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The city of Tampa recognizes National Black Bookstore Day.

Tempus is fugiting. And before we know it, election day will be here and that bad ol Donald Trump will be ousted and Democracy will be restored and gas prices and grocery bills will plummet and the Economy will skyrocket and everybody will be able to afford to be sick. Black folks? They can all come out of hiding .God will be in his heaven and all will be right in the world... Or - maybe not. Hope all you optimists have a Plan B. 🥴

💜😟💜

I also out danced him one night in Nell's. It was around the time Graffiti Bridge was released. He does just disappear.

I don't know how I'm able to post here, having not done the required procedure, but I'm not complaining.😛

The new look is fantastic. @Troy ...thanks again for everything you do & the sweat equity you pour into the site.😎

You want to make things better around here? I say bring back Cynique's Corner! ......and put her IN it, lol.

UN backs resolution calling slave trade ‘gravest crime against humanity’ RFI Thu, March 26, 2026 at 4:08 AM EDT 2 min read A memorial sculpture by Sandrine Plante-Rougeol in Bordeaux, a historic slave-trading port, where the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade remains central to debates on recognition and reparations. (AFP - GEORGES GOBET)More The resolution – proposed by Ghana – was adopted to applause by a vote of 123 in favour. The United States, Israel and Argentina opposed the measure. There were 52 abstentions, including the UK and all 27 members of the EU. Ghana's President John Mahama, one of the African Union's most vocal supporters of slavery reparations, was at the UN headquarters in New York to support the vote. "Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice," said Mahama. "The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting." Transatlantic cruise to turn spotlight on Brazil-Angola slavery past Despite being non-binding, the resolution goes beyond simple acknowledgment and asks nations involved in the slave trade to engage in restorative justice. It also highlights the legacy of slavery via "the persistence of racial discrimination and neo-colonialism" in today's society. "The transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity that struck at the core of personhood, broke up families, and devastated communities," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. "To justify the unjustifiable, slavery's proponents and beneficiaries constructed a racist ideology -- turning prejudice into a pseudoscience." During discussions over the resolution, US ambassador Dan Negrea said the text was highly problematic. "The US also does not recognise a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred." He added: "The US also strongly objects to the resolution's attempt to rank crimes against humanity in any type of hierarchy." The UK and EU countries put forth similar arguments while acknowledging the wrongs of slavery. "The resolution risks pitting historical tragedies against each other that should not be compared, except at the expense of the memory of the victims," said French representative Sylvain Fournel. Heroes who fought to abolish slavery honoured in Paris Pantheon expo For African Union officials, the language of the resolution is central to its purpose. Amma Adomaa Twum-Amoah, the AU’s Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Development, said clearly naming these events removes any lingering ambiguity about their nature. “It is to say that what was done to Africans was not a tragic accident of history, but the result of deliberate policies whose legacies structure today’s inequalities,” she said. “Justice begins with calling things by their proper names.” Beyond recognition, the resolution encourages countries historically involved in the slave trade to engage in processes of restorative justice. Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has been explicit about what that could entail. “The perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade are known – the Europeans, the United States of America,” he told reporters. “We expect all of them to formally apologise to Africa and to all people of African descent.” He pointed to the return of looted cultural artefacts as one possible step, alongside continued efforts to dismantle structural racism and, potentially, financial compensation for affected communities.

As part of the AALBC upgrade, I have to move to a dedicated server. The shared environment I current run on is not allowing to add the features I'd like to add and to make aalbc.com a truly world class website. This discussion forum may experience a brief outage (hours not days). It is also possible some posts may be lost depending upon when you make them. So please do not share anything you do not want to lose until I give the all-clear. Finally, I will probably migrate to newer discussion forum software (...ugh, I know). The problem with this software is that they are pushing upgrades to a cloud-based solution which is much more expensive. I'm basically broke; so, I (1) can't afford the software and (2) I don't think it is worth it. There are better solutions that I can more easily integrate with aalbc.com and I will pursue one of those. I'm open to suggestions. This software will remain in place, but I will probably lock down the discussion forums and encourage people to begin using whatever new platform I launch. I believe this is the best chance for increasing the number of engaged active users of the site and ultimately building something that someone else or another team and actually maintain after I'm gone. (Sidebar: in the longer term I doubt websites will continue to be a thing, but there will always be a need for to Black-operated and owned platforms we Black people communicate and curate out culture we can't leave this up to Elon and Mark).

