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How far have we come from the revelations, speculations, stereotypes, and evaluations that are given about us and the labels were give to ourselves. "In our world, however, extremes quickly meet. Sumner believed it “the greatest folly of which man can be capable to sit down with a slate and pencil and plan out a new social world,” a point of view containing little hope for the underdog. But for all his good works, some of Park’s assumptions were little better. The Negro, he felt, “has al-ways been interested rather in expression than in action; interested in life itself rather than in its reconstruction or reformation. The Negro is, by natural disposition, neither an intellectual nor an idealist, like the Jew; nor a brooding introspective, like the East Indian; nor a pioneer and frontiersman, like the Anglo-Saxon. He is primarily an artist, loving life for its own sake. His m’tier is expression rather than action. He is, so to speak, the lady among the races.”

Pioneer the board has life because of folks like you; it is simple as that. I was listening to Thom Hartmann (a liberal radio talk show host) this afternoon and he was interviewing a guy who thought Trump might select a sensible, true republican, female running mate. I thought if that happened The Donald may have a fighting chance, indeed with any decent running mate he has a chance. I was in FL a few days ago and some older white guy, almost certainly a retiree, asked me what I thought about the election. He immediately told me he was a Trump supporter. Now the guy was quite friendly and reasonable. This was not some rabid, Obama-hating-racist, rather he was a guy that wanted a change in the way the country is being run, and he thought Donald was the one most likely to bring that change. The other sentiment out there is the one Cynique raised, "Why should I even bother to vote?" This sentiment is shared by many people. I feel that way. I'm not excited about voting for Hillary or Trump. This sentiment is expressed in the "Bernie or Bust" position many Sanders people have taken. This sentiment appears to hurt Hillary more than Trump, as Trump supporters seem more motivated... like Bernie supporters. I think Bernie has a much better chance of beating Donald than Hillary does. Hillary represents politics as usual. Bernie and Donald represent change, much more so that even Obama demonstrated, and certainly promised. This is the appeal of these candidates. The polls support my impression of Bernie being a stronger candidate against Trump than Clinton. Despite all the rhetoric you heard from many people about how important it is to vote, I don't buy into that concept for several reasons. One is that If there is no candidate you are interested in supporting, then why vote? I see no reason to force someone to vote for a candidate they do not support. Since Donald is now the presumptive nominee, it looks like the republicans are getting their party aligned, while the Democrats are going battle it out all the way to the convention. The republicans beginning to show more party unity than the Democrats. 7. Unless Bernie gets the Democratic nod, Trump has a very real chance of becoming president.

I doubt Trump will be elected in the general. If seems likely Trump will win the Republican nomination, upping the level of absurdity reached with the Palin ticket. If America elects Trump as Pres, we will have officially "Jumped the Shark," becoming a caricature of our celebrity obsessed self. The POTUS is like the Queen of England, yielding little power beyond ceremonial and doing the bidding of the plutocracy. A perversely curious part of me actually wants to see Trump win; just to see what will happen. It is interesting to observe how women are not nearly as slavishly devoted to Hillary as Black folks are to Obama.

