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Hi AALBC fam! I was watching this video on YouTube, Comedian Shuler King and Pharaoh Head Part 2. And while I was listening to him drop knowledge, I thought about how much I missed this forum. It is funny how you can go through life and acquire a bunch of skills, knowledge, and still not know how to use them until you add LOVE. I feel like that sometimes, like I ask What's the point? Then, I remembered whenever I lost my balance, my family would fill me up with love, give me that pick-me-up, and I would get energized. But it hit me, there was still something missing. It was the part I felt while listening to Shuler. I remembered when I'd come right back here, get into some battle of wits, and then I'd remember who I am completely. AALBC forum is like drinking from the chaotic and primordial waters of NUN. I'd come here to fight with @Pioneer1 - every time I do, I learn so much about myself, thank you! or see my whimsical self in my twin, @Del @Delanoadmire the wit of @Cynique @aka Contrarian,and I get energized to know how strong and brilliant women can be! I recently wondered if I'd recognize @ProfD if I heard him whispering in a library or lecturing in front of a class. You are such a mystery that I feel like I know you. Just this morning, I sent energy to, @Chevdove so she will finish her book. She is the one who needs to tell the story of African Adam!. I am proud of my alumni @Troy. Dude, you are an inspiration to me! I'm enjoying watching you beat your dreams into submission. @richardmurray you make me crazy with your projects, but please know I enjoy your enthusiasm! @frankster we haven't engaged in debate, but I'm glad you're here. You echo many of my beliefs and remind me to uncover their origins. @harry brown 's commentary through prose and poetry is a great wake-up call... I could probably go on and name many more if I searched through my memory, but I'm about to go skipping back into the world again. Thank you, thank you, each and every one of you, even the ones I missed and didn't list, thank you for sharing your Love!

Got this one last night! I forgot. The photographer owns this copyright. I removed it from my YouTube channel. 🫥

Hey Fam! I shared my heartbreak with all of you; now here is my joy! Mom, my twin daughters' father, my oldest daughter, Cheyenne's (my daughter who passed away) childhood bestie, is in the family photo with us. I love her so much, and me sitting next to my oldest twin daughter! My daughter married the love of her life in August, and we all got to share in their transformative weekend celebration. 😍 Here's me getting ready for the wedding and checking my rearview🤭 . Yes, this is a very current photo!! And that's my gorgeous mom!!! Yep, she's in her 80s!!!

Made it! Today's my 92nd birthday. Don't know whether to laugh or cry. Such is life. 🤪

Nobody I know uses the term "Afro-American". As far as I'm concerned, it is an obsolete label like - "jive-assed nigga". Over the past 50+years, "Black" is the most common word used when referring to America's slave descendants. Previously, Whites soliciously refrained from publicly calling us what was considered a derogatory term until we started calling ourselves that via the "Black is Beautiful" slogan embraced by the Black Panthers who took their cue from Malcom X. This all took place back in the late 1960s, and from that time forward we, as a people, proudly became "Black" with a capital "B"; going from an adjective to a noun. The idea of blackness being "a state of mind" also came about during this era, presumably to promote inclusiveness, especially since such dynamic activists as Huey Newton, Angela Davis, and Malcom, himself, were light-skinned. In the present, calling negroid Immigrants "African" suffices, because that is what they are, and nobody is confused as to what segment of the American population is being referred to when using that description. This applies to West Indians as well.

Here I am, setting the record straight again, doing so, not because I think anybody cares, but rather because some may be curious as to why a 92-year- old-senior citizen wastes what little time she has left, hangin' out on an online discussion forum, engaging in verbal fisticuffs with a pioneer who has never blazed a trail anywhere except up his own butt. My answer: since the cyber space universe enables one to adopt an alter-ego, and take on a user name and lead a secret existence, quite a while ago I decided why not do this? What the heck. Might be fun. And it has been. In the real world, I am a widowed mother of 5, grandmother of 7, great grandmotherk of 8, family members of whom know very little about Nana's on-line activity; too wrapped up in their own pursuits. They just know she surfs the internet, amusing herself by engaging in various activities, and they remain clueless about the extent of my involvement on this forum since they don't come to this site. Nor do any of my associates. And, rest assured that my "Contrarian" persona is different from how I am in real life among polite company. However, because I can come here and hide behind an avatar, all bets are off and I can express myself anyway I please, Since I'm no longer a single young woman "out-to-catch", I feel no need to tread lightly and act sweet and feminine. I'm off the grid, and favorably impressing men is no longer a priority of mine. Who needs 'em? Welcome to Super Bitch land. Anyway, I say all this to say that, contrary to what some seem to think, I do not expect others to ward off my detractors or take my side. I can fend for myself. Now you know. What we don't know is how much longer I'll be around? Who cares. I don't. But until my time is up, Nana aka Contrarian will just keep poppin in and out, doin' her thing competing with others who jam the board with long self-indulgent posts full of useless information. 😴

