On 2/23/2017 at 2:23 PM, Delano said:

New Yorkers think they are at the center of things. So is the butt hole.

Bwhahahaha!

4 hours ago, Troy said:

This is not about spiritually or uplifting people, it is about commerce. We should confuse the two things.

Absolutely agree!  We shouldn't confuse the two! One is the entertainment business... I, however, believe in the power of AND...

AND in business there's still a chance for enlightenment. 

For example- Moses, Cleopatra, Jesus, Thor, et al.  were not blue-eyed Europeans but that did not stop Hollywood from sharing the mythology while enlightening all those who went to see Ten Commandments, Cleopatra, King of Kings and most recently Thor ( who is actually the much older Shango, the Orisha God of thunder and lightning).  It takes a large platform to get a message out to those who don't know their history.  

Remember how many people were on the Egyptian KMT Hotep research kick? Those folks only scratched the surface but at least they no longer believe Egyptians were Europeans, (at least not origin). So now  you can only imagine how many young black women have now moved towards West Africa to find out the history of an even older group of the Canaanites -  the Yoruba people.  

BTW, This is win for authors of black books both fiction and nonfiction...If you read some of the reviews for my novel published in 2006 - most didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about. Yet I spoke of the very things in my book that Beyonce is now promoting through her visual music.  She's educating the market for those of us who write about African mythology...

Heads Up: Twins babies (Ibeji) are sacred & magical in the Yoruba religion so expect more symbolism from Bey once she deliver her twins.  

As for wikipedia - Maybe the Beyonce' mystique doesn't want the public to see that she's more than just the public face to her empire  but after doing so quick sleuthing - Parkwood Entertainment is owned by  Beyonce and here's why -  Parkwood's attorney is Brad Rose who is also listed on her website as the contact for Parkwood entertainment for any copyright infringement.  Rose is the attorney also listed as Beyonce's licensing company BGK Holdings, Inc's attorney and also represented her along with his other clients ( yes the usual suspect crew Kanye, Rihanna, Jay Z and Pharrell ) in a lawsuit against eleven paris ..

It would be a conflict of interest for Brad Rose to represent Sony in anything AND Beyonce therefore Beyonce owns Parkwood Entertaintment  - But here's more behind the scenes look at why Beyonce is the fronting her own company... From FastCompany

"The core of Beyoncé’s business is Parkwood Entertainment, a relatively small operation perched on an upper floor of an unremarkable office tower in an unglamorous neighborhood just south of Times Square. Parkwood’s employees quietly guide an enterprise that has an enormous impact: from music to film to ancillary businesses such as the exercise-clothing line Ivy Park that she recently debuted in collaboration with British retailer Topshop.

Beyoncé is the CEO and has been known to sit in on meetings and walk from office to office to query her deputies on details of upcoming projects. "There’s nothing that happens in that organization, either businesswise or artistically, that Beyoncé doesn’t fully sit on top of," says former HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo, who helped negotiate the Lemonade TV special. (Beyoncé and her team declined to speak on the record.)

Though Beyoncé’s label, Columbia Records (a subsidiary of Sony Music), is a partner in Parkwood, the company still approaches business like a startup, leveraging its scale in all kinds of ways."

2 hours ago, Delano said:

It is possible that you are both correct. Even though your conclusuonis based onyour feelings about Beyoncé.

Not my feelings on Beyonce personally but on Beyonce, the singer, songwriter, producer, entertainer and business woman.

Here's my story - in the late 80s I was in a girl music group, Flexx... It was a struggle and I can't tell you how many bad contracts folks tried to get us to sign. So bad that if we signed we would've been shaking our asses but broke. Now that's pimpin ish.   Plus we were cute so there was the casting couch everywhere you looked. We ran from the best of them back in the day.  By the time, we got our record deal we aged out and one of our members got killed. 

So to see a woman who looks like me and my group members make it to the top of the game - is nothing but "hallelujah"

My feelings on Beyonce are attributed to her business acumen. Plus I love a good story and she controls her narrative.

Case in point, she released her last album exclusively on her husband's streaming music service for 24 hours  - did this cut into her sales? Not sure but music reports from Billboard  to the New York Times did stories on the availability of her album on other outlets.  It was that serious to them.   Last I read, Tidal will have exclusive streaming rights of Lemonade for awhile.  It seems Sony and Beyonce  are working together ... from the CEO's mouth in 2015.

Ever since Destiny's Child there's seems to be a rule (thanks to Matthew Knowles I suppose) if you sing the song you get writers credit. That is unusual in the music business but her deal is even sweeter.  Beyonce also gets publishing credit too and producers credit.   According to these copyright infringement cases it seems that folks come after Beyonce not Sony.    So It seems she does have some control over her music catalog. 

