Troy

LOL!

I clearly remember the twin towers being built. The sears tower (Willis Tower) was completed around the same time early 70's. Remember, I'm older than you 😉

Google is probably the best search engine, you just have to ignore all the ads and be willing to dig many pages deep. My default is Bing, because they pay you to use them. If you are concerned about privacy (and you should be), DuckDuckGo is best. @frankster give up on Pioneer when it comes to the race thing. He firmly believes so-called Black people and so-called white are different races. The science does not matter.

Me too @Delano it will be after I add some more books to the site and read a few more emaiis

OK so when you wrote, "we" who were you talking about Chevdove? I already said my tactic of informing the person would be ineffective and emotional tantrums are a short-term tactic used by babies. In any case, the question stands; what is a better tactic since informing the person and an emotional tantrum are ineffective?

Emotional tantrum?! Come on, my calling out his comments as racist can't possibly be described as throwing a tantrum. Drop the hyperbole and describe a better tactic.

I thought this conversation was about the poem. @richardmurray did you every reveal what you thought? unless you have very cosmopolitan or well-off parents you would have grown up in a segregated neighborhood and did what the people in your neighborhood did. We had "Chinese" or "Spanish" food. I did not begin to enjoy the diversity of NYC until I was an adult. New York is too dense (too many people) for my taste. I was in central park last week and the super tall buildings cast shadows across the park now... There are now 5 or 6 apartment buildings taller than the empire state building in NYC -- when I was a kid that was the tallest building on the planet.

@Pioneer1 as @Cynique would say STFU! 😉 You know there is virtually nothing you have written about genetics that I (or the science) agrees with. If I was Michel I should take your validation as cause for concern. Phuleese! Oh great white savior who says they need or want your help? Not before the colonizers arrived! Come on man you are being intellectually dishonest. That said, produce ANY evidence that "many" Africans -- even those who are mixed with Europeans neanderthal DNA, or just admit this is something conjured from your imagination. You keep mentioning a supposed BLM scandal -- why? Who cares? It is like you are trying to create descent. There are a great number of people and organizations working to liberate Black people; find another one that suits you. White folks anointed BLM and now y'all are apparently, trying to tear it down. Yeah because you are all talk, articulate, but ill-informed. Again, who are the dudes in the video that you give more credence to than Dr. Ivan Van Sertima. Is it because they are white and Van Sertima is Black? Surely, you are not that unsophisticated... but you still have not justified your reasoning. White folks have a long history in this country of tearing down and marginalizing Black people when they are engaged in activities to uplift Black people. These white people are racist whether they know it or not. Did I say STFU yet? Nobody (well I'm not) is mad. I'm just making an observation. I think Michel (assuming He, Him) made some comments that come across as racist. Based on what I have read so far, and despite what Pioneer wrote, I tend to agree with your assessment. This is what will happen (speaking from experience now): Michel will escalate to the point where I have no choice but to boot him, or he will take his marbles and go somewhere else. Here is what will not happen: Michel will not seriously consider what you and I have written and reflect on it. He will not apologize or acknowledge what he is writing comes across as racist. Again, racists usually don't see themselves as such.

@Chevdove if I got rid of everyone who disagreed with me, or you, there would be absolutely no one left. 🙂 I admit, I liked a lot of what Michel has previously posted, he came across as sincere, articulate, and well-meaning. I thought he added something to the conversation given that he is (or presented himself as) an older white guy with a great deal of experience in the Black community. That said he seems to have flipped. It doesn't seem like the same guy. @Michel Montvert yeah you are coming across as very racist right now. You posted a video by a couple of nobodies, but reject Van Sertima?! Who is the guy in the photo below, from the video you shared? What are his credentials? You obviously have not read as much as you say you have on the subject of Africans in the Americas before the era of Columbus. Columbus did not discover America he never set foot here -- despite what we were taught in school. I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise. You obviously have your own opinion and I'm confident there is nothing I can write, or share with you, that will change your mind. Your belief system was forged by a system of white supremacy. (i.e. Chevdove don't waste your time) Racists can't see their own racism and this makes it exceedingly difficult for them to change. @Michel Montvert where did you get the following? Can you cite a reputable source that says "many Africans" have neandertal DNA? It has been some time since I read on the subject, but I never read that. I wonder where you got it from.... probably the guy below, huh?

@Michel Montvert, are you familiar with the work of Ivan Van Sertima? Start with him. Clearly, there is a lot you don't know about that subject. As far as DNA it was hard to understand where the point of contention is, a percentage of so-called white people have some Neanderthal DNA.

