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Nnamdi Azikiwe

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Everything posted by Nnamdi Azikiwe

  1. True. Thing is she never even knew Black bookstores existed. At one time, I was the same way. Strange as it may seem, I grew up about three blocks from Pyramid books in DC on Georgia Avenue. Went past there everyday on my way to high school. A friend's cousin was friends with a competitor of Pyramid, Jewels of Aton. I was a grown man before I knew either one of them existed. AND i LOVE READING!!! The distance I traveled to find comic books compared to how close those two stores were even now amazes me.
  2. Is the market the filter? At least I thought it was at one time. Now it seems we are told to choose from door 1, door 2 or door 3 as if there are not different levels. Being an independent publisher/author seemed like a new form of freedom. Check that. An old form of freedom being reborn. The African Ink Road ran from North of Timbuktu to South of Kaduna in Nigeria...and beyond. An entire industry built on producing and distributing books. Several forms of the quote attributed to that time exist. The one I like best is: The whole University of Sankore and Ahmed Baba saga is something we seem on the cusp of reviving. Are the filters because of a concern ignorance and ugliness will rule the market instead of "knowledge and beautiful things?" Kind of seems like what's happening right now.
  3. Not only that they along with A2Z are filtering out authors that they do not want to receive exposure. Can AALBC be considered to have as its unique selling advantage "Black authors, no filter?"
  4. For the most part I did the same thing until I started writing my book. People are hiding their identity just like the people who wear hoods and lynch mobs. After starting the writing process it became clear what I wrote is part of my legacy. Overnight I changed my whole website and stopped being anonymous. No specific statement or rationale seemed more like a threat to the rest of FBland to color well within the lines. It was like a warning shot to the rest of FBland.
  5. We need an event to publicize the fact that Black Bookstores exist. Earlier this year I met a young woman, college-educated and intelligent, who had no idea there were Black bookstores. This especially significant in terms of history. We have a fairly established history of Black publishers, Black newspapers and Black authors. Black bookstores and distributors need a spotlight so that people know the best place to buy books by authors from our community is a Black bookstore. The post where @Troy told of the activities of Bookshop.org and our exchange on the press release for my book let me know we need to work on the image of the Black bookstore. It should be as well known as any other source of our books, if not better. Here is a question we need to answer: How much do A2Z and Bookshop.org make from our books? As it stands right now I see so many Black people are writing books it reminds me of the culture of Timbuktu and the University of Songhai. The only difference is we control the production of the books, but it seems like someone else controls distribution.
  6. Troy, Wow!!! Thanks for this. Had absolutely no idea. To a certain extent I knew about A2Z being able to pull customers to them through being so humongous. Earlier this year I experienced the "smothering" effect. It's not just A2Z. There are people advertising books on subjects totally unrelated to books by African American authors. This is to conceal books by other African-American authors from being seen in recommended books. Essentially static is being introduced to the ecosystem. Thereby effective communication is nil. They are paying a pretty penny for that privilege too. What you just revealed indicates an effort to keep money that would ordinarily go to authors from our community now going to a middleman and outsider. Keeping booksellers from engaging with the market that only exists because the mainstream ignored the authors who serve an audience from the same demographic as themselves is obscene. Your carpetbagger analogy is fitting. However, this is the same way Negro League baseball was eliminated as a competitor to MLB. Siphon off the best players and shut down the owners as a class. Negro League owners were not integrated, just the players. I think the phrase "I currently boycott am*zon" is not enough. They effectively boycott Black bookstores, but never state that as a goal or plan. Tell us what is your goal? What is your plan? What need are we meeting for our audience? What is the unique selling advantage of AALBC?
  7. Neither have I. Black Panther is not our story by the way. It was one of my favorite comic books until the time came when I couldn't resolve how "Wakanda" seemed so odd as a name. Latveria where Dr. Doom is from seemed like a reasonable form of a country name from Europe. When I kept stumbling over the word until wondering "what kind of..." Then I fell out of love with comic books. Briefly revisited them when I started reading again. To me Black Panther is Tarzan in Blackface/Melanin Mimicry. Just the idea you would have a country like that not only cut off from the rest of Africa, but T'challa being able to have relationships outside Africa without any within pretty much says it all.
