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Hello All, I am Wole Akosile an African-Australian writer of Yoruba heritage. I will like to introduce my debut novel; the gods of women have gone mad published through the Australian Self-Publishing group. It is a contemporary women’s fiction and coming of age genre. The synopsis and my Author profile are below. The link to the Amazon page is also below. I fall into the category of authors you are giving this opportunity. Thanks for supporting my book. https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Women-Have-Gone-Mad-ebook/dp/B07V6NBKLJ/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45422326-the-gods-of-women-have-gone-mad?ac=1&from_search=true Synopsis Rolami is a place where culture and tradition hold the fabric of society together. Its custodians are the gods of Rolami and their servants, the elders and the chief’s council. This council ensures no one dare defies them. The Chiefs have the spoken oracle of the gods. Lami, the young daughter of a village chief leads a revolt against age-long traditions which seem to marginalize women. Her fight is much to the chagrin of the council of chiefs and her family. They had great difficulty managing her insurrection because of her privileged status and the growing sentiments for change in the youths. This discontent is ignited by her message of enlightenment. Her severe punishment sets up a cataclysmic set of events that lead to irreversible changes in the village of Rolami. Are these changes for better or worse? It depends on who is telling the story and who is listening. About author Wole Akosile is a psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist based on the Gold coast, Australia. He is also an African-Australian author, novelist, and playwright. His works have been performed in several sold-out stage plays at the University of Ibadan and University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria in his undergraduate years by theatre groups he founded. When he is not writing, he loves to spend time with his family, and he is a gym enthusiast who likes to beast It up. The gods of women have gone mad is his debut novel. Kindest regards, Wole

Greetings all, I read To Funk and Die in LA, and what a different read. I had never read a Nelson George novel, and I was not expecting the musical history lessons. The novel being written in third person also surprised me. The protagonist, D Hunter, was faced with several challenges and for the most part he pushed through. I enjoyed the LA lifestyle the text offered, and much like D, I would be a fish out of water in LA, but as the protagonist adjusted in the story so did I in the read. It was enjoyable meeting so many culturally different characters. The racial tension present in text was not expected, but one has to assume a city as diverse as LA must have different racial facets beyond the typical Black and white drama. I was also surprised by D Hunter’s HIV status and was impressed by how George worked into the plot with acceptance and concern. Dr. Funk’s creative stability even within his mental health issues was another shocker for me, but completely believable considering how creative genius exist. The only problem with the story was the delaying of the mystery, it was not always upfront for the protagonist, but on the other hand I really enjoyed the family and friends D related to daily. It was a good read and I would read another D Hunter mystery.

Hi, I'm Tanisca, current president of Word Lovers Book & Literary Club. We are looking for self-published books by African-American authors for our 2019-2020 reading list. The book must be at least 100 content pages and properly formatted. Any recommendations for where we can find these books?

@Ldvirtue I hear you, but I have difficulty blaming the parents. We have a culture that empty and shallow. They suffer from the same things that afflict their parents. I don't know what the answer is outside a reboot which will not be pretty, but nothing is gonna change for the better through the political process, Obama demonstrated that... Teach your kids Chinese.

Ali A. Mazrui, also wrote a companion book to his documentary "The Africans: a Triple Heritage" " Originally issued in connection with a PBS series, this volume by the Kenyan political scientist offers a stimulating introduction to Africa's peoples and problems. ""Throughout, Mazrui provocatively suggests remedies for Africa's malaise,'' PW wrote. (September) " The Nature of the Continent | Program 1| Link is in the above comment A Legacy of Lifestyles | Program 2 https://youtu.be/fByaUQppoGs New Gods|Program 3 https://youtu.be/zyZHhMtgDzM Tool of Exploitation | Program 4 |https://youtu.be/fNnN63hXLfo New Conflicts|Program 5 | https://youtu.be/sAxOGImWWF4 In Search of Stability|Program 6 |https://youtu.be/zdhp5JeZkKY A Garden of Eden In Decay|Program 7 | https://youtu.be/98DeZLWnkJg A Clash of Cultures|Program 8 |https://youtu.be/B3AGGHooJ6I Global Africa | Program 9 | https://youtu.be/Nf25hZe1ZhE

