I recently updated a short story for digital readers called "Classified" - The political thriller is the first in the series of the small-town reporter Nicole Jettison aka Nicky Jett.  Nicky developed her supernatural gift during the first year in college.  Nicky's prophetic dreams transported her to the netherworld.  Once there, she gained abilities to see and battle shape-shifting drug dealers and a sorcery-wielding obeah priestess. She also recognizes nothing is as it seems.  When Nicky recovers, she hides in a journalism career.  She breaks news stories thanks to her all-seeing third-eye.  Nicky's gift is well-suited for news reporting but awful for her personal life.  Nicky morphs into a full-blown space-cadet once those preternatural abilities gain control. Check out Nicky Jett's riveting back story in the page-turner "Sleeping with a D-Man" available at theleadstorydotorg.

U.S. Senators Demand Study on Federal Advertising in Black-owned Media

A 2007 report revealed the federal government agencies spent more than $4 billion in advertising but " a pittance of that amount (5% from 5 agencies) was spent with minority media publications."  In a letter sent, November 3, 2016, to the Government Accountability Office by the 5 U.S. Senators request-

"As one of the largest advertisers in the United States, the federal government should play an active role in ensuring that minority-owned media outlets have fair opportunities to compete for and be awarded federal advertising contracts."

Maybe some of those advertising dollars might find its way to websites with  large audiences too... Follow or contact these five senators .S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) was joined by fellow Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) for updates on how to bid for these advertising contracts. 

Currently re-editing my #flashfiction story, "Law-Abiding Ghouls." A cautionary tale for politicians who long for the good ole days. A time that wasn't so great for anyone.

@TroyI can't respond to The New Religion by Zaji.  I get this error notice 

Quote

 

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12-year-old Activist Lands Book Publishing Deal

Marley Dias, Pictured

Photo credit: Andrea Cipriani Mecchi

Tired of the school's reading list filled with white boy and dog protagonist, Marley Dias kicked off her own hashtag #1000BlackGirlBooks, last January, which featured Black girls as stars of their stories.  She achieved her goal of collecting and donating books with black girls as the protagonist.   

Today Scholastic announced Dias will pen her own story about social activism.

“Marley is using her voice to advocate for social justice, a commitment reflected by her ambitious life goals: she dreams of becoming an editor of her very own magazine and plans to use media to spread positive messages and to perpetuate more socially conscious pop culture”

Scholastic, Inc. reports the book will be released in the Spring of 2018 . 

SoulJourn: "Celebrating Black Women Filmmakers"

"On the occasion of the recent restoration and re-release of Julie Dash’s 1991 masterpiece Daughters of the Dust, BAMcinématek celebrates the black women directors who blazed the trail for that landmark film. The filmmakers represented in this series all worked far outside the mainstream, often with limited resources, overcoming a historically hostile system in order to tell their stories on screen. Taken together, their work represents a rich history of long-undervalued independent filmmaking.

“One Way or Another” is co-programmed by BAMcinématek’s Nellie Killian and Michelle Materre; founder, host-producer, Creatively Speaking Film Series; Associate Professor of Media Studies and Film at The New School."

Source: 'One Way or Another: Black Women's Cinema, 1970–1991'
BAMcinématek
February 3–23, 2017

SoulJourn: "Not all Blacks in America were enslaved 

but laws enacted against their freedom haven't changed since colonial times.

Source:  The Black North: A Social Study by  William Edward Burghardt Du Bois  November 17, 1901

"Life is the sum of your choices"

SoulJourn : A Portrait in Community Artivism

REGEN PROJECTS, contemporary art gallery, presents Theaster Gates' exhibit "But To Be A Poor Race" 

January 14- February 25, 2017

6750 Santa Monica Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90038 Tel 1 310 276 5424 Fax 1 310 276 7430

Theaster Gates, Urban Planner  & Conceptual Artist  whose $2 million Chicago Southside project The Arts Incubator in partnership with the University of Chicago was profiled in The New Yorker   (01/20/2014), presents an interpretative display of paintings and pieces  based on content from Jet Magazines and WEB DuBois'  hand drawn info-graphic charts depicting the economic contributions  in "Exhibit of American Negroes  displayed at the 1900 World's Fair in France.

According to Gates, this is his protest.  He says in the LA Times article,

“The show says, I am going to continue to go to work. I’m going to continue to make art. I’m going to continue to sing. I’m going to keep working as a protest.”

New Find... Dateline: Bronzeville A Runny Walker Mystery

A history mystery with a twist - 3D  Illustrations from  the Jones Brothers..."  From the Press Release

"Runny Walker makes his debut in Dateline: Bronzeville, a fast-paced mystery adventure set on the South Side of Chicago in 1940. Dateline: Bronzeville is the first in a series of Runny Walker Mysteries. 

This remarkable collaboration melds stunningly beautiful original artwork by acclaimed media artist, Philip Mallory Jones with a dynamic ‘ripped from the headlines’ mystery tale by his brother, Donald Brooks Jones. 

Says Donald, “The inspiration for Dateline: Bronzeville comes from our experience growing up on the South Side of Chicago, listening to the tales told by our parents and elders of the characters they had known, plus extensive research in the African American press of the day.”

Philip adds, “Dateline: Bronzeville is our celebration of the lore and legends of the now-vanished world known as The Black Metropolis.” 
Dateline Bronzeville: A Runny Walker Mystery A Picture book for the kid in us all! 

