The Longest Yard, Little Man, Are We There Yet, First Sunday and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Last fall, he published his autobiography, “I Am the New Black.” Here, he talks about that memoir and about collaborating again with director Kevin Smith to make Cop-Out, a buddy comedy co-starring Bruce Willis. |
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 Zane - The “Sex Chronicles” Interviewhttp://bit.ly/zane_interview Zane (not her real name) is the best-selling author of a plethora of African-American-oriented erotica, including Dear G Spot, Afterburn, Gettin' Buck Wild, The Heat Seekers, Addicted and The Sex Chronicles, to name a few. This iconoclastic phenom has also edited and/or contributed to such other titles as Love is Never Painless, Caramel Flava, Chocolate Flava, Best Black Women's Erotica, Brown Sugar 2, Twilight Moods, Dark Dreams, and Becoming Myself. Besides writing, Zane is the publisher of Strebor Books International for which she is responsible for acquiring dozens of titles per year and currently has nearly 50 authors signed to her imprint. She serves as the moderator of PlanetZane.net, where thousands of her fans who call themselves "Zaniacs" converge on a daily basis to discuss her work, as well as love and relationships. Zane has more than 35,000 MySpace friends and nearly 400,000 friends at BlackPlanet.com. Here, she talks about "Zane's Sex Chronicles" the daring Cinemax television series loosely based on her own real life sexploits, which premiered on Cinemax in October of 2008 and whose first season was recently released on DVD. |
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| AALBC.com FILM REVIEWS | ||||||||||||||||||
 Preacher's Kid
- Prodigal Daughter Learns Valuable Life Lessons in Moralizing Melodramahttp://aalbc.com/reviews/preachers_kid.html As the only child of an overprotective, widowed father, Angie King (Letoya Luckett) almost couldn’t help but feel smothered. But when you factor in her dad’s being both a preacher and a pillar of the community in their tight-knit community in Augusta, Georgia, you’ve got a serious recipe for rebellion. Thus far, the 23 year-old virgin has devoted herself to the needs of her asthmatic father, between singing in the choir, ministering around the ‘hood and attending services several times a week. However, everything changes the day Angie decides to run away not to join the circus but a Tyler Perry-esque travelling troupe passing through town, a supposedly spiritually-oriented outfit putting on a faith-based fable featuring Aunt Bebe, a trash-talking character played by a big dude (Carlos Davis) in a dress. For she has developed an instant crush on the show’s suave star, Devlin (Durrell Tank Babbs), a Romeo well versed in the art of seduction. |
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 The End of
Poverty?- Globalization Documentary
Discusses Paradox of Poverty in Era of Unparalleled Wealthhttp://aalbc.com/reviews/end_of_poverty.html Why have so many Third World countries remained impoverished and underdeveloped even after gaining their independence from the European nations which had conquered and colonized them? This is the basic question addressed by The End of Poverty, an incendiary expose’ directed by Philippe Diaz. In essence, this damning documentary is a history lesson about the ugly underbelly of Western Civilization from 1492 up to the present. For not long after Columbus “discovered” America, European countries began descending on the so-called New World, using both the bullet and the Bible to bend assorted indigenous peoples to their will. The Dutch focused primarily on Asia while the English assured themselves that the sun would never set on the ever-expanding British Empire. Even the Pope got into the act, awarding Africa to Portugal and South America to Spain by papal decree. |
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For my money, the British flick Fish Tank was easily the best movie released in the first month of 2010. And if I were handing out another accolade for February, that would have to go to this compelling, super-realistic indie, a character-driven affair written and directed by Emily Abt. Ms. Abt, an award-winning filmmaker previously known for such documentaries as Take It from Me and All of Us, makes her first foray into dramatic fare here. This film made a big splash at Sundance a year ago, when it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. Set in the Washington, DC area, it revolves around an unlikely love triangle which comes to test the already tenuous bond of friendship forged between a couple of high school classmates, one black, one white, who play on the lacrosse team. |
