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Today's my 84th birthday. I'm amazed that I'm still around. Grateful that i can separate life from living. One i observe, the other i do. One day at a time.

@Cynique happy birthday! You have been a gift to so many. I'm grateful for every minute you spend with us. If I make it to Chitown for Third World Press' 50 anniversary maybe we can connect. When you look uy at the solar eclipse on Monday know that I'll be thinking about you :-) Here is to many more birthdays.

I'm devoted to seeking the truth, whether it makes me uncomfortable or not. One truth i have learned early on is that the truth is evasive and that constancy is a marker for the real truth. I've also learned that seeking the truth calls for honesty on the part of the seeker and this creates internal conflict and mixed emotions. The one thing that continues to stump me is whether religious beliefs are true. Now more than ever, because i am daily bombarded with religious memes and prayer requests and testimonies on FaceBook. I don't have a problem accepting that there is a higher intelligence and an almighty force of nature. Whether or not this power can be reduced to being a man who inspired other men to write a book of myth and fables, is something i'm luke warm about . That's because the world shows very little benefit from religion because it is too often at the core of so much conflict, not to mention how much evil thrives. Plus, the bible is so contradictory, alternating between forgiving and punishing, between overlooking some despicable acts and damning others, while portraying god as an egomaniac, condemning the free thinkers that he, himself, has created, relegating them to hell-fire for not accepting Jesus as his son. I do find a little truth in the observation about the only thing being wrong with Christianity , is Christians. Buddhism holds some appeal for me, however, because it more about getting in touch with your inner spirit. Yet, millions are totally invested in religion, afflicted by blind faith. Although i do not consider myself a hard core atheist, leaning more toward Humanism or Pantheism, FaceBook has also introduced me to Atheism, and i must admit, its logic impresses me. I do think its true that most people need something to believe in and to turn to for comfort during a time of need, A simple phrase, like "it's god's will", apparently helps to bring closure for many. I ponder whether it could be true that humans are not only star children but are divine themselves, only needing to discover that what they attribute to a higher source is something they have extricated from their inner power. in seeking the truth, i am a little troubled about what conclusions i've come to about my own race and, in truth, some of these ideas undoubtedly have to do with my being assimilated and brainwashed by white values. But i can truthfully say that i have never had to do a lot of soul searching when it comes to whether or not i would rather be white. My answer is simply no. And that's the truth. I wish i could be a little less discriminating in my compassion. i don't always feel sorry for people who probably deserve sympathy. "This above all, to thine ownself be true", is my mantra.

Lovely prose, @Mel Hopkins and thank you. your posts as you know I like to read, very informative.

Consciousness resides but is independent of the body. As the mind doesn't reside on the head. Which is why imagination is important. And why dreaming is discouraged, as is thinking. The reason teaching slaves to read wss against the law was to keep the mind enchained. So even today most people carry their prison of fears with them. Very few escape and parole is not granted.

@Troy, No, I wouldn't give 500 square of my house to anyone because are people are full of sh*t. I can't even trust them not to lie to themselves. What I would do, is what I have done every day of my life. I DO NOT SUPPORT people, institutions or entities that ensure someone will be homeless, incarcerated or beat down . To be candid.. If you can't tell by now, I don't support most bullsh*t thinking or bullsh*t activities that folks participate in that have an adverse effect on our society. I don't wait until its fashionable - I live my life in a way that people or other living things aren't crushed under the weight of my decisions. Case in point, I've just learned about godaddy and their game-hunting CEO now I'm looking to extract myself from using their services. Peter Thiel founder of paypal - isn't someone I want to do business with so now I'm looking for another company (oh wait I see that's going to take me a minute) ... Those are the latest on my list - show me who you are and how you harm and you can forget about me supplying you anything. This is why I'm not impressed by anyone running around trying to take down monuments and undo what they participated in to build up over the years. Why do you think I spend so much of my time working for FREE with people who are helping themselves - because I believe in focusing on those who are looking to make a change. If we don't like results society is handing us just STOP PROPPING IT UP!

