Troy

Then we are operating on different definitions of the word earn. If your operating expenses exceed your revenue then you have earned nothing which was not what the article said. You obviously have a strong opinion in favor of the article and feel the need to defend it. I feel I’m a bit more objective regarding it and I’m just trying to explain why some people will look at it as hype. Even the language are used to defend it is not exactly encouraging; “A couple of thousand is simply a figure of speech.” What did that mean? or “So it might actually be an initial investment of $7,000+” Really? That is a stretch based upon what was in the article. The video you shared made my point regarding the effort to really profit from bitcoin mining. So, you are saying that one can make $100 (daily?) bitcoin? I know this comment was directed to @daniellegfny, But I think it was directly related. I mentioned in my opening statement in this conversation that I am getting into the NFT space. I’m even considering creating a marketplace for Black creators. My biggest concern is the black consumer. @daniellegfny Is an early adopter I am not sure how much demand it will be for his NFT and it will not sell itself, so he will need to promote the NFT — which he doing as we all now know about it. I think it is an interesting experiment and it won’t cost him too much to test out the waters. I was involved in the Internet since it’s inception selling books on this newfangled thing called the World Wide Web Black people were afraid to enter their credit card information on the web to buy anything. Of course all that is different today but I recall the black community lagging behind in the space. When we finally caught we up supported the larger white owned and corporate sites, and as a result today Black ownership is severely lacking on the WWW today. As I said at the beginning of this conversation I think cryptocurrency is the future and my concern here is that we will fall behind fail to adapt to technology and run businesses for fear of scams. It would be the 21st century equivalent of storing your money under your mattress.

I read the article, so why lead with "These 14- and 9-year-old siblings earn over $30,000 a month mining cryptocurrency" or your paraphrasing "14- and 9-year-old siblings earn over $30,000 a month" when it is not really the truth. You admit the articles says the dad took out a loan (how much money did he borrow), and that they are renting space (how much space how much does it cost?). Neither of these things is something a 9 and 14 years old can do on their own -- no matter how precocious they appear in the interview. The truth of the matter is it takes a lot more than a few $3K graphics to mine bitcoin. You need large scale operation with dedicated computers optimized for mining to make this profitable today -- and they may actually have that, but don't try to tell me that a couple of kids set all this up. Look, I know media use click-baity headlines. "...9-year-old siblings earn over $30,000..." to attract eyeballs to serve ads, but all this does is confuse people. The fact that you came away from the article with the notion that: Makes my point. Others see the whole space as Ponzi scheme because the reporting on this subject is so poor. So I'm not surprised that @Pioneer1 would have that impression you really have to dig and do a lot of filter to begin to understand what is going on. Most people do. Again, I rarely use paper currency, the desire to reduce the number of touch points during the pandemic has only increased this. The US lags most industrial nations with it comes electronic transactions. I guess it depends on the product you are pushing and your tolerance for selling products lacking in, or of dubious value. I can see what you would feel this way, but if your frame of reference is paper money, the paradigm shift my be difficult to wrap you head around (sort of like the issue of race 😉) Read Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper, "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System." It is only and you can review the section on "Privacy" and see why the IRS can't trace it.

I read the article, so why lead with "These 14- and 9-year-old siblings earn over $30,000 a month mining cryptocurrency" or your paraphrasing "14- and 9-year-old siblings earn over $30,000 a month" when it is not really the truth. You admit the articles says the dad took out a loan (how much money did he borrow), and that they are renting space (how much space how much does it cost?). Neither of these things is something a 9 and 14 years old can do on their own -- no matter how precocious they appear in the interview. The truth of the matter is it takes a lot more than a few $3K graphics to mine bitcoin. You need large scale operation with dedicated computers optimized for mining to make this profitable today -- and they may actually have that, but don't try to tell me that a couple of kids set all this up. Look, I know media use click-baity headlines. "...9-year-old siblings earn over $30,000..." to attract eyeballs to serve ads, but all this does is confuse people. The fact that you came away from the article with the notion that: Makes my point. Others see the whole space as Ponzi scheme because the reporting on this subject is so poor. So I'm not surprised that @Pioneer1 would have that impression you really have to dig and do a lot of filter to begin to understand what is going on. Most people do. Again, I rarely use paper currency, the desire to reduce the number of touch points during the pandemic has only increased this. The US lags most industrial nations with it comes electronic transactions. I guess it depends on the product you are pushing and your tolerance for selling products lacking in, or of dubious value.