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. . .black hair care has blossomed over the years into a multibillion-dollar industry promising sisters silky tresses via a variety of avenues ranging from hot combs and relaxers to wigs and weaves. Regardless of the combination picked, straight hair comes at a considerable cost, given the toll this high-maintenance habit tends to exact not merely financially, but also in terms of one’s time and mental and physical health. It was this litany of concerns which caused Chris Rock to react when his 5 year-old daughter, Lola, asked, “Daddy, why don’t I have good hair?” Dismayed to think that she might already be struggling with a sensitive self-esteem issue at such a tender age, he decided to do some serious research in order to figure out exactly how to answer her sensibly. |
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 Black
Dynamite - Campy Spoof of Blaxploitation Era Comes to Blu-Ray
http://aalbc.com/reviews/black_dynamite.htmlSet in 1972, the film stars Michael Jai White in the title role as a gun-toting, /span> two-fisted superhero bent on avenging the murder of his brother by the Mafia. Quite conveniently, the mobsters responsible have been flooding the ghetto with heroin and a penis-shrinking brand of malt liquor which afflicts black men with erectile dysfunction. Consequently, Dynamite rationalizes bloody retribution as he makes the most of beaucoup opportunities to even the score as he traces a trail back to the brains of the operation leading all the way to the White House. Essentially, the movie is a nostalgic throwback celebrating all of the trademarks of the blaxploit genre, from jive pimps in garish outfits with scantily-clad whores to evil politicians with corrupt cops in their pockets to a funky R&B soundtrack to foul-mouthed dialogue laced with both expletives and ethnic slurs. Still, the flick’s salient feature is high-body count action, with Dynamite being responsible for the bulk of the butt-kicking. |
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 Cop Out - Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis Co-Star in Mismatched Cops
Comedyhttp://aalbc.com/reviews/cop_out.html Some of the funniest cop comedies ever made have revolved around a pair of mismatched partners. Such memorable, madcap adventures as Rush Hour and Bad Boys immediately coming to mind in this regard. But the genre has suffered its share of misfirings, too, and unfortunately the readily-forgettable Cop Out falls in that category. Directed by Kevin Smith, the film stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as NYPD detectives, with the former playing a wily veteran in contrast to the latter’s more mercurial, trash-talking village idiot. We learn that despite seemingly incompatible personas, Jimmy Monroe (Willis) and Paul Hodges (Morgan) have somehow been sharing the same police cruiser for nine years. |
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 Lord, Save Us from Your Followershttp://aalbc.com/reviews/lord_save_us_from_your_followers.html How is it that Christianity has come to be so closely associated with the Religious Right and conservative political causes? This is the fundamental question being asked by director Dan Merchant in Lord, Save Us from Your Followers an alternately humorous and sobering look at how far the practice of Christianity has deviated from the teachings of Jesus. “You can tell you’ve created God in your own image,” suggests one of his interviewees, author/activist Anne Lamott, “when it turns out God hates all the same people you do.” Her tongue in cheek assessment of the state of religion in the U.S. reflects the perspective shared by Mr. Merchant, who proves himself something of a Michael Moore here, as he perambulates the country, microphone in hand, deliberately provoking outrage amidst an array of self-righteous Bible Thumpers. |
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| AALBC.com ARTICLES | ||||||||||||||||||
 Oscar
Predictions 2010 - The Envelope Please: Who Will Win, Who Deserves to
Win, Who Was Snubbedhttp://bit.ly/oscar_pred Although Avatar and The Hurt Locker landed 9 Academy Award nominations each, I foresee the former and director James Cameron enjoying a clean sweep. Breaking all box-office records, Avatar is a juggernaut that nobody will be able to stop on Oscar night. This means that The Hurt Locker, which was directed by Cameron’s ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, might very well be shut out entirely, unless the Academy decides to split their votes between the two in the Best Director and Best Picture categories. The most hotly-contested of the major categories is Best Actress, where the least deserving, Sandra Bullock, is the sentimental favorite. However, I anticipate that perennial-nominee Meryl Streep (16) will prevail in the most difficult contest to handicap. That’s not the case for the other three acting categories where nominees Jeff Bridges, Christoph waltz and Mo’Nique may as well be making room on the their mantels for a new trophy. |