I wish for you MANY MANY MANY MORE!!! <3

I have two main interests since grammar school. Numbers/logic and mythology/symbolism/occult. The two branches are quite similar. Issac Newton was a scientist and a magician. It is no longer fashionable to be a serious thinker and be a magician. Although there have been a few recent exceptions. Albert Einsten comes to mind. The esoteric is an integral part of my goal to think in a full circle. I am dedicated to learning, knowing and acceptance. Understanding isn't as important. For instance I know that fixed thinkers frustrate me. I need not know why. This is a page from my Book of Numbers. Its a project that i embarked on in 1997. A freind made the suggestion to include timing in my readings. So many research projects, a few hundred books, classes and thousands of hours later, there is still my work to be done. It's amazing to sit with a stranger and assist them on understanding themselves and their situatuons. The feedback has been amazing.

It's easy to answer this question because we can easily determine the answer by how we spend our time. I just recently found yet another 160 page document in my file filled with my philosophy on the virtues. I'm committed to understanding my self; where I fall short on certain virtues and where I excel on others and I spend a great amount of time reading, thinking, writing to find out. Then I'm committed to inspiring others to do the same for themselves. Understanding Self is the greatest gift we can give to ourselves and then to society. It changed my life in a way that I'm more skeptical of the tenets of the society. I see through them - and when you see through the illusion, you have to re-write your rules of engagement. Yet through it all I've learned to be more compassionate and patient.

thanks @TroyImagine if we can get aalbc to grow more:) wouldn't that be great @Mel Hopkins as the online black community, this should be our goal, to make a black owned website more popular:) Ok Mel:) private message me on here, we will work something out. I will say this, the promote or social share is not present on blogs and i think is not needed. let us be honest. more and more online people, spend their time with photo viewing or tweeting but very few of them spend alot of time with in depth looking at any level. So, social promotion is good but in the end of the day, we have to come up with ways to engender them to us. many people today have filters to their social experience that grooms it.

@Pioneer1 Yes, I believe EVERYONE is born with strengths and talents. Mine is being able to recognize those strengths and talents in others. We all have our reasons why we seek out the people we find in life. Maybe you seek out people who are lost to help them. Or maybe you seek out "average" people to exploit their vulnerabilities. We all operate on a wavelength that keeps us comfortable and allows us to achieve our internal and external goals. So If I am out of touch, it's a place I choose to be- because I will never seek mediocrity. It's my intention to look up to people. My comfort zone IS intellectual discomfort. I don't ever want to be the smartest one in the room (or in this case on the discussion board.) I seek out people who share wisdom. The definition of wisdom is "knowledge into action". Aside: Here, I learn so much from @Cynique Her words, wisdom and life story are proof positive that black women can rise above any barrier set for us in any era. I hang on every word that she writes because her eloquence in relating her experience is a treasure... You may not know this but it's not @Troy 's academic degrees that make him wise...(whether he exercises it daily -<snark>) - he has complete mind-body control ... Ask Troy about his days as a champion gymnast and swimmer. Whatever Troy puts his mind to he accomplishes... He could actually write the book on "how to operate your earth suit". @Del 's world (and multi-dimensional) view is enough for me to run to the board whenever I see his name pop up. I want to know what he is revealed because I'm sure it will trigger my Aether experience. I can then be reminded that the reality of this world isn't all there is to life. @richardmurray Doesn't comment much on the discussion boards but if you read his works and his profile comments you'll immediately see he exercises his creativity without wondering if it's appreciated. (by the way, yes it is. I marvel out your Je ne sais quoi - you remind me of a world traveler) @harry brown always seems to put into prose highlights of current events that antagonize the black community. I may not like it but I'm challenged by it. And even @Xeon and you Pioneer have the courage to speak the conviction of beliefs without trepidation on this board. Not sure of your waking life since you both hide under the cloak of anonymity here. Still speaking your beliefs is a virtue. But I digress. As you have indicated, since you look for people to prove your point you will find them As long as I look for people to prove my point I will meet them and I do. I don't look for people so I can say "people are average"... I look for people using all their strengths to achieve - so I can move forward with the confidence that anything is possible with this life. I no longer need to see it, though, it's a firmly entrenched belief. The beauty of my life is I've passed on my ability to seek greatness in self and others to my daughters and other young people I have had a chance to mentor. Therefore, I've created a new group of people who seek to find the best in others and in themselves. So, enjoy the world you create while continuing to seek cheer-leading black women and sexual support for black men who choose to wallow in mediocrity. I'll continue to be out of touch and inspire (from the latin word inspirare which means to breathe life into) all the young people I come in contact looking for the best out of life. By the way, my youngest daughter asked her 20-something-year-old-entrepreneurial-no-degree-having-job-creating--six-figure-earning-ready-to-franchise-car repair shops-nationally-friend, if he needed the support of black women (or any woman) to do his thing . He said that's not needed, only the support of the woman he's in a relationship with...and even that's not required. He did say what would make black men great is the support and mentoring of OTHER BLACK MEN. Out of the mouths of babes... Thank goodness he's the future.

