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I don't usually agree with black conservative, Thomas Sowell, but something he said a while back did resonate with me. He deconstructed and dismissed "intellectual academics", saying something to the effect that they were self-appointed and enjoyed the luxury of never having to defend their opinions because they never stated them as facts but relied on their superficial credentials to get them over. I also am very receptive to the advice of Buddha who said no one has an obligation to believe anything anybody says. Shakespeare spoke of the "sound and fury of idiots saying nothing". Words, words, words. I'm right, you're wrong. Blah, blah, blah. Cornel West is a malcontent who thinks all wisdom originates with him. It is my further observation that a lot of living people are getting by on their reputations, and that the passage of time elevates dead leaders to the status of icons who happened to be at the right place at the right time. Martin and Malcolm have become sacrosanct but they were not infallible. They were master of rhetoric who had their fingers on the pulse of their followers. and they were adept at manipulating the truth. When I hear people aggrandize James Baldwin, I ask myself why, since I was around during his heyday, don't I think of him as anything but an accomplished author? He and Malcolm and Martin and militants like Angela and Stokely and Eldridge were certainly very visible and much in demand on the popular talk show circuit that during the early days of TV played a big role during the civil rights movement. The controversy these high-profile personalities brought to a discussion panel was a boon for ratings and they were as entertaining as they were informative. Baldwin, in all of his drama queen charisma, was at his best throwing hissy fits that fed into the white guilt of slack jawed liberals. Yet to me, he never voiced anything that wasn't obvious when it came to race. But his ability to communicate apparently vaulted him into the ranks of being a visionary. So be it. Bottom line is that clever leaders bedazzle with rhetoric that rivets their followers and intimidates their adversaries. Hello, Obama. But, in the process, not a lot gets done. Change occurs but by the time it comes, the sought after goals no longer apply to the problems which have morphed into something that calls for a different solution. When it comes to FaceBook, nobody is forcing people to haunt this site and scroll around for something to captivate their interest. Why has the traffic slacked off to the discussion boards?? Why, indeed. Nobody is forcing people to stop frequenting them. People like what they like. As H.L. Menken said, nobody would ever go broke betting on the stupidity of the American public. And how surprising is it that in the Internet Universe the big monopolies crowd out small independent entrepreneurs?? The purpose of going into business is to best the competition. The more money you make, the more powerful and ruthless you become. Nobody cares about playing fair, and the old cliches about green power co-opting black power still apply. The object is to be all you can be, and this applies across the board. That's how this cruel world works. That's my 2-cents. Fortunately for dreamers, I am the voice of the past, not the hope of the future. zzzzzzzzz

HI TROY. SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE, YET I'M JUST SEEING THIS. THE BEAUTY ABOUT THE GHETTOHEATHOTNESS GROUP IS THAT ALL BOOK CLUB MEETING DISCUSSIONS ARE POSTED, & EVEN IF YOU MISS THE ACTUALLY LIVE DISCUSSION, YOU CAN ALWAYS READ THE COMMENTS & POST YOUR OWN: & I & OTHER MEMBERS WILL CONTINUE THE CHAT FROM THERE! :0) SO FAR WE'VE REVIEWED HARDER & LONDON REIGN. CONVICT'S CANDY WILL BE NEXT IN 2016. I'LL KEEP YOU POSTED!