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No there has never been a real movement or push to reestablish the Black family. There has only been lip service and the work that has been done has only been for 40 years. I know some people who are 50 and can't get their stuff together, but you are saying that it hasn't been successful? That's a stretch. The reason I said that the students are graduating is because that was the discussion topic. A discussion on the usefulness of a high school education is a completely different discussion that can have elements of this one, but should be taken on independently. Now I asked this before, but I am asking it again. In Memphis, gentrification has been taking place for almost 30 years. The murder and crime has increased although the projects are gone and the areas where the people were moved to were formerly upscale White owned areas. If Lead poisoning is such a major threat, why is it this new generation of 15-20 year olds who were not raised in the projects are killing and committing crime at a higher rate than when the projects were around? Lead would have to be genetically passed on and affecting the kids which is a possibility. This is a link to a map of Memphis crime: https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/tn/memphis/crime/ Take a look at it and when you see where the majority of crime is taking place in Memphis, I will show you how close those areas are too safer parts of town. There is only one solid block on this map that could fall into your discussion on lead and that is in the left of the center of the map. When you begin to move away to the outskirts you have pockets of crime and these areas used to be all White. 30-40 years ago so the likelihood of lead may be there because of age, but not like it would in that one section. I hope this is clear because it's hard to look at the map and type, but I guess what I'm saying is the crime in Memphis is central to a particular area where the income is the lowest so you could say that lead was an issue... but the interesting thing is those same areas in Memphis also have homes and not projects. Some of those homes are nice, some are not so nice, but the talent and ability in those areas is amazing. A lot of the kids come out of there swinging. This is why I have an issue with lead because I've lived in two distinctly different cities, in the poorest parts of those cities and while lead and toxins could have contributed to the issues, ultimately it was poverty and decision making that created the issues.

If there's a decline in the participation on THIS particular forum I'd say it's because this forum tends to be too "serious" and intellectual for most AfroAmerican youth today. As I've said before..... As the AfroAmerican intellectual capacity begins to decline (for whatever reason you want to attribute) you should expect for discussions on serious issues to decline while discussions (if you want to call them that) on foolishness, gossip, personal beefs and feuds to increase. What else can you expect for people with stunted mental maturity? Often times "smart" Black people get so tired of the silliness and beefing that goes on in many Black forums that they leave and joing White discussion forums where they must either hide their identity or face constant racial harassment and having their points of view misunderstood by other members. If you believe this is a problem....as I do...then we need to come up with a solution for it. It's not going to get better unless the problem is addressed for what it is: The decline of Black American intellectualism. The first step is admitting that their is an intellectual crisis in the Black American community where too much "dumb shit" is being promoted among the youth and not enough intellectualism and critical thinking.