@Troy....thanks again for everything you're doing to maintain this site.😎

Abolish the need for Visas to cross International Borders.....Advocate for the Right To freely Travel the Globe as a Basic and Foundamental Human Right. Travel is Education

The great experiment that is the United States of America (USA) even in its relative youth as a 250-year old nation has studied the history of empires...their rise & fall. The *smartest* thing the USA did was allowing people from all of the planet to come & live in this country. Though its institutions, the USA has tapped into the best & brightest minds from around the world. Through its power of money & influence & military strength, the USA has become the leading super power in the world. There is no other country on the planet to which more people immigrate. I don't believe the USA will implode or self-destruct under the weight of its own largesse. Nor will disputes & bickering among disparate groups of people (tribes) derail the USA either. I believe it will take an act of of the universe i.e. series of natural disasters to dismantle &/or destroy the USA. There's always the remote possibility that white people will get fed up with each other & start firing off those nuclear bombs. Of course, going nuclear means game over for humanity as we know.😎

J.Edgar Hoover genuinely feared the Black Panthers. Really believed they were a serious threat.

My daughters were big Prince fans and that's how I came to be a fan. I attended at least 4 concerts with them including his Purple Rain tour one in Chicagoland where he broke all records selling out 8 nights at a large venue. I remember my youngest daughter camping out all night with hundreds of fans to be first in line to get tickets. I actually liked old vintage Prince better than his later work. Also liked "The Time" who were his opening act when he first started out.

Hard to believe. Time really does fly! Last year I visited his home in MN. Calling it a mansion would be an understatement. I did not get to see the entire place -- that is like a $400 tour. He is one of the few musicians I saw more perform than once (twice). I saw the Ohio players twice... I think that is it. Anyhow he was doing a residency on Vegas the last time I saw him 2007 he walked by everyone's table and I patted him on the back :-) If he was alive today he would still be only be in his 60's! Charley Murphy (another one gone too soon) tells a hilarious story about ballin' with Prince.

What is a Conspiracy Theorist? The Term is used to dismise and discredit individuals who promote Ideas contrary to the mainstream or that which is not intend for public consumption or consideration.. As a result most Conspiracy Theory and theorist start out as Whistleblower's and the information they are divulging and those who believe them In Reality Most human Endeavors that are kept secret is a Conspiracy among those who know....It remains a Theory until they are forced to admit it existence. I Have never denied that Vaccines save Lives....especially when it was first introduced to Western Civilization. Today and in the recent Past this has change as many rich and powerful individual saw where it could be used to make money and maintain greater control over the Globe. You are entitle to your opinions and beliefs I have seen in my lifetime doctors and companies knowing the evils of smoking cigarrettes recommending it as good for your health So I do not trust The Official Mainstreams news to tell the truth....when one individual have more many than many countries and nations... Science and Morality are exclusive.....unless forced by convention into compliance From My understanding ..... They do not consider the earth ours nor do they consider outright war/hostile take over progressive or beneficial. They are here trying to ensure that the specie and the Earth survive The Nations States Countries or even Human Civilization is not important to them According to some Ancient Scriptures we Human of Earth have manage to destroy our civilization.....seven Times already and had to start over from scratch You only need a Small population to repropagate or wreak havoc. True Heard the same... Prison Planet.....yo do not need a specie that believe that war can lead to peace or solve issues becoming too advance - The only logical end to war is Mutual Destruction We are Sims... Hence our goal is Enlightenment - Self Realization - Awakenment.....break free of the Simulation - Self Awareness In short we are the ghost in the machine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zskHgT_W_0 University Professor PROVES We Live in a Virtual-Reality Simulation

I am Here....Presentence

Yes I just hit the link. No login required Thank you, I appreciate your labour of love.

He IS the embodiment of the American spirit -- THAT is why he is a 2-time president and multibillionaire.

