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The solution is even simpler...human beings need to do a better job in taking care of each other. More love. Less greed.

Yep. Americans should be asking themselves why there is poverty at all in the most powerful country on the planet. Of course, it's by design.

Brother D - How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise? Gil Scott-Heron - Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Official Audio) Bid Em In

This time, they followed JAY-Z to the library and got a card. A library card that will give them access to a lot of worlds for a long time after this exhibit ends. However, I won't comment on Jay-Z's personal life or what he buys. That doesn't interest me. And further, none of that is on exhibit. I'm sharing my perspective on the powerful display and how anyone can tell their story in this age of digital media to inspire others. The exhibition does an excellent job providing insight into Jay-Z's career and what he does with his celebrity to help those impoverished people you've mentioned; it also shares how others can follow their dreams and ascend the ladder to financial and professional success. This is a generous endeavor on a scale I've not seen from any other celebrity thus far. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/exhibitions/book-hov

AALBC is publishing a refreshed version of The Savion Sequence! Yeah @Cynique, it only took me 11 years to get myself together and actually begin publishing books. In the past year I've pubbed three (two new and revised version of this one).

I guess that would mean I have to get up out of my easy chair and head over to a corner staring at the wall.

I didn't write that a well known or popular person could not be a leader. I wrote that being well known or popular doesn't necessarily qualify them be leaders. An individual has to want and/or be willing to be a leader. Of course, I've come to expect nothing less than your opposition to my assertion/opinion.

Oh I could have gotten you one @Mel Hopkins if I knew. Maybe I still can...

Hey @ProfD you better watch yourself or else I'll have to ban you LOL! Seriously, THIS comment is "racist and hurtful?!" Actually, by definition, it is the Karens who are racist and hurtful! It was probably a Karen that requested that the comment be pulled.

It is Obvious as a People we can get along without it....as we have been doing - each in their own way... some succumbing most striving and many thriving. How can you speak for all the Descendants of enslaved Africans....You yourself do not need. Let each Descendants speak for themselves or their interest being represented by our scholars on the issues involved. I agree and some of the money from reparations can go to trade schools and social recreation centers in Black Communities... ...As well as to Prison reform which is taking many black men and black fathers out of their homes Every child has a father so we do have the exactly right amount....what can be lacking is a Dad. The Missing/absent Black fathers.....is a Racist stereotype The Myth Of The Absent Black Father| AJ+ I don't see any Blacks sitting around and waiting....the reason you are talking is because blacks have been demanding it in one form or another ever since the so called abolition of legal force enslavement Many have lift themselves up....yet the demand for Reparation is A Human Right for Violations of our Ancestors Human Rights. They not "PLAYING THE VICTIM" they were and we are Victims....talk about blaming the victim. It is the Law that the perpetrators of Human Rights and Civil Rights Violation must pay some sort of Indemnity...to the victims or society for their actions if not they themselves then those who benefits from their Holdings, Subsidiaries, Estates and or Entails. Haiti paid France Indemnity to the tune of $20 billion over 120 yrs to just a few hundred traffickers in human misery...160 yrs is not too long. If you have Black Blood you are entitle....One drop Rule. Reparation is about being a descendant of enslaved Peoples White Union Soldiers who died helping to set free black men and women was and were doing their duties as Soldiers...I thank them for their service Were they paid for their services??? Are they descendants of enslaved Black Africans?? Yes. Yes.... Prove/make your/their claim/case....Plaintiff/defendant Who or where are the descendants of these christian slaves - who or what will represent the Ottoman Empire(Turkey???!!!!) When Justice is Served....it ends The Quest for Reparations did not Start with the democratic Party....IT goes all the way back to the very early days of the end of legal enslavement where in the formerly enslaved ask for land and a pension(Belinda Sutton/Royall) and Field Order no.15 Welfare....what about it?? We are and we have... Holocaust and Slavery Reparations with Thomas Craemer Your homage to pink floyd...Practitioners of socialistic anarchism is telling of your dissonance - a soul in crisis

While the Black community is still overrepresented at 20% in the poverty category, Black people have reached a "new low"overall. This time, "low" is good because, according to the US Census Bureau, the official poverty rate for the Black Population reached a historic low of 17.1 %. The Black Community was the only group to experience a significant change in poverty between 2021 and 2022! (Say what?) For comparison, in 1959, more than half (55.1 %) of the Black population was beyond broke. I've attached the link to the study below. When you have time to review, you may conclude that COVID-19 programs helped the Black Community immensely because one measurement (Supplement Poverty Measure) indicates the poverty rate was as low as 11.3% before the pandemic safety net programs expired. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/black-poverty-rate.html By the way, did you notice the poverty rate for the white population? OMG!!! President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

True that. Music as art still has to be entertaining on some level. Even a legendary rapper like Rakim can drop knowledge but his persona and delivery still have an element of entertainment too. Flavor Flav can actually rap despite his antics.

