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@Troy Congratulations! Overnight sensation more than 20 years in the making. I'm kidding. I congratulate you on staying the course. You don't just talk about you are about it and you were ready when the tide - scratch that, Tsunami hit! Bravo! Thank you!

Five minutes after Affirmative Action was put into place Black people (especially men) were marginalized. It became a fight for "diversity" which means everybody (gays, white women, the handicapable, Asians, Latinx, etc, etc) except white men. Black people have been lost in the diversity sauce because we no longer fight in unity. Black women fight for women's rights, the Black folks in the LGBT+ community fight those battles, and so on. Divide and conquer... All the fight for diversity has done is enrage white boys, many of whom despite their white privileged are struggling and further marginalizes Black people -- the ones who Affirmative Action was purported designed to benefit. As a result, white boys elected 45. Meanwhile Black men's graduation rates have declined relative to all other groups, incarceration rates have exploded, and our murders by police are revenue generating prizes for the media. The Black Power movement has been co-opted and watered down in more ways than I can count. Back on the plantation, Amazon proudly flies the Black liberation flag with total impunity inside the big house, while treating Black workers like sharecroppers and doing everything they can to either put Black-owned online retailers out of business, or completely control their sales channels to consumers.

Hi @Mel Hopkins no book seller, I have spoken to, has ever witnessed anything like this before. I was not totally prepared for the surge in books orders -- no one could have anticipated that kind of demand. It put an strain on the entire book distribution chain no one is unaffected not even the big "a." But you are right I was in a position to quickly scale to demand. The things I had working for me was, The website was prepared for the traffic. Thanks to a surge in traffic last year I was forced to upgrade my web server. I ditched Amazon and began selling books directly (many new customers stated they chose AALBC because they'd rather support an indie book seller over Amazon) I simply would not have gotten the extra sales if I were still an Amazon affiliate. Access to credit. I could have brought a couple automobiles with what I spent on books in the last 10 days. I was able to hire help quickly. I had the time and energy to do this work. I worked every day since since May 28 at least 12 hours per day. One evening I had a few friends and tomorrow I'm taking completely off -- but that was it. Yesterday I didn't even take time for dinner. I'm technically capable and was able to quickly make changes to the website, like adding a feature to say when a book would be available. Most of the problems I encountered was simply the availability of books. Because of the pandemic, some books that are still in print, are simply unavailable to me. Some publisher have been shut down until March. Distributors, printers, shipping companies are strained. this all effects booksellers. Virtually every customer has been completely understanding -- it has been amazing. I do have to say there was once customer that gave me some grief.... A month after their order shipped (before the surge), I gave the customer their tracking code. They emailed and called complaining that their book has not yet arrived. They should have gotten it in about a week (it was shipped media). The tracking number indicated that the USPS lost the book in transit. This is info the customer could easily see for themselves. I was unaware of the lost package, because once I provide a tracking number I leave it up to the customer to get back to me. Now during the pandemic everything is slower and lost packages happen occasionally. The customer was sent a new book, but they had to feed me the classic line, "This is why I don't like to deal with own-Black businesses." I know... I was floored too! I explained to the customer that you can't judge all Black-owned business based upon this single transaction with AALBC -- especially when the problem was caused by the United States Postal Service and I made good on the order. If just seems to me that Black business are held to a much higher standard. Literally every other customer has been a blessing. I was selling a hardcover of So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, but the hardcover is unobtainable right now. I went back to customers, and offered to send them the paperback version instead, with a $10 refund for the difference. To a person they all said, "Keep the $10 we wanna support!" I could not believe it.

Chev Yes, well I guess that when the recording was released to the public, this made the difference. It's a wonder what goes on behind the camera! This is one of the reasons the television shows "Cops" and "Live PD" were pulled off the air recently. Many of their critics argued that they didn't give very accurate descriptions of active law enforcement and the shows were HEAVILY edited to make it look like all of the soldiers were good and always did the right thing in warfare. They got rid of all footage that may have made the soldiers look bad or corrupt. YOU'VE got to be kidding! No way. really!? Absolutely! You know how negroes LOVE to party and have a good time despite having more pressing responsibilities.....lol. By our nature we are a fun loving people, so as soon as the pressure APPEARS to be off and the coast is clear a lot of our people are more than ready to start dancing and popping their fingers, while Caucasians are plotting and planning their next move. Covid 19 2.0 ??? Well, I understand. Yes, he's the one. He was heard on tape requesting that GEorge Floyd be turned on his side. AND, he was very knew to the police force and that devil was his training officer, yet, he asked for GEorge Floyd to be turned on his side. But then, WHAT ABOUT THE BROTHER!? WELL, at first I did not think he was black or had no black in him, but some people think Kueng, the other officer might be at least part-Black! If Thomas Lane was bailed then, what about Kueng? This officer, like Lane, was also very new to the police force. And he also protested!!! He said, YOU SHOULD NOT DO THIS, to that devil. And, he also later said that he was raised in Minneapolis by a single parent and wanted to do something good for his community. So now, will people allow him to sit in jail while Thomas Lane was bailed out!? I would not agree to that. Not sure what the deal is but ALL of those race-soldiers who were kneeling on Floyd (I saw 3) should still be in jail awaiting their trial. No, bail. They are TRAINED KILLERS with weapons and pose a danger to the community.