Then, by your own definition Cyrptocurrency is real. @Pioneer1 it is not clear that you no enough about the technology to make such rigid declarations. I used to believe this, until got a job on wall street and really got a glimpse into how wealth is really created through the capital markets. It is like thinking Amazon created wealth by selling books... I find this type of reporting very misleading, as it gives the impression a 9-year-old can mine bit coin, surely anyone can. Of course they do not relate the entire story... From everything I've read it is no longer practical for an individual to mine bitcoin the competition is just too stiff and the barriers to entry are too high today. Of course for people like @Pioneer1 (and even myself) this makes the entire space seem overhyped and scammy.

No, because there is only one race. But even if we played the silly race game, when did “Indian” become a race? Presumably you are referring to the people on the land mass known as India. Those people have a wide range of complexions given that fact how are y’all defining Indian? Percentages are meaningless in terms of people’s phenotypical characteristics.

What real money are you talking about? The money we use today is not “real.” Indeed all money is based upon a fiction we create and choose to believe. Today I rarely use currency. Why should I? This morning I threw away a penny. It is worthless and i have no reason to carry it around. Why they continue to mint those things makes no sense to me. They probably cost more to make than they are worth. Cryptocurrency really is the future. Because there is no central authority controlling it, making it far more secure and efficient It is global and virtually unhackable. As far as NFT I’m looking into getting into that space, but I’m proceeding with caution because … well you know our people….

Interesting Idea, I did not red the newsletter that was sent to me, but I'm sure Outlook is not that smart. That law seems unenforceable. What do they mean by "defamatory," I wonder. I also consider myself an optimist. However it is not a choice, but my nature. I believe people have characteristics that they are born with some people are tall, some have type B blood, most are heterosexuals, while other are optimists. It is just as hard to take a heterosexual make and make him gay as it is to turn a pessimist into an optimist. I believe a community need all types. A world full of optimists would probably not adequately prepare for tragedy or retirement...

@ProfD Try it again. If you use a VPN (it does not look like you are) but it will be a challenge to help you if you are. Some people feel forced to use VPN's, rather than a static IP address, because corporate sites would exploit your and your data. AALBC is not one of those sites. Also thanks for elevating the level of discussion. To use an over used cliché, you have been a breath of fresh air 🙂

I started think more about this subject over the last year or two as I started noticing that Google's ads have become increasingly irritating -- especially on these forums. The ads are embed in some posts; popup as you go from one page to the next (often without clear way to close them); and the ones I hate the most, the super large images that appear at the top of the page forcing visitors to scroll to see the pages content. These are the worse, because if you are new to the site, it makes it very confusing to know what to do next. Google AdSense allows webmasters to place advertisement on their websites. Advertisements are sold, placed, and administered by Google in exchange for to payments to the website. I've been using AdSense since it was invented. Payments have range ranged from roughly $20 to $3,000 a day. Google asserts that they like sites which serve quality content and that are uncluttered with advertising. However when I allow Google to serve ads on my site they tend to make my site's content look very cluttered. To combat the problem of cluttering a website, visitors are increasingly using ad blockers -- which blocks ALL ads -- including the ones I sell directly. This reduces revenue, which reduces resources to produce quality content, which reduces traffic, and a death spiral ensues. Of course, I could go with another ad network or sell my own advertising. Indeed I had to do that after Google's Panda update, in 2011, which reduced my website's traffic by 75% overnight. Google mortally wounded many websites with that sledgehammer approach to website ranking. Google's near monopoly power make it very hard to simply ignore their ad network. That would as foolhardy as failing to optimize one's site for Google's search engine. When one company controls both the discoverability of a website AND their ad sales, the result does not server anyone, other than Google. If Google simply talked to their webmasters maybe they could help improve the quality of the WWW rather than merely extracting wealth from it. I know Google owns YouTube and can bury this video and hide this post in search. I also know Google can bury my entire site in search, as they did this with their Panda update (which took 5 years to recover from). But I'm tired, and I don't believe everyone at Google wants to continue killing and hamstringing websites... but I could be naïve.

