Troy

Yes, it is entertainment! That is what I was missing in terms of understanding why people listen to this stuff. Whether you are listening to beefs on social media or watching the Knicks whip San Antonio -- it is all entertainment. I think Trump understands this better than anyone. People eat up all his crazy comments -- even if they are outraged, even if it has a negative impact their mental health. Trump knows his brand of entertainment will get coverage and optimally feeds social media algorithms. All he has to do is call a reporter "stupid" and the entire country hears it -- even people like me who eschews his words. He has parlayed this into Billions and the Whitehouse. I can't blame him, Trump is an prefect reflection of America's, social media optimized, values and incentives. I heard on just now that the average person social media more than hours a day often "doom scrolling" making themselves crazy. I recommend people delete all social media from their cell phones. If Facebook did not exist, Trump would not have been elected, in my opinion.

I usually don't share "Reported Content," which are email people send me complaining about content on the site from lurkers. I usually just ignore this stuff, but this one caught my eye so I decided to share it :-) "This post is clearly full of racism and calling for hate towards a specific color of people are absolutely insane. That post is contradicting themselves. Let’s keep spreading hate amongst color."

I did! I can’t tell you how many hours I spent shooting craps or playing CeeLow in the stairwells of my building or how many bottles of MD 2020 and night train we drank. Once I started high school I began to cut back on that kind of stuff and spent a lot less time hanging out with the boys from my neighborhood. It was a good thing too… No, she was just a racist piece of shit. It took a lot of control for me not to do something I would later regret. @aka Contrarian I watched the first two games at sports bars and had a good time hanging out with friends and family. During the third game, I was exhausted from hanging out late and drinking the entire weekend before and didn’t even watch game three. I spent the time pulling together the BLK Bestsellers List (an activity. I’m sure I found more interesting than watching the game). While I am rooting for the Knicks I honestly don’t care that much. While I was an athlete and enjoyed playing sports, I’ve never really been a sports fanatic— it is just not in my DNA. It is probably why I’m not into pop culture very much. Speaking of bestsellers lists and pop culture. There was a book that just missed making the adult hardcover non-Fiction category, Live Your Promise: Escape Your Wilderness, Heal Your Pain, So You Can Manifest the Life You Want by Cheyenne Bryant https://aalbc.com/books/9781401998820 I had not heard of the author or book before, but when researching the title, I discovered The Author was the center of a lot of controversy shit, this guy named Toure (who I’ve met) got into a viral argument with her and there are a countless number of videos going in on her being a grifter lying about having a PhD and all sorts of things it was unbelievable the variety and number of people that were creating videos, just talking trash about her. Even the breakfast club had her on their program. While scrolling through that content. I also learned there was a fire storm brewing over Kevin Hart’s roast. Apparently they made a lot of inappropriate joke disrespecting George Floyd, and Cheryl Underwood‘s dead husband; while at the same time cutting jokes at the expense of white people like Melania Trump. Here too there was a tremendous amount of content with everyone and their mother weighing in on the controversy. Kevin Hart was also on the breakfast club defending the roast. It seems like the breakfast clubs business model is interviewing people at the center of controversy. All of this to my mind is contrived, unnecessary, and a colossal waste of time. It’s like a bunch of old maids, getting together and gossiping and talking shit about people and most of the people talking are grown men. I don’t get it. I mean, I do get it. It’s the way a lot of people make money and gain celebrity. This is one of the ways in which I think we were better off 50 years ago when men were incentivize to do things that were more constructive then talking shit about a comedy roast or a Cheyenne Bryant. While we’re on the subject of pop culture, I’m tired of reading about Scott Pelli and the other CBS correspondence who got the boot. They’re getting a bit too, sanctimonious for my taste. These guys have great high, paying high profile jobs, traveled the world met, smart, rich, famous, influential people and did so for decades—boo hoo! They act like losing their jobs is the end of civilization. Trust me, civilization will survive the loss of 60 Minutes.

That is a good question @Delano . My initial reaction is all of my experiences (growing up in Harlem during the 60s and 70s) and genetics (being a black man in America) have shaped my values.