@ProfD Trump always takes the low ground, never the high ground. He says what a lot of prople really think and appeals to the worst in people, with his lack of propriety. England's royal couple, King Charles and his consort Queen Camilla are coming to America as a good will gesture in connection with America's celebration of its 250th birthday. Wouldn't be surprised if the meglomanical Trump tries to upstage them, and a lot of people will approve of this. Trump is an iconoclast, which wouldn't be such a bad thing if he, himself, wasn’t such a depraved, narcisstic, ignoramus. As POTUS, he's a terrible embodiment of the America spirit on the occasion of its 250th anniversity.

No, I did not mean to suggest that I found something "innately wrong" with it. I was just curious about the motivation. Sometimes, perhaps often, we do things without understanding the true motivation. It is the same curiosity I have about people who wear spacers in their earlobes, cover their bodies in tattoos, or color their hair purple. I will admit 20 years ago I probably would have been more judgmental about those things. Today I could care less about what a person does with their own body, but I'm still curious about the motivation. Look, white people invented dying hair blond or at least popularized it before Black women began doing it. Obviously, white women were not motivated by race. Maybe it is not racial for our deeply melaninated women either.

...well they the ones paying him. Were it not for y'all I would know nothing about pop-culture. I would not worry about the promoter too much. You gotta buy insurance. T-Boz and Chill lbetter squash their beef and make that paper! "Independent thinker" Is a euphemism for arrogant ignorance. The idiot who does "his own research" in fringe corners of the WWW.

The Legendary actress Bette Davis was one of the others who took credit for this Academy Award nickname, claiming the statue reminded her of her Uncle Oscar. Maybe Oscar Micheaux was her uncle. Who knows?

The l8te great Dick Gregory was a brilliant comedian. He said a lot. Some of it was for effect. 😎

@richardmurrayin answer to your question asking why I think anyone born in America is automatically a citizen, I tend to think in the abstract when it comes to land ownership, maps, boundaries,territories,etc. The Earth is ground under our feet and doesn't belong to anybody! All claims to it, like treaties and deeds are man made agreements; just pieces of paper. So, technically, wherever you were born, is your birthplace and that qualifies you to claim citizenship in the place where you came to life. It's that simple to me. All the rest is superficial. I neither love nor hate my birthplace. It is what it is. and I take that in my stride.

Even when you're spending time with your family......you're thinking about me and scrolling down awaiting my responses. Talk about obsession.

Right. They're not really that stupid, they're just PRETENDING to be.....😉 Like the old folks used to say and Judge Joe Brown made it a household term, "Even if you ain't got no sense, ACT like you got some"....lol. ...but in reverse.

@aka Contrarian....late on the response but I thought UConn would win that game. I'm going with Arizona getting past Michigan to meet UConn in the championship game. In my tournament challenge, I picked Arizona to win it all. We'll see. On the women's side, I'm glad the South Carolina Gamecocks under head coach Dawn Staley sent undefeated UConn packing.🤣 IMO, NCAA Tournament Basketball is more fun to watch because those kids play their hearts out.😎

Mel "Between nine and fifteen thousand years ago, scholars believe that a land bridge existed between Asia and North America that we now call Beringia. The first inhabitants of what would be named the Americas migrated across this bridge in search of food. When the glaciers melted, water engulfed Beringia, and the Bering Strait was formed." ( Mack 1.1) We just walked on over to the Americas. There were Black people here before Columbus It was easy to migrate to the Americas While this is a probability for how Black people arrived in the Americas in the distant past, we actually have more recent examples of how Black people arrived in the Americas before Columbus. A prime example would be Mansa Musa's brother Mansa Abu Bakr 2. I'm sure you've heard of Mansa Musa, the king of the Ghana kingdom and at one time the world's richest man. He had a brother....Mansa Abu Bakr II......who built ships and actually led an expedition of men to the Americas back in 1311. Over 100 years before Columbus! The First African Voyage To The Americas, a story - African American Registry Exploration Mysteries: An Early African Voyage to the Americas? » Explorersweb African King, Mansa Abubakari II Discovered America in 1312, 180 Years Before Columbus – The Savannah Tribune It's been said that the large stone sculptures of helmeted heads that are clearly of African descent found down on the coasts of Central America are tributes to Mansa Abu Bakr II and his men. heck most indigenous people and Hawaiians were Black first.. Facts. That was before the Asians started arriving and mixing in with the native population. Here are some pictures of the last Queen of Hawaii. TELL ME if she doesn't look like a sister Anita Baker never knew she had....lol. As far as your video..... While "Black Caucasian" is an oxymoron.....lol....just like the Hawaiians were originally Black but became mixed with Asians, this appears to be the case all over the Pacific Island from Polynesia to Melanesia to the Somoan and Fiji islands. Islands full of dark and Black people with an Asian admixture. ProfD Gotcha! I knew something strange was happening....lol. Reminds me of that movie "Who Cloned Tyrone"....where no matter what he did or went through....the next day looked the same as the day before, lol.

