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1980'S BOOK, BLACK MAN GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE BLACK WOMAN BY SHAZARZAD ALI.HER OPINION IF A BLACK WOMAN IGNORES THE BLACK MAN SHE SHOULD BE HIT IN THE MOUTH.WONDERED WAS SHE HIT IN THE MOUTH. CONDONING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.. SHE SAID BLACK WOMEN BULLY BLACK MEN/. MY OPINION BLACK WOMEN DO MOST OF THE CHILD RAISING...SEEMS BLACK PREACHERS ALL CHEAT ON THEIR WIVES, NAACP DOES NOT WANT A BLACK WOMAN PRESIDENT OF NAACP...SHAZARZAD ALI ,YOU CAN SEE HER INTERVIEWED TALKING ABOUT HER BOOK....SHE WROTE ANOTHER BOOK, BLACK WOMAN GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE BLACK MAN.////.SO MUCH CONFUSION..//// /

It finally occurred to me that when it comes to the subject of whether or not writers should get paid for their work, I can speak with some degree of relevancy because of what I voluntarily did for free on the Cynique’s Corner site. After an ebook project I signed on with crashed and burned due to problems with implementation, I approached Troy about doing my own version of its concept. He graciously consented, and since he was doing me a favor by allowing me to serialize my book on a chapter-a-week basis, it never occurred to me to expect payment for this. I just thought it would be fun. And it was. I had no idea what the response would be to this updated version of a book I self-published 15 years ago, but I figured what did I have to lose? Well,- I don’t know how many people actually read the 22 chapters that I posted, but in regard to the number of hits, I’d estimate that I averaged about 60 a week. The original run of this paperback was 150 units. Selling copies for 5 bucks a pop at a few local fairs and venues, I got rid of about 100 over a 2-year period. But did I care? Not really. Self-publishing a novel includes total control, and this allows you to play God and create your own little world and your own characters and your own plots. What more can a mere mortal ask for? Positive feed back? I got that, too. Going waay back to the early 1970s, my prodigious letter-writing to editors, earned me a regular column in a Chicago newspaper. As a free lancer, I was given a 25-dollar savings bond for each article I submitted. I never expected to be paid when I requested my own by-line. I just wanted a forum for telling off white people during a racially-charged era when they needed to be put in check. My reward? How the newspaper was bombarded with letters from irate readers, complaining about “that nigger bitch troublemaker”. I loved it! So did the editors who regularly printed censored versions of some of the more outrageous responses. Several years later at a hometown achievers banquet, I was given a plaque for speaking out against racism. Money? No. Just appreciation from my peers. I’ve never considered myself a serious writer and my lackluster book covers and absence of a marketing plan attested to this. I wrote because I was fulfilled by the creative process. This is not to say that I would turn down any money someone offered to pay me. But when it came to writing books, the joy was more in the journey, than the destination. I don’t expect everybody to take this approach. To each his own. Fame and fortune is a powerful incentive. But I can say, that when it comes to my writing endeavors, I’ve never been disappointed.

I'M TOTALLY MOVED BY THE DEBERRY & GRANT ARTICLE! I FULLY RELATE TO EVERYTHING THEY DISCUSSED, RESPECT THEIR DECISION: & APPLAUD THEM! FINALLY, SOMEONE HAS TAKEN A STAND....