Welcome to post-racial amerika! Electing Donald Trump opened up a Pandora's box full of bigotry just waiting to be unleashed. America's only salvation lies in the hands of white people of good will who are willing to fight for the common good. Blacks can't turn things around without allies from the ranks of responsible whites in positions of authority. On the other hand, black people have to stop being their own worst enemy, especially in their inner cities where they sow the seeds of self-destruction through what results from the "baby mama/baby daddy" dead-end lifestyle. Like the Roman Empire , amerika may implode from within, while Kim Jong Un looks on.

What are you committed or devoted to in life? And how has it changed your life?

The God we seek is within each of us, all matter, and all time. Luke 17:21 says, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” The god within you can just as easily be interpreted as being the best representative of yourself; which is just another way of saying you have the ability within yourself to be the best that you are personally capable of being. This doesn't mean that you will better than someone who has more talent or ability than you, it just means that you possess the power to reach your full potential.

Your beliefs effect how you see life, so if you persist with those beliefs perhaps the effect your afterlife .

Happy Birthday! I always knew you were in your own little bubble.....lol.

I'm upgrading the website in a big way over the next few months. If I get it done in the next 6 months I'll be happy, indeed the success of this upgrade will almost certainly determine the future of AALBC.com. I don't mean from a technical perspective, I mean from a business perspective. Is there enough demand for a website dedicated to promoting Black literature, to provide a 1/2 way decent living? Over the last few years this has become increasingly difficult. Some of the changes I have in mind, include more interactivity, a customized CMS, fully mobile ready (to make Google happy), as well as a ton of content spanning almost 2 decades. The site will not fail because of technical execution. This is not the first major site overhaul. I performed three website overhauls prior to this to this one, and many incremental updates but this one will be the biggest Check out some screenshots from over the years. Currently I'm building out the book database which will drive the presentation of book information through the website. My first target is our bestsellers list. Currently I use the Amazon widget to present our book information (see current list). I've always hated that tool because it is not very flexible and Amazon controls the data, but it is much faster to publish our bestsellers list than hand coding each and every list the way I did before implementing the Amazon tool (see early bestseller list). In fact, one of the reasons I started publishing the bestsellers list every two months, rather than monthly, was because it took so long to create the page. The power list website, which I rebuilt last year iis completely database driven, and I learned a lot from that experience, the AALBC.com implementation will be superior. I also have to upgrade my php code as I'm using code that has been depreciated, so the site will be better on many levels. The site will also be fully compliant with HTML5 and CSS3. So while creating new bestsellers lists will be faster, easier, and utilizing superior code. This is all under the hood type stuff visitors don't care anything about. What visitors do care about is what will the site does, what information it conveys and how it looks. Which really is the main reason I created this post. Are there any features you'd like to see on a bestsellers list? Please share you ideas here and I'll work them in. Here is a new page, very rough and in the early stages. I'm experimenting with presentation as the database is built out. Again I'm looking for ideas: http://75.103.68.29/books/bestsellers.php Thanks for your help!

America is functioning they way it was designed to function. If you believe otherwise you are confusing propaganda with history.

Happy birthday, Cynique.

Actually if you ask me you have to wonder why Frazier agreed to work with 45 to begin with. I know an argument is to effect policy and make change from within. But I can't think of a instance when that tactic has ever worked for us. Originally, I had no problem with people like Jim Brown and other Black folks going to meet with 45. In hindsight, I see that was a pointless waste of time. Nothing will change for the collective benefit of the United States until 45 is out of office. One has to wonder why "sisters" like Omarosa (45's director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison) hang on? I guess it is just as simple as a perverse need for fame, money, and power--regardless of the cost.