@Cynique No, I don't consider YouTube "social media," but like social media I have problems with YouTube as well. Still, I think you miss my main point. I use many of the platforms I have serious issues with from Amazon to Google to Facebook. You and I may be less effected by these platforms, but we are not typical, We were adults when all of these platforms were introduced, so relate to them in different ways as we know how to move in a world were these powerful companies did not exist. However, this is not the case for most people--they, I agure are more easily manipulated. I actively avoid consuming information that is pushed to me. I ignore my social media feed because I refuse to subject myself to the algorithm, as I know I'm not above being manipulated by it myself.

We will always disagree on this point. Today most people get their "news" from social media. Their feed is curated by a sophisticated and powerful algorithm. whose power is not taken seriously enough. Wow, they beat this guy like he was a run-away slave. I had not seen this video until you posted it. Where did you first see it? It is interesting to consider that if the victim were Black it would probably have initiated riots, as in the case of Rodney King. How would Americans react if white folks took to the streets in reaction of a brutal beating like this?

I have not, but I am definitely looking forward to checking it out.

Me too. @ProfD not only are folks ready to kill they are ready to die over their beliefs. A significant portion of people killed have been killed over seemingly minor religious differences. Sadly this is true and has created a great deal of confusion. Plus not every damn thing can be found on Google — even if it is on the web! 90% of the sites on the web are undiscoverable on Google. 66% of people who perform a search on Google never click through to an underlying site, and, believe it or not, everything is not on the web. all of these super powerful sites make me sick… …. What were y’all talking about 😉

most of us, Black and white, are unconscious participants in racism. This is necessary to perpetuate the system, as we must remain easily manipulated into doing things that are not in our best interests. Social media I’ve always asserted has become a tool in helping us to perpetuate our own oppression. That seems alarmist by some but they are many arguments one can make to support the idea.

I just learned that Esther Copper Jackson passed away August 25, 2022, just a few days after her 105th birthday. She was grow woman when @Cynique was born 😉 The video above was taken when she was 96! I understand that she was spark until the end of her life.

Yep, Book Review: Guiou: The Other Blacks, Second Edition The latter group, known as Garifuna, arrived from Nigeria by way of St. Vincent where they blended with Carib Indians beginning in 1635 before migrating to Guatemala. By contrast, the former group was brought there to work the fields only about a hundred years ago by the United Fruit Company, settling in an area called Colonia.

Until ultimately it will end. Oppression by one group of another always ends... it is really just a matter of how much damage is done first. @Michel Montvert thanks for sharing those stories. The cure for cancer may have died in some ghetto -- you can pick the country. @Cynique Simone is the GOAT. Anyone obliquely familiar with the sport knows this. I can't speak for the others, but I know inspiration comes from many sources not just the GOAT. This piqued my interest because I was involved in the sport, one in which there are not many Black participants, for all the reasons mentioned.

To continue to enrich those that benefit from the system. @daniellegfny i remember Dominque 🙂 interestingly i drew inspiration from the best gymnasts regardless of there so called race. They could be Russian or Japanese it did not really matter i had a poster of Japanese dude on my wall for years as a teenager. This was before Americans were very competitive before Kurt Thomas and them… there was a brother from the Bronx Mario Mecuteon (sp?) he would have been an Olympian but Carter boycotted that one — a great gymnast i have no idea what happened to him after that…

Yes it has, but access is still lacking. When i was a kid many schools had gymnastics teams. Today there are far fewer programs. I’d be surprised if there are any girls gymnastics teams in the New York City public schools. NYC Pools used to have diving boards and you could find trampolines at your local boys club all of these are gone today. Now in the more upscale areas you’ll find many private programs, but these take money, time, and resources many Black families don’t have. My family never paid for a single gymnastics lesson. My teammates in college went to summer camps for gymnastics that was something unfathomable to me. It is harder for girls. Title IX basically cut men gymnastics programs rather that creating programs for women. Syracuse Eliminated men’s gymnastics and never had a woman’s team (as far as i know) the same reason ghettos lack all kinds of resources, Structural racism.

As a former gymnast i can tell you there were plenty of inspired Black female gymnasts. Inspiration comes from all levels not just the highest. Our biggest disadvantage is lack of access. I was a D1 gymnast at Syracuse University. I did not start doing gymnastics until i was in high school — unless you count flipping on discarded mattresses. All of my team mates were already accomplished gymnasts by the time i got started. there was so so much talent in the ghetto that never realized their potential.

Divorces destroy wealth and should be done with much more thought than entering into marriage Mr. or Mrs. good enough, or OK, is no longer acceptable, though it is far and away the most likely outcome. No one is perfect or can be all things to someone. If two white woman want to share one Black man, great if it works for them. Our society is not designed or set up for these types of familial configurations — we haven’t even come to terms with “mixed race” relationships let alone polygamous ones — so they will have more difficulty that a traditional relationship, which is already challenging.

That sounds like a great idea for the forum. The question as always is participation. I have not read a romance novel in eons so I can't even participate. But if you do something on the forum I'll share it in my newsletter (August 30th).