@Pioneer1 I agree! (damn!) And there's an actual academic studies authored by an actual African scholar Ali A. Mazrui, who also specialized in afro-linguistics that helped me to understand that this was the truest statement made on this board to date!!! Most African-Americans come from West Africa where the base language is bantu - which is the root of most swahili words - when swahili speaking cultures refer to the etymology of their words - they refer to bantu NOT latin...and etymology of those words form the culture to which many can refer to even though the british colonized a lot of Swahili-speaking people. In fact, when we look to the seven principles of Kwanza it's important to look at the bantu etymology of the word AND NOT the AMERICAN translation. So, when I first thought of this topic I was trying to make a point. African-Americans subscribe to the american culture. It is our language that dictates our culture. Most of the time, without even noticing it -we reinforced the dominate culture - because we only know one language -american english The things we do today would be virtually unrecognizable to a pre-colonized African.

You Matter. Do you ever look around and wonder what others are going through, do you wonder do they wonder about you, do they concern themselves with your struggles, do they know you are in pain, the song talks about the painted on smile, I hear voices telling me to kick back and relax stop thinking so hard and chill for a while, but how do you relax when every morning the flood begins again, you lift your eye lids to the perils of a nation, as small of a piece of the puzzle you are, it still takes that small piece to complete the picture, no one seems to think that their presence is significant but she said all of us, she meant you and I, not them and they, where do you separate yourselves when we a representatives of the atom, need molecules to form anything larger then ourselves, many wonder why I think this way, perhaps because I have been wrestling with some form or another of discomfort for the majority of my life, but the sad part is so have you, we see ourselves so different, when the only real difference is the day you decide that your contribution to me is derived from the moment you elect to look inward and embrace and heal yourself beyond the appearance of mistakes, I learned you in the moment that I said I won’t anymore, I stretched and tried again even when the friendship seemed to end, the roads changed to highways and I walked on alone but I never saw you watching I just assumed I was on my own, feeling sorry for myself, because my companionship was gone, but we are not intended to walk out here by ourselves, money doesn’t bring contentment, friendship is the greatest wealth, networks of people connected for a common goal, they walked around Jericho and they watched the walls unfold, one can set 1000 enemies fleeing 2 ten thousand so the bible says, we are like the sands so our impact would be quite something else when like links of a chain we connect, we are bound in strength the difference we can make, united on a journey, miles we will travel when, we pick up another stranger and they become a friend, a nation of friendship begins when two souls decide to connect, and peaks and valleys attempt to part them but chain that bonds refuses to play in regret, so even though some days it feels like tug of war, I will be there to pull you thought till we all stand at Heavens Door, it begins with one.. are you the one, you matter. .

And what the hell was the shooting at a garlic festival about? The mind boggles.

I think all of this 'conditioning' is negative whether it came from our media, government or our own mothers rushing us to the sink to 'relax' our nappy heads. This kind of conditioning is superficial on many levels, not just 'to look European' here in America. The western world has taken beauty standards to another level, but beauty standards have been blown out of proportion long before too, imo. But when people have a cultural identity, this deflects a lot. And therefore, Black women today, are not so low with their esteem that they have anxiety problems. We, as a whole are healty to a point and have vanity just like other women do. We may have an inflated believe in that our RELAXED and PROCESSED hairstyles are awesome, or our AFROCENTRIC BRAIDS and Twist is the 'only way to go', but it's all vanity. Culturally though, I do think Black women have taken a hit in the past, but not today, so much as the past. @Mel Hopkins absolutely! @Pioneer1 They're style has nothing to do with low self esteem though. I do think that we have a significant problem with being 'conditioned to see European beauties today' to aspire to have that look and appeal, but it does not mean it is expressing low self esteem and 'giving up' not caring how bad 'they' look. It is seen as an enhancement, be that as it may, I agree that it is conditioning byway of media.