"Life is the sum of your choices"

And he wasn't even the first man to leave the council. Tesla's Elon Musk left in June because as he said, "Climate Change is Real"....LOL

Yes, this appears to be the case with the majority of author websites. They write books so why would their individual websites attract several thousand visitors a day? If their websites were attracting several thousand visitors a day - why would they need AALBC? This is the point I'm making... find out why they would need AALBC - determine how AALBC can remove the pain-point. Facebook is providing them something they need. THIS! Yes... You found how to ease one of the pain-points!!! The self-published author with no audience is the one for your congregation - This is the group that is searching for a church home... You just have to prepare a sermon to communicate to them, the services and support (a la carte ) they would get from aalbc.com as if they were under a publishing house.

Yes Mel you are right authors are indeed at different stages, and aalbc cannot help every author at every stage equally. I disagree with the premise that if an author is not using AALBC then they don't need it. For example, I have never used the services of a publicist. However, that does not mean that I don't need one. I don't use one because I can't afford one. The site suffers as a result. Many authors I encounter, perhaps most, cannot afford to advertise. they have spent all their resources on producing their books and unless the ad results in more sales than the cost of the ad it is difficult for them to justify the expense of advertising--even for branding. To address the issue of cost I've made available a number of very low-cost options (less than $50 bucks), But these are not as effective as the higher-priced ads run over a longer period of time. There are a few things to consider when looking at your traffic from Facebook; if you generally don't have a lot of traffic say less than a couple hundred unique visitors a day a day then Facebook might make up a more significant portion of your traffic. But if you have several thousand visitors a day the same level of traffic from Facebook is of no real consequence. Most of my traffic for example comes from search. The beauty of SEO is that the more you focus on the web site's content the better off you are. I also get more traffic from other sites then I do from Facebook. Now we are talking about hundreds of sites sending a handful of visitors a day. But that beats the hundreds of visitors that come to my website from Facebook each day. Also the fact of the matter is many authors promote Facebook far more actively then they do their own websites and they engage on Facebook daily. Indeed the entire culture promotes Facebook. Today it is not uncommon for me to have to visit Facebook when looking for information about authors--and these are authors with websites! So it's not a matter of authors promoting Facebook, Facebook is winning and search. In many cases Facebook deserves to win because they have better content then the other site does-- seriously! In addition to that many authors use Facebook as their primary web presence. So all of these factors and more combine to make Facebook a much better draw of traffic than any other, website especially for websites with low levels of traffic. In order to address this I have begun promoting a free service which allows authors to register a domain name and direct it to their AALBC profile page. I just got tired of people sending me links to their Facebook page or their Amazon profile page. Last week a couple of authors did this but I also noticed they had domain names registered that were not pointing anywhere so I offered to direct those domains to their aalbc profile, which is obviously better than going to some default Go Daddy page. Both authors immediately took advantage of the offer so I made it an official service. Not only does this result and potentially more traffic to aalbc it gives the author a proper website. And more traffic to aalbc means potentially more traffic to the other profile pages. Do you see what I mean? there's a residual effect that benefits all the authors not just the one. Still if the author does not promote their own domain hosted on aalbc they greatly diminish any potential benefit. As you mentioned different authors are at different stages. A midlist or extremely successful author published by a major house will always fare better then an unknown self-published author, whether they actively engage on Facebook or aalbc. There is a little I can do to change that dynamic. However I do believe that a stronger aalbc would benefit the self-published author more than Facebook, who is about as powerful as you can get. There are a number of New York Times best selling authors who advertise every book they publish on the site. Authors who are that successful advertise on aalbc because they know the platform can let a great number of people know about their books. The authors who don't need to worry about name recognition benefit from the site by using it to alert readers about new books. I argue any best-selling author interested in connecting with their fan base could benefit from aalbc. Again it's not a technical issue it's just one of informing the author of what's available and helping them understand how they can benefit from the services. Now of course a great publicist can do a better job then I, but you already know that story :-)

Oh I get your question now. It is actually in our own self-interest to do more for others. In a world where everyone is free to maximize their own potential, we all benefit. A rising tide lifts all boats that sort of thing. Mel would you shave 500 square feet off your house in exchange for never having to lock the front door? That 500 square feet can go toward someone who is homeless. We can reduce crime by simply ensuring that people's basic needs are met. Think about all of the great discoveries that will never happen because so many in our population cannot afford an education. Many of the most successful people who we think we can emulate did not have to pay for college Colin Powell did not have to pay to go to City College. When we started college we could borrow enough to attend. Today many students can't even borrow enough go. Even if they could the quality of the education has gone down a great deal employers do not value it as much so the graduates fare less well. Having large numbers of uneducated or poorly educated people does not serve our culture or Society.