I've never given the immigration issue a whole lot of thought probably because it has never directly impacted on my life. But I do agree that criminal illegal immigrants should be deported back to where they came from. And - that anyone born in this country is automatically an American citizen. I'm not a particularly patriotic person, and I'm always amused at how black people can chronically complain about racism, and express so little regard for their white countrymen yet so resolutely declare their love for this country. As somebody famous, Winston Churchill(?), once said: "America is the worst, most flawed country in the world... except for all the others." That sentiment kinda resonated with me.

🤔....is Go Daddy gone yet? Mel I'm assuming this stands for "Foundational Black Americans" and ADOS American Descendants of Slaves? Correct What is the difference? Pretty much the same ideology that focuses on us as Black Americans having a separate and distinct identity and culture from other Blacks in the Diaspora. Yvette Carnell who is a staunch proponent of Reparations started the ADOS movement to establish a separate identity for us as Black Americans separate from Africans and West Indians so that IF and WHEN we do get Reparations, supposedly they'd only go to US and not other Black people who didn't descent from U.S. slavery specifically. The FBA movement was started by Tariq Nasheed because he liked the idea of AfroAmericans having our own separate identity and promoting our culture, but he did NOT like Yvette Carnell and didn't want to join HER organization....lol. So he started his own. Both groups are similar but many of those in the FBA movement don't believe that they or most Black Americans descended from slavery. They believe most of us descended from Black people who were already here in the Americans. Many of them don't recognize any ties to Africa what so ever. So I'm not sure how that will work in favor of their argument for Reparations. Many of the followers of both groups are so ignorant, they don't realize that most Caribbeans and Black South Americans also descended from slavery. The fact is, there were many Black people already here through out the Americas for hundreds if not thousands of years before Columbus. While that is true, the vast majority of us are descended from the Black people who were brought her from Africa during the Middle Passage. So both sides are correct. I guess it depends which history one wants to put the most weight on. But like I said, you can't have your cake and eat it too. If a Black American wants to hold on to the claim that they didn't descend from slaves and have no connections to Africa, then they won't be entitled to any Reparations money or benefits.

That part right there.

O@TroyI appreciate and admire your dedication and sacrifice. Always have. Wish I was about the future, instead of the past. Needless to say, I wish you well. 👌👍

I haven't. Thank you for sharing! I probably won't. I am working on my first screenplay but it's historical fiction.

Of course, some here be against it because we look, pretty shitty. The US would probably most of the top 5 over the past 400 years. Chattel Slavery, Genocide of indigenous populations, lobbing two Nukes, etc, etc. This appears to reflect a small area. There are many middle class and upper middle-class areas where you can find people these types of people who are from FBA Black families. We are the majority in these classes.

I forgot there will almost certainly be MORE problems in the short term, so lease grant me some grace, as it is the nature of these things. It is still just little 'ole me running the beast of a website 😇

Some celebrities will do &/or say the most ridiculous to include revealing their ignorance in order to maintain relevance. As the late Honorable Malcolm X said back in the 1960s, if entertainers are leaders, we have a bigger problem. Congrats to your alma mater in making it to the Final Four.👏🏿 The bots are convenient when calling up a few friends isn't in the cards. The invention of computer games allowing humans to play with themselves was the precursor to social isolation. As humans become more silo'd, AI will become the perfect companion to some. AI won't do dishes or give out hugs & kisses but it won't require anything of humans either. Zero sum fun.😁😎

Ok, I didn't know WHAT you were talking about at first. I had to look up the fact that Stephanie played Dorothy in The Wiz to make the connection to what you were talking about, lol. Personally, I thought Diana Ross was the only one who played that role.