@Cynique Basically the fix is that I whitelisted your IP address (basically tell Godaddy not to block your posts). This has actually happened to me a few times! There is no reason that I can discern for why some locations are blocked. @ProfD and @Mel Hopkins you both should be able to start conversations now. Unfortunately this is a major problem with the the web, carriers, service providers, web hosts have to be extra precautious for fear of being hacked. I can't say that I blame them inconveniencing some users is MUCH better than having you site taken for ransom. Again the little guy is always hurt the most... I've been sending a newsletter out for over twenty years and I discovered about a year again that Outlook is putting my own newsletter, sent from me, into my junk folder!?

Oh I'm well aware as I wrote "...and his team of attorneys..." Indeed, they are the ones as well, as a cadre staff, who actually do the work. (or so I've been told). OK @Cynique this is helpful info. Give it a try now.

The winning number are 18, 17 & 13 here is how they were selected: This this is a contest I've run with my text messaging subscribers (get our text messages). "Win a free copy of the #1 New York Times bestselling book, Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem by Amanda Gorman. Reply to this text with the big red number, on the page for the book, on AALBC’s site. Three winners will be randomly selected from reply made before midnight tonight."

Ben Crump is getting paid huh? I saw him, here in Tulsa, during the centennial commemoration for the Race Massacre. The Lacks family, in my opinion, deserves compensation based upon the limited information I have. I don't know who is gonna pay a quarter of a trillion dollars, but hey if they pay 1%. That will probably be fair... I think. I'm sure Crump and his team of attorneys will be happy with a multi-billion dollar settlement.

Agreed. This has less to do about helping gay people "see themselves" reflected in comic books and more to do with increasing notoriety through controversy, a common tactic today. Again, the media laps this stuff up, on cue, spins it for al the controversy it is worth to get more traffic, to serve more advertising to us, to get us to buy more shit we don't need. The reality is that it is not Clark Kent who is gay, but his son that has come out. Again, making it seemed as though "Superman" is now gay was done to create more controversy. I only know that beside I heard a more complete story on NPR... My default is to ignore most of this stuff. But if you are online, it is hard to ignore this nonsense as it is virtually force feed to you. As a result I did see an image of Superman's son locking lips with another dude. I don't ever recall seeing lark Kent lock lips with Lois Lane in such a fashion. But again, this is more about generating revenue than serving the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, this whole thing will just exacerbate relationship with the "community" in the same way "critical race theory" has with the Black community.

WFT? Jerry Craft has been publishing humorous comics and graphics novels, longer than I have been running AALBC -- almost 30 years. In the last few years Jerry has "Blown Up" winning major awards and selling a bazillion books. It has been great to witness his hard work and diligence pay off. Craft's story is truly the "American Dream." This aspect of his story has been completely obscured. The idea that his books would be banned over the controversy surrounding critical race theory is absurd. None of the news articles I've read addressed this issue in a substantive, or nuanced manner; they are just playing up the controversy. It is sad. Rather than the public being informed, they are riled up over a controversy that the media (especially social media) have thrown gasoline on and ignited -- relentlessly driving a wedge between the Americans. I was going to share links to articles but decided against it since they don't serve Jerry or the readers he has served for three decades. The only saving grace is that his controversy will help raise Jerry's profile and possible drive more from those curious to learn why Jerry's books are so controversial.