I finished it two weeks ago, and I can say that it's one of the best books I've ever read. I really loved it

POWERFUL observation and statement. This entire "stop playing victim" theme was really born out of the 80s with Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement as they tried to shame Black folks into not complaining about racism. -Stop playing victim. -Get over the past. -Stop with all the complaining. -No one likes a complainer -Stop the bitching and moaning All of these are terms that White folks love to use....ON BLACK FOLK when we speak up and stand up for ourselves or point out injustice. However if you notice they never use them on eachother! When a White woman gets on televison crying about how she's been raped, you never hear a White man tell her to "stop playing victim". When White Republicans get on television or the radio complaining about a law or state of the nation, you don't hear White folks tell them to "stop complaining" or "if you don't like this country than leave it". It's a form of reverse psychology or perhaps gas-lighting to try to turn the tables on the victim so that they'll be ashamed to speak up.

If anything, they should have kept Professor Griff and ditched Flav.....lol. I still think it was wrong they way they did Griff. He didn't say anything that Public Enemy as a group weren't rapping about anyway. His remarks CERTAINLY weren't nearly as anti-semitic as Ice Cube's were in No Vaseline....yet Ice Cube went on to have a major successful career in Hollywood. Troy Are you talking about this video? .....the video and radio version was the EDITED version, lol. I come to find out later that about a quarter of the actual lyrics were edited out to shorten the song! Here's the song in it's original totality:

Just Us Books, Nation's Leading Black Owned Children's Book Publisher, Celebrates 35th Anniversary Cheryl Willis Hudson and Wade Hudson, Founders of Just Us Books (West Orange, NJ) September 22, 2023 ─ The average life-span of a small business is eight and a half years according to The New York Times. As Just Us Books prepares to celebrate 35 years in business, it's not only beating the odds, it's also continuing to blaze a trail, publishing children's books that center and celebrate Black stories, history and culture. "Just Us Books' 35th anniversary is not just a celebration of our company," says Wade Hudson, CEO and co-founder. "It's a recognition of 35 years of children reading, learning, growing, and being affirmed through stories that reflect the richness of Black culture and history, which is especially important in today's climate of banned and challenged books." The company plans to celebrate the milestone throughout its 35th year, which begins October 1, 2023, with special content and events, including a bookfair being planned for spring. "We're reminded every day ─ by teachers, librarians, parents, readers of all ages ─ that our work, our books are needed," says Cheryl Hudson, Editorial Director and co-founder of Just Us Books. "Their support has been such a big part of Just Us Books' journey. So we're looking forward to celebrating this milestone with our extended community throughout the year." The Just Us Books journey began in the early 1980s. Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, who live in East Orange, NJ, were parents in search of children's books that reflected the diversity of Black history, heritage and experiences. Disappointed by the number they found and their limited availability, the couple embarked upon a mission: to create the kind of positive, Black-interest books that they wanted for their own two children. Combining their experience, Wade's in writing and marketing, Cheryl's in art and publishing, they developed ideas for books that shared universal children's themes from an Afrocentric perspective. The couple presented manuscripts to publishing houses but they were repeatedly turned down ― several publishing professionals even doubting the viability of a market for children's books featuring Black characters. So the Hudsons decided to publish the books themselves. The AFRO-BETS A B C Book was released in 1987 and Just Us Books was incorporated a year later. The success of the small press soon proved doubters wrong. Titles including Book of Black Heroes From A to Z and Bright Eyes, Brown Skin became classroom and library staples. And larger publishing companies followed Just Us Books' lead, publishing and widely distributing more children's books featuring diverse stories and characters. The company's 35-year history has been marked by numerous accomplishments including a production partnership with Crown, an imprint of Random House, which produced the three anthologies including the award-winning We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices; a 1999 marketing partnership with General Mills and the UniverSoul Circus; and the publication of In Praise of Our Fathers and Our Mothers, a book about the Black family that brought together celebrated authors and artists, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Virginia Hamilton, Walter Dean Myers, Jeanne Moutousammy-Ashe, Leo and Diane Dillon, Fred and Patricia McKissack. Its books, including From A Child's Heart, The Secret Olivia Told Me, I'm A Big Sister Now and Kwame Nkrumah's Midnight Speech for Independence, have earned numerous awards. Just Us Books has won multiple honors, including Small Business Pioneer of the Year, the Children's Book Council Diversity Award, and its founders have become recognized leaders in publishing and the push for diversity in children's literature, with the couple being awarded the prestigious Carle Honor for Mentorship in 2022. In 35 years of operation, Just Us Books has become more than a children's book publishing company; it's become an institution. It also remains one of the nation's few Black-owned publishers. And the company continues its mission grounded in the same belief that helped launch the company three and a half decades ago: Good books make a difference. Just Us Books' titles can be purchased wherever books are sold and via its website: justusbooks.com. Connect with the company on social at @JustUsBooks across all platforms.