We shouldn't be surprised at how ubiquitous FaceBook has become. Everybody talks about how insidious it is but it is a natural evolution in the ongoing transformation of Society. In the last century, trains and automobiles replaced horse-drawn carriages. Electric lights replaced candles.Telephones replaced way-of-mouth communication. Radios and movies replaced stage shows and plays. And these upgrades took place in just the first part of a century that subsequently saw more advancements like airplanes and television and other quick fixes that made our lives more convenient and enjoyable. Time brings change. So what would one expect in the 21st century??? Asking this question, may serve to keep things in perspective. Once the computerized age dawned and a new century began, what this introduced was not only convenient, but magical. Logged on to the Internet, with a few taps on a keyboard, a whole spectrum opens up to us, including sites where we can share our thoughts and our images with friends and strangers, near and far, - where we can be kept abreast of the worlds of pop culture, politics, sports and music, where we can exchange ideas and opinions And all it costs is the surrender of your identity to an icon or hash tag. In today's world that's progress. Like all of the other things that time and technology have modernized, social media is a condensed equivalent of gossiping over the back fence or dishing dirt at the beauty shop, solving the world's problems in the barbershop or shootin' the bull at a pool hall, praisin' the lord in church or fellow shipping with friends, bringing snapshots to work or sharing favorite dishes, having a heated conversation at a cocktail party or an argument with your brother-in-law at Thanksgiving dinner. The difference is, that a new way of doing all of this is just a click away. Welcome to 2016. Your alter ego has just found a stage! Critics call FaceBook and Twitter a trivial waste of time and an affront to intelligent discourse. But where is it carved in stone that we always have to cater to a higher calling? Social media is a fanciful facet of the prism that is our existence. We just have to avoid allowing it to reflect all of the light. It is a choice on the internet menu and as, in all indulgences, moderation is the key. For forum fans, what is an alternative to social media? You can continue to belittle it and focus solely on actually experiencing life in an attempt to derive some deeper meaning from it, or for it. But the harsh reality is that life, itself, does not promise to be more fulfilling; it's difficult, it's capricious, alternating between exhilaration and disappointment - even defeat A finger tap cannot download a better version of it, and you're left to your own devices and survival mechanisms to muddle through situations that even great mental prowess cannot vanquish. There is a reason why social media has become a favorite form of escapism. Philosophically speaking, in confronting the dilemmas spawned by the cyber world, retreating into the sanctuary of your skull, opening your mind and getting in touch with yourself is an ideal option. This, after all, is the ultimate destination in our life's journey. But along the way, can we take a break from time to time and just let it all hang out? A steady diet of serious topics discussed by the erudite can dull the appetite. In any case, it's not as if dissidents can do a lot about their aversion to social media or the white profits that it generates. But discussion forums will never become extinct because they fill a void in the field of communication and communication is one of society's pillars. Occurrences go in cycles so it's predictable that as the social media fad levels off, in the scheme of things, AALBC forums will revive and reclaim their popular niche and even inspire input from noteworthy black contributors as they come to realize their obligation to help their own. All is not lost. Meanwhile, as progress continues its course, a "black minds matter" movement could improve on the outdated "black lives matter" one, pointing us in a new direction that could hopefully benefit from the power of suggestion. Just another point of view... .

There are certainly more than enough smart Black people out there to participate on this forum to a greater degree than we see today. Indeed, it is not like the people who used to participate here got dumb all of a sudden. Besides the site is not limited to just Black folks, and you don't exactly have to be a member of Mensa in order to get something out participation. Rather, I think our best and brightest tend to prefer the large corporate sites. As Jaron Lanier says, and I paraphrase, the one with the biggest computer wins. Couple this with the fact that Black folks tend to marginalize Black owned entities and you have an have an environment that is tough for an indie website and essentially hostile for a Black owned one. I've seen actual geniuses, like Ishmael Reed, write at length on Facebook. They write stuff that Facebook can give a shit about, that I love to have here on this site. But when asked it they would post something here, they simply won't do it. Now these are people who I actively support and whose books I sell. But they refuse to lift a finger to support AALBC.com. I've griped about this in the past, but image how all the Black owned entities would benefit, if all the terrific Black writers lining up to write for the HuffPost for free decided to write for sites like AALBC.com? Again those with the biggest computer wins, but at what cost? HuffPost gobbled up BlackVoices then buried it. Sadly the most prominent Black websites are not owned by Black people. Still, I appreciate that AALBC.com in general content is written at too high a level to appeal to the masses. In general I need to "webify" my content: it needs to written for someone with a 5th grade education, short articles, big text, videos, images, large text, click baity headings etc. The HuffPOst has nailed all of these things: I'm aware of all of these issues, I also understand the growth of mobile has put increased pressure to eliminate long form articles, as they are harder to read on this platforms. But again, there more than enough people who want something more than this. In fact, it is those people who have helped AALBC.com last this long. AALBC.com only grows with their support--your support. Plus AALBC.com is more likely to actually pay a writer. But if good writers decide to write for the Huffington Post, or Facebook for free, why should I pay them for the same content? When writers give rich corporate sites content for free they hurt themselves and other writers. So a byline in the HuffPost or a bunch of likes on Facebook may feel good, but it does nothing for us as a people. I live for the day when the Ish Reeds of the world (not trying to pick on Reed he just popped into my mind first), get the same feeling of seeing their work on an AALBC.com has they do on Facebook. As far a collaborative effort on a book I'm down for that. I hope to being publishing books next year. Maybe this project could be one of them.