“What It Would Take to Disrupt the Publishing Industry,” is an article by by Brooke Warner in Publishers Weekly (Oct 08, 2021). The article highlights several recommendations to improve the industry. I agree with the spirit of the article. One weakness of the article is that is fails to explain who the main culprits and how because of their might and greed, have been holding the industry back despite advances in technology that promised to democratize the industry. Of course when America has a cold Black America is on a respirator with Covid -- in other words all of this hurts Black books, and their readers, the most. Brooke's main points in bold, with my comments, are below. Visit PW to read the full article. Print fewer books, and find ways to print what we can sell. This is of course easier said than done, but as she indicates in her article improved print on demand technology will make this possible, but that technology does not exist today. Find better ways to distribute books to the marketplace. Ingram has an effective monopoly on book distribution in the US. This combined with Amazon's virtually integrated business (they handle everything from publishing books to delivering them to the customer). Because there are essentially two companies with their fingers in the sale of every book, change is very difficult. The are certainly better models, but the the dominant players currently have no incentive to change, they won't. Cancel returns. The ability to return books to Ingram is a fundamental weakness, and booksellers exploit this by ordering more books than they need or expect to sell, only to return them for credit on the purchase other books. Of course royalties have to be held up for months as publishers wait for returns which will offset sales and what the author is ultimately paid. This overhead is what increases the inefficiency in the business and lowers margins for publishers and ultimately booksellers. Sell more digital and audio. Again, easier said than done. You can not talk about selling more audiobooks and ebooks without talking about driving more business to Amazon's Kindle and Audible products, which are far and away the dominate formats sold, and the negative impact that this will have. Also, I prefer physical books and I'm not an unusual consumer. Raise the prices of all books. $30 for a hardcover book is plenty, given the cost of production. If the inefficiencies and monopolies in the did business not exist, there would be plenty of profit at this price point. The other problem is that books have a set price, this notion needs to change. Brick and mortar stores can't charge more than the price stamped on the book by the publisher. Amazon does not let the price set by the publisher stop them for charging whatever they want for a book. Empower authors to work with and support bookstores. Authors don't need to be "empowered" they already are. Authors, like publishers, booksellers, and consumers, need to be educated to understand what is in their best interest. This could not be more true for the Black author/publisher/bookseller/consumer. In 2021, there is no real reason for there to only be a handful of publishers who court the best authors and command the most attention and respect in the industry and media. The dominance of Amazon and Ingram has contributed to stifling competition and lowering margins for the remaining competitors in the book industry. The "disruptions" needed to improve the book industry can be addressed by changes our collective behavior.