If the NYC mayoral race were a novel, I'd deconstruct its architecture. From one election to the next, the narrative appears to shift away from focused policy debates, instead centering on the influence of religious groups. The major religious factions—Christian nationalists, Muslims, and Jews—each appear to compete for cultural and political dominance within the city. Amid this religious competition, the African diaspora in the U.S.—a powerful and often underestimated voting bloc—continues to be overlooked and taken for granted by both the candidates and the dominant religious groups. It sometimes seems as though these competing religious groups neglect the African diaspora’s influence. Ironically, the roots of these religions trace back to African science-based spirituality, yet this connection receives little attention in political or religious discourse. This dynamic played out in Election 2024: Christian nationalists—including evangelists, southern Baptists, and likely Catholics—rallied strongly behind DJT. Media and external influencers shifted the conversation away from local policy and toward polarizing international issues, like the U.S. stance on Israel and Palestine, further affecting how voters chose among domestic candidates. When reviewing 2025 election results, I noticed Mamdani was not the only Muslim elected, which raises the question of whether heightened coverage of Gaza led to greater sympathy and increased Muslim representation—a trend potentially extending into the midterms. Don’t misunderstand—I bear a grudge against all religions. Religious study should bring wisdom, spirituality, and growth, yet it often has the opposite effect. Religions lead to violence instead of joy and peace. Add patriarchy, and it’s chaos. Returning to the story's structure: Is this a narrative of democratic socialism rising in the heart of Wall Street? Consider Manhattan—the FINANCIAL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD—and its boroughs. Is the city that never sleeps really ready to move from capitalism to social ownership? Notably, NYC is the largest property owner according to Curbed.com, and the mayor administers these assets. Perhaps social ownership is the underlying story arc behind recent shifts. So, in this story—call it Project 2025 (S)—the central figure is a young millennial poised to challenge the reigning power and reclaim Manhattan for the people. Behind the scenes, religious struggle, human trafficking disguised as immigration reform, and pervasive surveillance set the chaotic stage for change in the city. Meet the Muslim and Arab Americans who won in US local elections Jews vote for Andrew Cuomo over Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayoral race | The Jerusalem Post "In addition to the Jewish vote, Mamdani lost the Catholic vote by a significant margin: 53% supported Cuomo and 14% backed Sliwa, against 33% for Mamdani. A decisive 75% of voters with no religious affiliation supported Mamdani." Here's a past look at Manhattan when DJT began buying up NY property in the early 70s(?) a look back at Palestinians, Israel, Libya, etc.

You are a very kind and sweet person @Mel Hopkins with the ability to find the beauty in everyone. Thank YOU!

