Troy

Kenneth how old are you? yes he built a successful black school that is still churning out educated people with valuable skills to this day. Given the period he operated the last thing the white power establishment wanted was educated black peoples. an amazing legacy and accomplishment. Contrast that with today, in a much less hostile environment we have Dr. Umar 😉

Thanks for providing the path to your discovery of the video. Well @Rodney campbell you can also post the full chapter here and save people that extra step too 🙂

... your most formative years bruh. I don't think so. The changes are here to stay and will spread globally. Football is a gladiator sport and the men are modern-day gladiators. I heard a female sports commentator reject the notion that football players are gladiators. The thought that came to my mind was that only a woman would say that... is that a sexist comment? As you wrote @ProfD football is a man's sport, and women don't belong on the field playing with them -- or the locker room if you ask me. The NFL is trying really hard to grow its audience and getting women involved is a big part of that. Hence the pink on the uniforms and the female commentators. In the name of equity men really can't have anything to themselves anymore... But I guess saying that is sexist too, huh. As far as Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin going into cardiac arrest; that may not have been a direct consequence of the hit he took. It seems to me there was some undetected preexisting condition. But of course, this will not stop people from wanting to end football or turn it into flag fooball which will interest no one. The real problem with football is not the danger, but the massive amounts of money involved causing the exploitation of college athletes to the creation of million-dollar slaves who provide the entertainment. Well maybe the longer-term traumatic brain injury is a more serious problem but I think you see my point. BTW that game was canceled. I am sure that screwed-up sportsbooks and fantasy leagues nationwide 🙂

I dunno overt white white racists.

I was reviewing the discussion forum archives (2005 to 2010) and discovered this post from almost 18 years ago: “Makes you want to run out and kill someone” Basically, the post was about someone sharing information on a book of lynching photos, Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America. I did not want to see the book and never even considered sharing it. I dismissed it as just cruelty porn The responders to my post disagreed with me saying it was important that this information be shared. I have clearly changed my position on this subject. I have (just now) added the book to the site. I guess I have learned a lot The YouTube video shows the photo from the book (I plan to order a copy). The video can't be embedded because there is an age restriction. (This is a trigger Warning! viewer discretion advised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRnToazuDaQ) The book can, of course, be purchased on Amazon. I linked to Amazon in the forum post. The link still works. To Amazon's credit, they have not broken a product link still they have started. Barnes and Noble has broken product links multiple times, and this is one of many reasons Amazon took over dominance of online book sales when B&N was the market leader. But Amazon is so freaking greedy they have set it up so they people can purchase a tee shirt featuring the image of a person being strung up! Seems like Amazon would be smarter about this, but when making money is your number one priority sensitivity is of little concern.

OK thanks to the internet Archives I should be able to restore the old Thumper's Corner Forums Archives which broke recently because the website for the forum no longer supports CGI scripts, so the program displaying the forum links does not work. Fortunately, the forum posts are text files. I have saved all of these I just need to remap all of the hyperlinks to the locations where the reside now: Original Location (where CGI is broken, so the forum links do not display) http://www.thumperscorner.com/cgi/discus/discus.cgi?pg=topics Internet Archive (to the rescue) http://web.archive.org/web/20160207063436/http://www.thumperscorner.com:80/cgi/discus/discus.cgi?pg=topics So now I have the links to the files. I just need to remap all of the hyperlinks for 123,567 posts in 9,583 conversations. Hopefully, it will be as easy as a global find and replace. Archive Name Posts Pages Last Comment Thumpers Corner Thumper's Corner - Archive 2010 (Final) 1052 175 01-15-10 07:19 pm Thumper's Corner - Archive 2009 715 84 06-17-09 06:57 pm Thumper's Corner - Archive 2008 3522 451 12-28-08 09:27 pm Thumper's Corner - Archive 2007 2897 316 08-20-08 11:55 am Thumper's Corner - Archive 2006 2413 316 01-24-07 11:32 am Thumper's Corner - Archive 2005 1924 218 12-30-05 01:36 am Thumper's Corner - Archive 2004 6273 412 05-01-05 12:44 pm Thumper's Corner - Archive 2003 3806 319 05-01-05 12:43 pm Thumper's Corner - Archive 2002 67 11 05-01-05 12:43 pm Race, Culture, and Economy Culture, Race & Economy - Archive 2010 (Final) 3331 312 01-16-10 02:08 pm Culture, Race & Economy - Archive 2009 1397 156 06-17-09 06:54 pm Culture, Race & Economy - Archive 2008 8453 1215 01-04-09 10:30 pm Culture, Race & Economy - Archive 2007 27511 1683 12-31-07 01:04 pm Culture, Race & Economy - Archive 2006 31831 1604 12-31-06 12:14 am Culture, Race & Economy - Archive 2005 5216 309 03-14-06 05:36 pm Culture, Race & Economy - Archive 2004 7650 311 05-01-05 02:57 pm Culture, Race & Economy - Archive 2003 1316 88 05-01-05 03:11 pm The Poetree The Poetree - 2006 to 2010 Archive (Final) 558 211 01-14-10 12:56 pm The Poetree - 2002 to 2005 Archive 1184 229 04-15-06 09:28 am The Kool Room (spun off from Thumper' Corner) The Kool Room - Archive May 2006 to March 2007 (Final) 31 9 03-21-07 02:15 pm The Kool Room - Archive July 2005 to April 2006 6525 403 04-15-06 02:47 am The Kool Room - Archive to July 2005 4872 246 09-10-05 03:25 pm Events EVENTS - Archive 2007 to 2010 (Final) 168 141 01-05-10 04:49 pm EVENTS - Archive 2005 to 2007 438 297 06-15-07 03:28 pm Miscellaneous AALBC.com Inbox - Archive 2005 to 2010 (Final) 187 45 01-01-10 08:43 am Vote for Your Favorite Discussion Board Contributor 44 2 01-13-07 07:17 pm "Keepers of the Flame" Serial Boards (2005) 146 10 02-22-05 12:28 pm What is Your Favorite Discussion Board Conversation? 7 2 03-09-07 03:49 pm AALBC.com - Off The Record (2006) 33 8 07-06-06 12:06 pm