Set in the summer of 1968, One Night in Georgia, is a provocative and devastating novel of individual lives caught in the grips of violent history—a timely and poignant story that reverberates with the power of Alice Walker’s Meridian and Ntozake Shange’s Betsey Browne. Recommended Reads Evil Never Sleeps: Tales of Light and Darkness by Robert Fleming “A compelling collection of unsettling tales, evil as a butterfly knife to the throat. Fleming’s daring visions resonate long after you’ve turned the final page.” —Brandon Massey, author of Dark Corner Evil Never Sleeps is a stunning collection of chilling tales, portraying dark, nightmarish scenarios, blending fact and fiction, myth and history, magic and mystery. Fleming s writing is a bizarre mix of Kobo Abe, Edgar Allan Poe, Lovecraft, Joyce Carol Oates, Baldwin, and Ray Bradbury. Writing at a grotesque, bewitching tilt, Fleming bares the soul and psyche of his characters, and he spares us nothing. The stories collected here are riveting and haunting. More ► The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations by Toni Morrison “Morrison’s discussion spans decades; however, the reason for the discussions remain consistent to elucidate repression, control, the origins of racism, the effects of globalism, private and public space, the future, masculinity, language usage, population, the goals of war, race and raced, being foreign, and motherhood; and these mentioned issues are not comprehensive of all discussions in the text, each reader will interpret their own topics and issues from the writing.” Read the rest of Tony Lindsay’s Review ► His to Claim by Brenda Jackson It could be his toughest mission yet: win back his wife. When navy SEAL and honorary Westmoreland Mac McRoy returns home, he discovers his wife has left. Teri has retreated to the Wyoming ranch they’d planned to visit together, and is resentful when he follows. She doesn’t want a second honeymoon; she wants a marriage Mac doesn’t take for granted. But life-or-death circumstances are about to put their love to the ultimate test. More ► AALBC bestselling author, Brenda Jackson has written over 100 novels (59 are on AALBC), and is one of the America’s most successful romance novelists. The Fund by Kevin P. Chavous In this stunning, action-packed follow up to The Plan, someone is killing the homeless in America’s largest cities. Whoever it is has the technology and access to stay one step ahead of the police. Do the killings relate to a proposed urban renewal fund being debated in Congress, designed, in part, to help the homeless? Or could this be a new copycat Plan? Or something else? Frustrated and stymied, the FBI asks Jackson Lowery and his team to find out who is behind the killings, leading them on a high stakes, nail-biting game of cat and mouse with a psychotic killer fueled by torture and murder. Read the first chapter. Notes on “Quotes” – from An American Marriage “That’s your fate as a black man. Carried by six or judged by twelve.” Tayari Jones: –Years ago, when I was riding a bus in Atlanta, I sat next to a little boy was about eleven years old. He was scribbling “6 or 12” on the cover of his notebook. Curiosity got the best of me and I asked him to explain. It was a heartbreaking moment. I have often wondered what became of him. Who put this idea in his head so that he already felt his fate was sealed. I pray that life has shown him something different, but you never know.” More ► Book Events Video – Rainbow Book Club VI Discussion of Barracoon AALBC’s Troy Johnson Joined the Rainbow Book Club VI’s meeting, in St. Thomas USVI, on June 1, 2019, to discuss the book Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston and Deborah G. Plant. It was a very interesting conversation, as members hail from Amsterdam, London, St. Thomas, South Carolina, and Jamaica. Learn more about the club and watch video excerpts from the discussion ►. Photos from the Black Pack Party 2019 The 2019 celebration was sponsored by Kwame Alexander and Versify Books. The Black Pack Party, organized by AALBC, Linda Duggins, and One Book One Bronx, is an annual gathering of publishing industry professionals. It is held during Book Expo America. See all the photos from this year’s celebration. Save the Date: The 2020 Black Pack Party will be held May 27, 2020 at the Frying Pan on the Hudson River in New York City. Book Giveaway – After Life: My Journey from Incarceration to Freedom Win a Free Copy of, After Life: My Journey from Incarceration to Freedom by Alice Marie Johnson Three books will be mailed to three lucky entrants. To enter, simply click the “Click to Enter Contest” button below and you’ll be entered automatically. Three entries will be randomly selected on Monday, June 24th. You’ll be notified, via email, if your entry is one of the winners. Books will only be mailed to addresses in the continental United States. This contest is limited to AALBC eNewsletter subscribers. Winners agree to have their name (first initial and last name) and city mentioned on AALBC.com. Read more about After Life ► Click to Enter Contest Hello Troy, If you are near Austin Texas this Saturday, June 22nd, please visit the Austin African American Book Festival and say hello. I’ll be discussing self-publishing, marketing, and distribution. Please don’t forget; Independent book websites, like AALBC, thrive with your patronage and support. When you discover something of value on AALBC be sure to share the information with others. If you value what we do, purchase your subscription to this newsletter. If you have already paid for an annual subscription, thank you on behalf of AALBC and the writers whose work you are helping to support. Peace and Love, Troy Johnson Founder & Webmaster, AALBC.com This email is sponsored by Amistad Our newsletter may be read on your Kindle ebook reader or via RSS. Consider sponsoring our eNewsletter or a dedicated mailing. ★ AALBC.com eNewsletter – June 18, 2019 - Issue #272

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am offers an artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winner. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature. Inspired to write because no one took a “little black girl” seriously, Morrison reflects on her lifelong deconstruction of the master narrative. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ film includes discussions about Morrison’s many critically acclaimed works, including novels The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Song of Solomon, her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University. In addition to Ms. Morrison, the film features interviews with Hilton Als, Angela Davis, Fran Lebowitz, Walter Mosley, Sonia Sanchez, and Oprah Winfrey, who turned Morrison’s novel Beloved into a feature film. Using Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ elegant portrait-style interviews, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am includes original music by Kathryn Bostic, a specially created opening sequence by artist Mickalene Thomas, and evocative works by other contemporary African-American artists including Kara Walker, Rashid Johnson and Kerry James Marshall. Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am Will be in Theaters Starting June 21st Get Tickets Watch the Trailer This email is sponsored by Magnolia Pictures Our newsletter may be read on your Kindle ebook reader or via RSS. Consider sponsoring our eNewsletter or a dedicated mailing.

