Cynique

They're both black and the one who masqueraded as Jesus is not from the south.

If people who know nothing about each other or the experiments they are independently conducting come up with theories or formulae that jibe and reach the same conclusion, what does this prove? That everything we learn already exists and is just waiting to be discovered? Could we also consider that without truth there are no facts? And could we suggest that music is audible math?? And that the tooth fairy is god's second cousin???

Sounds like somebody was inspired by the urban legend that has been floating around for years about people being lured into compromising situations and drugged, then waking up the next day in a hotel room, packed in ice with a kidney missing. None of which lessens or justifies the tragedy of this murder. Bizarre is the new normal. Nothing shocks me anymore. All I could do was chuckle about the high school student who was suspended for showing up on Halloween dressed as Jesus. He was a black guy whose get-up included a silky black wig. I'm not sure how flattered Jesus would be by this tribute because the dude struck me as being GAY.

I just noticed the above post, Pioneer, and as ususal, I don't entirely agree with your comments. Having lived through the civil rights movement, it is not my recollection that white women greatly impacted on this crusade. It was actually all that black women could do to make their presence felt. Rosa Parks, was of course, the poster "girl" but other activists were marginalized, mostly used as props to stand next to the men and nod their heads in agreement as they spoke. A few like Fanny Lou Hamer, and Angela Davis, and Daisy Bates did make a blip in the radar but they were not involved in the decision-making of the good ol boys fraternity of black leaders who were, themselves, jockying for power and position. Just as during the Harlem Renaissance, the civil rights movement drew a lot of their white female sympathizers from the ranks of feminists, women like Gloria Steinem and Joan Baez. And again, as in the Harlem Renaissance, their most appreciated input was the financial support that poured in from the rich and famous philanthropists among white women. Those like Jane Fonda who subsequently became notorious for her role in protesting the Vietnam war. White college coeds who became invoved were not taken that seriously because they were a part of the counterculture, the uprising made up of privileged white kids rebelling against their middleclass upbringing and eager to shake up the status quo. The civil rights movement provided an opportunity to do this; and interracial flings did come with that territory. But these types were personae non grata within the more militant factions in the civil rights struggle, groups like the Black Panthers and S.N.I.C.K whose leader was Stokely Carmichael. White radical groups like SDS(students for a democratic society) had a different agenda and were more into revolutionary terrorism, and there was little infilteration of these cabals by Blacks. As usual, what created a rift in the civil rights movement was the white liberal element's inborn need to be in charge. And as a result, they were gradually edged to the side by Blacks fed up with well-meaning Whites wanting to run the show, do the strategizing and give out the orders. As competent as these white organizers were, many of whom were Jews with a history of left-wing activities, they came to be regarded as too intrusive by Blacks who felt they were capable of doing their own leading and planning. One ramification of this rift was exemplified during the early sixties when the South was invaded by an influx of young Northern White collegians flocking there to aid and abet the voter registration drives that were an anathema to white city fathers in the small towns where Blacks were discouraged from voting Putting to use their organizational skills, which too often relegated young black southerners to flunky status, these yankee carpetbaggers got busy. Unmindful of the local cultures of this environment, they proceeded to quote laws and make demands and stage demonstrations, stirring up the resentful red neck townspeople. By summer's end, volatile situations were ready to erupt, and local blacks were left to deal with the dangerous consequences left behind by the exiting white students heading back to the safety of their northern campuses. Incidents like this left a bitter taste in the palates of black folks as Liberals increasingly fell out of favor, and the 2 white male volunteers and their black guide who were all murdered by Klansman during this period really cast a pall over this project. I also question as to whether white gals are in danger of being usurped by Asian ones. Miss Annes are still the most sought after women in America. They've become more indepedent than ever and, to me, don't really seem prone to sucking up to their white men. IMO.

I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with an idea that is prevelant enough to be considered universal but there are always cases where perversions and aberrations could be condoned by amoral cults and sociopaths, of which there are many in this world. Delano says math, and I'd go with music. There are so many generes that there's something for everyone and the appeal of some form of music is universal.

