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CDBurns, I agree wholeheartedly, so much help is needed. I am almost paralyzed with the thought of it. You are correct, this situation in Flint is NOT singular! I just hope that I can make people feel the way I feel when I see humans suffer. The feeling for humanity should supercede race, class, and zip code. Perhaps if we can eliminate the apathy, we can eliminate the issue? I dont fully know, but I will keep searching. I thank you again for the feedback; I am steadily seeking growth and betterment.

I am presumably what you all would refer to as a consummate consumer, a status I acquired about 10 years ago. I no longer own anything, which means that I am not burdened with high property taxes or utility bills, I do not have to worry about maintenance and repairs on my yard and my house, The same with a car; no note, no repair bills, no insurance payments, no output for gas. I do pay rent, but at a price I can afford at a place which supplies free heat and air conditioning, Transportation? it's just a phone call away. I am catered to by those who want me to buy what they are selling and I luxuriate in all the conveniences that have replaced the hassle of the ownership which entailed having to do for myself. The pension I collect is a result of the money I worked to earn and now use to finance the things that take the drudgery out of life. When I die, my children will not be fighting over property, they can divide up whatever money I will leave to them. There is something to be said for simply being a consumer. If we somehow become a race of producers instead of consumers, will this really benefit the average black person? Or will it just create black capitalists to ascend into the one percenter ranks as the rich get richer and the poor stay poor. (We are already a race of producers, our product being a surplus supply of fatherless babies that will grow up to meet the demands of the prison industry.) LOL. I say all of this because it is my nature to question everything. Why? Because Life is so uncertain.

You definitely need to install the Disqus plug-in. I immediately shared this post once I read it. I'm thinking of posting it to my site when time permits. Powerful, descriptive writing... thought provoking and ultimately another sad addition to the mounds of literature being created about a horrifying situation. Now, you make a point that I often talk about when people spend time posting about the problems of the world and why I don't typically get into the idea of sending help abroad. There are more than enough issues right here to tackle that everyone avoids. When Flint happens, before I moved to Cali, we had a place here in the Mid South called Sugar Ditch. What has happened Flint barely holds a candle to what was happening there and what continues to happen in many small Southern towns. Hell, I can drive out to parts of Memphis right now and see imagery that isn't too far removed from the shanties. I'm sure we could all do this and there lies the dilemma. How do we analyze the world when self analysis creates paralysis and temporary amnesia in the minds of fellow Americans? Excellent post.

wow "merciful slave master"...and then he returns to the "cyber plantation" known as facebook. I couldn't in good conscious provide content to facebook for free. I wouldn't continue to provide "eyes" for ads that I wasn't benefiting. Mr. Reed doesn't need the facebook platform - facebook platform needs the likes of Reed.

Here are thoughts on Flint, please read and respond with thoughts please. Thank you! http://www.cgoodwork.com/blog/2016/2/14/7exiji9a6m27le67wfkrf4r7pdxdhe

Very nice post bro Troy! I appreciate it. So often, morally conscious whites (and non-blacks) are lumped into the category of being racist. No room for individual thinking or belief. Negroes rail against whites for making sweeping generalizations about them yet they will not and do not hesitate for one second -to do it to other groups. It's sad and unacceptable. Anyhoo, big shout out to Mr. Michael D'Antuono for his outstanding socially conscious art work. He deserves much credit and respect for what he has chosen to do. I have always admired artists who use their talents to articulate hot issues and take on political/social injustices.

Art, writing, music, creativity is a way of fighting and this post you've written is powerful. It's a start. Sometimes the only thing we have are our words and as much as people want to think that the pen or song isn't powerful enough to make a difference, I know that reading or hearing something can turn the switch on for the person who is receptive to the words. Keep writing and sharing, get the website better and better and continue sharing, that's the best we can do sometimes. It's action and it's just as powerful as pulling a dollar out of your pocket, or going and building a wall. One action of purpose does not mean more than another.

No,Troy, I don't think Rupert Murdoch gives a damn about black people. And neither did black billionaire, Robert Johnson who sold BET. Ebony Magazine is black-owned, Blacks still hold the controlling interest in the all-black Chicago Defender newspaper, Oprah is a media mogul and owns a magazine, and Tyler Perry has his own movie studio. Has any of this made a big difference?? And the reason why I roll my eyes about this "next step being a race of producers instead of one of consumers" postulation is because this totally unoriginal idea apparently has no legs. For me, it dates back 60 years ago when Malcolm X was repeating what his leader Elijah Muhammad said it about blacks creating their own businesses. And Elijah was echoing what blacks who came before him said. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize the importance of blacks controlling what other blacks consume, including the printed word. Perceptive black thinkers have even applied this principle to Christianity and the role it played in slavery, arguing that no people should've worshiped a savior who looked like their oppressor, or revered a bible not written by their own hands. Money, of course is the bottom line so the immediate goal for blacks is to get rich enough to become movers and shakers who will channel some of their wealth into the publishing media. Black people do have a monopoly on hoping things will get better. So hope on.

