CDBurns

I like the show and Cynique and I are in agreement for a change!! LOL. I think the gay son is a conversation that has been dying to come out in the Black community. I mean literally dying. The frustration of these kids who are gay is incredible. We've seen a rise in the suicide rate of young Black men due to their inability to discover who they are without being judged or alienated. It's a heckuva plot line to develop. I also like Taraji, a lot. It's not a bad show. Basically it's a toned down version of Power with Omari Hardwick and 50 cent on Starz. I like that show as well. Are the predictable? Of course, but the alternative is to not have any Black actors working and I don't like that at all.

Dave chappelles chuck Taylor was better. But like the Eddie Murphy skit people didn't get that it was about exactly what we are talking about.

I have never really wanted to be White. I have always had a lot of success being just who I am. My "Being Black Sucks" statement is more of an analysis of how getting a television show should be seen as a success when we are hardly accounted for on television. Unfortunately in any form of art or media, the Black artist/actor has a responsibility that no other racial group carries. When I Black actor/artist gets a show, they get attacked by Blacks who don't like the representation being created and then they are maligned by Whites for being just an add on character. Whites think you got the job for diversity or representation and Blacks call you an Uncle Tom for taking a role, but no one looks at the fact that these people have to eat and no one offers any solutions. So my comment is not about actually wanting to be White at all, it's about the horrible position Blacks are in just by breathing. As cool as we are, as trendsetting as we are, we ultimately have to masters to answer to at all times, while Whites simply live and act. Al Pacino can play a gangster and then play a Lawyer and no one blinks. Denzil plays a thug cop and Blacks hate that he won an award for that role as opposed to winning an award for Malcolm X. A young actor takes a role and is playing a character, but Black demonize him for it as if he isn't supposed to make a living. But there isn't any alternative. The good thing is that many actors can now develop shows for Network, Hulu and opportunities are becoming broader as entertainers are becoming more independent and less reliant on the mainstream to live. Unfortunately we are a long way away before Blacks can literally exist on the independent scene. I don't think we will get there sometimes and that is what sucks about being Black, but I wouldn't be anything else. Although it would be nice to just be able to create without any restraints/constraints. Which you can do as long as you don't get famous.

Honestly, I just like the idea of seeing Blacks on the screen. While I know we have a lot of responsibility in the presentation of our images, I fought this battle in college with my professors who told me I didn't have any responsibility when creating fiction, I also realize how hard it is for a Black actor in Hollywood to work. The question shouldn't be why continue creating these images, but "why can't we present more than this side of blackness?" Which honestly isn't blackness, but every race has their fair share of hood, ignorance. The unfortunate situation for blacks is that we are the group and the group is us. We don't have the privilege of anonymity so when this image is shown as success for Blacks aka dysfunction as the standard, no one says that this is just a show like they do when whites play Dexter or the fictionalized Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire. Whites and other races are allowed to present a variety of images that encompass all that whiteness can be. We aren't allowed to do that, but that's because we don't own any networks. We all realize that media keeps people in their place and that Black ownership of a network would possibly allow more positive images... but unfortunately the people who watch television wouldn't watch a rehash of the Cosby Show or Amen, or 227. In other words we have regressed in entertainment in the Black community. We had images that were all over the board in the 70s and 80s, even in the 90s, but in the last 20 years, this has changed considerably. Back to Empire, because I have more to pull from I actually like the show. It's just refreshing to see more Blacks on screen and although it's just an updated version of Hustle and Flow, and it has very weak writing, Taraji is a great actress and I like seeing her do her thing. I honestly can't believe she left a successful "White" show to go to a show that was going to inevitably be targeted by Black people as degrading is crazy. She had a very good role on Person of Interest on CBS... So with that in mind, I want her to do well with this show because she took a huge risk and unfortunately she's being demonized already by those who are simply looking at the surface material without taking into consideration there is only one other primarily Black show on television and that's the sitcom Blackish. We said this in the other thread, when you're Black you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't. (I'm not addressing Marlon Wayans and that ignorance. It's almost ten years old, but I agree about the use of the N word and that hypocritical position Blacks have who use the word.)