@ProfD, I'm old enough to recall the days when men were men and women were women, so to speak. The gender roles were well-defined. However, things have changed. I think the benefits offered to nonbinary people have been good for those people. And the complete liberation of women is obviously a great benefit to women. However, these changes have created confusion about what it means to be a man in contemporary America. I think the changes have been even harder for cis-gendered, heterosexual Black boys. These young men, especially those under 30, aren't performing as well as the girls in school and ultimately in the job market. It has always been hard for us. In my day, growing up in an all-Black and Puerto Rican neighborhood, all of my primary school teachers were Jewish women (two were Jewish men, one of whom was ultimately convicted of pedophilia). In all of my school years, I never had a Black male heterosexual teacher -- that includes 8 years of college! I don't think this is a good thing, on a variety of levels. Again, because of the nature of the media anyone inclined to point out this problem is marginalized and ignored. Sidebar: I heard Umar Johnson has secured a building for his school 😉

@Rodney campbell welcome to the forum. why don’t you make it easy for folks and post a hyperlink. If the book is available for sale, post a link to where it may be posted. i noticed your comment on the YouTube video I posted about the decrease in Black books published in 2022. Thanks. How did you discover that YouTube video?

Of course, it depends on the person, but culturally the man is usually expected to take the lead. The woman can smile or make her interest clear but it is the dude the walks over and offers to buy the drink. I do appreciate that is changing for the younger generation.

Of course, these are not the only 200 Important Black books coming out in 2023, but this is perhaps the most comprehensive list out there — at least I have not seen one with more titles. This list of images will grow over time. On a related note: The total number of books on AALBC published in 2022 was the lowest it has been since 2003! The difference is not a few book books but by hundreds of books! Read More ▶

The total number of books on AALBC published in 2022 was the lowest it has been since 2005! The difference is not a few book books but hundreds of books! Now I don't have every Black book published on AALBC -- but my information is certainly indicative of the books published by the major publishers and the larger independents. I also capture more Black indie books than any other independent online store. This data tells me substantially fewer Black books were published in 2022 than in the past two decades! There were 35% fewer books published in 2022 than in 2021 and almost 50% fewer than the peak published in 2015, as reflected on the AALBC website. We don't have news sources to notice, care about, or report on the number of books written by Black writers declining so drastically. I think it is newsworthy to understand why this is happening Another book professional told me this is a direct result of the supply chain issues caused by the pandemic. That may be true, but I would have thought that might cause more books to be published in 2022 as a result of books being delayed from 2020 and 2021. I would have also expected a substantive decrease in 2021, which I did not observe. Also, I see no indication that the number of books printed overall has declined, the supply chain explanation does not wash with me. One thing I have noticed is that many Black indie authors publish exclusively with Amazon and while I can capture these books on AALBC, it is much more unlikely that I will add them to my store, as I can not sell them directly,* because they are not in normal distribution channels. While this may impact the number of books in the AALBC store, the impact would not be significant as the vast majority of books in the AALBC store are not Amazon-exclusive. There has also been an increased trend toward eBook-only books. I've seen this in the urban fiction genre in particular, but this is not a new trend and does not explain the significant drop in 2022 books. It is possible that I'm completely wrong, and there has not been a significant drop in the number of Black books published in 2022. If this is the case, I can say with 100% certainty that there has been an alarming drop in the amount and promotion and marketing behind Black books because I'm not seeing them. Maybe is it because I'm not on TicTok 🙂 What do you think? Do you have evidence to support or refute a substantial decrease in the number of Black books. * Because so many authors publish exclusively with Amazon I have recently started sending readers to Amazon's site for books that are only available to Amazon because promoting the writer is more important than their narrow-minded decision to publish with Amazon exclusively. This also allows me to sell books that are out of print.