I would’ve been better served if I was in fact more like Preach when I was a boy I loved to read and learn, but no, I fell prey to peer pressure wanting to run the streets chasing women, gambling, and drinking. I did ultimately pursue athletics and academics — trying to be “balanced.” I did sport classes like preach so if you saw me, you probably thought nerd:-) until I was about 19 when I started wearing contacts.

I dunno. How often do either of you watch BET+ nowadays? Investment firms are about that paper. Running a platform like BET with Black content and making it profitable is hard. So buying it an reselling it at a higher valuation would to difficult to bother with. I doubt selling off assets would be any more profitable. Basically, it is not a desirable investment.

When I first heard the story I was like what in the world did the former SU and NBA basketball star get himself into?! Then I saw the spelling of the name and stopping paying attention. Is it even possible to know what happened? Is there any surprise a Black man in Texas would not get a fair deal from the criminal justice system. What do you suggest?

This was our President's reaction to the "murder" of CBS's 60 Minutes. It is hard to ignore and not be outraged by the gutting of journalism here in America. This fact that this is covered as if communicating like this is perfectly normal is surreal! Local journalism is virtually dead, and national news coverage is not far behind. The real problem is few people care because they were never really trained to consume "news." and you can't miss what you never had.

50 years ago (1976) I was a teenager still living at home and had never been anywhere other than the homes of family, so my world view was very narrow. NYC was broke, dirty and dangerous. So I think things are much better today 40 years ago (1986) I'd finished undergrad by then, shacking up with my girlfriend at the time, but I could afford my own place IN NYC -- all of my peers could. NYC was improving and would continue to improve over the years, so by the time I had kids we were effectively living in a completely different city that the one I grew up in -- much better. I think the technological revolution and the rise of the internet 30+ years ago continued to make things much better into the early 2000's since them thing have slowly gotten worse. Today in 2026 I do not think things are better than they were say 20 years ago the main reason is inflation. Housing in particular is just so much more expensive--everywhere I look. NYC is largely unaffordable unless you are making well into 6 figures. Improvements in technology which benefited us early on is just being used to exploit us -- especially the gig workers. Who knows what climate change as in store for us... Based on our current trajectory, I could see us reaching a time where one could reasonably say we were better off 50 years prior.

Probably. That and the NBA Finals :-)

I’m not familiar with the story @aka Contrarian related but it doesn’t sound like it’s a dozen or so kids—It sounds like it’s hundreds. I think that’s new, if if that is indeed the case. Of course, social media has a hand in facilitating the sharing of this type of activity however, they are not completely the blame. I’m not sure the parents are either. It’s probably a combination of social media poor parenting, kids not knowing what the hell to do for fun. Yeah, I can see every generation thinking the generation before them is worse. When I was a kid, all we needed was a slab of concrete and chalk and we could play all kinds of games all day long.

Well, we were in the midst of a pandemic, and the country was reacting to a public lynching. The January 6 insurrection was in direct reaction to try to prevent Trump from leaving office. Maybe they’ll be another one in two years. Those two examples were from a different time and different conditions. In addition to what @ProfD wrote what are you expecting Vietnam type like protests? Again completely different situations. Start forcing a bunch of poor people onto the front lines and get them killed. It will be a whole different story. Perhaps. But I also think people are less informed. Distracted by a variety of things… dare I say it… social media. Far more people are spending four more time on TikTok versus watching democracy now or any other similar platform. @Pioneer1 out of curiosity have you ever heard of democracy now before?

lol! How old are you again? So you have no home? You have no place that you that you care about or want to take care of and try to improve? Where is your family? Is there no place that you share with them that you might call “home?” If that is true, in all seriousness, that is rather sad. I’ve been all over the world and to all 50 states and a couple of territories USVI, PR and as quiet as it is keep America is an amazingly diverse and beautiful country. The cultures, cuisine, and people in many of its cities really has no peer. The world comes here for education (through Trump is trying to destroy that) for a reason. But obviously, there are some things that need to be improved, particularly as it relates to Black people, but for those of us who care, we do what we can to make it a better place. That means we complain and take action when there are problems — as opposed to calling ourselves “stateless” whatever that’s supposed to mean.