As my 92nd birthday approaches on August 18th, I have drifted into a reflective mood. At this point in my journey I'm experiencing a need to look back and reflect, even as I wonder if I'll make it to August 18th, considering how much my health has deteriorated during the past few months, a situation that renders me as ready as I'll ever be to blow this pop stand. This ol world is currently so screwed up and, imo, on a collision with what I think will be changes so drastic that I will be out of my element. So, whatever. All the points of view and personal philosophies of those who regularly post here, especially as it pertains to the black condition, have inspired me to put myself in perspective and share my thoughts when it comes to where I fit on the black spectrum. Bear with me because this is probably my swan song, and I may ramble. Hopefully, however, something learned about the caliber of my blackness wiil be enlightening when it comes to examining the multi-faceted nature of black America. I have always described myself as a "hybrid" descendant of slaves. That's my tribe. And it's a HoHum passive one. According to Ancestry.com, my blood lines include Irish, German, Native American and, last but not least, African by way of the Sierra Leone region of Nigeria. I do not consider the Atlantic Ocean my homeland because my ancestors obviously reached and landed in America, and were transported to the North Carolina location of what had been one of the country's most prolific slave markets. And the rest is my history. My genesis begins in the territory that originally belonged to the native American tribes like the Osage one which my paternal Grandmother was descended from. . Both my paternal and maternal great grand parents were born into slavery, the women folk, typically raped by their white slave masters... My forebears have always identified themselves as colored, negro, black, depending on the era, and I have never strayed from or had any desire to identify myself as anything other than a non white person who has no delusions about the treachery and guile of the ruthless men who established the White Power Structure that controls the globe. The most negroid thing about me is my hair, having once had an abundant, bushy crop which lent itself very well to an afro style which I affected during the 1960s when I felt compelled to establish my "negritude", (a popular term back in those days.) And, when it came to the civil rights movement, although I was not an activist out there demonstrating in the streets, in my own personal way via the Op/Ed pages of 2 of Chicago's major newspapers, I was very supportive of those courageous enough to put their lives on the line to secure equality for all. I consider myself, for want of a better term, a "soul sista", very comfortable in my skin, having no great affinity for Interacting on a regular basis with Caucasian Americans. I am a product of the middleclass black bougeoise values that I was raised with, having no illusions about the superficial materialistic aspects of this designation. Paradoxically and inexplicably, I harbor a great revulsion for right-wing conservative black Republicans, and I despise Donald Trump and his Maggots! I was born in 1933 and grew up in the small town suburb of Chicago where my parents settled in 1922 as part of the first wave of the Great Migration of Negroes leaving the south, seeking a better life up north and, uniquely, even in those pre- civil rights years, I always resided in mixed neighborhoods, always attended integrated schools and, as part of the great Civil Service work force, always held jobs working side-by-side with white co-workers. So, my mutated homo sapien "cousins" are no strangers to me. I neither like nor dislike them, opting to just judge them on an individual basis, always keeping my guard up. My politics are a reflection of my core personsality. I am a Moderate Liberal, not a militant radical progressive because I'm too cynical to take seriously these erratic types with self-serving agendas. I have never been ambitious because I'm lazy and don't like too much responsiblity or anything difficult or demanding, just content to do enough to get by. I am not proud to confess that I have gone through life, avoiding anything that required great effort on my part. I am lazy and unmotivated, only good and creative at things that interest me. I do, however, lean toward the aesthetic, profound spititual things in life and this includes liberty and justice for all. I have lived through the terms of 15 presidents and can honestly say that the administration of whomever was in office never greatly impacted on my personal day- to-day life. I've managed without even trying, to stay under the radar and - get by. I retired from the US Post Office in 1992 after 30 years of service so I have been retired longer than I worked, collecting a substantial pension replete with COLA raises, receiving money every month for doing nothing other than waking up every morning. If a problem exists when it comes to my black status it stems from my objectivity coupled with an affinity for the whole truth, 2 traits lacking in "gung ho" black chauvanists. This has led me to "divorce" on the grounds of incompatibility, the black race as it exists in the judgment of those who seek to mold it exclusively in their personal image, focusing on what in my judgment, amounts to merely chasing their tails when it comes to effectiveness. So, It is what it is, and I am what I am, - someone who will leave this earth, strong in my conviction that I am as authentically black as the most passionate chest beater. I close by acknowledging that, black is beautifully bountiful but - there are 2 sides to every coin. And so it goes...

