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I still haven't. When the masses talk about a project their chatter influences the vibration. So, I'm still waiting for all of the hoopla to die down. I've recently seen Hamilton. I was able to experience the hype for myself. And beside the rhyming, the hype IS the rhythm and the drums, so to speak. I appreciate the influence Chadwick Boseman had on Black Panther. In his passing, those connected with the film are sharing the backstories. I think this is what makes the movie uniquely African, and African American. So. even without seeing it, I get now why Black Panther connected on soul level with so many African ascendants around the world.

What if that was the point? What if Stan Lee made Wakanda separate for that very reason. In hopes, someone like you to come along and raise this point. Our content, our literature, always ask a question. This is what makes literature (comic books included) the best conceptual teacher! So, for example, you come to the aalbc community and teach / remind us about the Berlin conference - and now we are able to build our knowledge with that piece of the puzzle. One thing I learned after publishing my debut novel and gathering intel on my readers is that comic book aficionados are a “rare intelligent breed.” Stan Lee knew his audience and subconscious or not - if you want to keep a secret, hide it in a book. So, maybe Wakanda was a wink and a nod conversation starter. As you’ll see here in this forum - there are facts, perception and perspective and they rarely meet. But I do like conversations that help me understand the world a bit better. I like the short film that led to Raising Dion - better than Netflix’s version. The short was a true allegory of how to raise a black boy in a world that wants to steal his power. 😉 I have a hard time with Thor. I’m still mad at that one @Delano because Thor is a ripoff of “T'shango, the Yoruba god of lightning & thunder. He is a warrior god and wielded a wicked hammer and thunderstones according to legend.

The Director of Black Panther also did Fruitvale Station with Michael B Jordan. Raising Dion is also interesting which is produced by Michael B. Jordan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6koPaImHzY

To me Black Panther represents the idea of the Berlin Conference...divide and conquer/rule. Prior to the Berlin Conference Africans did not have boundaries like there are now. One of the things that I really see as fundamental to really understanding Pre-Berlin Conference Africa is what some people call "The African Ink Road." From north of Timbuktu to south of Kaduna in what is present-day Nigeria was a trading route memorialized with the proverb/slogan "Gold comes from the south. Salt comes from the North. But knowledge and beautiful things come from Timbuktu." Black Panther really is ahistorical...here is Wakanda, the only African country with all this fantastical technological ability. Meanwhile, it pays not attention to apartheid? Doesn't lend a hand during to the Mau Mau? Is completely indifferent to Cecil Rhodes' intention to colonize everything "From the Cape to Cairo?" What made Wakanda ignore the fact all it's neighbors except Ethiopia and Liberia were colonized up until Ghana's independence? Here's the kicker for me. The Biafran War took place during the Sliver Age of Marvel Comics. Wakanda ignored it. I know comics are not the real world, but this is a fantasy world that defies reality in too many ways to be ignored. So what made Wakanda separate itself from the rest of the continent? Stan Lee. Dr. Welsing made me look at how the subconscious speaks loud and clear when we look at motivations. Just like Edgar Rice Burroughs, and James Patterson, Lee's version of Africa is HIS view. T'challa is who Stan Lee would be in Africa if he had the opportunity. The movie does the same thing. The African diaspora becomes the enemy through Killmonger. The CIA/USA becomes the (shadow) hero/ally through Ross. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Stan Lee. Love Jack Kirby. Wanted to be a mix of Jim Starlin, Gil Kane, and Kirby with Big John Buscema and Frank Frazetta sprinkled on top growing up. That whole "What Kinda" thing sank my battle ship. Thanks for questioning the Melanin Envy angle @Delano. Who knows this might turn into a book. "Psychoanalyzing Wakanda." I'm a "late adopter" because of Microsoft's tendency to release software before it's time. Nothing ever lives up to it's propaganda.

You are assuming Tavis is heterosexual. Shadow and Act did not say and I did not reference the source article (I don't really care that much). Tavis may have been sexually harrassining his male and female subordinates for all I know. On Friday I took a mandatory sexual harassment course for the college I teach at. I hate the things. The department admin and the department chaired emailed me separately telling me that it was a state requirement. Normally I just fast forward though the slides and videos and answer the obvious questions at the end. But this course was on to this tactic; you could not advance until every video played. Given your statements @Pioneer1 I can see why these training course are required. One of rules is that professors can not have sex with the students -- consensual or otherwise. This is obvious to me, but I can see, now where people like Pioneer would see no problem with this and really do need to have someone explain to them why this is just a very bad idea. Common sense tells you that you should not have sex with those who report to you... I guess common sense is not all that common huh?