Someone has to have a voice big enough to get the attention of Black folks. I'm working hard on this. It takes money to get the message out and once I begin to make a lot more money, people will begin interviewing me and then instead of avoiding my responsibility I will bring this information to any interview I have. That is the only way it can happen since those writers who have "made" it simply won't share information or do anything that could help others or hinder their own growth or income opportunities.

Right, I just adjusted my sidebars and shortened them to 120 which is why I dropped the categories from the page, reduced the number of articles and placed the Power list in the footer. Don't worry about it for me, but if you want to make it for others then it would probably be a good thing anyway. I love the work. How are you planning to drive traffic to the page? I'm starting to realize the best way to gain traffic is by posting something corny and "viral" which I'm not interested in. I am also seeing that doing seminars and workshops are good ways to drive traffic. I think I am going to start doing workshops soon. I've been avoiding a pop up for mail chimp to start building the e-mail list. I still haven't done any marketing with you yet, but the sneakers keep my money tied up. Once I get a bit of breathing room, I think pushing One Hour To Wealth will be my goal. Non-Fiction is doing better than fiction it seems.

Throw joints = knock people out. Blue Khakis = gang reference. I'm more Californian than Memphian in that regard. I've had a busy life...

Thank goodness this is all clear. I was a bit worried I had to take my blue khakis out of the closet, lol.

LOL! Del, the sky is falling and there is nothing wrong with knowing that. Being Black is harder than being anybody else, not that I would know that since I'm Black... but we get killed, racially profiled, have a higher unemployment rate and a lower education level. We have fewer whole families and we die sooner than everyone else, not to mention we are incarcerated at a higher rate, have lower reading levels, are the most unbanked race in the US, and die of violent crime at a higher rate than other cultures here. Although I was saying being Black sucks as a sarcastic tone, obviously you took it seriously and missed that, but after writing the above, it is kind of true, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Now as far as being biznitches, the old criminal me would really react negatively to being called that, I've knocked people out for that, but I've grown up and I've grown to understand that men use that word as much as women use it and as much as they use the N word, so people no longer think calling a man a biznitch/bitch is an act of war. For the record though, respectfully, don't call me that even in jest. I would never call you anything other than Del, or dude, or bro or cat, maybe. Now if you went the route of saying we had some puff daddy bitchassness in our tone, I'm cool with that. We aren't being negative simply stimulating dialogue and spending time on the web.

The lecture was an invite from the University of Memphis business school. Lol! I have two kids and a beautiful wife and I honestly stopped listening to people who say they don't have time. At the time of this lecture I was running a basketball website, running my Sneaker shop, running my two other websites: CBP & ARCH. Designing a new shoe with my Chinese manufacturer and teaching 4 college courses. To answer your question I lectured in whatever I had on. Sometimes the dean would stop by and couldn't tell me from the students. I was good enough to get away with it though. People knew I was testing the new running shoe so I was jogging randomly. Del if you were asking me that question look in the mirror and give yourself an Ed Lover, "Cmon Son!" Lol

I wrote this back in 2011 and reposted it recently. She was just rolling everything out and although I wasn't pushing the site, I wrote the review because I at least wanted another search topic to show up on Google. http://www.cbpublish.com/i-will-follow-contemplation/

What I was looking at is a 160 x 600 layout which would take the books and place them on top of each other. I actually updated my site and added 2 sidebars, but they are very narrow. I'm keeping the content in the middle of the page and reducing the number of posts on each page to 10 for a quicker page load. I have the old Power List, but it is directed to Mahogany I can fix the link though and use it, I just have to reduce the size. Give me a minute. Honestly I don't have a life and this helps me pass the time. LOL Okay, I removed my Categories page from the site which decreased the page length. I added the Power List code to the footer.php and now within three scrolls the Power List shows up at the bottom of the page. It fits the scope of the layout and I like it there. This is a good thing. It just takes a little work, but not a lot of time. The Huria Search, is different, I'd like to use it but you didn't add the length to the code so I can't reduce the size. But that's okay. I really like the Power List addition.