That's a 4 to 5 hour drive for me or 1 hour flt time and Charlotte is lovely! It seems as though we may be looking at 7 months from now if the organizers remain consistent in scheduling. This would give us ample time to create a format and an agenda. We would also have time to invite participation. More participation means we can sell our books! woo-hoo!

I guess white people death is a hot topic... Someone shared this on article on twitter -- and although it is my conclusion - it seems as though hate and separation kills https://medium.com/@CommonwealthFund/the-untold-story-why-middle-aged-white-people-are-dying-at-higher-rates-fa5b9f76f2f#.xk4n8cyh9

Loving this energy!

Did someone say "Conference"? Did you know my perfect idea of vacation is at a conference, convention and/or seminar! One of my most "funnest" job was exhibit coordinator for Penguin USA... So here's an idea - how about first checking your events list to see if it triggers one those annual association meetings that we can piggyback. For example, @Troy have you thought about pitching a breakout session for one those established meetings or events...You can negotiate for meeting space and honorarium. Or it doesn't have to be a one-time event either but where ever we hold it, adding a hangout or youtube live will allow others to attend who couldn't make the trip. We could start out small with gotomeeting (they have a free 30-day trial) to format an agenda and then begin promotion to gauge interest. Whatever way I can assist, I will!

Sara, my pleasure! I'm with you on the production thing! I'm using all that I'm learning on here in our community and putting it into action!

I say move on Troy and leave it alone. There is a whole group of people who value AALBC and are waiting on just the right time to begin interacting and writing. I've made an analysis, it always appears to me that those who are in the best position to bring about change, rarely do. The grassroots have always been at the forefront of the movement. That's just the way it is.

Hi Troy. Thank you for posting. I brought attention to my whiteness for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it might carry a little more weight with the white community (to whom the message is primarily directed to) if the wrong is exposed by someone who is not a victim of the injustice. The black community knows all too well about the injustices put upon them, but I hope there is some comfort in knowing that there are white people willing to devote their energies towards trying to correct the problem. In a perfect world, I wouldn't have to declare my race. But then again, in a perfect world, racism wouldn't be an issue. Kind Regards, Michael D'Antuono www.ArtandResponse.com

I got the kindle version of "African Unconscious" and as I'm reading it - I'm beginning to realize the "threatened return of the repressed" isn't limited to whites many direct descendants of Africa struggle with their own origin... I hear it our "us versus them" conversations. it is exhibited in "I'm not like those kind of blacks" type mentality. I hadn't thought of how some of us have our own internal struggle with being black...but once you hear/see it is hard not recognize it in your own.

I'm not sure if you're familiar with Dr. Edward Bruce Bynum so I'll write this as if I'm writing for anyone who doesn't know of him. Dr. Bynum is clinical psychologist at the University of Massachusetts. He says we, as a species, engage in a battle with our "primitive impulses". Psychologists/psychiatrists call this battle the threatened "return of the repressed". I've dismissed this term simply because I thought they were referring to ape-like behavior. It wasn't until the other day, I heard Dr. Bynum (for the first time) make the reference and spell it out in his two-hour lecture "African Genesis" . He explains a lot of the subject matter from his book "African Unconscious" . In short, Dr. Bynum says white culture has a difficult time reconciling African civilization was the first civilization to discover everything from writing to spirituality. He says it was so difficult for Europeans to attribute the discovery of mathematics, astronomy, writing, measurement et al; they, through academics, began to identify the first civilization as white people from Egypt or they attributed the discoveries to Greeks and Romans. Of course today we know that would be biologically impossible for white skin to exist in Africa but the idea still persist. He also clarifies Egypt was occupied by Africans from the west who had migrated there due to a change in landscape in the sub-Saharan region. I learned about this migration through the National Geographic Genographic project - which clearly outlines the journey out of Africa ... Anyway, here's an excerpt from his book "African Unconscious" "Recall that prior to 25,000 to 30,000 years ago all Homo Sapiens were Black and that racial diversification as we think of it today, had not yet begun. The present day implication of this, of course, is that beneath the wealth of contents in our shared or multicultural unconscious the primordial essence and genetic roots of our African dynamism dwells. (Carl Gustav) Jung felt this deeper racial memory as his bedrock memory and it unfolded within him a great peace and sense of unity between all peoples of this planet. Many people have had similar experiences and insights. This repression of the primordial African Unconscious is an act of represssion not only in Europe but also Eurocentric science. It might be thought of as the collective "threatened return of the repressed."