I just sat down to look at some youtube videos before calling it a night. I generally watch Youtube video on a regular TV. I usually search for subjects that interest me. I started to watch an Inconvenient Truth but after a few minutes I grew bored... I decided to see what was trending on youtube (something I almost never do), the #9 video was the one shown below . This video was watched over 8 million since in the last two days. That is 8 times more than the number of view all of my videos have received in the last decade! I watched at least 1/2 of the video. I doubt anyone would confuse the music with being great, but after watching the video for 5 seconds it is obvious the music was secondary this video was all about Nicki's bangin' body! Her body is so off the chain it doesn't even look real. Imagine the views I would get on a video if I could get Nicky to shake her thang while an author was reading from their book. Shoot I might even sell a few books. Still I wonder who this video is for, really. Is it designed for the teenage white boys who buy most rap. Is it for Black women to give them something to aspire to. Is if for all men to give them something to, well.. use your imagination... Again I can't image it is to listen to the music..., but what I know I'm too old to appreciate this music. Where else does one watch music video nowadays anyway?

I finally listened, your voice is so sexy, if i ever do a read for a female character, you will be one of the fertile ones:) @Mel Hopkins

@Cynique ok this one got a me a bit... Since it's one of the virtue I thought I needed to work on (got up this morning and thought to myself I'm kind of mean so why fake it LOL) So, why do you believe you need feel sympathy?

Well you can see the output of my passion. However, the site itself is actually not the passion in and of itself. The underlying passion is striving for freedom, not just for myself but for anyone who wants it. Cynique, it would seem illogical for all religions to be "true." They certainly all can't be true. Most contradict each other and none of the world's major religions have been around very long--just a fraction of the time that Sapiens have walked the Earth. But I don't think of it that way. Religions are all man made, but most I imagine started out attempting to enlighten people. As you've pondered I believe the divine is within ourselves and there is more than one way to access it. Different religion whether it is islam or buddhism are different ways of accessing it. Del's numerology is another way, thought he may not think of it that way. The God we seek is within each of us, all matter, and all time. Luke 17:21 says, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” Now depending upon the translation you use the words are slightly different than what I've quoted--so different in fact, the the meaning is different. However, this quote taken out of content is probably the main idea of the whole book It just that the versions we have today the leaders preaching the words don't do a very good job helping us discover this...

Pioneer Kenneth Frazier is a captain of industry and clearly a brilliant man. For a Brother to get as far as he has in corporate America you can be sure that he is indeed the shit. But The folks held up in the Black community are not picked by use,or anye like us. Colin is a celebrity so he will get all of the attention until he is no longer a celebrity. As Cynique implied it was not exactly a tough decision or big sacrifice for Frazier to step down. He won't get any bonus points from me for that action.

@Pioneer1, when I was first exposed to the teachings of the NOI it was through their messenger Farrakhan. This was over 30 years ago and Farrakhan was then a very charismatic figure his message resonated with me because he spoke about the strength of Black people about Black people being powerful. It was a message that was new to me at the time. Sure, when he said Black people are genetically superior, then one considered that most of the players in the NFL and NBA are Black that would seem to make sense. When he speaks about white people being devils and your think about all the mayhem Europeans have caused over the last 500 years across the globe that make sense too. When you are beat down and someone gives you a message of strength pride and hope, that feels great. Louis Farrakhan made me feel great about myself and the potential of Black people. His message was catered to people outside the NOI, once you dig deep it is a different thing. But for some people it works which is great. Which is wonderful. But religions often teach you things that run counter to science. Personally, I draw the line there. Today we know humans are essentially identical genetically. Blacks dominate the NFL and NBA because they work much harder at doing it. White folks dominate tennis and Ice Hockey; that does not mean they are genetically superior does it? The fact that that flood myths predate the Bible and known across cultures was known before the NOI was created. Actually some people believe the flood myths results from the end of the ice ages when glaciers melted flooding many areas to be destroyed by flood, but that is another story... There is no scientific evidence than man is Billions of years old and that apes came from man. Indeed all of what we know rejects that idea. Not all scientists are white. Indeed many will argue the first scientist were Black. In any case, white people do not own science. In my mind saying "You can put your faith in White science if you want to." is the same thing as saying "talking white" or "school is for white people."