I had the Power List on my site, but changed the theme and in my new theme, the round circle didn't match my layout aesthetics. So the skyscraper banner is a real request so I can add it to my sidebar in the same format as my startlogic ad and my amazon affiliate. Basically I'm asking you to make a skyscraper banner and you know I won't have a problem posting the Power List. I do know that takes time so whenever you get around to it, I'm on it. The Huria Search I have to place into the php pages in wordpress which takes a little trial and error and I will work on that one. I'm still working on the layout of the site, but as you said Wordpress has limitations unless I pay for a theme. I'm good at modifying free themes, but some of the modifications change the color of the words on Disqus and I'm working on tying in Disqus into the promotion of my One Hour To Wealth book. Either way, I know how hard it is to get people to look over your work and when you devote that time, a simply like isn't good enough. I don't mind doing this at all. Like I said, I'm planning my exit out of shoes and I have a lot of time on my hands right now.

I bring up Nike as a reference because until 1984 Nike was a non factor. Adidas controlled sports with Converse as a close second. Nike got wise in the marketing department, luckily signed Michael Jordan because of Sonny Vaccaro and the rest is history. But, people still will pay more for Nike shoes that are not proven to be any better than other brands simply because they are being persuaded by the creation stories of the athletes. Amazon's creation story and ease of ordering is perceived to be better. I have even succumbed to this fact and no longer sell shoes through my website. I am more than willing to give away 15% to Amazon because it's where I am able to sell more shoes. I stopped attempting to sell through my site and eventually turned it into an affiliate marketing site that looks like a store. I've made my books available on my site since I've been marketing more, but they are not selling yet. People have however clicked the affiliate links and bought the book through Amazon. So the question becomes as with all of our work, how do we get to the customer? I think the only thing that will work is face to face interaction. Something has to give. I'm using AALBC to ween me away from Facebook, but as soon as I write here, I turn around and go check my Facebook page. It's a cold game.

LOL! I was actually commenting out of a similar form of sarcasm with an edge, so it was not anger. However, I really love that I became more active on this board. It is not only stimulating my need to do more with writing, but to present more of my art and push it as opposed to being just a sneaker pimp. You two and the rest of everybody else have generated a renewed fire in me to share things of importance and bits of comedy. As a professor my biggest tactic was to always take the side of the loser when getting my students angry enough to respond to a lot of the ignorance I would spout/spew in my classes. That is what I am doing here. I honestly am neither for or against Cosby. I was not cheering when OJ got off or angered by it. Those things simply took place and became another point of debate. I tend to really stay in my lane on most issues outside of Hip-Hop and giving small business advice (or basketball advice) since those are things I have a serious amount of info on. I also have a lot of info and knowledge about education so those are the issues I really stand my ground on. Everything else gives me a chance to write again which I haven't been doing enough since I started the shoe company, but I have been doing more since getting more active on the board. I am somewhat serious about the idea of happiness and the black community. In general, we have a nihilistic nature that seems to never be satisfied with any outcome. Troy, I don't know if greater control of the media will fix this, but I do think it will help. In regard to me giving the Oscar a pass, I did not at all. I stated when has the Oscar ever really given Black film any depth of interest? I also gave Jamie Foxx and Hattie McDaniel as the obvious and the really poor selection of Halle for soft porn. I do have a question though when has Black film really gained serious consideration? Color Purple was really a white backed film. Glory did garner Denzil an award, but A Solider's Story didn't win anything. When I begin to look back at great Black movies, the results are frustrating, but not surprising so I'm serious, why are people looking at this as a White out when it has always been a white male award show? When you consider there is a completely separate gathering of Black actors prior to the main award show, the industry obviously knows this is the case. I don't really consider what is currently happening on television crumbs. On every major network there are a number of Black actors featured in prominent sitcoms and dramas. So let's be honest, it's not crumbs. Is it what we want? Like I said, we are never really satisfied, but we don't demand very much out of our artists so we are simply reaping what we are putting out there. I can write on Facebook and ask my friends how many of Ava's films they had seen prior to Selma and the majority of them will say none. So this goes back to Troy's comments about media and responsibility more than it does us bantering.