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A year ago, newly-elected President Barack Obama dominated the NAACP Image Awards. But this go-round, the movie Precious enjoyed that honor, walking away with a half-dozen trophies in the movie categories, including Best Picture, Director (Lee Daniels), Independent Film, Actress (Gabby Sidibe), Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique) and Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher).As for television, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne proved the voters’ favorite, netting four awards. Among the evening’s highlights were an array of gracious acceptance speeches, especially those by Mo’Nique and her teary-eyed co-star Gabby Sidibe, and by their director/producer Lee Daniels who brought down the curtain by continue to speak until the closing credits began to roll. Tyler Perry dedicated his accolade to his late mother who just passed away last December. |
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Nonetheless, Obama’s yea vote rewarding failure and subsidizing mistakes exposed him as a useful idiot, a corporate tool more concerned about the plight of Wall St. than Main Street, his stern talk about passing stricter banking regulations notwithstanding. (Where are they?) Since his supposedly heartfelt determination to come to the rescue of working-class people was never accompanied by his taking steps to implement any tangible relief measures, then his true intention ostensibly was never to do so. After all, he had no problem handing the banking, automotive and insurance industries additional taxpayer funds as his first order of business as Chief Executive. Thus, the actual Obama economic philosophy can best be described as the privatizing of profit and the socializing of risk. Yet, with his approval rating sinking to a new low, the black community remains his most staunchly loyal constituency. Can anyone explain to me why, when this is the demographic he takes most for granted? |
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| AALBC.com RECOMMENDS | ||||||||||||||||||
 Authors-First
Radio Programhttp://www.artistfirst.com/bookshows.htm Authors-First Host Tony Kay has interviewed over 2,000 Authors and Special Guests, Tony's relaxing style makes for a comfortable and honest show. Many of those shows are available free for the listening. |
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 Unfavorable Odds by Kim Hamilton Anthonyhttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1615664955/ref=nosim/aalbccom-20 When Kim Hamilton rose to fame, she was anything but a typical world-class gymnast. She wasn't white, she didn't come from a middle-class family, and she was tall for a gymnast. But facing those obstacles was nothing compared to the challenges she faced at home. There, she tumbled in a secret world filled with drugs, violence, and financial strain. She met Unfavorable Odds but found hope by persevering through the pain. Here, Kim shares the techniques she learned to catapult herself from the past into the purpose God intended for her life. |
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 From
Cover to Cover Showhttp://bit.ly/bIR794 Two bestselling authors with extensive media experience, ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Pat Tucker have joined creative forces to launch From Cover to Cover literary radio talk show. The show, which is designed to explore aspects of the literary industry, provides a venue for authors to expand their audience and readership through the powerful medium of FM Radio and the Internet. The show’s format is a combination of informative literary news stories, topic-driven segments, and live author interviews. |
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 Making The Hook-Up edited by Cole Riley http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1573443832/ref=nosim/aalbccom-20 "Making The Hook-Up heats up the pages with characters from every walk of life who get in where they fit in. With African American erotica that brings an urban edge to sweet kink, Cole Riley has collected a sensational, authentic set of stories that revel in all the richness and variety of black men and black women's sexuality. Well-written, passionate, and provocative, this one-of-a-kind anthology is a feast for the senses and a treat for the soul. Cole Riley holds no bounds in this book of bold black erotica, with stories as creative as the soulful simmer of Nina Simone, as urgent as the barely concealed bite of bluesman John Lee Hooker, and as innovative as the muted sounds of jazz trumpeter Miles Davis." |
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 Authors!