If it's pay per view, then obviously the answer is that dramatizing gang warfare by way of fake wrestling matches is an enterprise that has the potential to generate money. Maybe gang leaders and their members will get vicarious thrills from watching these performances and the street violence will taper off.

Life is like a camera . . . Focus on what's important, Capture the good times, Develop from the negatives, And if things don't work out, Take another shot. This is pretty good advice. But you're lucky that if things haven't worked out, you're not too old to take another shot. Unless, of course, you're taking a shot of vodka.

Thank you, Delano!

Now that I am checking out other reviews of the book, I hope that mine is equally interesting because it's written from a black point of view. The bios of Josephine Cogdale and Nancy Cunard were the most compelling of the 6 woman profiled.

Hummm. I don't remember seeing the post providing a link to the NPR interview but I'm glad I didn't, because it might've influenced my review of the book, maybe even causing me to not bother with even writing one. After checking it out, it was interesting to read other impressions of this book, however.

?? I don't think high profile people of any race escape public censure and sensationalized new coverage if they engage in disgraceful behavior. Clinton was, after all, impeached. Look at all of the demoted white military brass and disgraced poltical candidates and pedophile coaches and priests who were raked over the coals. The public loves scandal but it is also forgiving.

Definitions of Miss Anne: A coded term for any white woman. A derisive name for a white woman. An emancipated blue blood. “Miss Anne in Harlem”, by Carla Kaplan is a 503-page book about the noteworthy role played by a certain group of white women during the era referred to as the “Harlem Renaissance”. This historical period, a subdivision of the "jazz age", spanned the decade between the late 1920s and middle 1930s. It was so named because it called attention to a black colony of writers, poets, artists, journalists, academics, and political activists all ensconced in Harlem, the quintessential mecca of black life located in the upper section of Manhattan. Upon being discovered by New York’s white literati, this elite black clique referred to as "New Negroes" was suddenly in vogue, and the phrase “Harlem Renaissance" was coined. As a compilation of mini–biographies, Kaplan’s book examines the lives of Lillian Wood, Josephine Cogdale, Annie Nathan Meyer, Charlotte Osgood Mason, Fannie Hurst, and Nancy Cunard, 6 white women who were the most representative of the avant garde females the author categoized as the Miss Annes of Harlem. Dispersed between the personal histories of these women is a running commentary detailing the circumstances that drew them to Harlem, a locale also famous for the Cotton Club, a popular black night spot that during Prohibition was frequented by uppercrust white partygoers and mob bootleggers. The tendency back then and maybe even now, is to suspect that the surge of white females inserting themselves into the Harlem scene had something to do with sexual fantasies involving the forbidden fruit of black studs. Whether or not this was a factor, it is more important to be reminded of how white women-of-means were once treated in American society. Although cherished and put on a pedestal, they were basically second-class citizens, discouraged from working outside the home, not allowed to own property, and not even granted the right to vote until 1920. It’s conceivable, then, that certain ones of these repressed damsels identified with the plight of Blacks, and regarded them as kindred spirits. Consequently, what initially motivated the women in this book, most of whom were aspiring writers and poets, was their budding Feminism. Like the “New Negroes”, they were the “New Women” and what several of them really desired was to be liberated from the stifling environment that enslaved them. They held little interest in being shackled to boring husbands, raising perfect children and leading the staid, sheltered existences of society matrons. They yearned to be free, to experience life, to express their creativity, and to participate in crusades like the Scottsboro Boys cause célèbre, a movement organized to free a group of black youths falsely accused of raping 2 southern white women. To these restless Miss Annes, infiltrating Harlem’s inner circle could provide opportunities for them to flex their Feminist muscles and make meaningful changes in the world. Harlem's numerous publications also offered exposure for the poems and essays and articles submitted by these white wanna-be writers. Others among this Miss Anne focus group saw Harlem as fertile ground for cultivating their theories about race. One, a wealthy domineering, dowager, lavished money and gifts on Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston with the intent of molding their lives and making their literary output conform to her ideas about the importance of the black race retaining its humble primitive uniqueness. Another was an equally-rich transplanted southern belle who eventually married journalist George Schuyler. Deciding that they could produce a perfect child by virtue of it being biracial, after much trepidation, she defied the taboo of mixed marriages and wed this black man. (Their daughter Philippa Duke Schuyler did, indeed, turn out to be a famous child prodigy.) Driven by different motives, what this sisterhood of aggressive woman had in common was a yen