I didn't know Square Space were earning commission from buy links...I will look into it. Thanks Troy.

I agree, and once again it sounds like Pioneer has written the preface of the book "The Decline of Black American Intellectualism". Troy your writing up there at the top is the Introduction, and Pioneer has the preface, all we need is Cynique to contribute and I can add in and we publish a collaborative book. That kind of moves us towards doing something.

Cynique If it's unfair for me to accuse you of not considering the possibility of lead poisoning as being a factor, then it's equally unfair for you to paint my argument as if I'm saying it's the ONLY factor. If you go back in this thread I said at the very beginning: "Now I'm not saying these are the ONLY causes of the violence in the ghetto but I believe they are the MAIN causes. At the very lease there can no acceptable solution to the violence in America that doesn't include removing the old lead pipes from not only the water systems but every household's plumbing as well as all of the old paint from buildings similar to what was done with asbestos" I also said: "Another problem is Western civilization itself. This may seem a little far fetched, but after studying history I believe Western civilization has run it's course and people are tired of it. The family values and social ethics that have governed Western societies are no longer holding weight with most people as they begin to pull away from Christianity and other organized religions. So peopel are coming up with their own morals and ethical codes and other people are just abandoning ALL forms of morality together and doing whatever they want because there is nobody or real system "in charge" to establish absolute rights or wrongs " Ofcourse there are other problems contributing to the violence and dysfunction in the Black community besides lead in the water, but I believe much of it is peripheral stemming FROM the psychiatric effects of lead and mercury poisoning. Again, not all....but much if not most. So I guess it's a matter of which of these problems we chose to lay weight and focus on. And also since the effects of lead poisoning can't be reversed what is your remedy for this? Number one, I believe they CAN be reversed with proper treatment both holistic and conventional. But the first step as stated in the above quote from my earlier post is to remove the source of the poisioning by replacing lead contaminated pipes and halting vaccinations with serum that contains heavy metals. Then we can look at other forms of treatment to remove the lead from the body and heal the brain and nervous system. I believe there's a solution to EVERY problem and a cure for EVERY disease. We may not know it at this point in time...but it exists. Finally, what if you are wrong? Then what? You will have to find something else to become fixated on. If I'm wrong, then I'll fix-ATE on fix-ING the actual problem and discard my previous theory...lol. CD There isn't a 3 against 1, everyone has said that lead is a part of it. I even said I understand where you are coming from, but my primary focus is on the fact that there are more kids passing in school and doing well than there are failing. THIS IS FACT and Troy posted the evidence. While the evidence shows the disparity of success there are more passing than failing. Well if we all agree on the same problems, then as I've said to Cynique I suppose it's more of a matter of where we're deciding to place our weight on and which problems deserves the most immediate attention. Black leaders both at the top and at the grass roots level have been holding discussion after discussion and rally after rally trying to fix broken families, get Black children to read more, get Black youth to stay out of gangs, and reduce the violence rate in the Black community for 30 or 40 years now. Has it worked for the most part? I believe if we focus on the lead and other toxins in the environment, most of those other problems like deliquency, broken families, violence, ect....will fade. Not necessarily "away" but they will become relatively mild compared to what they are today. As far as a higher graduation than failing rate meaning more "success" than failure. When they start passing out DECENT PAYING JOBS with those diplomas upon graduation, then I may consider it a sign of success. Until then, can we really say that the diploma a young Black male gets today is even worth the paper it's printed on? Success for most young men is wealth, women, and peace of mind. ....and none of those are guranteed by a diploma or even a typical 4 year degree today. The only thing a highschool diploma does is pave the way for college and a lifetime of student loan debt.