Definitiely not speaking for brotha Troy but.... IMO, Al Sharpton is a spokesperson for social justice. Otherwise, Sharpton couldn't get Black America to line up and do the Electric Slide if he tried.

I agree with you. Sometimes, a desire can lead to such consequences

Finally started reading The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. Du Bois.

@Pioneer1 I don’t think people who are locked up are factored into the poverty figures. The poverty rate also measures income versus a defined figure fora location as more blacks move out of cities where the threshold for poverty is higher to place where the threshold is lower poverty rates will decline (assuming local rates are being used in the graph above. People were still getting stimulus checks, PPE money, extended unemployment in 2022 right? with inflation, rising the cost of energy from utilities to gasoline. The Increased cost of money I can see gains in 2022 being erased.

Marcus Gilmore is the grandson of Roy Haynes. https://www.4.com/buzz/2020/06/17/marcus-gilmore-and-ghost-note-southern-spirits/

I admit that living in Western Michigan, my region isn't the most ideal one to measure and determine how successful Black America collectively is doing, but having grown up in a mostly Black city and having been all over the nation since the 80s.....AND knowing history....I have to question who came out with that report and how did they come to the conclusions they came to. How can more Black Americans be in jail and homeless right now more than in any time in history AND be at a record low poverty rate at the same time???? Black folks....in Michigan atleast....collectively were doing MUCH better in the 80s and early 90s than they are collectively today. Not nearly as many were incarcerated. You didn't see nearly as many homeless. Most lived in houses that they either owned or were buying. Most had good jobs in factories with benefits and decent pay. The percentage is MUCH lower now. More Black folks have college degrees today than in the past....true. But those jobs are very transient and you bounce from one to the other without a retirement, the pay doesn't seem to buy as much, and many don't even get jobs in their field of study. You drive around the nation today and you see pockets where thousands of Black folks are out on the streets begging and many many more thousands are locked up behind bars.....not counted in the economic system. Like the unemployment rate -I don't think they even count incarcerated people when they do poverty statistics. It's like they don't even exist. But being incarcerated is worse than poverty. And being homeless and destitute as so many are today is worse than living on a meager income in the projects as so many were in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Interestingly, DC crime has never felt as bad at ground zero as it is reported to the outside world. Of course, there are certain things that you just don't do here but that goes for any city. From a personal security perspective, it's always a good idea to keep your head on a swivel at all times. Otherwise, I've never felt like I'm living in a war zone here in DC.

I've been listening to Professor Black Truth and Tariq Nasheed and Mint Condition.

Bill Moyers recalled from LBJ We were in Tennessee. During the motorcade, he spotted some ugly racial epithets scrawled on signs. Late that night in the hotel, when the local dignitaries had finished the last bottles of bourbon and branch water and departed, he started talking about those signs. "I'll tell you what's at the bottom of it," he said. "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." The land of opportunity myth is one of the great tragedies of the usa. It's always been even when british colonies mostly filled with the impoverished. A 1% ofrom each : whites/women/indigenous/blacsk/males/many more

LOL! I have never understood the victimhood perspective! I've heard people say things like, I am not going to be the victim anymore, etc., but I just do not understand that position in many circumstances. For instance, there have been many people that have been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for years and then later due to such evidences as DNA testing, released from prison, and I ask myself, 'SHOULD THEY TAKE THAT POSITION OF NOT PLAYING THE VICTIM ANYMORE!?' This just sounds crazy to me because in this case, they have certainly been victimized severely. For them, it's not playing the victim, rather, they are the victim and this should be acknowledged and deserve some kind of recompense. In other words, if the law just simply released them from prison, and gave them no economic recompense and more, then that would be wrong.

Re reading this rather excellent book

Connie I just migrated your not so "mimi" review on to the new website: http://aalbc.org/books/bookreview.php?isbn13=9780974814278 it really was well written and would probably interest folks would would actually enjoy reading the book that might not otherwise do it were it not for your review. Interestingly I've come become friendly with Amari (the author of this book), and have collaborated with him a couple of projects. He is really serious when it come to this subject matter. I'm going to share this review with Amari again. I'm going to email it to him, 'cause, like a real Man :-) he does not do Facebook.