I think the question should be, "Are Black people really happy about anything?" A black woman gets on tv and gets a lead roll, everyone questions the show and her decision. No one recognizes that it took the pulling of teeth and possibly the stabbing of white men all over Hollywood for it to happen. No one states that Shonda Rimes is a writer who is actually winning the battle to get black actresses paid in a time where there aren't older black actresses like the Jessica Langdons, Susan Sarandons, and other older White women carrying both film and television shows. Nope, we complain whether we are on tv or whether we aren't, and then we hide behind the same old "stereotype comments of representation" when are on television. In regard to women and Cosby, I don't expect anybody to side with dude until the facts are really presented by both sides in a fair manner. It's obvious that everyone agrees that absolute power and money corrupts and makes men incorrigible and it is also apparent that Blacks enjoy the decimation of their "leaders" just as much as White folks do. I love the idea that White people stand with their rapists like Woody Allen and Polanski through hell and high water. They know it's shitty and wrong, but they stand with them because they have solidarity. Before someone says "Chris no one needs to stand with Bill Cosby because he's Black," that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is we allow the media to shape and control our narrative before any body is convicted or taken to court. While Cosby has had cases, nothing has ever come out of it and every doggone woman got money. At the end of the day people justify the media's version without any refutation or opposing discussion, or without ever questioning exactly why all of these cases have resurfaced now. I'm not saying Cosby is not guilty, I'm questioning the timing and as a pop culture vulture if you aren't doing the same how can you claim that status? (Well you can because it's your right, but just roll with my rant) We're talking about the year for the celebration of the most important show in Black cinematic history. A 30th year anniversary at a time where the Black family unit is not as strong as it was. A time where police are showing a serious reversion to Jim Crow and Hip Hop has recognized its shortcomings and is making a 180. Movements are beginning again and while things aren't changing we all know how important art is to the galvanizing of a people. But this is not a Cosby thread. Ava DuVernay has created beautiful and elegant stories that were not nominated for anything, but no one was up in arms about Middle of Nowhere or I Will Follow. Where were the memes and the uproar about Sally Whitfield's acting in I Will Follow? She was great in that film. Should Selma be nominated, I can't say. I don't get to see movies until they hit Netflix or go on sale. But this faux outrage is silly. The only Black Oscar that was of any quality in regard to Best Actor was Jamie Foxx and Hattie McDaniel and Hattie didn't even get to go to the Oscars right? (Check my statement on that). Hallie won for getting naked and sexing Billy Bob while saying, "Make me feel good." We've never been respected. Malcolm X should have easily won for costumes and cinematography, but Spike knew that wouldn't happen. Being Black sucks. You can't win when you win, and you lose when you win. No one is ever happy, and we are crabs in a barrel. I'm dyeing myself green and moving to Mars, lol.

I think when the reader can get cheap books they win. The problem is perception. Amazon does not bear the burden of proof that they are the cheapest; that is the consumers responsibility. Unfortunately, this is also the responsibility of the independent writers, publishers, and websites that want to sell books. Amazon only has a responsibility to help its shareholders. While it's not right to absolve amazon from educating shippers, it's the reality. Businesses are not friends, so no Amazon is not the reader's friend. Amazon is not a monopoly. Amazon is a choice. Like Nike is a choice that controls 90% of the basketball shoe market. Buyers have the ability to shift everything by becoming educated consumers.