@aka Contrarian, thanks for contributing your perspective, thoughts, opinions, zingers and insults, etc., to this coffeeshop on the internet that is AALBC. I always enjoy the exchange of perspectives regardless of whether we agree or not. That goes for each every one of you who contributes regularly. Of course, the coffeeshop would be incomplete without the hilarity that ensues from virtual dust-ups.🤣 Regardless of age, each and every last one of us is getting closer to the finish line than starting a new race. 😎

I don't know if it's animal magnetism but I don't put up with rude behavior regardless of gender.😁 Patent & trademark it.😁 Homies call to conduct business & the wifey or kids roll up & start a whole conversation in the background. N8gglet doesn't have enough sense to shut them down. So, I help him out by hanging up. Call me back. My folks..anybody around me knows not to start bumping their gums if they see I'm on a call. Wait your turn to talk to me.😁 I almost dropped outta school in the 2nd grade. Teacher tried to make me participate in recess along with the other kids. I told her azz I don't play.🤣 I've been a grown azz man ever since I was a little boy.😁😎

I had not considered there may be gender component to doing this. I’ve known so many women, over so many years that post so much personal information on social, that I have long since given up even commenting about the activity to them. That behavior will not change anytime soon, as social media creates all types of incentives for people to share as much as possible about themselves. It’s one of the reasons I deleted my original Facebook account. But going back to the point of this conversation 🙂 I’ve considered the fact that something that I, or someone else, has written here could be taken out of context and come back to bite me in the real worl. I’m not anonymous, because it takes some effort to do it, and I’m too lazy to maintain anonymity. @Mel Hopkins I might stop short of the word “love.” but if you consider the fact that AALBC.com is almost 30 years old with the boatload of content and there’s increasingly less competition from other website, AALBC really should rank high in search be referenced by aggregators. But I still feel that Google search has done more harm to the web than it has to benefit it. I think AI will do even more harm so much more that it poses and existential threat to the WWW we know today. I’m not confident what we get in return will be better than what we have today.

My father & mother. Music & books allowed me to see a world beyond my own environment & expand my knowledge respectively. Life experiences & traveling & meeting & kicking it with different people.😎

Here's when I hung out with PRINCE. 😉 I'm really having fun doing what it's possible to do nowadays!😜

@Mel Hopkins I’m glad you were serving him drinks and not the other way around. @Pioneer1 welcome back!

History class was kicking my butt! It was a short semester class jammed packed with a lot of work including up to the very present. I did get an "A" and learned a lot about the United States that even I didn't know! And I read a lot! Some of it was so depressing I felt like I was struggling through PTSD. Thank goodness my professor was a Black woman with a PhD - she held the light towards the finish line. I took the summer off from school. I needed a break. 👋🏽🙋🏽‍♀️

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. 🥴

Back in my teens and 20s, I wouldn't have believed that I would feel so obliged or dedicated to people I wasn't related to or something I wasn't getting paid to do. But as we know, things and often attitudes and mentalities change with time. Now if I spend an extended amount of time away from AALBC whether it's a few days, a few weeks, or a couple months.....I feel OBLIGATED to go back and as best I can respond to all posts directed at me or about me. And also, if time permits....address posts that grab my interest even if they weren't directed at me. And it appears that most of you seem to feel the same way. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ And by the way let me thank @Troy for providing this space for us to do so. It's been a while since I sent a token of my appreciation because I've had new personal obligations to focus my resources on these past few years, but your treasures are building up. Trust me 😉 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I suppose it's just human nature; however knowing this makes me feel good, proud, and hopeful. Why? It shows me that there are certain feelings, emotions, and drives that are just innate in human nature that guarantees that no human society will degrade down past a certain level. We will never get so selfish and individualistic AS A COMMUNITY where we simply ignore eachother and focus on our own issues and promotions. Some will, but the vast majority will not. There are certain ways we relate to other human beings that seem to be "in" us; ingrained in our psyche. These are the traits a progressive well functioning society should be built on and modeled after. Characteristics that agree with basic human nature.

@aka Contrarian....your home team, Da Bears had an excellent season. Especially compared to the past few years. 1st year Head Coach Ben Johnson deserves a lot of credit for helping QB Caleb Williams and the offense play better. HC Johnson assembled a very good coaching staff too. Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen earned his money in his 1st year with Da Bears. I thought HC Johnson should have gone for a 2 point conversion after QB Williams threw that miraculous TD to tie the game. If the conversion was successful, Da Bears would have been in the NFC championship game. From a strategic perspective, I understand why HC Johnson played for overtime. Hindsight is always 20/15. Nonetheless, Da Bears and their fans should be very proud of the team. They have a bright future ahead.😎