  8. Some African authors are free of external influence. 2000 Seasons was the first time I ever imagined the possibility. The story begins before the Arabs arrived in Africa. I literally remember being surprised people from outside the continent were missing from the story until that point. After reading "The Palm Wine Drinkard" it became reality. A totally different world view. Struggled with my screenplay/book Keyamsha the Awakening until I went to Nigeria. That year, 1999, the movie of the year in Nigeria was "Egodo." A fantastic story. It showed me possibilities of a worldview starting from the inside out. Now a central point of Keyamsha the Awakening is the main charater leaving this world to visit another and return transformed with an expanded perspective. Sovereignty. After that I began to view things in an almost inverse way. I started to realize something. Prior to immersion in the educational system I had this sense of "connectedness." Public school took that away and replaced it with self as other. Its like most people don't realize in the USA it's as if someone is looking over our shoulder all the time. This invisible scorekeeper working to disconnect us from the rest of the world. I hear it in the words people use and don't use. Ideas people never consider. Now it might seem like I set out to go to extremes to make the view from which I speak my own. I don't think Mario Puzo had to struggle with telling the story of Vito Corleone as it is his own. I don't intend to struggle with having my own voice either.
  9. Thank you for posting this. It is amazing how creative people are. After visiting your website and reading your bio it demands to be said you are impressive. Your level of output is astonishing.
  10. I have three primary skills: attention to detail, critical thinking and problem solving. In fact here's how it works: find a model that does "most" of what you want and then figure out what it is missing. For instance you just described "work together to reclaim revenue." Put a dollar figure on that revenue. Show how it benefits those distributors and booksellers. The rest will take care of itself. Affiliate marketing will have to be part of the picture too. Do people who shop with AALBC have a way to earn income from directing their friends to shop here like people do on A2Z? Yesterday I had an idea for "Black bookstore day." When was the first Black bookstore opened? What is the history of Black Bookstores? Why are Black Bookstores important. Believe it or not I met a young woman this summer who is an African-American college graduate who had no idea there were Black bookstores until she met me. That's a problem too. People can't shop with us if they do not know we are open for business.
  11. You changed my whole approach to selling books. Thank you Troy. I mean that in all possible ways. I am truly grateful. What I really need is a system to make that happen. How to get all the Black book stores to carry my book? That is the question I am working on right now.
  12. What really struck me @Troy was they didn't use the original cover. Especially, since it was in celebration of Garvey's centennial, along with the TMP reissue of the Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey. Then I looked closer and...well...you know.
  13. https://keyamsha.com/2020/06/05/miwmtg-pr/ Washington, D.C.— June 5, 2020 —Today, The Mhotep Corporation announced immediate availability of the new book “Melanin Is Worth More Than Gold: Is This The Era Of The Blessed Generation.” “As the subtitle indicates, this is a new era. The era of the Blessed Generation,” said Nnamdi Azikiwe, the book’s author. “This is a new era because melanin is worth over $395 a gram more than gold. Not only that the Red, Black, and Green flag is approaching its 100th anniversary. Combined with the Afro, official currency of the United States of Africa being potentially worth over $2 the new era can’t be denied.” Positive Customer Impact Over 100,000 visitors to Keyamsha.com without benefit of media exposure attest to the attractive power of the chemical primarily responsible for the appearance of our hair, skin and eyes having a dollar value. Mr. Azikiwe learned melanin is worth more than gold while preparing for the March 2014 Sacred Libation Ceremony honoring African-American women lynched in America. The book enables us to activate the “audacious power” Dr. Adam Clayton Powell told us to seek. The new grammar of people educated regarding melanin produces a new rhetoric. The rhetoric invokes power Dr. Huey P. Newton still tells us comes with the ability to define phenomena. Our Blood, Our Melanin and Africa Unites Us Melanin myths, Urban legends, and hoaxes perpetrated by social media miscreants dubbed the “Melanin Deniers” prompted the publication of “Melanin Is Worth More Than Gold.” They did that by launching a Melanin Twitter Bomb aimed at African American women and people of African ancestry in general on March 24, 2017. The culturally coded symbolism embedded in the Red, Black and Green tells those who are willing to know the truth: Our Blood Our Melanin and Africa UNITES US!!! The book is available for immediate download as an eBook on Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other retailers. Founded in 2003, The Mhotep Corporation has a wide range of products designed to fulfill its mission to “engage, entertain and educate” audiences. ### The Mhotep Corporation and its products are either registered trademarks or trademarks of The Mhotep Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. For more information, press only: PR Contact Name Nnamdi Azikiwe Phone number: 202-294-0018 Email: nnamdi.azikiwe@gmail.com For more information on Product: Website: http://www.keyamsha.com Online version of this post: https://keyamsha.com/2020/06/05/miwmtg-pr/ Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1015855
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