@Pioneer1 Well, Kaepernick is an athlete who did his thing in the arena of his expertise which, incidentally, commanded a large audience. And, unlike Kenneth Frazier, Colin didn't wait for a specific event to prod him into taking a public stand. He just quietly did his thing. And what waves will Frazier's gesture make, other than to make himself look good? He's not even getting that much publicity. The "average" person doesn't even recognize his name. I didn't. I'm unimpressed. Frazier really hasn't accomplished any more than Kaepernick and he risked nothing by denouncing racism, just like all the CEOs on the council who followed suit because, like Frazier, none of them want to be involved with anything that would damage their precious corporate image and their bottom lines. Furthermore, Kaepernick's taking the knee proved to be prophetic, and on point, putting him in the vanguard of a movement gaining momentum in post-racial America where White Nationals are making a mockery of the national anthem, with their Nazi banners and high regard for men who fought to keep slavery and advance white supremacy. What's-his-name is just a member of the bandwagon everybody is jumping on, in order to distance themselves from an ignorant fool. I also have my suspicions about this guy being appointed to this council by Trump which could mean he was a supporter of #45 or at least a rich Republican conservative. Not the type of negro i personally admire.

You are correct

Should men shoot some cash to single mothers and service them. Since they seem to be raising more kids on their own than single Black men.

I will limit the number of mailings, designed solely for authors, publishers, and book promoters to just one per month. The goal is to help this specialized audience learn how to take advantage of AALBC.com's platform and to provide insight on how to take advantage of the web in general. This will also allow me to remove content designed strictly for authors and publishers from our regular eNewsletter. . Email* First Name Last Name City State Country

Thank you @richardmurray - I'm writing right now too - maybe we can come up with something together. Hold off for now and finish your book. I'll send you a message to check with you on your schedule. I know what it's like to juggle so many projects.

@Troy i apologize for seeing this late:) I am trying to finish some poetry and see matches... time is squeezing me:) @Mel Hopkins I am willing to help you, to be honest, i never saw a promote feature on my blog and i use it more regularly. The only reason i have been inactive recently is i am working on my poetry book and i reformatted what my weekly blog will be and i am preparing that to both of you, a tutorial is great, but perhaps I should start a blog post , and it can be a place where we members can come and learn how to use aalbc blog platform through our debates and I will be willing if i don't know how to help to figure it out aside the query maker?what say you guys?

Actually, we shouldn't assume that black women don't support their men. Many have no problem encouraging a man who shows good potential and - is emotionally stable. What they don't do, in enable an incompetent man. And why should they? i really don't believe that ambitious black women look for a black male to support their aspirations because these motivated women are independent. That is not to say that they don't appreciate any support offered. And of course, certain black women are inadvertenly supportive because these airheads make their men feel superior.

@Pioneer1 The black men I speak of ARE the example of the type of behavior to emulate. Every black man I referred to came from either very modest means; or poverty/ housing projects life. My dad, included, who experienced abject poverty during his formative years. Once upon a time these black men were in the pool of "average" black men, as you put it. They could have remained in that pool of "average". Yet, their strong CHARACTER wouldn't allow it- these black men chose to make a lot with the little they had. These black men matured into adults and left the "average" group of men . They didn't look for women to be their cheerleaders and receptacles for sex. These black men experienced professional and personal success. As I mentioned "cheerleading women who wanted to sex them" was the result but not the cause . There's an order. So when "average" black men find that few women want to support or cheer their mediocrity; that follows the natural order. As Cynique mentioned "cream rises to the top" . High achievement is a choice. Instead of looking for women to be the "average" black man's savior; "average" black men need to put in the work, connect and network with their high achieving black brothers. .

A lot of these White people listen to AM radio which is heavily dominated by racist right-wing radio hosts. Rush Limbaugh is heard all over the nation from coast to coast. Then you have people like Michael Savage and Alex Jones. The Republicans have done a good job at convincing poor White people that all of the problems that THEY (the Republicans) have been causing in their lives have actually been caused by OTHER people (Blacks, Latinos, Jews, Illuminati, ect....)