Not so fast: Prolific Black Authors left out of a soon-to-be-published book of writers covering the past 2500 years.  The Guardian reports with too Black voices missing from the nearly 750 page book, a major US publisher cancels publication. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/may/16/whos-missing-top-author-stirs-anger-with-too-white-history

Book Wish List 

• Sympathy for the Devil: An Angela Bivens Thriller by Christoper Chambers - A metaphysical police procedural romance thriller with a Black female lead? How could it not be good? I must read this book! 
  
• Trumbull Park by Frank London Brown - I found out about this book from my daughter. Her partner's grandfather wrote this novel about hostile integration at Chicago's Trumbull Park public housing in the late 50s. Ain't that some ish? Public Housing was reserved for whites only but, everyone's taxes fund the project. Good News, though, in 2020, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame selection committee nominated Mr. Brown's novel for inclusion. It appears from this post from Richard Guzman he was inducted.  BRAVO!!
  
  https://richardrguzman.com/frank-london-brown-inducted-into-the-chicago-literary-hall-of-fame/
• 
   
• TBD

Status: Agitated

As humans our default mode is happy.   It may be hard to tell but we are a community-oriented species... Just watch us when shit hits the fan and you'll see our true nature.  We come together with one mission - "to make everyone whole again".   Yet, there are forces in this world that prefer we stay agitated. 

Upgrade: remaining agitated eventually leads to submission.  

Today's MISSION:  Shine bright like the Sun! 

Status: Default

Project: Communication Plan

Thought of the day: "Fast and Wrong... Is still wrong."

Song of the Day: SOS Band: "Take your time"

Currently Writing: "A Promise Broken", A fictionalized Romance Memoir

Currently Reading: "Severed" by VL Towler

Acronym of the Day|  FinCen:  Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. (US Department of Treasury)

As we head into Black history month 2017  I hope to find out more and report on the under-told story of
"free negro" - A  British legal status referring to  black people in early America who were not nor were ever slaves.  If anyone has any info know that I welcome all tips!

BE STILL AND KNOW.

Before digital social networks and social media, I used to keep a scrapbook for all the news stories I found interesting - here's one such article :

Pioneer Aviator Bessie Coleman in this 1920s photos was the world's first black female aviator. She was licensed in 1921

From The Hollywood Reporter: Ebony Media Operations has signed on with the largest talent agency, WME (William Morris Endeavor), for what appears to be a client/agent relationship. 

In the partnership, Ebony/Jet is looking "to expand its current print and digital footprint, enhance the brand and utilize  the magazine's over 70 years of archival content." 

Richard Prince's Journal-isms reports that Ebony Media Operations executives have also let go their top editors which comes right on the heels of freelance writers shaming the 70-year old African-American Lifestyle Magazine for nonpayment using the hashtag #ebonyowes on the social networking site "Twitter". 

With this new deal with WME, not only will Ebony have access to A-list celebrities, sporting, corporate events, et al they may be in a better position to pay their writers.  But at what cost to its editorial integrity? 

Have a Wonderful and Prosperous New Year!!!

Have you heard of Jelly?  It's a Q & A social media platform.  I answered this question " I need new shoes for walking/jogging long distance. My biggest issue is that  I have a men's size 16 shoe. Any tips on a brand?"  

I linked to your FAQ on your site about 15 and up-personal shopping and my answer was helpful. Not sure if you're on Jelly but with your expertise in shoes - I think you'd do well there too!

I blogged about him in 2014. In 2016 Casey Gerald gave a tedtalk "the gospel of doubt" that npr says went viral then today I noticed Penguin Random House published his memoir in 2018... He was on my radar because of a new post I was writing -what I didn't know is he's on the world's radar too.  I wonder what they have planned for him.

In the spirit of our lively forum discussions - from Smithsonian's National Museum of  African American Heritage and Culture

Language | The Power of Words

Rapping, Storytelling, Preaching, Signifying, Testifying, Playing the Dozens.

At Its heart, African American culture is an oral culture. Enslaved blacks combined English with African vocabularies and ways of talking. They created a language that built communities and kept them going. Talking and telling connect people.  New terms and expressions are born, picked up, and spread with each generation.  Some master two languages or dialects - one they speak in their community and mainstream American English. How African Americans speak depends on whom they're speaking to.

In this edition of Black Minds, Black Power: Powers-that-Be who ignore Black minds do so at their own peril and demise.

 According to the Milwaukee Community Journal article, Anari Sengbe, offered up "Go Vote" an app to the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign but they declined. The app would allow volunteers to wait in in line for voters and donors to cover the cost for rideshare for health-impaired or disabled voters to get to the polls.  While the Clinton campaign may have said "no" Mercedes Benz and Direct Tv are saying yes to his apps that allow drivers to pay direct from their cars using bitcoins and giving a gift for pay per-view programming...

More at Community Journal

#programmer #gamer #developer

Kiese Laymon: A Writer's Writer

Writing takes far more than talent to be great. One most also possess courage to be at the top of her craft.  At least that's the takeaway from the essay "You Are the Second Person" by Kiese Laymon. 

Laymon is identified as an essayist and novelist but a few paragraphs into "You Are the Second Person" you begin to realize those aren’t just his job titles, he’s the embodiment of those skills.

Prior to reading his essay, the definition of hack eluded me.  Now I know it identifies someone who eschews writing for expression and instead kowtows to a publisher for a check.  Check out Guernica Magazine and "You're Are the Second Person"