So, it’s Thanksgiving day, and I’m at my grandaughter’s place, settling down to dig into my full plate of turkey and all the trimmings, patiently explaining to an outside guest why a woman my age decided to get 2 tattoos over the past 7 years. When my oldest son off-handedly referred to me as the family matriarch, I almost choked on my sweet potatoes. Matriarch. The word sounded so sedate and sedentary, but as I looked around the gathering at my 3 sons, 2 daughters, 8 grand children and 3 great grandchildren, figures of all ages, sizes, shapes and colors, milling around the rooms, I was suddenly struck by the idea that if it wasn’t for me none of them would be here. Mommy/Nana was, indeed, a matriarch. Another identity in the characters I have been cast as over the years. Years that have culminated in my present state of avoiding the future, looking backward instead of forward, caught up in nostalgia, contemplating this thing called “life” and the thing called “time” that is such an integral part of it. I ponder about the brain perk that makes long-ago occurrences seem like they just happened yesterday, how the weeks fly by and how memories can be triggered by a song, or a fragrance or a familiar sight. Lately I keep thinking about my freshmen year at college, as reports of the deaths of so many of my school mates keep reaching me. And when Illinois completed its football season this year without winning one single game, I keep recalling how different things were 60 years ago when the U. of I. dominated the Big10, making history by taking first place in every major sport from football to fencing, a feat still touted by alumni from that era. Better scenarios cheer me as my old high school has maintained its winning tradition while turning out NBA stars like Doc Rivers and Michael Finley and Shannon Brown, players I remember as little boys in grade school. Family get-togethers are always an occasion to fondly recall loved ones who have passed on as in, yet another mystery, they seem to be present in spirit as though their essences are able to shift between parallel dimensions. What captivates me most, however, is how vivid the imagination can be, how easily the past can become a movie scene played on the screen of my mind’s eye. But what a downer it is when I am constantly reminded that although I am the same person I’ve always been, my body didn’t get the memo, a reality that calls up the relationship between time and change. Does time really exist or is it an illusion abetted by change? Is the past still there or does it disappear as soon as the present defers to the future. What is truth? Is it contained in the words of Edgar Allen Poe who declared “all that we see or seem is just a dream within a dream…” or in the musing of Langston Hughes who opines that “It is wise to suffer illusion…Delusion…Even dreams…To believe that in this life…What is real…May also be what it seems. What is not true…May be…For you… Language in its inadequacy can only attempt to explain what is what it is. And so it goes.

THEY ARE COMPARING HURRICANE- STORM SANDY TO HURRICANE KATRINA....UNLIKE BUSH THE PRESIDENT SEEMS CONCERNED.. LIKE NEW ORLEANS SOME PARTS WHERE STORM HIT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS BOMBED.. HOUSES DESTROYED, HIGH WATER IN THE STREETS, CARS ON TOP OF CARS... NOT RICH BUT MIDDLE CLASS STATEN ISLAND, WHITE PEOPLE ANGRY ON NEWS, FEMA , RED CROSS SLOW..NOT AS SLOW AS NEW ORLEANS WITH HURRICANE KATRINA....RICH BUSINESS ,CORPORATIONS, WALL STREET SLOWED DOWN...RICHEST CITY IN THE COUNTRY.. DID NOT SEE PEOPLE ON ROOF TOPS WAITING TO BE RESCUED, SOME PROBALY WERE...............SEE IF THINGS WILL BE QUICKER IN THIS RICH CITY, THAN THE POOR IN NEW ORLEANS.////////.