to oppose what they did not like about Whites by glorifying what they did like about Blacks. Considering this, it’s no wonder these Miss Annes shared a fascination with Africa - the vast, beautiful, wild, dark continent they had dreamed of as children. And to some extent, they each harbored a burning sentiment that Africans and their American Diaspora were, like the Red Man, a race of noble savages who were preferable to the stiff sterility of whiteness. To them, Blacks were exotic and unflappable, - sensual, down to earth people who loved to have a good time. They were spontaneous and humorous and creative, especially when it came to singing and dancing and colorful dress. Blackness, therefore, was to be celebrated, not stifled by the pall of austere white arrogance. Moreoever, black literature and art and culture should reflect the spirit of this. The idea of Blacks trying to pass for white, or emulating white people by taking on their cynical snobbish ways was despicable to some of these Miss Annes. Seeking to reinforce this idea, the zealots among them, along with their “ofay” sidekicks, proceeded to demonstrate how the pristine jungle essence of black ancestry was to never march to any drumbeat but an African one. Producing the books, plays, musicals and films that reeked with triteness and depicted black life in ways that were an affront to black dignity, these works were sharply criticized by such members of the Harlem intelligentsia as W.E. B. DuBois. These literary hacks were also scorned by the majority of Whites who branded them “nigger lovers”. But completely immersed in their affinity for blackness, the diehards among the Miss Annes persisted, earning for themselves the alternate title of “Voluntary Negroes”. As an aside, and what was the case in one of the Miss Anne’s profiled in this book, leading up to and running concurrently with the Miss Anne infatuation with Harlem, was a different breed of Feminists, the spinster school teachers known as “Yankee School Marms”. Serving as an early inspiration to their urban upperclass counterparts, these independent small town white women bypassed New York and headed down south, seeking escape from their dissatisfaction with the mundane lives that domesticity offered. Shunning the kitchen, they opted for the classroom where they could be completely in charge while shaping the minds of ignorant young blacks, instilling in them their white notions of what blackness should be all about. Later, some of these Miss Annes were absorbed into the faculties of historically black colleges. Yet, although miffed by the white interlopers, many of the struggling black artists of Harlem were not above being opportunistic. Opting to humor these Miss Annes, they allowed themselves to be trotted out and fawned over at the elegant soirees and salons hosted by these white devotees. They also took advantage of these occasions to hobnob with prestigious white book publishers on the lookout for talented black authors, and last but not least, they capitalized on the financial generosity of their patrons. Exercising their native guile, these African Americans didn’t disappoint the presumptuous Miss Annes so quick to imply that black people were in danger of becoming too civilized. Once their usefulness had been exhausted, these “simple” black folk parted ways with their “sophisticated” white enablers. From the eclectic mix of white women and black people, many dynamics evolved as the Harlem Renaissance played itself out, and the well-meaning crusaders featured in this book ended up frustrated, 2 of them coming to tragic ends. Ironically, the Miss Annes who garnered the most success were those on the fringes, the unobtrusive ones who chose a philanthropic route, establishing the scholarship and grants and fellowships that assisted upwardly mobile Negroes in pursuit of the American dream. As for the diligent Miss Annes, in spite of their good intentions, they could not retard the “New Negro”. These condescending “control freaks” who worshipped the soulful mystique of black folks and believed they knew what was best for the black race, were unable to transcend the superior sense of entitlement that they found so unacceptable in other whites. As the Great Depression began to take its toll, the iconic Harlem Renaissance faded away, abandoned by the movers and shakers among the rich and famous. Yet, in the final analysis, the Miss Anne impressions of black people have endured, and their paragon of the African American is still around, manifested in the media and books and film. Grinning, entertaining, cool, carefree, stylish, sassy, swaggering are still the non-threatening ways which Whites think Blacks should present themselves. What also remains is that, although the "Miss Annes" have been replaced by the “Beckys", white women are still a force to reckoned with in black America. Some things never change. Because this book is a collection of separate character studies, it was easy to pick up and put down, something I did, taking my time getting through the small print of each chapter, a process which, although lengthy, was not tedious. Written with clarity and great insight, the readability of “Miss Anne in Harlem” can be attributed to its interesting subject matter and concise style. Carla Kaplan is a prodigious researcher and has produced a book rich in detail, replete with photographs and magazine excerpts. She has painted her portraits with the skill of a keen observer, and managed to take an objective approach to a subject which is obviously near and dear to her heart. My rating: ***