Sounds like somebody has replaced Pioneer with an AI entity. the BEARS continue to amaze, inspire, and revitalize me. I adore Caleb and I'm loving every minute of this fantastic season, - knowing all good things must come to an end! 😑

"Thinking outside the box" is fine if you are of a mind to do a lot of work and shoulder a lot of responsibility and stake claims on critical thinking. And, come to think of it, I never met a conspiracy theorist who didn't brag about "thinking outside the box"... so, there's that. But lazy lovers of leisure like me are not so inclined. However I, too, was an avid reader, with writing skills that enabled me to become a contributing columnist to the op-ed pages of a major Chicago newspaper back in the 1970s where my letters-to-the-editor invoked so much response that I was approached by the newspaper to become their resident voice of the black viewpoint. Which I was, for several years. Boy, was that fun. 😬 On the job at my local Post Office where I passed up supervisory positions because dealing with time cards required much more effort than the job I held stamping "Registered" on the envelopes of mail containing valuable contents, along with being the go-to person for revising and editing the bulletins and memos dispatched from the front office. And tho I wasn’t thinking outside the box, - I did sing outside the building, because on many mornings one of my favorite things to do was tag along with the maintenance man when he performed his flag-raising duty. While he ran ol glory up the flag pole in front of the building, I would stand by and sing the national anthem. To me, this was just for fun, but being a veteran, the janitor took his duties very seriously and always saluted when he was done. God bless America. And of course after I retired back in the 90s, I got caught up in the self-publishing craze and churned out 3 books which I lost interest in when time came to promote them; too much trouble. Having 5 kids would have to serve as my accomplishments in life, what I achieved - between the sheets. 🙂‍ So the roles of a dilettante and wanna-be Renaissance person have been the "this above all" to which mine ownself "has been true". Have at it all you innovative go-getters. Somebody has to take up my slack. But keep in mind, being lazy may have something to do with my longevity. zzzzzzzzzzzz Being a CHICAGO BEAR 🐻 fan may just become my undoing. I might slit my wrists if they lose to those damned cheese head Green BayPackers tonight! 🙄 GO BEARS!

For those who have rolled into 2026, let's hope that it is a year filled with Love, Joy, Peace, Prosperity, Health and Happiness.🎉 In the meantime, I will continue calling balls & strikes i.e. offering my opinions/perspectives on whatever comes up around here. I enjoy the easy chair I've taken up.🤣 As always, many thanks to brotha @Troy for providing & maintaining this platform. Much appreciated.😎

This video popped up when I brought up YouTube today. On some level it feels like Google knows I was talking about this subject 😉 Neil describes 13 of things you should consider when evaluating information online. Some of this is common sense. @Pioneer1, for what it is worth, you should check out this video. Perhaps it will help you think about information you pull from the web and how you use it to form opinions.

For anybody who is curious as to why I no longer use my original user name on this forum, why I, who was once known as "Cynique", am now known as "aka Contrarian", this is the explanation. I have been contributing to this discussion forum off and on for over 20 years. Back in the day, as a retiree who was an aspiring author, its "African American Literary Book Club" title drew me to this site. And having always considered myself to be somewhat of an "iconoclast", I decided I wanted my avatar to reflect my personality, so I came up with what was a combination of "cynical" and "unique". And the "Cynique" moniker was born, replete with a somewhat devil's advocate persona; always skeptical and a tad sarcastic, - (something which contributed to my ongoing feud with the notorious Kola Boof, a semi-famous drama queen). Otherwise, with a few innocuous exceptions, over the years, I formed several cherished friendships with people I encountered here and with whom I still keep in touch with on FaceBook. Anyway, with the passage of time, while others came and went, I remained a long standing member of AALBC, and Troy rewarded my loyalty by naming this site "Cynique's Corner". As more time passed, however, I eventually became burnt out and, contrary to the insinuations of some people, I voluntarily decided to go on hiatus, subsequently telling Troy he could drop the "Cynique's Corner title; which he did. With the passage of more time, I finally decided to check back in, but I couldn't log on because I'd forgotten my pass word. When I tried to log on with a new password word, I was unsuccessful, the reason given by the computer being that somebody already had that user name. The fact that the "somebody" was me made things more entangled, and after I contacted Troy, he assigned me a special password to use. That, along with adopting a different user name, enabled me to log back on to the discussion forum, at which time I explained that "aka Contrarian" was the poster formerly known as "Cynique". Obviously, the word "contrarian" preserves the cynical essence I originally wanted to convey. Only one person ever found this to be a problem. Whatever. As Shakespeare once said: "What's in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." It is what it is... And, don't be surprised if that "one person" chimes in with a stream of pictures along with references to flowers and bees and wasps and Cynique this and Dolemita that, yada,yada,yada. zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Well, today is the American holiday where folks gather with family and friends in food, fun and fellowship. Eat, drink and enjoy however you so choose. I know the history behind *holidays* but I do not skip them for the aforementioned reasons. I use holidays as a time to further build and connect with my tribe. Every several years, my birthday happens to fall on Thanksgiving Day. When that happens, I don't have to cook anything for the family dinner. I'll pull up, eat, enjoy my folks and watch football games.😁 Happy Thanksgiving to all.😎