The Fame Game: An Insider’s Playbook for Earning Your 15 Minutes: Legendary Hollywood entertainment manager and publicist Ramon Hervey II shares insightful tales of his remarkable career in The Fame Game. Having worked with everyone from Little Richard, Bette Midler, and the Bee Gees, to Aaliyah, Rick James, and Vanessa Williams —this juicy and addictive retrospective also traces the origins of fame and how social media is changing the rules. Available now! AALBC Book Reviews The Juju Girl by Nikki Marsh Awarded by the 2022 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Self Published ebook in fiction by an African American author, Nikki Marsh’s The Juju Girl has everything an outstanding YA book should possess. Gabbie, a 15-yer-old girl, comes into her own after she is forced to flee from her small town along the Mississippi River by the powerful Great Storm of 1893, On the brink of womanhood, she arrives in New Orleans and is thrust into the class-conscious Creole Society, finding herself a stranger in a strange culture. Read the Full Review ▶ Authors Your Should Know “Black women, contrary to anything else you may have heard or may think, are at the center of their world.” — Nellie Y. McKay Dr. Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, professor of English, creative writing and African literature at Penn State Altoona, has been selected as the 2023 recipient of the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Award from Saginaw Valley State University. Wesley, “one of the most prolific African poets of the twenty-first century,” immigrated to the United States with her family during the 14-year Liberian civil war, a war that has helped shape her writing as a Diaspora African woman writer in the United States. For more than two decades, Wesley’s poetry has given voice to the voiceless, the hundreds of thousands of Liberian war dead through its exploration of themes on the plight of the refugee of war, the new African Diaspora mother/wife and African femininity, motherhood, home, displacement, and the survivor as a witness. Learn More ▶ Jasmine Guillory is a New York Times bestselling author. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, Bon Appetit, and Time, and she is a frequent book contributor on The Today Show. She lives in Oakland, California. Her latest novel, By the Book, earned a ton of honors including; Harper’s Bazaar Best Romantic Books of 2022, USA Today’s Bestseller, Apple’s Best Book of 2022, The Root’s Books We Can’t Wait to Read, and other accolades. Learn More ▶ Nellie Y. McKay (May 12, 1930 – January 22, 2006) was a pivotal figure in contemporary American letters. The author of several books, McKay is best known for coediting the canon-making Norton Anthology of African American Literature with Henry Louis Gates Jr., which helped secure a place for the scholarly study of Black writing that had been ignored by white academia. However, there is more to McKay's life and legacy than her literary scholarship. After her passing, new details about McKay’s life emerged, surprising everyone who knew her. Why did McKay choose to hide so many details of her past? Biographer and scholar, Shanna Greene Benjamin examined McKay's path through the professoriate to learn about the strategies, sacrifices, and successes of contemporary Black women in the American academy. Read more in Nellie Y. McKay’s 2021 biography, Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay ▶ The Top 50 Black-Owned Websites Our mission includes uplifting and supporting websites created for, and by, Black people. As the World Wide Web becomes increasingly controlled by a handful of extremely powerful corporations, content created by Black people which showcases Black culture is increasingly marginalized. All of us, regardless of background, enjoy a less rich experience on the web as a result. Check our Top 50 ▶ The Following is Sponsored by Tiny Reparations Books A Black Texan family gathers to say goodbye to their matriarch, and as they do, long-held secrets begin to bubble to the surface. From a fresh new voice in Black fiction comes a heartfelt family saga about what we inherit and the power of forgiveness. Tackling themes of race, class, and legacy, Perish is the story of every family that has struggled to understand the invisible forces that shape generations. “Readers will discover their own strength and ability to move past intergenerational trauma—and embrace their roots along the way.” —BUST magazine • Buy Now ▶ Dear Reader, Here I’m rockin’ my “Black Authors Matter” (available at Cush City) at the National Book Club Conference. The conference was a lovely event and a great opportunity to meet authors in the company of other book lovers. I applaud Curtis Bunn (check his video) for running this event for 20 years! Your support is crucial to helping us improve AALBC..com. Your paid subscriptions, book purchases, suggestions, engagement on the site, social sharing, advertisements, and feedback help support AALBC’s mission of celebrating Black culture through books. Peace and Love, Troy Johnson Founder & Webmaster, AALBC.com This newsletter is sponsored by Amistad and Tiny Reparations Books Consider sponsoring our eNewsletter or a dedicated email. ★ AALBC.com eNewsletter – August 23, 2022 - Issue #366

I don't like the sound of the IRS ramping up enforcement, for these resources usually go after low-hanging fruit, that is people without the resources to defend themselves like small businesses and lower-middle class citizens. But we will see... It will be interesting to see what the obama care subsides look like and will that translate into better health care. At some point American plutocrats and oligarchs will have to share something with the rest of us, otherwise shit will hit the fan and even the uber wealth really don't want to see America fall into anarchy. 2024 will be a very telling year.