I'm fine with Black folks self-identifying &/or aligning with a tribe. Humans have been tribal for centuries whether it is by country or ethnicity or culture. More importantly, FBA/ADOS/AfroAmericans/Freedmen need to build stronger strategic alliances with other Black folks & groups of people with shared common interests. As both you & brotha @frankster mention...there are Pan-African & other Black groups working together. Millions of Black people were not kidnapped. Moving that many people requires coordination. African leaders were selling people as if they were pieces of gold.🤣 For as long as I've been sitting in an armchair around here, I've mentioned that government & politics do not work that way.😁 Black folks even in the highest-level positions of government do not have enough power to give us anything. Cases in point...POTUS Obama or Justice Uncle Tom Thomas or pick a name. They cannot take unilateral action or make decisions. Everything requires some type of consensus.😎

Lol...maybe AI will solve THAT problem, soon.

Lol....I don't know where THAT one came from. Most folks don't know how short our cute little sista really is...... I was at an event where she sang for the opening. Man, she hopped off stage and walked past me. I was sitting down and was STILL taller than her...lol. I waved at her and she had to LOOK UP at me to smile....lol.

Come on now.... If you're looking for a young man....there are less expensive and time consuming ways to find one, than that.....lol.

Yep. Most people don't know that this is where the word "slave" comes from....the Slavs Places like Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia and Slovenia....the slavic regions of Europe where the Arabs and Africans used to go and get slaves to bring back to the Middle East and North Africa. Called "Mamlukes" So.... Are you done hibernating? Like a bear or groundhog.....lol....you've decided to come outside and join us for the Spring?

ProfD Funny thing it's illegal for us to buy cartons of cigarettes & break them down to sell loosies. Well see, I didn't know that. I don't smoke or deal in cigarettes so I didn't know it was illegal for citizens TO do that. I guess that's why they have an ATF bureau. Easily. Same mentality that bums a ride & doesn't offer gas money or *borrows* household sh8t (sugar, cooking oil, flour, a few pieces of bread, etc.). That caused flashbacks from childhood. We had a woman who lived next door who would constantly ask for shit like that and we KNEW when she wanted something because she'd always first greet you buy saying, "hey neighbor"....lol. Any other time she'd either ignore you or give you a "Hey" or stale "How you doin'". But when she wanted some sugar or milk or eggs or wanted to use the vacuum cleaner..... "Hey Neighbor!"

Liquor and White women.....his two vices, lol.

Understood I stand corrected Yep I do People with a racist world view

There was & is a lot of *work* to be done around here. Takes all kinds of labor (skilled & unskilled, educated, under-educated, etc.) to get it done. Sure. Slavery, genocide, exploitation, trafficking, etc., every human ill is woven into the fabric of a wealthy nation. The great thing about dialog/discussion is there is plenty room for hypothesis, speculation, hyperbole, etc. The discourse does not have to remain literal down to every last work, phrase or belief.😎

