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Hello. everybody! I'm a first-time indie author, and my book, I'll Take You there, is available on Amazon (published April 2018): The book is a quick read-- 80 pages (soft cover) with 50 poems. I’ll Take You There is about butterflies and bugs, relationships, choices, and growing old. It’s about familiar things imagined in new ways and unspeakable things given voice. The poems are pithy and layered, infused with plain talk, and deal with a myriad of personal and topical issues, not least among them, racism, which is dealt with in each of the four sections of the book (Discovery; Snapshots; Choices; Memories). Feelings predominate in Discovery, where the author rummages through heart and mind to discover self. Snapshots include whimsical, reflective poems of brief, indelible connections with both man and nature. Misinformation, disinformation, greed, sin, and social pathology are dealt with unflinchingly in Choices. Growing up in the 1940s and ’50s is the theme of Memories, with each poem beginning with “I remember.” What is probably unique to I’ll Take You There are the text references (to the back of the book), where foreign, colloquial, and made-up words are defined, some verses expounded on, and some poems given historical and cultural context. I am very much interested in AALBC considering I'll Take You there for one of the free book reviews. Like I say, it's a quick read, but a deep dive. Here's one of the shorter poems: BLACK PEARL You forced me into your house and I became an irritant. You tried to smother me and I became blacker, more beautiful, more precious. When you were shucked I was free to be me, my value on display for the whole world to see. ISBN-13: 978-1732091009 Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/131-3277931-2216451?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=verdelle+lambert Author Profile: I earned a master's degree in magazine journalism from Syracuse University. With the exception of writing for Jet magazine, I spent my entire professional career writing and editing employee publications for major corporations (including IBM). After retirement I published the now defunct biennial Christian magazine, The Gift Is Free, which I distributed gratis to local churches from 2008 to 1012. My hobbies are photography, gardening, designing greeting cards, and watching well scripted movies.

Troy you have your position and I have a different one. Which is a function of the differences in our lives. I'll give you an example as kids the biggest insult was to call another guy a faggot. However the same kids went to the Paradise Garage. They were underage boys and we're let in on Gay night. Later on I was in a relationship with a bisexual feminist. She said that was bigotry. To me at the time it was just words but I could hear her. I have had illuminating conversations with Lesbians and Gay men. About domestic violence amongst lesbians. Black Gay men have talked about their being a sexual fetish to Gay white men while also being discriminated against. I have heard white women say that if they are alone, they fear white men more than black men. I have heard women admit to me in private that they find babies of another race more beautiful. I have had strangers and people I know unburden their hearts and minds. Then tell me they never told anyone that story. However I am neither capable more prepared to distill those moments that changed my world view. I am not suggesting that you can't , won't or even should. I am just acknowledging some gaps can't be bridged. Recently I have decided that certain points can't really be discussed. My turning point was being called a racist because I mentioned white privilege.

Thank you kalexander good luck to both you and Del for more reasons than the 50 bucks. Pence is not part of the bet, nor is 45 not finishing his term because of death from whatever cause.

Yes of course the prison industrial complex will be an alternative for some. Of course there is genocide too. Not the kind of genocide where you herd people into ovens, but you gun them down for minor infractions, provide poor medical service, pollute the water supply, and limit access to fresh produce, while making processed food a cigarettes widely available. Has anyone ever asked why so many Black women are obese and why we just accept diabetes and hypertension as just a fact of life?

OK I have $100 on the line. $50 to @Kalexander2 and $50 to @Delano Gentlemen, I admire and somewhat envy your faith in the wheels of justice. I hope when you lose you don't become too jaded.