It is called hacking a post 😉 It would be better in a separate thread and would be more easily discoverable by others interested in the subject. Thanks for posting something related to the post. 🙂 yeah Facebook is heavy handed unless you pay them, then they will pretty much let you say anything to other people…

these statements are factually inaccurate. @Pioneer1 do you now see the trouble we get ourselves into with this artificial notion of race? When your understanding of the science is flawed you will arrive at flawed and even alarming conclusions. It was fascinating to read the back and forth between Pioneer and Rev. because one would think they’d be on the same page being believers in the notion of race, but since the foundation of what they believe is flawed they can’t agree.

Thanks Fania, I was not aware of Major's latest novel and have added it to our upcoming book's page.

Join us on Wednesday, October 13th for Edelweiss Presents: Mystery, Murder & Mayhem. This free virtual event will be held on Wednesday, October 13th (11:00 am ET – 5:00 pm ET) and will feature author conversations, plus an interactive and immersive mystery/thriller experience for all participants. Walter Mosley, Richard Osman, Kellye Garrett, S.A. Cosby, Shari Lapena, Yasmine Angone, Naomi Hirahara and others will be your guides as they talk all things mystery-thriller! Click here to become a member and access sessions on October 13th.

Exactly!!! Black folks strive for white validation because that is how money is made. We refuse to create the platforms to self validate and generate our own wealth because the white man's ice is always colder... When you live in a culture that relentlessly denigrates and marginalizes Black people, while constantly elevating white people and their institutions, it is completely understandable why Black people reject themselves -- we've been brain washed. Even White folks will value our institutions if we value them -- why should they otherwise?

@Mel Hopkins let me look into a "Yep" button. ROTFLMBAO! Basically. The question is unanswerable. But, I believe Bernie Saunders could have made a real difference. Given how easily he was cast aside by the Democratic party in favor of a Biden/Harris ticket -- who no one was excited about -- I can only assume this was because Bernie was going work for the people as opposed to the plantocracy the way Obama did. Today, perhaps for the life of the Union, it is virtually guaranteed that anyone with the wherewithal to get into the office of the presidency does not truly represent the people -- especially the Black ones. The interests of the wealthy are ALWAYS taken care of, that is why wealth inequality -- even between white people -- continues to grow.