Nature putting on a show via the northern lights, reminding Earth to not sweat the small stuff.

I am finding words and numbers allow me to access the unconscious mind of the Querent and for myself i use omens and clock time Yes just be open and don't have set beliefs or feelings. Just allow the information to speak to you. One of the ways is to just doodle or write down the words that pop into your mind.

Thank you! That is one of the most classic and fabulous wedding celebrations that I have ever seen! Oh My Gosh! I don't know how many times I have watched this. @Mel Hopkins I can't imagine how happy you must feel! Your daughter and her husband are so incredibly beautiful. Again, you look amazing. LOL! Okay... @Pioneer1 Come on! But you are right on one count, that wedding look like a movie; As if it was straight out of Hollywood.

"He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool."

Yes. I voted. Dystopian executioner. For me, it's not about skin color, I just appreciate beautiful men, spiritually and physically, no matter what color or culture. However, as a Black women, I cannot help but to be drawn to beautiful men of African descent especially.

Suddenly I've drifted into a crazy zone. I have nothing but time on my hands, and I live around the clock, only sleeping when I'm sleepy, only eating when I'm hungry, suspended in limbo. My Samsung smart phone is my ever present companion and it's like there's a connection between my fingers and its keyboard and I have a compulsion to just write long dissertations or crazy vignettes, my words and thoughts feeding on each other like i'm overtaken by a rogue AI entity that compels me to write about things I didn't know I knew, - like my subconcious mind is on overdrive. Like now. Fortunately, I'm not immobile nor in dire health. But I do tire easily, and like to curl up on my recliner, where i still set aside time to do patternless crossword puzzles that seem to work themselves and play Bridge on line with computerized robots - who seem to becoming more human by the day... Family relationships are normal, but there's this other world that I drift in and out of and when I sleep I have vivid dreams about all those who have gone ahead. In a recent one it seemed like my husband had hooked up with an old girlfriend. Why do I find this funny??? Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining, not lonely nor depressed, just curious about this weird state I'm caught up in. I still sometimes sneak out at night and look up at the stars... Now i'm about to gear up for my daily walk up and down the driveway. Stay tuned, - or tune out if you have better things to do than read the ramblings of a crazy ol lady. Hoping some winning POWERBALLnumbers will pop into my head. Nothing like a billion dollars to calm your impulses.

Computed by whom? NASA? Or the aliens who launched it and subsequently turned it green for "GO"! 👽

IMO, you have reached the zenith of life. We should all be so fortunate to get there. Relative good health is a bonus in the zenith of life. There is no shortage of posts that we express how much we enjoy your input here. I certainly look forward to and get a kick out of your ramblings. Keep posting as long as time allows..🤗😎

Sista @Mel Hopkins, it's always great whenever you decide to plop into your chair in the proverbial coffeehouse that is AALBC. Always appreciate your contribution to the discussion.🤗 I don't work in academia or the ministry but if/whenever you run across a 6 foot, well dressed, nice watch wearing, bald-headed Black man pontificating about anything in a lecture hall or pulpit or playing the piano, that could be your brotha from another mutha.🤣😎