I'm a little late coming into this discussion. I have so much to say about literary critiques and Dyson that I could fill this page, but I will only say this: Bad books persist because of sheer greed in certain aspects of the literary industry. As long as lots--and I say lots--of money can be made off of vanity publishing and "bad" indie authors, bad books will continue to be written and presented. It's a tough market out there for decent, aspiring, unknown authors. It's not a game to be played unless you are prepared to compete as a literary warrior. This means that you must be prepared to learn your trade, seek and accept advice, brand yourself in ways that gets noticed, and write, write, and write some more. As such, I welcome critiques. I learn from them so that I may develop, grow, and put out a strong, competitive product. But these critiques must be fair in their assessments of what is quality, what is now, and what is needed--especially for our multicultural reading audiences. From my perspective, in today's market/political and economic climate, being too diverse or too Black isn't going to get too many front doors opened right now. Sorry, I find that it's just not in fashion. Therefore, avenues like CreateSpace help to put credible authors like me onto a path where I can at least go through the back entrance--that is even if that door is opened. If not, guess what? Then you must creatively think outside the box! And that's hard too!!! Now about Dyson. I don't like anyone who says "Nigger please..." in reference to our President. President Barack Obama has endured enough disrespect from people on the other side of the aisle. He has also endured disrespect from those who are supposed to support him. Now from us! Enough already. Like it or not, the man is the President of these United States--a certain amount of respect must be afforded to him by the mere fact that he is our President and Commander-in-Chief. Not too many of the ones talking about him could step into this shoes, fight his battles, and come out any Blacker than he already has. It's difficult to support us--Black people--when we don't even stand up for ourselves for the most part. We want "our" President to stand up with us as a people when we don't even take time to educate ourselves to see what is being planned in our communities. We are too busy living the now and cannot begin to see and plan for tomorrow. When it's time for many of us to enter into the political arena to vote, where are we? Not at the polls--that's for sure. Our President is a human being in need of his people. Sorry, folks, we weren't there for him anymore than we feel that he was there for us. "Nigger please" has a broad application. Dyson really upset me with this. He could have disagreed with the President's performance without going there. As an intellectual, I only saw ignorance on his part. No, I don't like or agree with every thing this President has done while in office. But I believe with my whole heart that if he had been greeted and treated like a favorite son and you know what I mean, this particular outcome would look a lot different. Look at Ryan. He has already been turned into a superstar. This is an example of a favorite son. He has been and continues to be groomed and mentored. Unlike what happened to Barack Obama. He is young, white, and aspiring. Hell, they already want him for President. We need to give our first in the White House a little more respect. If he can't get it from us, then who? Dyson, please go somewhere and be quiet for a change.

Who knew a Brother invented the Super-Soaker? I admit I had no idea. Maybe I've had my head in the sand, or maybe it is simply not common knolwedge. Lonnie Johnson became a multi-millionaire, pretty quickly as a result. Share the story with you a young person in a brand new book for children: Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton and illustrated by another Brother Don Tate.

Pioneer, yes! This has been my reason to vote since before I left Brooklyn in the 90s... EVERYTHING happens at the local level. Thanks to the Republican party in Illinois, I saw this from the field...They put me in the game. And that game is brutal and those dudes are gangsta. I mean, drive-by gangsta too. It just so happen I was in the right place to be appointed a precinct committeemen for the Republican party..Precinct committeemen is an elected position but you can also be appointed by the State's county party chairman. I was appointed to the position in 2006 and I held until I voted for President Obama in the 2008 primary. (you cannot be a republican precinct committemen and pull a democrat ballot :heavy sigh:) In Illinois and I suspect most everywhere, as a precinct official, you are responsible for registering the people in your precinct (right there in their homes) and campaigning for the candidates you believe in..The candidates are beholden to you, (kinda). In this position you can literally stop a candidate from making it to the ballot or even to office. I made sure I did my best to make sure one millionaire didn't get on the ballot because he wanted to be involved in too many bedroom issues. But I digress. That is how much power is in the hands of the precinct committeeman at the local level. It was a great learning experience and although I'm a swing voter who votes mostly on issues - I still appreciate the Illinois Republicans for giving me that opportunity. I'm a huge advocate for voting in every single election even those off-off year elections. There are so many referendums on the local ballots that affect everything in our communities from how long judges can serve - to whether state workers can keep their pensions or have the state treasurer raid them (I voted on that one in Illinois before I left) to who sits on the school board to penny taxes that will put lights on our highways (commissioners discussed that last night in our local meeting)... I vote presidential simply because they are on the ballot when I go to vote.

It would seem that a lot depends on whether or not a person reviewing a book can be considered someone from the author's demograph. Not to mention that reviews can come to represent a showcase for the reviewer's style and skill, as opposed to those of the author, and this can be a distraction. If a book is aimed at a certain audience, then it becomes a genre and it can be argued that a reviewer should have the skill to critique said book from the viewpoint of those who are fans of the genre. There's a difference between a reviewer and an editor. So how well a book accomplishes the goal of appealing to its fans may not always coincide with its technical merits. Reviewers also face the pubic skepticism of those who routinely discount reviews. When the question of maintaining literary standards is added to the equation, then things become even more ambiguous. Since there are no rigid guidelines for reviewers to follow, those who self-appoint themselves to be a reviewer can be subjected to having their reviews reviewed.