In West Mills, is a new novel by De’Shawn Charles Winslow. Readers who enjoyed The Twelve Tribes of Hattie and The Turner House, will also enjoy this intimately told story about a woman living by her own rules and the rural community that struggles to understand her. Recommended Reads The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave – Breeding Industry by Ned and Constance Sublette Authors Ned and Constance Sublette tell the brutal story of how the slavery industry made the reproductive labor of the people it referred to as "breeding women" essential to the young country’s expansion. Captive African Americans in the slave nation were not only laborers, but merchandise and collateral all at once. In a land without silver, gold, or trustworthy paper money, their children and their children’s children into perpetuity were used as human savings accounts that functioned as the basis of money and credit in a market premised on the continual expansion of slavery. Slaveowners collected interest in the form of newborns, who had a cash value at birth and whose mothers had no legal right to say no to forced mating. More ► After Life: My Journey from Incarceration to Freedomby Alice Marie Johnson For years, Alice lived a normal life without a criminal record—she was a manager at FedEx, a wife, and a mother. But after an emotionally and financially tumultuous period in her life left her with few options, she turned to crime as a way to pay off her mounting debts. Convicted in 1996 for her nonviolent involvement in a Memphis cocaine trafficking organization, Alice received a life sentence under the mandatory sentencing laws of the time. Locked behind bars, Alice looked to God. Eventually becoming an ordained minister, she relied on her faith to sustain hope over more than two decades—until 2018, when the president commuted her sentence at the behest of Kim Kardashian West, who had taken up Alice’s cause. More ► Authors You Should Know bell hooks bell hooks is a cultural critic, feminist theorist, and writer. the 2 time AALBC.com Bestselling Author is celebrated as one of our nation’s leading public intellectuals by The Atlantic Monthly. She was also voted the #33 Favorite Author of the 20th Century by AALBC visitors. She is a charismatic speaker who addresses topics such as uplifting women, equality for all, and bridging the gap — especially for the ones in the lower end of the economic sphere. She continues to reside in New York City and speaks actively against racism and sexism in America. More ► James Mercer Langston Hughes Langston Hughes, “Poet Laureate of Harlem,” essayist, novelist, playwright, journalist and lyricist was born on February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. Descendant of enslaved African American great-grandmothers and white great-grandfathers who were slave owners and traders. Hughes would become one of the best known and most versatile writers of the artistic movement known as the Harlem Renaissance. Hughes is a 9 time AALBC.com Bestselling Author and was also voted the #9 Favorite Author of the 20th Century by AALBC visitors. More ► Recently Reviewed Books for Younger Readers The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson If you have been searching for a book that will fill a child with the greatest sense of self-worth just for being who they are, then look no further. Talented author, Kwame Alexander has placed the representation bar higher than the stratosphere in his book, The Undefeated. His poetic writing style fuses seamlessly with the bold illustrations of Kadir Nelson. Written as a tribute to his second daughter and the nation’s first African American President, Barack Obama, Alexander wants to inspire all people of color to “keep rising”. Together, these artists have perfectly captured the essence of Black pride. More ► Jake the Fake Goes for Laughs by Craig Robinson and Adam Mansbach, Illustrated by Keith Knight In general, kids enjoy a little something funny and wacky in the books they read to keep them interested until the very end. There is no way to escape from an attack of the giggles in this humorous book, Jake the Fake Goes For Laughs, which is co-authored by musician, comedian and actor Craig Robinson and New York Times best seller Adam Mansbach. This is the second book in the comical series and yet there is no lack of gags to bring on the laughs from young readers. The illustrator, Keith Knight, has managed to make the story even funnier with his zany drawings that only serve to upgrade the entertainment value of this book by tenfold. More ► Upcoming Events The Austin African-American Book Festival – Saturday June 22 Under the theme Making Good on the Promise of Economic Freedom, the festival will highlight Black economic opportunity from the late 19th Century to those present-day millionaires who include celebrities, entrepreneurs and regular hard-working people. Presenters will include Dr. Juliet E.K. Walker, Dr. Dennis Kimbro, A’lelia Bundles, and others. AALBC’s Founder, Troy Johnson has also been invited to discuss self-publishing, marketing, and distribution. Learn ► Prolific AALBC Contributor, Kam Williams, Passes AALBC Mourns the Passing of Kam Williams, May 30, 2019 “AALBC has published almost 900 of Kam’s articles and reviews, over the past two decades, including his popular ‘Blacktrospective,’ Kam’s annual assessment of the best in Black cinema. Kam had a keen insight into the workings of hollywood and was one of the best predictors of who would win the Academy Award — once getting every category right! Kam was a conscious Brother, perhaps the most supportive individual of independent, Black-owned, platforms (newspapers, magazines, websites) than anyone I knew. He would not hesitate to try new things on the web and worked to development alliances between the many platforms he wrote for. He was even willing to work with me on his fee to help keep AALBC growing. It was also not unusual for him to give me a free article, because he wanted to help a writer or someone doing good in our community. I doubt many of these individuals were aware of the impact Kam’s coverage had on increasing their visibility. The AALBC family of readers was blessed by his presence. He will be missed.” —Troy Johnson, AALBC.com Founder (More ►) Hello Troy, If you are in the vicinity of Austin, TX. Independent book websites, like AALBC, can only thrive with your patronage and support. When you discover something of value on AALBC please be sure to share the information with others. If you value what we do, please purchase your subscription to this newsletter. If you have already paid for an annual subscription, thank you on behalf of AALBC and the writers whose work you are helping to support. Peace and Love, Troy Johnson Founder & Webmaster, AALBC.com This email is sponsored by Bloomsbury Publishing Our newsletter may be read on your Kindle ebook reader or via RSS. Consider sponsoring our eNewsletter or a dedicated mailing. ★ AALBC.com eNewsletter – June 4, 2019 - Issue #271