Implicit in almost every post on this site is the underlying message that It's hard being black; not only in America, but throughout the world. Just as white skin is an "entitlement", " it can be argued that "colored" skin is a burden. If I were a rapper I'd spit out some verses about this. Instead I'll just spill out some thoughts. As an African American, no matter what your circumstances are, your race is always a factor that puts you at a disadvantage even when the playing field is leveled to allow you to advance despite inadequate qualifications. I repeat: It's hard being black. Is this how it was meant to be? White people seem to be genetically equipped to dominate, oppress, and seize power. That's an explanation, but it offers little consolation. Blacks are supposed to be more spirtual. Which I guess is why they are haunted by bad luck spooks, They also suffer from mass frustration, a side-effect of having to maintain a dual identity. To cope with being relegated to the bottom of the heap, out of desperation, long suffering negroes continue to cling to the hope that God willl grant them their reward in the hereafter. Lord have mercy. Meanwhile, atheistic China has ascended to a position of world leadship, leaving the options of Buddhism and Taoism for those seeking an inner peace that they don't have to go to heaven to attain. Still, Blacks keep on praying and thumping the Bible, all the while ignoring the intriguing interpretations about the black race being descended from Noah's son Ham who, as a punishment for laughing at his naked father, was marked with the skin color that cursed his lineage. Preferring to adopt the biblical references to homosexuality being an abomination, black believers gloss over the possibility that God couldn't care less about their unfair lot in life. Noah did his thing.So be it. To add insult to injury, presidetial candidate Mitt Romney is a member of the Mormon church which has never had any respect for Blacks, considering them unfit for leadership. But all those white Christians who in the past rejected Mormonism are now willing to tolerate it, and if Obama loses, it will be because the majority of white people do not want to be ruled by a black man and that is what matters most to them. All religion aside, the scientific mathmatical law of averages says that at some point chronic losers will win. So in the upcoming election will the fluke that got Obama elected repeat itself? Will things turn around so that race won't matter and things won't be so hard??? Maybe. But I wouldn't bet on those odds. A re-elected black president's blackness might still prevent him from being a successful winner. Because it's hard being black

Because gang related violence has become so rampant in this country’s inner cities, attempts to focus on this problem have taken on celebrity involvement. Recently ABC news anchor, Diane Sawyer, showed up in Chicago to cover a gang summit being sponsored by Father Michael Pfleger, local hero, activist Catholic priest, and the white leader of an all black congregation. These high level meetings between the hierarchy of Chicago’s gangs have been held before and have not worked or will they ever because guards can never be lowered and ground never conceded. Reputations have to be maintained. What I find compelling about the situation is the reaity of what is at the root of a lot of the violence. Poverty and lack of jobs and the breakdown of the family don’t tell the whole story. It’s assumed that the wanton slayings are all gang-related, all about turfs and drugs and retaliations . But a lot of the killings are actually personal vendettas by macho cowards, - nonentities who are so consumed with their need to feel important that they cannot deal with rejection. Time and time again a familiar scenario is what triggers murder and mayhem. Someone is having a party with family and friends when an individual or a group crashes the affair and after stirring up trouble, are asked to leave. The second act of this drama plays out with the resentful offenders showing back up with a gun to shoot up the place. Other situations involve love triangles where one rival will gun down his cock-blocking competitor. Even making longer than necessary eye contact between adversaries can lead to drawn weapons. Any act of disrespect shown by one homie toward another, be it on a playground or at the club or on a FaceBook wall, or at a funeral for a murdered friend is grounds for pulled triggers. What used to be settled with fists is now finalized with guns in the hands of those who invaribly slaughter innocent bystanders, all in the ritual of proving one’s manhood by getting even. Unfortunately, this need to beat one’s chest doesn’t restrict itself to the ghetto. A more cold-blooded version exists across the board on all levels of society and can even lead to war. When the collective ego of one country is insulted by the collective ego of another country, battle lines are drawn. It's a fact life that an insatiable ego is an intrinsic part of all living creatures. It’s the nature of the beast to take offense at anything that constitutes a slight, and threatens one’s self esteem or, worse yet, exposes one’s insecurity. All cooler heads advocate replacing false pride with peace and love, citing these virtues as being the source of true strength because they call for the restraint that saves lives. "Blessed be the peacemakers", but everybody didn’t get the memo. The ruthless ego will not be denied. It rules everywhere as lions fight to be king of the jungle, - and men fight to be king of the hill. Crushing a threat to your status gives the ego an erection. That damned ego is at the root of all the problems of the world because it goes hand in hand with the quest for power. And power corrupts. God, you sure screwed up when you created us - in your image...

Steve Drain of the Westboro Baptist Church debates the Son of Man, the leader and teacher of the New Nation of Islam:

Wimbey’s Corner by David Covin http://aalbc.it/wimbey AALBC.com book reviewer, Emanuel Carpenter says "Loved the book. Read 400 pages in two days." Read the AALBC.com Book Review