Thanks for asking for clarification: Here is the deal. I set up an affiliate store with Bookshop.org when they first launched last year. I figured I could use them to generate revenue when supplying buy links for books that I do not carry in my online store. When I send readers to https://bookshop.org/shop/aalbc I get 10% of any sales generated. Bookshop, in partnership with the ABA, shares an additional 10% with indie-booksellers, who are also ABA members. This is the revenue share that AALBC, an ABA member, is not allowed to receive. Of course Bookshop retains the remaining revenue. So when a readers buys a book from a Bookshop affiliate -- even a affiliate operated by a Black-owned business, like AALBC -- most of the profit goes to white businesses. Does this make sense? A web based booksellers can make anywhere between 65% and 40% on the sale of a book. As the ABA fosters a dependence of Black booksellers (usually the ones with the weaker ecommerce sites) on Bookshop.org they are basically taking 55% to 30% of that potential revenue. Bookshop has another program where Bookshop was they pay 30% of cover price to stores that handover they online sales to bookshop. Still the bookstore is giving up 25% to 10% of their revenue. While strengthening Bookshop and weakening the potential off all other web based booksellers. This is the main source of by gripe -- it is Amazon all over again. Popular booksellers like Powell's books in Oregon, does not use Bookshop.org -- they have a robust ecommerce website. Powell's has also finally stopped using Amazon's marketplace, which has completed perverted rationale pricing for the online sales of books. Powell's still gets the revenue share from Bookshop.org -- even though they do not use bookshop.

As soon as I post this message here is the very next order 🙂 1 x Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys 1 x Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys, Vol. 2 1 x Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys, Vol. 3 1 x Countering the Conspiracy to Destroy Black Boys, Vol. 4

Just finished this book. I expected it to bash those in the Civil Rights Movement who identified with "non violence". I myself am not a "non violent" and this book changed my perception of the "two" strategies. I originally thought "non violence" was weak. But now see it can be an effective tool that must be accompanied with people willing to defend. The author (Charles Cobb) did an amazing job of showing how the two worked hand in hand. Often, when direct physicality wasn't an option, we resorted to other, more creative ways to fight against the system. Work stoppages, slow downs and most notably, running away. There are many anecdotes of the self defense black Americans used in the struggle for freedom. Cobb even covers rebellion during slavery and shows the long history of us standing up to the power structure, with our backs against the wall. I really liked when Cobb spoke on the struggles that CORE, SNCC and other groups, had when bringing their non violent way of organizing to a southern culture where the gun was a daily part of life, as was the terroristic violence. The southern men and women opened their homes and lives to these student organizers and often times protected them from attacks. Charles Cobb was a field secretary for SNCC and provides first hand knowledge and experience of the horror that was (and in a lot of ways still is) the American South (the north, where I'm from, is bad as well but it wasn't the primary focus of the book). I could go on and on but this is a very well written and researched book that gives a perspective of the Civil Rights Movement that isn't often showcased. I recommend everyone to check it out. "Black resistance to white supremacy is deeply rooted in grassroots community organizing and best describes black peoples' effort at gaining freedom and full citizenship; efforts that began long before the demonstrations and protest in public spaces associated with the 1960's." - Charles E. Cobb Jr

Walkman93, I share your comments about Charlie's work. I call him that because we have a few things in common. We worked at Howard University's radio station WHUR, he in the late 70s as a reporter, me in the 1980s as a public affairs producer. I interviewed him about his book in 2014 and I was truly ecstatic about this stellar piece of journalism and bravery. One thing though, the cover on my hardback book is different from the paperback. No problem. Still a good book that should be required reading in all journalism classes.

I am looking for someone to do the Character Sheets for the four images in Mommy be so Mean She Takes My Money. This is the first installment of the Clarence the Cabbie Confidential series. Interested candidates can apply http://www.freelancer.com/projects/project-27505933/

I posted a video of the conversation and a transcript of the chat here