I don't think this case is a good one to prove your point. This is an intriguing story that sparks nationwide attention because it's like something out of a movie! It has nothing to do with the color of the subjects. It has everything to do with how 2 convicted murders could just walk out of a prison without being stopped. It's a bad reflection on prison security more than anything else and raises the question as to whether the escape was an inside job. These men were considered dangerous and how they looked had to be constantly publicized.

Congrats on your 16th year in the business, Troy! Kudos to you and your successful efforts to provide a service and a source of information. You are a friend to both aspiring black self-published authors and established ones as well. Your selfless dedication to uplifting your race and filling a void in the literary field is commendable. You are a capable, exemplary black man who can be pointed to with pride. Keep up the good work!

I can only share observations drawn from what I see within the parameters of my environment. I really haven't noticed a masculization of this generation of average black females. What I do see is young black girls reaching puberty at a younger age than before. They also seem taller, but just as many of them are thin as they are thick; They don't seem to be any more afflicted with acne or facial hair than white girls and are not noticeably broad-shouldered. I also don't find them to be particularly polished in manners or have a lot of self-awarness because they don't seem to realize how common they are in speech. As for their voices, they are just as high and strident as they are low and coarse. The bougie ones, however, do tend to talk like white "valley" girls. None of them seem to be graced with sparkling personalities but are more into clothes and hair. I always kinda thought that women didn't come into their own sexually until the late 20s and early 30s and that younger girls only engaged in sex to get boys or to be popular. However, according to my street-wise grandson, who is a "babe magnet", the young sexually active girls out there now enjoy sex as much as the guys. But maybe they are faking this. I'm sure all of these young girls are influenced by how celebs act in the media. What I've also noticed is, unlike white girls who continue to smoke cigarettes, young black girls do not smoke anywhere near as much as previous generations who smoked to be sophisticated and glamorous. They don't drink as much booze either but they do use recreational drugs. On a whole, I'd say the caliber of young black females has not drastically changed from the way they were 20 or so years ago. To me, they come in all varieties. IMO

This has as much to do with classism as racism. Qualified black people have made inroads in certain areas. Around Chicago, the Post Office, Utility companies and political patronage jobs are well-staffed with Blacks in high positions. Yes, private industry does maintain its quotas and glass ceilings. BTW, Jesse Jackson writes a column for one of Chi-town's major newspapers. We know that whoever controls the purse strings gets to tell the story. Corporate Networks with their picture perfect token black news anchors reserve the right to show that they haven't completely abandoned the racism that millions of their white viewers harbor. And so it goes. NBC has just aired the results of a detailed breakdown in a poll surveying America's population. This poll showed that the vast majority of Americans of all ethnicities fall into the pragmatic, libertarian middle-of-the- road category. They don't want too much government interference but they are willing to pay their share of taxes, and think the rich should do the same. They believe that all citizens should be treated "fairly" and that the needy should be helped. They really hate America casting itself as the policeman of the world and are against all of these wars being fought on foreign soil. The 2 people most trusted by this group are: Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey. Go figure.

I have been hearing about and believing in the possibility of parallel universes for years. It's a popular topic in the alternative fiction genre. Referring to this concept as "quantum jumping" is what's new to me. Anything having to do with quantum and meta-physics immediately interests me and I am especially fascinated with their "now-you-see-it, now-you-don't" claims wherein your eyes integrate objects that disintegrate when you look away. "Being all that you can be" is a universal goal and the idea that quantum jumping is a way to achieve this is very compelling.