Also, there are few artists who  are presidents of their own corporations that employ hundreds and contract and launch careers of others.  Beyonce is president of Beyonce, Inc and she founded Parkwood Entertainment LLC  which is the label that produces video, films, shows, music on the Sony label. There's Beyonce Touring, Parkwood Touring,  Ivy Park clothing and currently she's in a legal battle to trademark her children's wear company "Blue Ivy Carter".   She helped launch one for her mother House of Dereon ...and it seems the list is growing ...

Now correct me if you know of any other black woman (singer) who controls her music empire...Ok there's Rihanna who is said to own her masters now and I'm proud of her too! 

These young women are in control of their craft and professional image and as a woman who had a small taste ofthe music business, I'm glad to see young women stepping up and controlling their professional destiny. 

By the way, Chrisette Michelle recently said she is also the master of her domain.
 

16 hours ago, Delano said:

To Mel its refreshing to hear a Magickal perspective from a thinker. 

@Delano Thank you...I'm processing all the time. I might have something different next week lol

36 minutes ago, Troy said:

the result will be a perversion of those traditions.  

kind of like Catholicism but you didn't hear that from me

1 hour ago, Guest Sheryl said:

The new platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google are not producing any breakthrough Agents.

Because those platforms are NOT AALBC.com   I never understood why we would expect to find our breakthroughs outside of our community.  I only need to look in my own backyard, literally, to find a remedy for menstrual cramps.  (Dead nettle grows in my backyard )  In fact, I spend my time posting here and looking for ways to make this website of record - so that we can produce breakthrough... My next step is asking for a AALBC press pass  so I could bring enterprising content... maybe others can do the same? Just a suggestion.

17 hours ago, Cynique said:

People of all ethnicities put their best foot forward, at least until they get established. Feeling no need to be accepted is a luxury only some can afford. LOL

@Cynique you always challenge me to seek clarity! Thank you so much!  

Of course, I put my best foot forward with anyone I meet.  Kindness and respect goes a long way... What I can't afford in this lifetime is seeking outside validation for the life given to me. 

When I said I don't seek the acceptance of white people; it's because I don't allow anyone to tell me who I am or what role I shall play.  I tell others what role I shall play in their life and they can decide "Yes" or "no" . 

I was looking at my professional recommendation letters, the other day and I realized they have the same theme - " leader with an attitude"  white folks code for uppity negress.  It is what it is.  I never felt like I needed my life validated.  And yes, living like this has positive, negative and a lot of heartbreaking consequences.

When I was younger,  many called it hubris. If I believed I could do it; I did it.  Now that I'm older it requires a lot of courage to continue to live this way.  I may cry a lot, but I sleep well.

I think the black community's pathological tendencies come from allowing others to invalidate us. It's as if we believe we are the illegitimate children of America and Africa and we're doing everything while failing miserably to gain legitimacy.  It's as if we (black Americans) are waiting to do our version of Sally Fields' Academy Award acceptance speech "You like me, you really like me".  Although it is so cliche, we have to learn to like ourselves first even if our validation never arrives.
 

On 2/21/2017 at 2:06 PM, Delano said:

Beyonce is a religious icon. She is using a lot of Its references. A fellow Psychic and It's Priestess has posted on this. Notice the whole New Orleans. Oshun 

@Delano, I didn't want to get into this...so glad you did.  I had to check myself first to see what was aggravating me about @Troy 's comment... there's so much to unpack that it spills over into the other discussion thread about black's being normal dysfunction et al.... but yes, it is validation of the three stages of woman - "maiden, mother, crone" (remember the Blue Ivy-Beyonce-Miss Tina hologram?) Beyonce's whole career and music has used this Leitmotif... EXCEPT she uses the motherland's symbols instead of the eurocentric version.   It traverses the scale of the mythology of ancient Canaanites  (north, south central west africa)...it is why some call her practices the illuminati because many don't know our own ancient magical practices ... She is using her whole career as a backdrop to tell the story of the black woman.. It's mythology set to music.

14 hours ago, Delano said:

Its a gold mine if it has a back entrance.

hahaha!!!

10 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

an Indian woman named Dr Mona Attisha who kept noticing all these Black children coming in with rashes and decided to investigate.

"individuals with a specific interests or out of  necessity that make the breakthrough"  as  Jenifer Lewis said in "In Living Color"  "That just proves my point"!

11 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

 

In the general public OUTSIDE of academia, for every one person who decides to put in the research work on a particular subject of interests......probably 5 or 6 will move on to focusing on their day to day activities.