@ProfD Well, the issue isn't allowing the issue is who can stop this from going to war. The USA has a long history of internal military conflicts. The secession from the english empire was mostly fought between peoples who were of the english colonies and other european colonies. it wasn't colonists vs the english, it was colonist vs colonist. one side of colonist had aid from the french military and spanis military, the other side of colonist had aid from the english military. In the war of 1812, it was the same, many people in the usa fought with the english to reclaim the usa. new england/virginia/carolinas/kansas all had regional wars between whites. and then came the war between the states. The creation of the federal bureau of investigation was first for the original klu klux klan whose mission it was to become the largest subcommunity in the white populace and thus take over the usa, the fbi, through all sorts of means undid the original klu klux klan, which i argue prevented armed conflict from a larger scale occuring in the white populace in the usa. Then the fbi and other agencies did similar into all organizations in the usa to make sure none ... led to anything, so to speak. The nation of islam, the sons of odin, the tong, every organization in the usa i hear has a three letter agent and their sole role has to be quelling any organizations ability to start a massive armed conflict in the usa, which will lead to larger ones as in the past. This the 1950s 1960s 1970s where many people in the usa were... taken out of commission in various ways. Now in modernity, I argue, the military + three letter organizations are the ones keeping this piece, not so called liberal whites or so called conservative whites. it is the military industrial complex keeping the peace. I don't have proof. But their goal isnt preventing any from taking over the country as you say, their goal in my mind, is keeping a peace, because the usa is demographically very weak. You can't get ten people in the usa in any city to explain what unites people in the usa outside of lies/commercial statements/ or honest I don't knows. All ten will not say the simple truth, individual greed. The problem with that truth is, individual greed doesn't lend to working with others, by default. If you can't get people in the usa to comprehend why they should be aligned casually, if they start thinking the walls will get higher. The question is one of arms. Schrumpft is president now. The states are already showing at least two camps on alot of issues, but they haven't armed themselves. The good news for the military is the post lincoln federalism has successfully defanged all states in the union. None of them can survive a month without the federal welfare check. Circa 1865 most states in the union had totally internal economies, they battled each other for trade let alone places outside the usa. so, the key is the states,will the schrumpf era lead to states developing themselves to be self sufficient as in the past? if so , that will lead to war eventually Another potential is a fissure in the military which would quicken the pace, but it seems the military hasn't fissured but it has happened in the past and will happen again eventually. @aka Contrarian And to be blunt, the challenge is on our particular tribe. Black DOSers are in a modernity where the usa it is fifty years, a half century, since the sixties and black dosers as individuals have achieved a lot, more than any other group arguably, but as a populace, are even farther from being a potent community. and so i think many DOSers are in the resent phase when plans don't go as some preached or some prayed for or some guaranteed. How many black parents told black children what to do and it turned out hogwash? don't break the law, go to ivy league, be a proud american, embrace the other as a human being, hasn't led to much of anything for a lot of black people, and definitely hasnt led to the black populace being a black community. so, blame game for many, lets blame the immigrant, lets blame muslims. even black immigrants or black muslims are under attack. Not strange bedfellows. many white german jewish organizations were in full support of the nazis with the nazi's yelling death to all jews. it isn't strange. all populaces of people are broken up into tribes in truth because how people see the world, themselves, their future, is rarely the same. These blacks are frightened of white power, are making a gambit that allegiance with them will save them from violence, from harm, they don't care for the multiracial USA that was probably promised by their parents and elders growing up as a positive when that was an over simplification. The black church... whom I have so much to say on, misguided the black populace in all earnest, in times past and has been forever regretful that it fucked up, blaming all but itself for its modern condition. so yeah.

@Pioneer1 what do you want exactly? I am a little confused. You know that Black owned media exists and black owned media emphasizes black love between black people who are not yella/light skin/ideal mulatto/ or similar. you know black people have access to black owned media in the usa. So when I see your complaint, it seems to me, what you really want is for non black owned media to present black people a certain way. Am I right? My problem with your desire is, how can that happen in the USA? is not the usa a multiracial country? Many people talk about white jews but many websites in the usa, many groups in the usa are publicly anti jewish, no matter a jews phenotype. All the American civil liberties unions and Defamation Leagues don't stop said anti jewish organizations from posting whole movies online stating the jewish populace, any phenotype, has to be... removed. So what do you want exactly?

No surprise that clebrity gossip has always pushed the Willie Lynch narrative & colorism. Over time, there have been moments where Hollywood showed dark-skinned actors & actresses. As mentioned in another thread, Hip-Hop music brought a lot of dark-skinned entertainers to the forefront. Examples of Hollywood Black couples: Owning media outlets is one way of promoting the images that reflect Black people across the spectrum. Producing content that features Black folks in healthy, functional situations is another way of reversing the colorism narrative & other stereotypes. Black folks cannot merely complain about how we are being mistreated &/or portrayed. We have to rewrite the narratives.😎