After posting the above response, I noticed that an ad popped up coaxing people to check out the concept of "quantum jumping". My interest was immediatly piqued. When I followed the link, an elaboration followed. Disciples of "quantum jumping" are convinced that we are multi-faceted and have selves that exist in parallel universes, and that we can become successful in any area if we can become aligned with the self that is special in that field. All we need do is to learn the technique that allows you to shift into the world where you are what you want to be.... I've heard this before and I find it plausible.

I might add to the above, that a low husky voice is not necesssarily a liability. As opposed to high screechy ones. there are many men and women who think low female voices are sexy. Actually, the timbre of a voice is not as important as its modulation as well as the articulation of the speaker.

On the subject of psychics and astrologists, I make a distinction between the 2. Clairvoyants are self-proclaimed. Anybody can say they're psychic. To me, these people fall under the paranormal heading. It's no secret that, as a last resort, stumped police forces often call on psychics for help. But I don't think psychics have that great of a track record or we would hear more about the successes of their hunches and inklings and visions. Astrology is more scientific and it's not that uncommon for people in high places to be influenced by the alignment of the stars when making decisions or launching actions. I remember reading that the generals in charge of the D-Day offensive mounted during World War II, chose a date that coincided with a favorable position of the stars. I take psychics, seances and taro readings, etc. with a grain of salt. But I tend to believe that the stars and planets can influence events.

Considering how bad you talk about black people, your displeasure with the racist media has a hollow ring.

???? A brief observation about black womens' disinterest in working 12-hour days in a family restaurant, slaving over a hot stove, is hardly a "rant" and has nothing to do with how far black women have come. I don't think sistas ever relished this idea. First of all, hysterectomies are elective surgery. A physician can recommend one but it's a woman decision as to whether she wants to have her reproductive organs removed. If the woman is married, she has to have her husband's signed consent to have this procedure performed. Endometriosis is a major reason, women have hysterectomies. It is a very painful condition involving cramps and heavy menstrual bleeding. It is caused by a build up of scar tissues on the fallopian tubes. Black females are especially prone to this condition because of their high incidence of keloids. Uterine and ovarian cancer are, of course, the main reason for this procedure. There are 2 types of hysterectomies, a partial one and a complete one. A partial one is when just the womb is removed and one or both of the ovaries are left. If the ovaries are left, it is not necessary to take hormone treatments. Women who have problem pregnancies can also opt for having their tubes tied or lazed. Again this is her decision. I question as to whether there is an increase in black women having hysterectomies. If this is the case I wouldn't be surprised if it is because they are no longer willing to endure all of the pain and hemorrhaging and have decided to ignore the old wives' tales about this surgery making her less of a woman, and will cause her man to lose interest in her.

Society deals with being social. Since man is a gregarious animal, he interacts and communicates with others. Man is also tribal. So judgments occur in the course of like bonding with like. Maybe this is not an ideal situation but it is a natural one and it contributes to the survival of a species. This is the way of the world. Nobody ever said we live in Utopia where diversity is celebrated.

We can only see what our eyes are capable of perceiving. Just because our eyes don't see something doesn't mean it's not there. There may be be physical entities around whose vibrations we are not in sync with so we aren't aware of their presence. Trying to explain the unknown by relying on the limitations of the 5 senses is tricky business. Freud and Jung are purveyors of schools of thought. They are not omniscient.

This is the same doctor I wrote about previously who was a guest on Bill Maher's TV show. He claims that a lot of people who regularly use drugs are not hooked but are bored, and that recreational drugs are not physical addictions but mental habits. Dr. Carl Hart, is a professor at Columbia University, and has become an academic darling because of the unorthodox views he claims his studies support. He grew up on the streets and has led a very colorful life and critics regard his best selling book more of an autobiography than a serious work. I have mixed emotions about legalizing drugs. Would decriminalizing them make things better or worse for Blacks? Weed is certainly no more harmful than regular cigarettes or alcohol, and medical marijuana has beneficial uses.