@Pioneer1 , it is eerily quiet to you because your social media feed, apparently, is not feeding you the information. Watch Democracy Now if you want to be kept up to date on actions across the country, indeed the world. They ain't "shook" by the Trump administration, as they are completely independent of Government funding or corporate underwriting. Scroll to the 3:27 mark for an example for a protest in NYC. The Newark protest @ProfD mentioned is covered.

I'm not sure us humans are truly capable of comprehending what is it. Maybe we will learn a bit more after we die... maybe not... So, you don't think an airplane flew into each WTC tower? Based upon what I saw the airplane wreckage was crumbled up in the collapsing towers. As far as the Pentagon. I can't say that I ever saw a single image or video showing plane wreckage, as one would reasonably expect in that type of collisions. So. in that case I don't know. Are you doubting that an airplane crashed into the Pentagon?

@richardmurray I would venture a guess that you are older than me and as you attitude regarding both white people and how Black people should feel about this country is outdated, antiquated and does not reflect the feeling of the younger populace 😉 As mentioned, (in our other conversation on the subject) after a couple of dozen generations, Black DOSers are not "stupid" for calling America home -- it is a right we have earned if we choose to embrace it. Now it is obvious that we will we will always disagree on this point. But to call other Black people like me "stupid" is a poor word choice at best. This broad brush you paint with ignores so much... For example, in you case @richardmurray where exactly is your home and why do you claim that particular place?

Yeah, it is an interesting hypothesis @Delano, but it seems far more likely that the universe is what it is. Our perception IS our reality, and what we perceive is only the tip of the iceberg. I don't know about the right (or wrong) of subjective belief. Subjective belief is subject to change with more information. If you are in a dark room and I turn on a light your world world changes.

LOL! Well at least I'm a learner :-) I see you are a "learner" too 😉 What?! Our verbal gymnastics is... nevermind.

Humm going back to the subject of Becky's 7 Point Plan for Snagging a Wealthy Brother. Maybe Brothers like Arsenio are not prejudiced, so "race" was not a factor they simply got with whoever appealed to them most on a mental, compatibility, shared interest, spiritual-soul-mate thang. 😏

See this is what mean; (1) The title by itself strains credulity. This is a tabloid headline (2) We are supposed to believe China just took out a Alien space craft with such ease? (3) the sketchy nature the source if the video who is "Unexplained Mysteries" with the AI generated images of alien space craft in hangars and treat speculation as facts (4) @frankster why don't you focus on established journalistic sources? when the fringe and sources who broker in wild unsubstantiated expectation and misleading information -- or do you see established news sources as part of the "cover up" As I said I'm more on your side of the issue @frankster , but videos like this definitely don't help the case. I think the testimony at the white house and videos the government have released are strong evidence (not proof) for me to believe something beyond our comprehension is definitely out there.

...so does that mean we get the Aresenio memoir review 😁? By the way @aka Contrarian did you read the book or listen to the audio?

@Delano you have a good memory. I saw Nona Hendrix a couple of times. The last was Summer Stage a Central Park and Black Rock Coalition event, but I don't recall if you or Jasper was at that event. Speaking of Jasper, I'm not sure you are aware of his transition. Dyson and West are always informative and entertaining. I liked Dr. John Henrik Clarke. I saw him speak once. I thought Minister Farrakhan, in his prime, was one of the most powerful speakers I ever heard. I hear him give a lecture on Cornel's Campus back in the early 80s eye opening. Our course Malcolm X. The Nation trains their ministers well. There are many others. One of the things I miss able NY City was the abundance of lectures one could attend--often for free.

@Mel Hopkins I’m glad you were serving him drinks and not the other way around. @Pioneer1 welcome back!

What?! If I gave you the impression that you of all people her tail your post in anyway please forgive me! Plus God knows we can use some Bookreviews around here. Please do share shoot. I’d love to post it on the website proper! All I was doing was voice in my perspective on your comment. It would be interesting, however, to take a pole and find out if black women took that story about white chicks, snatching up the wealthy black men. I would be willing to bet a substantial portion, if not, a majority aren’t pleased with the “news.” What?! 😳 please check out the rest of the website occasionally if you visit the homepage once a week, you’ll discover a bunch of new books by Black Writers and you definitely would’ve seen his book: https://aalbc.com/books/arsenio-9781982191368