Get Your "Mug" on AALBC.comhttp://www.cafepress.com/aalbc Just order an AALBC.com Mug and take a photo with our mug, and we'll add your photo, name and the title of your book to our website! Check out the bottom of any AALBC.com webpage and you'll see what we mean. Monda Raquel Webb, author of 7:30am: A Love Story, loves her AALBC.com mug. So will you; order yours today! |
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 Tavis Smiley and Al Sharpton engage in a heated discussion about what was said after meeting with Barack Obamahttp://bit.ly/al_tavis "I listened to the audio link. More Negro cat fighting drama at its best. Not a big fan of either but I have to agree with Sharpton on this issue. I’m very disappointed with Tavis and his on going rabid anti-Obama rants. He is a closet Machiavellian favorite for the Limbaugh’s, Becks, the FOX Channel Pravda and the Tea Baggers. I have no idea what Tavis and his Negro apparatchiks expect from Obama. All of his programs for housing, employment and health care affect all Americans –which includes black people. I guess Tavis wants a special "black only" program drawn up by the president. First of all, every single legislation the president endorses includes black people. Secondly, as Sharpton quipped, it would be political suicide for Obama to attempt to implement a “black only” program when millions of non-black Americans have lost their jobs and are about to lose their homes because harsh financial times. . ." Comments from Xeon on AALBC.com Discussion Board |
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| EVENTS | ||||||||||||||||||
 The
National Black Book Festival - May 21-23 - Houston, TX http://www.nationalblackbookfestival.com/overview.htm The National Black Book Festival (NBBF) is an annual event, sponsored by Cushcity.com, the world's largest African-American retailer online. The event attracts a wide array of authors, publishers, book clubs, libraries and individual readers from the Southwest U.S. and nationwide. NBBF 2010 will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Downtown Houston. The event features a pavilion of authors, including those who are notable and new. Book signing and discussion sessions with featured authors, workshops and seminars, a spoken word poetry slam and book club give-aways are just a few of the exciting featured activities at NBBF. Authors will be grouped according to genre and there are 17 genres that will be represented. The Festival is open to the public and admission is $5.00 per day for adults and teens. Admission is FREE for children under the age of 12. Be sure to check out AALBC.com's Founder in the Marketing Your Book On a Limited Budget seminar; presented with Oswald Scott, Author and Attorney and Dana Pittman of Nia Promotions. |
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 The
Annual Self-Publishing Symposium - March 7th, 2010 -
Harlem, NYhttp://aspicomm.com/selfpublishingsymposium Join us March 7th, 2010 at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture to take advantage of what this important business event can do for your publishing company. Whether you’re a self-published author, small/independent press or writer considering self-publishing, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to; (1) to Learn successful business strategies from industry experts, (2) Network with professionals and make powerful connections, and (3) Grow your business to new heights. AALBC.com of a proud sponsor and participant of the 2010 Self-Publishing Symposium. |
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 The
Tenth National Black Writers' Conference - March 25-28 - Brooklyn,
NYhttp://www.nationalblackwritersconference.org/home.html The Tenth National Black Writers' Conference, first presented in 1986 as a result of the visionary leadership of the late John O. Killens, will be held March 25-28, 2010. Toni Morrison, will be the Honorary Chair. The theme of the National Black Writers' Conference is And Then We Heard the Thunder: Black Writers Reconstructing Memories and Lighting the Way. Through a series of panel discussions, roundtables, author readings and storytelling, the National Black Writers' Conference will use the metaphor of thunder, memory and light to examine the historical representation of the literature of Black writers and the representation of new and future directions for contemporary and emerging literary voices. With Toni Morrison as the Honorary Chair, the National Black Writers' Conference will also honor Amiri Baraka, Kamau Brathwaite and Dr. Edison O. Jackson. Black writers will come from throughout America, the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. Be sure to check out the AALBC.com sponsored reading featuring authors Allen B. Ballard, Victor LaValle and Dolen Perkins-Valdez. |
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 International Women’s History Month Literary Festival