Thank you @Cynique , it's message I keep forgetting. Before I drifted off to sleep last night, I remembered that Pioneer1 and I come from different worlds. His world view is foreign to me as mine is to him. This afternoon, it was when I remembered this isn't the first time I've had this conversation. I'm sure it won't be my last I was looking through something I wrote back in 2009 - and it reminded how I had clashed with an "relationship" author we had on our talk show "the relationship playbook" He shared the same perspective as Pioneer1 and at that time, I thought the man was insane. It hadn't dawned on me then that "Blackness is a mosaic." The author said I was rude for not agreeing with his perspective and told my co-host, he should replace me. He did not fully understand my role in bringing that show on the air. Then the author took his show to a wider audience - this time a nationally syndicated talk show. When the author shared his beliefs, “men need to know we are doing a good job," said the author Barbara, a caller, said “Seems like we women have to Support men, even after we Raise them.” The callers raked him over the coals... It was then he learned that his views only appealed to a small cross section of black America. The author got his just deserts and I felt vindicated. It was bittersweet, though, because there's a group of black women out there in serious need of deprogramming. Actually, @Pioneer1, you'd might be surprised to learn that you are the one out of touch. I've only lived in the Atlanta metro for 4 years. Prior to that it was Chicago metro. Before Illinois, I lived in the Ohio Valley where my first job there was for a black man who was West Virginia's Secretary of Tax and Revenue. He was appointed by the WV Governor and also was one of President's George HW Bush's point of lights. He was engaged when I met him to a black woman , an attorney too, who was already busy with her career and didn't have a lot of time to "support" him but he supported her. He got his support from his father and mother - and when his dad passed away he supported his mother, sisters and practically the black community in which he was raised. He and his fiance hired me as the Executive Director of The Learning Center he founded and I helped him with the zoning proposal for the community center he built. He founded the learning center and community center because the majority of the community was made up mostly single moms who didn't have a place for their children to go when they got out of school. He eventually married but didn't need a woman to support him and doing what he thought was necessary to build a thriving black community. Prior to living in the Ohio Valley, I lived in Brooklyn New York where I was born and raised... All I've ever experienced are men, including my dad who held it down for their communities. I could fill a book about the successful black men I know personally - and not one has ever said " they need a woman's support to excel. They just do. Not sure what type of men lean on women but I'm thankful to have missed them.

Are you serious right now? First off a permit does not give you the right to incite a riot which these dudes did. Did you not see the white boy who mowed folks down and people were killed? This is NOT allowed. Ever. I wouldnt condone The New Black Panthers carrying weapons to march with. It can only have a bad outcome..as we witnessed.

Xeon another reason I complain about the lack of Black influence in Hollywood also has to do with the revenue. Not only do we not get to tell our own stories we don't profit from them either. This is, and always has been, untrue. In fact, Black people have been spending the better part of the past century correcting the racist nonsense produced by so called white "scholars" about Black people. For example, I'm reading a book, written.by Drusilla Dunjee Houston, called the Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire. This book was first published 90 years ago and is incredibly significant because it help Black people understand, indeed prove that Black people had an advanced culture long before Europeans emerged from caves (that is not a hyperbolic statement). She is writing about a subject that I was completely unaware of because it was simply not taught the the schools I attended. Leaving Black people out of history is a crime in progress. There are a great number of Black folks telling our stories. One problem we face however is the fact that much of this information is crowded out by all of the nonsense that is pushed into our face by corporations solely interested it our money. Of course a Nicki Minaj video will be appeal to more people than a Drusilla Dunjee Houston book, so this is what we get. Over time people begin to believe that all we are Minajs rather than Houstons. Of course white folks do engage true scholarly research as if pertains to Black people, but this is a relative recent thing.

May non astrological opinion. Both he and Pence are on short time.