On the homepage the click to print entire list, link is going to a 404 I absolutely love the dedicated huria search under resources! Some broken images under news in the power list in the media page under the usage policy link the the printable version link is 404 under the share the power list page the usage policy and here is a link to in the last paragraph are both 404 Other than that, awesome doggone job. Now I'm waiting on that skyscraper banner for my widgets, lol.

I think Amazon is only controlling what they have a right to control. I have a personal reason to say the hell with the traditional publishing method. I'm not saying I'm some great writer, but I did everything you are supposed to do in the industry. I wrote. Then I learned to write. Then I went to an MFA program to continue learning all of the tools and gain a stronger foundation for writing. I then began submitting. My rejection letter stack covered a wall and began to look like wall paper. I wrote query after query and I finally landed an agent. I was told that my books weren't "street" enough, so I wrote a street fiction. I worked my butt off for years trying to publish traditionally and I was accepted. I finally said, the hell with the traditional publishing houses and I simply gave up on being published and I gave up on writing to be read. I just wrote, and wrote some more, and self published. I didn't really advertise much, I kind of let the time slip away and just last year I decided to really give writing another shot, actually publishing and selling since I have 5 books ready to roll. I used Amazon's KDP. I charge 4.99 for a Kindle book and I net 1.75 per book sold. I'm not selling many books, but I'm perfectly happy with this amount as it is more than I would ever get from a traditional publishing house. As far as ebooks and traditonal publishers crying, to hell with them. When they decided to give up on diversifying their editors and adding more titles to their rosters, when agents decided that all we wanted was non-fiction and that fiction will only sell to the YA market they did themselves in. The readers don't have a responsibility to anyone. They are entitled to the cheapest book they can get. Buyers create the market. If more people are reading the price goes up. It's all supply and demand.

I get that comparing the rapes to alien abductions is a stretch, but why did you overlook the comparison to the Central Park rapes? Why did you overlook the longer analysis of Tawanna. The Alien part is just another example of how people tend to pull together and share similar stories in situations that can't be verified. More important, people tend to share similar stories when they have been coached. The chart above gives the facts about the cases and in a number of those cases, no drugs, no sex... What are your thoughts on that? What are your thoughts on the fact that the media continues to say 22 rapes when clearly 3 of those are cases by the same woman? Does any of the information about the fact that these women all received compensation, but not a single one of them has pursued this dude in a court of law? I know the cases are beyond the statute of limitations, but interestingly the more recent cases all have an air of embellishment and blackmail. 8 of the 22 cases involved pills. I'm not justifying anything, but that's not 22 women who got pills. More important the person that really swayed public opinion was Beverly Johnson who nothing really happened to, but she was also involved with a man who was involved in rape and human trafficking and she has nothing at all to say about this guy? Once again, the dude is a shitty guy, but none of this warranted a public decimation of his character. You guys are saying it yourselves over and over, you have to separate the man from the actor. If this is the case shouldn't people reserve judgement and allow both sides of the narrative to be delivered? Troy here goes another one that just dropped about Bev Johnson and Dickinson: http://hellobeautiful.com/2015/01/14/beverly-johnson-lied-about-bill-cosby-claims/

What I'm trying to understand how of the 22 cases above 3 of them are the same woman? Looking at this chart and the explanations, every woman in the world has a "rape" charge they could go with. I'm terrified of what will happen when I make these millions this year, lol. I know this is not a joking matter, but I'm serious. I can't tell you how many girls I felt up in high school, or at clubs while in college, or dancing with girls and having parties at my apartment as an adult. I mean, there are hardly any cases here where there was sexual intercourse. I'm not defending Cosby, or justifying any of this... but reading this information and looking at the other links it looks like Bill's behavior is just shitty male behavior and is more a private issue between Bill, Camille, these women and a court of law. To be honest, I've witnessed this type of behavior a lot which is a commentary again on how men treat women; an other conversation.

