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Hi Troy, Thank you for all the kudos. I think what you suggested - doing our own thing - is what we should be doing - independent of what Amazon does or does not do. I have long been a believer in Independent Black Institutions. I think that is the strongest base for Black people in every sector of human achievement. We have to do for self. We can work with others, we can use their vehicles, even their support. But we can rely only upon ourselves, and we must discover and implement the most effective means for doing precisely that. We must begin with experimentation. And as to the reason for aalbc.com's. twenty years. Three syllables will do: Troy Johnson. Dave

I've learned from videos like this and in conversations here that I have to change the way I communicate with the general public on technical issues. Sharing data with graphics and charts really does not work with people unfamiliar with the domain in which you are speaking. You have to appeal to people on an emotional level. In the video Van Jones said; I know this to be true from personal experience because people have no problem saying they don’t care how much education someone has when they disagree with them. They’ll argue with climatologist easily dismissing what the scientist knows in favor of what they themselves feel. I have a talk coming up in a couple of weeks on the impact of Facebook, Google and Amazon on the web and I'm going to consider these factors when I address the audience. We'll see how it goes. In the video, also bt VOX they talk about the environmental cost of ordering online with the next day shipping. Amazon is the obvious culprit. As long as Amazon make their owners money, this behavior will never change. Amazon own the legislators and even the Washington Post who should be reporting on their activities. The only way this will change is if people change their behavior and I see little evidence of this happening.

I think Amazon is doing a passing job. I don't think they're doing a great job about anything except making money. And that's easy to do when you have a monopoly. The central problem concerning Amazon and the markets (and specifically Black book markets) it serves is that the markets never see what other providers can do. Amazon's monopoly specifically blocks them. Some readers such as book clubs and focused writers and publishers access other sources, but compared to the whole market (even for Black books), Amazon is the dominant actor. The problem is how to get the average Black person who buys a book to be aware of other sources.

First, this is a new topic so I didn't get notification. @Troy is possible to get a general notification from this forum? Also I do like the idea of proactive campaign -because it trains us in a new behavior rather than trying to break a habit...

Sorry for the delayed response @David Covin, though I hope anyone would feel free to chime in. All three issues, Selling Books Online, In Bookstores, and Hand Sales are really the same issue. Independent booksellers have been selling books on the web almost as soon as it became possible--even before Amazon. Of course we have always run our own stores and have sold books any way they could be sold, from street corners to salons. The real question is can we get more reades to buy more of their books from Black-owned independent online and Brick and Mortar stores instead of from Amazon? Someone on Youtube (a "Booktuber") has kicked of an year long effort, for 2018, called the #blackout. Basically the idea is to only read Black literature for a year and to buy those books from Black-owned stores (assuming the book is not borrowed from a friend or the library). Maybe a proactive campaign to exclusively the read our literature and patronize our booksellers rather than boycotting Amazon is the way to approach this. If we focus on what we need to do to satisfy the three points you raised an active boycott would be unnecessary because we'd be doing our own thing independent of Amazon. @Mel Hopkins, this actually brings to mind the "follow the reader" idea, what do you think? Just an FYI,. Dr. David Covin is an AALBC.com bestselling author who has written several books. He has also published award winning authors with his publishing company, Blue NIle Press, and is the founder of the Sacramento Black Book Festival. He is also one of the reasons AALBC.com has lasted 20 years.

Well that is good news. Louisiana has historically had the poorest performing school in the country particularly for Black children. I would be happy to see LA surpass New York. Maybe the embarrassment will be enough for legislators to do something

Storytellers play the long game - "We must remember, we’re a civilization rooted in story-telling. We share information filled with iconic imagery, symbolism, and sounds. Celebrities are no different. They use the media to tell stories that voice their platform position or opposition." ~Melhopkinsdotcom