Cynique, the operative word in your last post was "anecdote." Pioneer has a bad habit of taking his personal experiences and extending them to the broader community, indeed it is the way he sees the world. But this is natural, for anecdotes, especially personal ones, are very powerful. If is a good thing Pioneer is open to being in a place where his world view is rejected by others with different beliefs, experiences, and even facts. I respect him for that. @Pioneer1, you have so profoundly mischaracterized what I believe it would be too strenuous to refute what you wrote. I'll just let my previously expressed words do that. I will say however, that @Cynique and @Mel Hopkins's presence here is a prime example of Black women supporting a Black man. You see they, like you, could easily abandon AALBC.com and engage exclusively on the corporate owned social media platforms. This forum only exists because of folks like you. Now I could very easily complain about all the Black women, writers in particular, who benefit directly (read: financially) from the existence and efforts of AALBC.com, but do nothing to support the website. This of course would feed into your narrative and is actually supported by 20 years of my experience and data. Here's the thing, even though I have experience with supporting hundreds of Black women authors over a 20 year period, my experience is still an anecdote. I have absolutely no problem saying that Black female writers, for the most part do not support the website as much as I think they should (IMHO), but it would be wrong for me to use this experience to say that Black women do not support Black men in general. Do you see my point? Further, I also understand way Black female writers do not support the site as much as they should. Part of the reason is that don't know how to do it and why it matters. I also understand the pull of social media. it is so strong many writers have abandoned their own websites in favor of social media. Many Black women are struggling, like me, and don't really have the resources/time/energy to extend to others beyond themselves or their families. Of course there are some Black women who hate to see a Brother succeed and withhold support because they want an AALBC.com to fail, but these women are so small a factor they are not worth considering. That said, I think the letter was an overreaction and ill conceived. Using their reasoning each chapter could easily craft a letter warning travelers to avoid most of Florida, Chicago, New York City, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Philadelphia, the entire state of Mississippi, etc. I've been to Missouri a few times, mostly for conventions, and once for a family reunion. The have nice library and ball park, but again, I have no trouble avoiding the state--especially if a Black institution says it is not safe. Besides who says they are not ready to fight in Missouri? I'll disparage the letter, but I'm not willing to trash the Black male population of a state because I don't have enough information and I won't judge it on one letter from the NAACP.

This is truth!!! @Troy This!!! When black women can stop marching in the streets begging white society to stop gunning down black men , that's when I'll take "black man bravado" seriously.

The top is nice, the bottom is still a bit busy, but as long as it's browser friendly that is all that matters. God bless you and your data migration. That's why I'm all inside of Wordpress because of the import export feature. All I have to do is fix links when I switch it around. I wouldn't want to be you. Sooooo much content, but it least moving it will give you a chance to tweet and share it all over again. On a different note, I know I keep saying it, but I really need to put more effort into the book stuff and the business books seem to be my lane into gaining ground since they are mobile friendly books. I will look through the packages again because I have to build that business starting now.

I think Cynique's Corner has pretty much run its course. I've have no new theories or crazy opinions or hyper-criticisms to foist upon people. And I'm really sorry to disappoint you, Troy, when I confess that I am no longer your target audience. I'm becoming indifferent to the literary world of books and authors; there's too much to sort out. When it comes to my PC, all that currently motivates me, besides e-mail and YouTube music, is the instant access it provides to information about things that I come across and am curious to learn more about. And you know what that entails:the Terrible Two links that you hate. My enthusiasm for FaceBook and the Game sites is also dwindling, a good thing inasmuch as they are addictive pass times. The Internet has always been a novelty to me because I lived so long without it being around, and then suddenly there was the cyber world where you could enter and do really cool things. Now the novelty has worn off and I find myself back to where I began, which means I'm wallowing in the past, consumed by nostalgia and reminiscence, a mindset wherein my browser is replaced by my brain. Oh, well. But you have the skill sets to be a survivor, Troy, so you'll be fine.

I would like to see the blog integrated into the first page of the site and the books, even the paid ads, be featured as blog posts/articles. Basically I'd like the traditional banner, with ad at the top of the page, rotating slider featuring paid ads at the top, an AALBC power list box, a Huria Blog box and then the blogs beneath all of that. I mean really the biggest issue I see is that people are really getting used to the blog format on the homepage as opposed to being a click through. People scroll now and if there is an extra button to click to get to information then I think it hurts. If we can see an excerpt of the blog posts that would be great. The site is so informative it will be hard to decide what to do, but you know how to keep it rocking. As far as making a living from the site, you might want to break down the advertising into a year long billing subscription. I know for a fact if you sent me a billing option that I would pay each month to keep a book on the front page. If the billing option doesn't show up then I keep kind of pushing forward and forget to do anything. (Does that make sense?) Whatever you do I will be ready to look at it and I will help in anyway.