 

Clearly you haven't been on wordpress dot com or Quora.  J/K   Seriously though, I've been researching polymaths and monomaths; so I think the ratio is much lower than you give credit.  We have more 'specialists' today than ever in history.   If this country is actually divided it's by autodidacts, academics and a minority of folks who are clueless.

41 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

As human beings let's keep it real, spiritual development must come AFTER the physical demands are met.

Or spiritual development must come first in an effort to understand what physical demands are actually necessary.   

The more I focus on my spiritual needs; I find I need a lot less... In fact, I've recently noticed that I mentally spend money that I don't have... because I'm CONSUMED with thoughts of what I WANT ... notice I wrote "want" and not "need". 

Without spiritual development I don't think we'd notice and would forever be in CONSUMPTION mode.

18 hours ago, Guest FlareonDon said:

the disparities in the black communist does a great deal of harm to all of us whether we know it or not.

BLOG ALERT!!!

Maybe as a collective, disparities in the black community harm us but not as individuals because we all have different perspectives.   One perspective; not all of us exist for outside acceptance and approval  For example, I don't "dress up" my black in an effort to be accepted or even appreciated by the white majority. Frankly I don't give a damn if they accept me or not. I do me...and if I seek any approval it's from family, friends, associates, acquaintances and in that order.  

My cry is don't physically harm me because of your bias.  Now if this is your point, FlareonDon, then yes harming indirectly by one's community member is a challenge. I have been harmed by black people who have been hurt by the system.  Sort of trickle down hate brought on by racism, if you will.  

After reading the article, I noticed one thing missing from the argument. It's usually missing in all arguments of this nature...Most people never ask or answer "Why were some Africans enslaved in America"? (Noting that many Africans came willingly and were free as in never a slave)  While it is reported that all the colonies/ later states participated in African enslavement  - the states that abandoned the practice early were the states that didn't benefit from it.  - So answer why were some Africans captured, brought here and enslaved? I've read one perspective on why some Africans were enslaved...and why they were all but shunned after their services were no longer required or legal.   Once you answer "Why" then they rest of the "most hated" story makes sense.   Once you answer the why - then you like most successful African-Americans will use that answer to your benefit.  

14 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

too many of us try to seek acceptance

stop copying me!

2 hours ago, Troy said:

In a world where people focus on spiritual development, rather on the acquisition of money, there would be more compassion for others.  We would not be trying to keep others in the dark (or out of the light), so that we can take what they have for ourselves.

  Beautifully stated!

On 2/14/2017 at 0:45 PM, Troy said:

Milo Yiannopoulos is laughing all the way to the bank.

And now his book is cancelled... https://www.yahoo.com/news/publisher-cancels-milo-yiannopoulos-book-dangerous-223646571.html

"Simon & Schuster and its Threshold Editions imprint announced Monday that "after careful consideration" they had pulled the book, which had been high on Amazon.com's best-seller lists and was the subject of intense controversy."

Welp now we know you can say practically anything except endorse pedophilia!  We've finally found the deal-breaking threshold for provocative  shock-and-awe speech.

14 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

So I guess my question is, EXACTLY WHAT'S WRONG with asking for personal gain as long as it's not done to hurt others?

@Pioneer1Nothing is wrong with personal gain!  Are you kidding me? LOL!  In fact, if I shift perspective "raising the level of consciousness" or vibration,  as I stated IS personal gain.   I want to live in a world where everyone shine's their light.   So there, I guess everything is personal gain because what I'm actually saying is I don't want to be distracted by folks  bitching and moaning

Still when I cast spells in the past it was for monetary gain, or a smooth going in a relationship, or something that I really didn't need to cast a spell for.    All I needed was to focus. 

As I got older I realized that I just needed to be what I was seeking (so to speak) ...Whenever  I "vibrate "  at the level of what I want - it comes to me.  Even if I concentrate on something that I know a friend of mine is into, it causes them to call me. 

Magick is just that simple ... "be what you seek" -  It's that simple but it sure ain't easy!

12 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Mel
BEFORE talk of this movie....had YOU heard about these ladies?

  @Pioneer1 Yes.  I heard about the book first - I have many sources but if I had to point to one source I'd say it was my  google alert that is set to "Black Women" . so yes, I had the pleasure of  hearing about Margot Lee Shetterly's book before I heard of the movie.

Old Journalist tricks are hard to break and I'm a information junkie.