- March 6, 2010 - Baltimore, MDhttp://aalbc.com/tc/index.php?/calendar/1/day-2010-3-6 International Women’s History Month Literary Festival sponsored by Enoch Pratt Free Library and the Antigua & Barbuda International Literary Festival. In celebration of international women’s history month five women writers from various regions of the globe discuss the voice and role of women past, present and future, on the page and living life as only women can. Confirmed authors include Elizabeth Nunez, Anna-In-Between (Akashic Press), Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Wench (Amistad/HarperCollins), Tiphanie Yanique, How to Escape From a Leper Colony (Graywolf Press), Connie May Fowler, How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly (Grand Central Publishing), and Iris Gomez, Try to Remember (Grand Central Publishing) |
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| INTERESTING DISCUSSION BOARD POSTS |
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| The notion that 'black books' don't sell is pervasive
http://aalbc.com/tc/index.php?/topic/58-controversies-in-black-literature-prove-book-sales-arent-color-blind/ The publishing world seems comfortable only with black writers writing black worlds for black audiences. I have lived my life in the world-at-large. I know as much about "white America" -- more in fact because I study it from the outside -- that most white Americans. I also have a valued Afro-American culture to add to the mix. The idea that white people in publishing (and frankly, their ofttimes black front-men and women) have the gall to tell me that I should only write for and about one of those worlds infuriates me. |
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Bill Withers Documentary Still Bill http://aalbc.com/tc/index.php?/topic/43-bill-withers-documentary/ Hey I heard last night that Bill Withers was known for physically abusing his ex wife actress Denise Nicholas. The documentary made no reference to those allegations. In fact I don't recall any mention of Denise Nicholas. While I appreciate Withers' music the I find the prospect of his beating his wife deeply disturbing. |
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| BOOK INDUSTRY NEWS |
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| Visit Daily to Get the Latest News in the World of Books http://aalbc.com/book_industry_news.php |
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 Nina
Simone, Diva Out of Carolina By Robin D. G. KelleyNew York Times: February 25, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/books/review/Kelley-t.html “I will never be your clown,” Nina Simone shouted at a restless nightclub audience in Cannes in 1977. The mostly French-speaking crowd was either unable or unwilling to join her in a singalong, and she took it as a personal affront. “God gave me this gift — and I am a genius. I worked at my craft for six to 14 hours a day, I studied and learned through practice. I am not here just to entertain you. But how can I be alive when you are so dead?” Her speech only prompted more requests for her to “SING!” She managed to get through some songs before delivering her parting words. “You owe me,” she railed. “I don’t wear a painted smile on my face, like Louis Armstrong.” |
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 Black
Basketball Pioneer Remembers A Barrier BrokenNPR: February 28, 2010 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124170338&ft=1&f=1032 On Halloween night in 1950, Earl Lloyd became the first African-American to take part in an NBA game. Lloyd was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and has just published his memoir, called Moonfixer: The Basketball Journey of Earl Lloyd. Host Liane Hansen speaks with Lloyd about his book. (Click to buy the book) |
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| AALBC.com INFORMATION AND HOUSEKEEPING | ||||||||||||||||||
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AALBC.com has created a new iPhone application.
You can use it to read recently published reviews of books and films
from AALBC.com's awarding winning writers including; Kam Williams, Robert
Fleming, Emanuel Carpenter, Idrissa Uqdah and of course our very own
Thumper! |
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 An
Answer to a Frequently Asked Question:I'd Like to advertise how much does it cost? http://aalbc.com/advertise_on_aalbc.html If you want over 250,000 books lovers to see your book next month then advertise with AALBC.com Only AALBC.com has the number of visitors to display your book or banner before such a large and highly targeted audience — those interested in African American authors and books. We are not aware of another site with a similar reach. Adverting on AALBC.com has never been easier. Our pricing structure has been simplified. We offer attractive options for clients of all sizes and budgets. Also check out our power campaign. The price has been reduced substantially. You can have your book cover prominently displayed on the homepages of three popular websites AALBC.com, Cushcity.com and Mosaicbooks.com -- all of whom have been online for over 11 years!. Visit http://aalbc.com/power_campaign.htm for more information |
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Troy Johnson President, AALBC.com, LLC356 Toll Free: 866-603-8394 Email: troy@aalbc.com Peace, Troy
March 2, 2010 is AALBC.com 12th Birthday! |
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- Total Eclipse of the Heart by Zane
Good Hair - Chris Rock’s Lighthearted Look at Sisters’ ‘Dos Arrives
on DVD
2010 NAACP Image Awards - Precious Dominates Image Awards via
Virtual Sweep of Film Categories
New
AALBC.com iPhone Application - AALBC.com REVIEWS
