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Cynique, I did not come to learn about the so called Black elite until I was an adult. All of the groups you mentioned, "civic and political groups, Masons, Eastern Stars, an American Legion Post, social organizations and clubs," were completely beyond my world view. I remember the first time I learned about Black Greek letter organizations--I was a freshman in college... I did not learn about Jack and Jill, the Links, or Boule until I was out of college. I did not know a Black teacher, lawyer, doctor, or engineer growing up. I barely knew anyone with a car, and I did not know anyone who owned the place in which they lived. Sure we had the Black church growing up, and I went most Sundays growing up. But other than the singing I hated every minute of it. I could not wait to get outta there, change my clothes and go outside to play. So the church was not exactly and influence for me growing up, and my pastor was Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker Compared to the kids coming up after me I had it pretty good... ...it got worse, as as drugs were introduced into the community, which brought violence and crime. Then they started locking people up like there was no tomorrow. Some of the younger kids from my neighborhood gained some notoriety, like the Central Park Five. They were more the rule than the exceptions. Of course this helped destroy the nuclear family in communities like mine. By the time I went to college most of the youngsters I knew, grew up without their fathers--if they knew them at all. As far as hip-hop is concerned the art form itself is great, it was the commercialization of hip-hop if that destroyed it and, I firmly believe, helped weaken the black community as well. I say all this Cynique to say there are many people who see women like the character Leslie plays every day (and as Pioneer suggests Leslie may indeed be one of them). Sure they see the Michelle Obama's of the world, but they are on TV and may as well be on Mars for as much influence they'll exert on the lives of most folks. Saturday Night Live, Hip-hop music, and the culture as a whole reinforces the Leslie Jones archetype. Michelle is just an exception. It is probably a lot worse out here than you might think...

Yes, I was responding to what you refer to as a "misunderstood" statement. And I must say, I was a little surprised by what you offered in your follow-up explanation above. Surprised because you are always so upbeat and say how much you love this country. What you wrote sounds like the words of an unpatriotic cynic like me. LOL I actually think that there are just as many white people who admire black style and panache and coolness and even try to imitate it as there are the blatant racists with a low opinion of blacks. Then there are the whites who are in denial about blacks being as lady-like and gentlemanly as they are. But like you imply, no point in dwelling on the subject. @Troy Guys like you and Chris and probably Pioneer are black "Horatio Alger" characters; you pulled yourself up by your bootstraps and became successful, but never lost your common touch. This is what makes you authetic and admirable. A long time ago I read the book, "Manchild in the Promised Land", Claude Brown's coming-of-age book about a young black man growing up on the mean streets of Harlem, and that was what introduced me to how the "other half" lives. I have always maintained that the black experience is diversified. I realized that the idyllic little interracial village where I grew up and whose self-contained community thrived while co-existing with the white majority, was atypical. And I've always considered my years at the Post Office equivalent to a finishing school, providing me with a test case to practice the observational skills I'd learned during my 2 years at the Univserity of Illinois, - educating me in the things that you don't learn in college text books. The local postal branch where I worked was a facility that was a microcosm of black life. Women who acted like Leslie Jones were quite common among the Labor force, and woman like Michelle Obama filled many of the clerical positions in the Management division where qualified black men were also prominent in the chain-of-command. And this dates back from the 1950s to the present. So i am not blind to black life in all its forms especially since I witnessed how my currently predominately black hometown fell on hard times and became rife with drugs, unemployment, petty crime, and even murders - all of which is why I have moved away to continue living my life of leisure in the tranquil environment I've grown accustomed to. As for music, I consider it the glue that holds black people together. When all else fails we still have a broad selection of sounds to renew our spirits. Rappers put black women down, but sistas still have their Marvin Gayes, and Maxwells to pamper their ears and soothe their souls.

I think I failed to explain my statement clearly. When I responded to Pioneer with that statement I was addressing that no matter what Black people do or have done, they have always had to deal with the perception of being 3/5 or not as well-groomed or well-mannered as White people. When I made that statement it was to say no matter how refined we are those people who look at us as niggers, porch monkeys, coons, etc. will always look at us as such (people change of course). With this as my qualifier does it make sense for me to say this now? Because no matter how well-behaved or well spoken we are, we are still not given equal respect, so why worry about it as it relates to White folks? Actually forget White people, Black people see other Blacks as less than and no matter what some people do, this perception among Blacks remains unchanged. In regard to Hip-Hop I think the artform has completely failed Black people. I've said that on a number of threads here on the site. I have always thought that as the music and art in the Black community goes so goes the people. I even argued the chicken or the egg scenario. Which came first the Black movements or the music. I established this scenario by explaining that the talking drum allowed for the transference of information in African culture and that the first thing that slave owners took from the African was the drum. They took the music. I also conveyed that you can barely distinguish what came first in African American history the field song or the field song as activism. I've discussed this in detail here by talking about field songs all the way up to Freedom Songs and the essay by Bernice Reagon. We are in agreement on Hip-Hop.

Man I knew about this, but I didn't know about this. LOL. One of the people I mentor is actually a sponsor for the event. In my skepticism I completely ignored it and thought possibly because I can't see how it turned out in previous years that it couldn't have been very good so I just overlooked it. As positive as I am, I have to think better of us and actually participate. Maybe I will sign up as a vendor. Good looking out on making me check for it. I will let you know if I do the event.

I just added the the event you attended to the site: https://aalbc.com/events/index.php?st=California#SDSU+Writers%26rsquo%3B+Conference The personality of events are just like people. Some events I really like and others get on my nerves, because they constrain the growth and even hurt themselves because they alienate people. I think events reflect the sensibilities of their organizers. Book festivals and fairs are completely different animals than conferences. I think conferences, who usually charge, are more likely to generate a feeling of intimidation especially among newbies. The BWABC is taking place in Memphis next month. There are going to be 100 authors in attendance. These are the types of events I like to do, there are not too many events where you'll encounter 100 Black authors, actively promoting their books in one place ;-)

You are reading me correct. I'm not saying the use of their data could be used to argue the opposing idea. I'm saying that research is the same and can be built in the same way for any argument. I'm also saying that Facebook is simply a medium to convey some message to other people. If the study was to state that Social Media allows for the speed of misinformation to be done quicker and therefore it is a dangerous then I get that. I'm also saying that Social Media allows for the speed of information to spread in a way that benefits people as well. It seems to me that you are intent on validating the negative aspects of social media. That's fine and it can be validated. I tend to think about the positive aspects and I look at those. I get to see the growth of my old basketball players into adults. I have connected with my father's family, which is amazing since he didn't raise me. Social media has made the world smaller and for me and the people that I see on my Facebook or Twitter they are doing incredible things and positive things. This does not mean that I don't see the negative. I just don't spend as much time speaking on the negative aspects unless it is in regard to business.

Let me thank everybody for responding.I specifically enjoyed Cynique because yes "great"doesn't mean "good".Nazi Germany was great.Adolf Hitler and Donald Trump are both great men with a lot in common, but they are not good men.Things will definitely change but just get worse. Another thing.Police and Community relations are bad.That will only get worse.