Like I said I hadn't really done a lot of research and I avoided the topic on every other platform, but I feel a bit safer here and I offered my opinion of why I have a problem with all of this. I wasn't trying to persuade or move people to my train of thought, I simply thought everyone would agree with me that either Bill Cosby is the most powerful, most evil man alive, with one of the most incredible facades invented, or we should all wait to pass judgement. While Cosby is definitely a horny bastard with enough money to buy ass, none of those reports above are the same as how this dude is being labeled. He is not a good husband, but that's not our business. Looking at the chart above, I'm sure more research is required, but damn, this is the kind of research that needs to be done before reporting and defaming. Thanks for this info Troy, while it somewhat validates my opinion, I still think everything has to play out. This is the first I've ever seen of this type of background work.

My point is OJ got caught, not for that death but there was karmic retribution. In a way I'm looking at how life works especially for black men. The criminal system has never favored us but Bill Crosby is the Godfather? I know we can't ever know of every criminal. It's just that I am amazed that with the case being public knowledge with over 60 women there isn't anyone that has been able to get this to a court of law except the case where the plaintiffs are looking for 100million dollars. Which is suspect. I do think that there was karmic justice in Ennis being murdered since cosby hasn't been convicted, which is disturbing to say. I guess I have never seen any black man get away with anything, not the people around me at least or when I was in the military, or when I played college ball or as an educator. But I'm broke and I have never been close to absolute power.

Troy, I forgot to mention this with Sandusky there were people who saw him and there were witnesses to confirm the details. In this case, Cosby has been such an efficient rapist, abuser that there aren't any doggone witnesses for any of the women? I haven't done any research, but from what I have seen and heard, there aren't any people coming forward to confirm the allegations.

My commentary about Bill Cosby is not about Bill Cosby, really it is my inability to see any Black man get away with raping 20+ white women and live. Maybe I'm not being clear. The Penn State thing, white guys. The Catholic Church, white guys (and maybe some Black guys, but you get my gist). Michael Jackson is a more realistic example, only about three kids came forward, maybe there were more and they kept silent, but it's not a stretch in my mind for a guy to go after 3-5 kids and get away with it... that is a number that I can wrap my mind around, but I don't care how you guys look at it, I can't see the dude getting away with this for 40 years with over 20+ White Women! I know Spelman distanced themselves, but I'm saying the dude didn't attack anyone from there with all of those fine ass women on campus. It seems he only had a thing for white models and playboy bunnies. I know that rape is about dominance and control especially in regard to drugging women, and if he did do it, I don't condone it. Everyone has heard of the casting couch, hell even that happens with cheerleaders at colleges and at high schools. There is a pervasive culture of abuse of women, I aint' talking about all of that. I'm talking about a Black man in a towering position with everything to lose got away with raping 20+ white women and you guys are telling me White America was okay with that. If there is so much racism as we all claim that there is, how in the entire hell is Bill Cosby the only Black man capable of pulling off only what we assume those in real power get to do? I mean come on man, you can't tell me you really think this dude has more influence and power than the damn president who couldn't hide one blow job and that Bill Cosby was able to do this and nothing has come of it yet? I mean not a single court case has been tried, just a bunch of payoffs? You mean to tell me these 20-40 plus women all are okay with just getting the money and never getting this dude into a court of law. Then he was capable of maintaining this facade for 3 decades with women who seem to be very conscious and aware of the struggle of women? You mention Penn State... they busted that dude eventually and the time frame is much smaller than Cosby's at 15 years. Once again, if the name was Troy or Chris and someone said a Black man, I don't care how rich, raped 20-40 women, primarily white women and got away with I'd give it the side eye. That's all I'm saying. As far as just accepting it, I've avoided the conversation because people automatically assume I'm pulling for Cosby as opposed to what I'm really addressing which is the idea that any Black man has enough power to rape white women and live. Now, and this is a terrible thing to say, if the accusers were primarily Black I would believe it much faster because no one would really care, but I couldn't see the women around him allowing that to happen. It's just too damn hard to hide the real you. Do I think the cat raped some of those women, yes. Could he have raped all of those women? Yes. Can he get away with it? Yes and that is what makes it all so crazy.