@Pioneer1 because I and most of the guys i know don’t have a problem finding a woman. But the majority of women will complain about how difficult it is to find a man. Well of course the women, but that is because men generally take the lead on hitting on women —especially men of my generation.

Melanated people were not built to live in these conditions Bruh LOL! When I was in Tulsa it got down to -16 and heavy snow, but it got back up to the 50's a couple of days later and all that snow melted. They didn't even really plow the snow. Many roads were just impassible for a day or two, then things were back to normal...

It already is, look at how our culture has changed in just my lifetime. We went from having the voting rights act passed to having a Black president. When I was a kid there were virtually no Black TV shows, Movies, or books. We a Black show can on TV I watched it. Today there are so many Black TV shows I have the luxury of not bothering to watch most of them because there are just so many other options. Homosexuals no longer have to remain in the closet -- and can even get married! Weed is legal. Abortions becoming illegal... I could go on and on about how our culture's mortality continues to evolve. Overall our culture's sense of mortality is improving over the long run -- don't you agree?

Sure. but.... And this is the problem. I too like the idea of Kwanzaa, but I don't celebrate it either. I wouldn't celebrate Christmas either if it were not for the fact that everyone else around me celebrates it and that is the power of culture - even one is on the same page despite their personal inclinations. Every year millions of families go into debt to finance the holiday, It does not make sense, and is the function of our market-driven culture. The "start" of the New Year is completely arbitrary, so who cares? Your new year can be on your birthday -- it is a new year to you -- and you can celebrate it any way you like 🙂

I hear you @Pioneer1 "rapists, pedophiles, serial killers, crack addicts" are a minuscule portion of our population," so don' t worry about them. We can probably get more than 25% of Black folks on board. I'm not sure people truly appreciate the progress Marcus Garvey made toward unifying Black people. I don't see how it would be possible for anyone to unify Black people at that level again. I wish I was wrong, but I see little evidence that I am. Again, I think the fight for reparations must include non-Black people. We should strive for unity among people who are in support of justice. We can start by working to get an HR-40-like bill passed (a committee to study reparations for Black people).

This bill died, sponsored by John Conyers (RIP) in congress in 2015, but can be reintroduced. H.R. 40 Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act To acknowledge the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery in the United States and the 13 American colonies between 1619 and 1865 and to establish a commission to examine the institution of slavery, subsequently de jure and de facto racial and economic discrimination against African-Americans, and the impact of these forces on living African-Americans, to make recommendations to the Congress on appropriate remedies, and for other purposes.

I hear you man and need to adopt that mentality. I have a lot of stuff some of it I consider archival material. I've donated well over 1,000 books in the past and need to donate hundreds more. When I left my last corporate job 15 years ago (wow). One of the managers asked me on my way out the door, "Troy, you don't have anything to take with you?" I was like. "Nope." I was acutely aware that I was not going to around months before I left. I just discovered that I lost all of the discussion forum data prior to 2010! Well I did not lose the data. I transferred the domain registrar to Google from a much smaller company and I broke the site?! I need to fix it because there were some great posts there. @richardmurray I see now that it is up to the individual to maintain their information, but technology failures and changes, and individual fallibility really make it difficult for individuals to save their own information.