I Love You ❤️ Am I the only one on this forum who has ever met you in person? I’m still kicking myself for not spending more time with you that evening in Chicago almost a decade ago. Even when this picture was taken, you had been participating on the forums for 12 years! I think you’re the only person here who has firsthand knowledge of that guy named Thumper. After more than two decades of participation, here I believe other than myself, you have the longest tenure of any active poster. In my opinion, you have enriched this forum in many ways and more than any other person. You also set the bar high demonstrating what a 90+ year old person can do when it comes to technology, writing, keeping up with pop culture, politics, and despite a little cynicism maintaining a sense of humor. It is hard to imagine how quickly time has flown by and how fleeting life is. Happy birthday!

I’m talking about women across the board in general all ages including our age but as they get older than us not so much. I remember years ago I was out to dinner with a group of people in Brooklyn next to me was a writer who is very well known now and her face was buried in her phone and I asked what she was doing. She said she was on Twitter. I asked her what that was and she explained you you just read the posts when you’re bored and need something to do; I was like “you mean as in right now.” she understood what I was saying and put her phone away. Today, if I’m with someone one-on-one, I will wave my hand between their face and the screen if I think they’re devoting too much time to it rather than our conversation. Younger women tend to be in their screen while watching TV. I was at a comedy show recently, and the person was in their screen during a comedy show. I just never seen guys do this. It’s always women. Now, of course, I’m not saying all women do this and I’m not saying guys who never do it. I’m just saying that the vast majority of the times I’m observing it it’s women not men. Well, you have that animal, magnetism, women, love, and men envy.

Hilarious. White women have been running that playbook since the 1990s.😁 That's why there are so many mixed breed athletes running around nowadays.🤣 Exhibit A....Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry.😁😎

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.

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.😎

I don't believe we have to worry too much about people stealing Black identity. Who or what will define Black power? White folks are going to fight reparations with every fiber in their being & every bullet they can load into a chamber. Everybody won't be able to identify as Black for several reasons. Racial discrimination is committed by those who have power over other races. The majority of people do not want to be Black. That includes many Black folks.😎

With the murder of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse at a VA hospital in Minnesota, who ICE agents riddled with bullets when he went to the aid of a female protestor they were wrestling to the ground, the tense situation in this country has really escalated. Social media is blowin up as Retrumpicans and Dems go at it, with MAGAs labeling Pretti as a gun-carrying domestic terrorist, and Dems describing him as a Good Samaritan who was brandishing a phone not the gun he was licensed to carry and had on him. ICE supporters argue that all of this could've been avoided had Alex Pretti not interfered with federal troops doing their duty while Pretti is being turned into an angel of mercy and martyr by the Left, much to the chagrin of Right wingers who defend the reckless overkill by who the Left refer to as masked, poorly-trained bullies! The camera accounts taken by those on the sideline do seem to contradict the Trump Administration's accounts of Pretti being a threat, and It's Charlie Kirk all over again as the lines are being drawn and the nation becomes more polarized than ever, with Blacks continuing to distance themselves from the conflict, preferring to remind that what happened to Alex Pretti has always gone on in their neighborhoods. As much as I hate MAGAS and ICE, and agree that the camera proves that Homeland Security head, Kristi Noem, is lying, I wish the Liberals would stop the over-the- top aggrandizing of Alex Pretti because it's so obviously hyperbole. Now it has been revealed that Pretti was previously arrested for intervening in another protest and that he was under investigation by ICE officials who were out to get him. smh. One thing for sure is that ICE is bad news and its members who are rumored to be heavily drawn from right wing militias like the Proud Boys, are trigger happy unprofessional storm troopers who need to be dismantled and sent back down their rabbit holes! They have caused nothing but trouble and are a menace to American society.