BTW, I disagree with your assessment about general public, and academia -  it's usually individuals with a specific interests or out of  necessity that make the breakthrough and bring information into the mainstream.   I even read the flint water crisis was brought to light by a homeowner , a woman named " Leeanne Walters"

On 2/16/2017 at 0:43 PM, Troy said:

It is hard to believe it has been over a year since I started this website upgrade project, a project I through would take, conservatively, six months,  

I can believe it. 

I've learned during this last year that you really have to engage as a super end-user to fully appreciate the nuances of this website. Once one is familiar with the nuances then and only then can you see how exploit them to make it easier to attract even more traffic. 

@Delano

On 2/5/2017 at 7:11 PM, Delano said:

If you have defects in your character magic only amplifies them.

Yep this is exactly why  I gave up casting for personal gains sometime ago.  I began working on raising my vibrations instead.  Thank you, though! Now my focus and goal is getting others to raise their vibration so that we can shine bright in this world...

On 2/17/2017 at 10:43 PM, Pioneer1 said:

I'm willing to wager that the VAST MAJORITY of research done on these women was probably done AFTER that movie came out than was done on them before because most people didn't even know about them.

You'd lose. The movie is based on the book. 

8 hours ago, Cynique said:

What is reality?? Is it actually a state of flux where we create our own truths?   This is the growing trend black folks must try and navigate, figuring out a way to make white folks believe lies we make up.

The juxtaposition of this statement with your closing (Bey and Obama) proves "Yes we can!"...  Our next step is to figure out what to lie about that would raise the profile of the Black American collective.

On 2/13/2017 at 10:15 PM, Pioneer1 said:

I guess my REAL question is WHO is holding on to all of this "hidden" information about Black greatness and releasing bits and pieces of it from time to time?

@Pioneer1 someone heard your question AND answered it! 

How cool is that?  Here it is... From Freedom’s Journal to the NNPA, Black Press Is Still Relevant

"Margot Lee Shetterly, author of “Hidden Figures,” said if not for the archives of the Black Press such as the “Norfolk Journal and Guide” and the “Pittsburgh Courier” the inspiring story of the Black women geniuses at NASA would not have been possible to tell. If not for the “Florida Sun” in Orlando, the story of the great training in science and technology happening at Bethune-Cookman University – one of the nation’s historically Black universities – would go untold and unnoticed."

15 hours ago, Troy said:

They operate as if they view themselves as "THE Black internet" and other websites are competition.

I didn't know that about the blackamericaweb.  I only use it when I hear something on the TJMS and I want more information about the topic - unfortunately they don't update quickly - and since I rarely use facebook; I don't go to the TJMS facebook page anymore.  

I wasn't  suggesting that AALBC partner with BAW. I'm still on the same kick  that AALBC "capture all the hearts and minds" and be the clearinghouse of all things black literary.  That reach is far wider and affords more latitude

2 minutes ago, Troy said:

let not confuse being gay with being an opportunistic troll capitalizing off our dysfunctional culture.

8 minutes ago, Troy said:

 Sure I can reach some folks, but Facebook, for example, has become very powerful in control what we consume.

Damn shame! I think we can get black minds back - just like Tom Joyner has got our ears... TJMS and BlackAmericaWeb finds a way to promote every black person out there. The key is promoting what we want instead of giving our attention to what we don't want.

On 2/13/2017 at 1:49 PM, harry brown said:

There Is Always Some Unknown Black,History

It was not unknown to Researcher Margot Lee Shetterly or NASA's Langley

A black woman’s research project and subsequent manuscript leads to feature film “Hidden Figures” (2017). “Hidden Figures” is the story of a  team of African-American women mathematicians who were the brains behind the space race and astronaut John Glenn’s 1962 orbit.

Check out Margot Shetterly talk at NASA Langley’s youtube channel

Why are black folks so weird? We say we're not a monolith but then our first inclination is to boycott. 

Roxane Gay is a published author who chooses not to share the same platform as an alleged white supremacist.   She moves books so she can always take her project to another publisher.  

But we can use our dollars to support  more black authors and get them Big 5 publishing deals.    If we boycott S & S then why not buycott Penguin Random House's black authors & novelists.  In fact, I'm loyal to Penguin since they hired me into their marketing department and other black women and men before it was popular.   I read more black authors from Penguin than any other publisher.

If we pull our dollars from S & S, what would be the incentive of them publishing black literature? We surely don't have the numbers to incentivize the trade book publisher - so instead of boycotting, why not consciously promote and buy from trade book publishers who are responsive to our culture.  

1 hour ago, Delano said:

It is interesting he is conservative and Gay. Unless my Gaydar is off.

I read that he is gay.

LawdHahMercy don't get me started. From USA Today, January 09, 2017

Black pastors rally in Washington for AG nominee Jeff Sessions