Oh no! I now have to go back and re-read! I skimmed over the comments. LOL. But at first glance, I have to tell you, I did not agree for the most part. Okay so here I go, looking back over the comments. Okay this comment makes me understand from @Pioneer1 perspective when he wroter about, sort of like-- 'throwing the towel in, so-to-speak and feeling a sense of doom, [ie I don't agree completely about it being 'a Black-woman thing]. I don't believe that Black people do NOT have an anxiety problem but perhaps based on some of the issues @Troy mentioned that Black people have collectively been through such as seeing their women raped or their kids sold off into slavery and etc., has caused a sense of doom that goes deeper than anxiety--a sort of resignation. I think that is because, we may have been conditioned to see the past horrors but also conditioned to NOT see our present status as being all that bad perhaps. For many, today is much better than the past, but hey, in some regards, we may have been sort of 'dumbed down' too. We too, maybe NOT showing outwardly anxiety about life today, but it could be a sort of resignation. @Pioneer1 Yes, I agree partially. Each group may show stressed differently based on certain issues we are having to deal with on a cultural level. "Hopelessly unattractive"!? LOL! That's just plain crazy! "beyond standards of beauty in this society"!? No way, not today! "Don't even see a need to compete." !? Compete for what!? and Compete against whom!? Okay and this one just BLOWS ME AWAY! "They [Black Woman have] Very low self esteem can make it to where you'll just give up and not care about your looks or body image." That is ridiculous. IMO Black women have been conditioned in America to aspire to certain beauty 'role models', whether they want to look like Diana Ross in those days or, Like Peggy Lipton, that means they have a lot of self esteem. Like most women of all cultures we have followed trends that may or may not be superficial, but that means Black women do care and get 'DOLLED UP' just like women in all cultures. That is a joke, -- right? LOL. Now, I can absolutely understand this circumstance if a BLack person is the minority in a predominantly all-white school but, not if there are significant numbers of other Black students with the same culture. Like the other groups, Black students will 'group up'-- that is a natural process like the other cultures. Like, 'who cares' if there are a significant percentage of Black students? Have you ever been a part of a school where this has happened? I have not. No, -- I disagree. LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE; meaning Black students will congregate to one another and they don't 'give up' or 'throw the towel in' and resign to feeling rejected by other groups in a school environment. However, on another level, I do feel that 'nationally' Black people do suffer from BLack Oppression by our government in certain ways and in terms of this thread beginning, about the teenages having anxiety like a psychotic person, I think Black kids and people do show anxiety in certain ways. There you go. Yes. I agree. @Troy I agree with you partially. I agree that Black women have been flooded with 'standard of beauty' that was not Afrocentric at some point, but not tody.

We black women straighten hair or we don’t. We color our hair or we don’t. Sometimes in the same week! Beyonce at the Lion King Premiere 2019, Serena Williams at the royal wedding 2018. Mary J Blige (undated) BUT Women worldwide change their literal body parts to look like black women. So, that makes black women the standard. There is no low self-esteem when the world wants to look like you.

Clash of the titans? More like a measuring of the penises to see who is the best hung. Male leaders personify the egos of their nations, and the guns and bombs and drones of their armies are phallic symbols. How much misery is inflicted and how many lives lost because one country has to prove that it is the most potent? "Peace" and "diplomacy" are synonyms for "wimp" and "wussy" by those whose lives won't be screwed up due to losing sons and daughters in senseless wars. Street gangs mimic this attitude by killing each other over turf. It's an "us" against "them" society. When does it end? How can it end? Is another big bang on the horizon, poised to blow this world back to square one? Maybe next time around gay men will be the Alpha Males and the only thing their fights will revolve around will be which queen has the best decorated palace. Brave new world.

These are young white children, they where hardly men, the hate they displayed was taught and I blame their parents. What makes a brother kill his sister, Yes our current head is different but I am very sure that these two grown kids had issues before he was elected, We all know white priveledge is real and caucasions have the right to buy guns an feel they can use them as they please, but why aren't the parents getting them help. Why are they seeking attention on this level, white black brown does it matter the color of a nation when at the end of the day we are hurting and in disbelief., I go to Walmart occasionally, and I am light bright damn near white, that could have been me or mine, it is apparent these children don't know anything about love, Kids have to much freedom, we had to fight for freedom, many die so we can claim free, my children got to be free when they left my home and then they learned that freedom is an illusion, something they had to see for themselves, the Ghetto isn't even free. and even if they don't say it when our young black men and women act out they to are missing something as well, it's TV, Music, the news, games, what is raising these children, the gangs, it is defianly not parents who work 80 hours weeks with latch key kids, will we reach to the surface, down below the muck and try to understand the rage, it was't one word, it wasn't one sad song, it was people that taught these to devalue life, I could be wrong, but I am sure I am not.