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@Mel Hopkins Yeah Living Single was one of the last network sitcoms that I regularly watched. Kim was certainly Black Famous back when the show aired. Do you think she is Black famous amongst millennials and younger? Eric Jerome Dickey is probably Black Famous amongst readers. Do you think he is Black famous amongst the Black general public? Do you think AALBC is Black famous within the the group of avid readers who are also active online? Sometimes I'll run into a Black author who is promoting a book and says they are unfamiliar with my website and I'll joking say something like, "well you must not use the world wide web?" Sometimes that is actually the case, usually with an older person. Other times it is a combination of how the person used the web and how they web actually works. People tend to gravitate to the biggest websites and everything on the web serves to elevate the biggest sites. You need the white co-sign to become famous. Increasingly however -- especially on the web you need the white co-sign to become "Black famous." The celebs of "Black Twitter" would, of course, not be possible without Twitter. The same could reasonably be said for the start of Black Lives Matter. Black Chitlin' Circuit events for books makes it possible for writers to become Black Famous. Without these events it would be very difficult for a writer to have a career based solely upon writing. These events help raise the profile of AALBC -- which is why I do these events. That plus I love being around Black folk who have a passion for stories and knowledge.

The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’ literature. There are 5 finalists in each category, 8 Black writers made up more than half of all the finalists and won every category! This is quite an accomplishment. When the award started in 2014 there was only one Black finalist and no winners.* *This is based upon recent research; if someone finds something that is factually inaccurate please let me know.