Dr. John Henrik Clarke said he reads this speech once a year and gets something new from it each time. Clarke emphasized the importance of Washington's message: Self-Reliance. ---------- Booker T. Washington's Atlanta Exposition Speech ADDRESS BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, PRINCIPAL TUSKEGEE NORMAL AND INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE, TUSKEGEE, ALABAMA, AT OPENING OF ATLANTA EXPOSITION, Sept. 18th, 1895. Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and Citizens: One third of the population of the South is of the Negro race. No enterprise seeking the material, civil, or moral welfare of this section can disregard this element of our population and reach the highest success. I but convey to you, Mr. President and Directors, the sentiment of the masses of my race when I say that in no way have the value and manhood of the American Negro been more fittingly and generously recognized than by the managers of this magnificent Exposition at every stage of its progress. It is a recognition that will do more to cement the friendship of the two races than any occurrence since the dawn of our freedom. Not only this, but the opportunity here afforded will awaken among us a new era of industrial progress. Ignorant and inexperienced, it is not strange that in the first years of our new life we began at the top instead of at the bottom; that a seat in Congress or the State Legislature was more sought than real estate or industrial skill; that the political convention or stump speaking had more attractions than starting a dairy farm or truck garden. A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal: "Water, water; we die of thirst!" The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back: "Cast down your bucket where you are." A second time the signal, "Water, water; send us water!" ran up from the distressed vessel, and was answered: "Cast down your bucket where you are." And a third and fourth signal for water was answered: "Cast down your bucket where you are." The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water from the mouth of the Amazon River. To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land, or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next door neighbor, I would say: "Cast down your bucket where you are" — cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions. And in this connection it is well to bear in mind that whatever other sins the South may be called to bear, when it comes to business, pure and simple, it is in the South that the Negro is given a man's chance in the commercial world, and in nothing is this Exposition more eloquent than in emphasizing this chance. Our greatest danger is, that in the great leap from slavery to freedom we may overlook the fact that the masses of us are to live by the productions of our hands, and fail to keep in mind that we shall prosper in proportion as we learn to dignify and glorify common labor and put brains and skill into the common occupations of life; shall prosper in proportion as we learn to draw the line between the superficial and the substantial, the ornamental gewgaws of life and the useful. No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem. It is at the bottom of life we must begin, and not at the top. Nor should we permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities. To those of the white race who look to the incoming of those of foreign birth and strange tongue and habits for the prosperity of the South, were I permitted I would repeat what I say to my own race, "Cast down your bucket where you are." Cast it down among the 8,000,000 Negroes whose habits you know, whose fidelity and love you have tested in days when to have proved treacherous meant the ruin of your firesides. Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labor wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, built your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories. While doing this, you can be sure in the future, as in the past, that you and your families will be surrounded by the most patient, faithful, law-abiding, and unresentful people that the world has seen. As we have proved our loyalty to you in the past, in nursing your children, watching by the sick bed of your mothers and fathers, and often following them with tear-dimmed eyes to their graves, so in the future, in our humble way, we shall stand by you with a devotion that no foreigner can approach, ready to lay down our lives, if need be, in defense of yours, interlacing our industrial, commercial, civil, and religious life with yours in a way that shall make the interests of both races one. In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress. There is no defense or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all. If anywhere there are efforts tending to curtail the fullest growth of the Negro, let these efforts be turned into stimulating, encouraging, and making him the most useful and intelligent citizen. Effort or means so invested will pay a thousand percent interest. These efforts will be twice blessed--"blessing him that gives and him that takes. "There is no escape through law of man or God from the inevitable: “The laws of changeless justice bind Oppressor with oppressed; And close as sin and suffering joined We march to fate abreast.” Nearly sixteen millions of hands will aid you in pulling the load upwards, or they will pull you against the load downwards. We shall constitute one third and more of the ignorance and crime of the South, or one third its intelligence and progress; we shall contribute one third to the business and industrial prosperity of the South, or we shall prove a veritable body of death, stagnating, depressing, retarding every effort to advance the body politic. Gentlemen of the Exposition, as we present to you our humble effort at an exhibition of our progress, you must not expect overmuch. Starting thirty years ago with ownership here and there in a few quilts and pumpkins and chickens (gathered from miscellaneous sources), remember the path that has led from these to the inventions and production of agricultural implements, buggies, steam engines, newspapers, book, statuary, carving, paintings, the management of drug stores and banks has not been trodden without contact with thorns and thistles. While we take pride in what we exhibit as a result of our independent efforts, we do not for a moment forget that our part in this exhibition would fall far short of your expectations but for the constant help that has come to our educational life, not only from the Southern States, but especially from Northern philanthropists, who have made their gifts a constant stream of blessing and encouragement. The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than of artificial forcing. No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized. It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercises of these privileges. The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house. In conclusion, may I repeat that nothing in thirty years has given us more hope and encouragement, and drawn us so near to you of the white race, as this opportunity offered by the Exposition; and here bending, as it were, over the altar that represents the results of the struggles of your race and mine, both starting practically empty-handed three decades ago, I pledge that in your effort to work out the great and intricate problem which God has laid at the doors of the South you shall have at all times the patient, sympathetic help of my race; only let this be constantly in mind that, while from representations in these buildings of the product of field, of forest, of mine, of factory, letters, and art, much good will come, yet far above and beyond material benefit, will be that higher good, that let us pray God will come, in a blotting out of sectional differences and racial animosities and suspicions, in a determination to administer absolute justice, in a willing obedience among all classes to the mandates of law. This, this, coupled with our material prosperity, will bring into our beloved South a new heaven and a new earth. You can download the PDF file from the State Historical Society of Iowa