To me, this is an election as much about questions as about answers. Why do millions of black Americans as well as their leaders support Hillary? Will Hillary pass up a chance to create a great legacy or just go along with business as usual? When people allow candidates to symbolize their hopes and grievances, are they setting themselves up for disappointment in view of past history? If a Democrat like Obama couldn't keep his promises, what kind of results can a Progressive independent like Sanders have in initiating reform? Would a Trump presidency allow America to openly become the bigoted anti-thesis of democracy that it has always been? How well-equipped are Bernie and Donald to operate in the global arena? Is the United States of America on track to implode with internal dissent and, like the Roman Empire, fall? As someone who has been retired for 24 years during which time, whomever was president made little difference in my day-to-day life, how many others are there like me who have simply stayed under the radar? Why should I even bother to vote?

Well, I'm glad to see that this board has been brought back to life.....lol. Like Troy, I also doubt that Trump will be elected as President. Mel stole a little bit of my thunder...lol....because I share her observations of there being little change since the Reagan era. Even if Trump does get in, it really wouldn't make THAT big of a difference. National politics and policy tends to remain the same regardless as to WHO gets in office be it a Republican or Democrat. Obama is in office right now, he's been in for the past 7+ years....have things IMPROVED for Black America or have things gotten worse? Black America has lost more actual wealth under Obama so far than they had under George W. ! Much of his policies thus far from cash-for-clunkers, to Obama Care, to continuing the war on Terror seems to eventually benefit Republicans and the rich more than they do the people who voted for him. We need to take a page out of the Republican's playbook and start focusing more on local politics and gaining individual and communal wealth and build from that we will be in a position to have some real power and influence over national politics.

Has anyone noticed that most of our policies that regulate education, banking, crime & punishment, security, et al have not changed much since the Reagan administration? If there was a change, it made the law more corporate friendly? I don't think a Hillary Clinton administration will make broad sweeping changes. I imagine the same players will have a seat at her table. I haven't watched closely enough to see who is aligning themselves with Trump.

I hate to say it but Trump is less scary than Clinton. She is all about power. His ego may make him a better President than Hilary. However I am not a fan of the Donald.

Critical reviews are important especially to writers who want to bring their very best to audiences. There are very few people qualified, or of those qualified, willing to review books. When I read reviews it seems that most people are writing about whether they liked or hated a book - but it doesn't go any deeper. The reviewers rarely talk about themes, motifs & symbols. They rarely talk about narrative structure (or lack thereof), arguments posed in the story or even if it was an original novel or category fiction. When I offer a review, I often talk about how the book affected me emotionally but I also do my best to include some of those elements. Call me a spoiled academic, but I expect "critical reviews" to read a little like college papers. Sadly, most aren't educated on how to write them. Too bad too, because better reviewers just might produce better books. BTW, I've never reviewed any of Dyson's books because I haven't read them.

Lisa, everything you've written resonates with me. I guess the question is what do we do about it? Your last paragraph is particularly interesting, from my perspective as an online bookseller. In America it truly does comes down to what makes money. But "bad" books will never disappear. In many situations "bad" books subsidize "good" books. For example, E.L. James' novels are bestsellers on this website even though no one confuses these books with great literature. But those sales subsidize the promotion of good and important literature--that might not get promotion otherwise. There is room for both. The truth is publishing can survive if only "bad" books were published and not another work of great literature were published again However the opposite is not true.

Yes, Dyson is a glib hustler who pimps publicity but, to me, his redeeming value is that he does well in one-on-one exchanges with white talk show hosts. He usually puts them in their place with his dazzling rhetoric. I feel confident when he is articulating the black message against a white adversary. I think everybody is hip to Dyson's game now. Does he really wield a lot of influence?