MLK didn't ask to be the leader of the Civil Rights movement. It was a responsibility thrust upon him because he was so good at articulating grievances. It was like, he woke up one morning during the Montgomery bus boycott and all of sudden he was its leader! He did not have time to map out a precise strategy or a long range grand plan, he and his cobbleled-together posse just kinda made it up as they went along, with Mahatma Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy as their inspiration. The idea of making a lot of long-range, multi-faceted demands was out of the question at that time. The movement just focused mainly on equal opportunities, and King endeavored to appeal to the conscience of his oppressors. Integration was a counter to the separate but equal policy that was nothing more than subtle Jim Crowism. Integration represented fellowship and harmony where little black boys and girls would join hands with their white counterparts and partake of equality through tolerance. It was a dream; hence King's "I have a dream" speech. In hindsight, it's easy to criticize him for not embracing the militancy of those like Malcom X and the Black Panthers. But MLK was a man of his times and he was just beginning to re-think his goals when he was assassinated. Many think his taking a stance against the Vietnam war was a mistake but his doing so was in keeping with his pacifism. A cigarette-smoking, scotch- drinking, womanizing King was not perfect, but he fought the good fight, and paved the way for those who eventually came to criticize him for not having more foresight. I lived through King's era, and to me and my contemporaries, he was a real live hero who died a martyr.

As I mentioned in another thread, however people choose to use their time is great as long as it does not bring hurt, harm or danger to other folks. @aka Contrarian...you already know your contribution to the forum is appreciated by yours truly.😁 Whenever that time comes where we can no longer share and enjoy this virtual space...the memories will linger. In the meantime, I look forward to you popping in, hanging out and posting here too.😎

@ProfDI agree with you. For somebody who considers himself sooo in touch with the "Afro American" scene, Pioneer is frequently off the mark, lacking authenticity. Young black girls are not sittin around, pickin up on messages celebrities are supposedly sending them. They're more interested in hair and nails and eyelashes and fashion - attached to their phones, going on FaceBook threatening each other, working part time at WalMart. They are not suceptible to the idea of white boyfriends. They enthusiastically pursue their own kind. Many attend black colleges, where they will not be around whites guys. Or go to large white universities where they will not be competing with white Barbies for white Kens. It's not until they are full grown adults and have careers and are on the dating merry-go-round that black females make up their own minds and begin to consider other options when it comes to a mate. Plus, the vast majority of them are not going to be superstars in sports or entertainment where they can pick or choose. In fact, as Troy has reminded, most people, including black ones, marry within their own "race" The only explanation for Pioneer's preoccupation with white men is that he's jealous of them, undoubtedly afraid that there's a chance their penises might be quite adequate.

What Troy just posted is on point. And, the demograph for the "Wicked" franchise is not black people. Young black girls are not flocking to theaters to see this latest film fantasy. Nor is there any great interest in it by the black population in general.To them, it's just another Disneyesque Hollywood fantasy like "Sleeping Beauty" or "Shrek". They ain't paying no money to go see it. Pioneer overestimates the gullibilty of black folks as well as the deviousness of Hollywood whose primary goal is profit; not promoting racism. Attributing racial overtones to this movie's subliminal message is a stretch saturated with paranoia. Cynthia and Ariana have admitted they have an affectionate, gender based, non binary relationship. So what else is new? In today's social climate this is not an eyebrow raiser. Who cares if this is their "thing"? Hollywood has always been a freak show. But, as usual, the Strawman has to manufacture a hysterical scenario in an attempt to substantiate his far-fetched argument characterizing some bald headed green skin character as a racist surrogate for a black person. For the person with a hammer, every issue is a nail. Much ado about nothing.

It's not like all white people have their thing together. It's no secret that millions of them are in the same category as black folk, struggling to get ahead. And a whole lot of them are worse off that Blacks who have reached some degree of success. It's really about elitism and oligarphy. About wealth being concentrated in the hands of a few who exploit the masses. Yes, white skin is a pass port to opportunity, but it can only take you so far. In reality, true equality has never existed in the world, and traits like honesty and integrity don't necessarily reward you with success. The law of the jungle still pervades human civilization. And rugged individualism has to be fortified with ruthlessness and driven by greed. Luck also plays a role. Life is a bitch. Black folks lost Africa to foreign invaders and they've been struggling ever since. Unity is a pipe dream when skin color is too often the only thing groups have in common. It's a cruel world

Where is our fearless leader? Still waiting for Troy to show up?

Write your dream and hypnagogic or hypnopompic visions in a dream diary.... When you come back to then days weeks or months later.....you will be pleasantly surprise... To find many of then if not all.....very informative explanatory and predictive....jackpot lotto numbers