🙂 Of course. But that does not mean that I don't actually disagree with you. I knew you would bring up the Freeway Rich Ross stuff. If you actually read the article you shared you'd know that the entire fiasco was about funding the contras in Nicaragua. The destabilization of the Black community was a terrible consequence, but it was again not the goal. You do realize white folks used cocaine and crack during that period right? Even if destabilizing the black community was the goal, who was responsible for cutting, distributing, packaging, marketing, and selling the drugs -- not to mention using them? Again, look at our current opioid crisis which has destabilized the white community arguably to a worse degree than the crack epidemic -- It has literally brought down the average life expectancy of Americans! Of course Black people are dying from opioids too, but again the people involved are motivated by money the horrific impact on the country is of no little concern to Big Pharma or the Doctors. You know most of the people who died from HIV were white. But again I'm sure you'd call this collateral damage too. Where did you dig up this one up?

The Internet archive is great. I’ve found found files from AALBC that i lost. Maintaining AALBC over the decades and through various upgrades has been a challenge. I lost the first few years of this discussion forum because i could not maintain the software that was driving it. At some point this discussion software will likely become obsolete. There is a cloud version but I’m not using it as I’m storing it on my server. But eventually the OS or PHP will evolve to the point where it can no longer run the discussion forum software. The data will still be on a database but there will be no way to access it. i used the Internet archives wayback machine to find one of the first posts on this discussion forum “de self-hate debate” The wayback machine showed the link but not the actual post. I then used the search engine on this discussion forum (which is not very good) to find the post, but it did not come up. I then went to Google and found the actual post from almost 13 years ago: At some point the company that built the software that runs this forum may go out of business and it then it will be a real challenge to manage this discussion forum’s data.

I know you live in the Midwest, but it does not sound like you have any experience with several feet of snow falling in a short period of time. That much Snow can easily cripple a city. as far as heated sidewalks and/or streets I’m just not sure how practical it would be to retrofit existing side walks or how difficult a problem it was be from an engineering perspective. I can’t even image how much additional load it would put on a power grid at a time when energy is at our greatest demand. it does not seem practical, municipalities would be better off proving more affordable housing for their citizens.

not being a demographer and going solely on your observations should give you pause before drawing conclusions about society in general. Our personal observation are generally a terrible proxy for the general population. My experience differs from yours in that black men generally have an advantage when it comes to black women. But again this just my experience and i would not say that it is true generally for a variety of reasons. This is true in my opinion. oh that one is easy, because it is exceedingly difficult in todays world.

Why are examples which counter your narrative lost on you? You are throwing the word "fact" around with reckless abandon. Can you conceive of any other reasons that drugs were brought into the Black community? if you consider opioids in the white community do you see anything in common? If you want to use the Civil War as a shining example of white unity, go ahead, but it makes no sense. The Civil War and the lost cause narrative has driven a wedge between white folks that has divided this country to this day. I guess we'll agree to disagree. Just for kicks, @Pioneer1 share with me the "Proof" to substantiate the claim, "drugs were brought into the AfroAmerican community by racists to destablize it." It think you'll find more evidence that it was done for profit -- even with the Iran Contra situation. Remember CREAM 😉

Florida has the prettiest beaches in the country and the water is typically warm enough that you can swim all year around. As I said, the place is diverse you have cities like Miami that rival in major US city and you have rural areas where pretty much anyone can own a home on an acre lot. The wildlife is impressive from my back patio (I live in a modest townhome in a gated community) I can see a wide range of birds including bald eagles and animals including alligators and deer. It is crazy, and part of the appeal to I feel closer to nature (but really we are encroaching on the habitat of these animals and they will probably not last too much longer...) The place is super flat, so if you are into mountains forget Florida. If you like the 4 "traditional" seasons you can forget that too. As far as racists I've be willing to bet there are more in California, Texas, and New York. As a percentage of the population who are racist, Florida is probably no different than the rest of the country, largely because 2/3 of the population came from other states. @Pioneer1 if you were going to Mobile probably. But places like Montgomery or Birmingham are too far north to have taken you through Florida. It is worth a visit if you have never been. I've lived in West Palm Beach and Tampa. Visit during the winter for a break from the frigid midwest. It will be in the 80's and sunny most of this week 😉