Troy

The man (or men) who raise a boy does not have to be the biological father. Of course in this country most time it is not the biological father. I thought Obama was raised by a grandfather. Yes he was very successful, but based upon your criteria, so was Donald Trump... Any Black man who makes it through life, relatively happy, free of poverty, premature death, and without getting locked up has been pretty successful. I think smart people can have a good debate about this, but I'm leaning toward more harm than good. I doubt we would have had to deal with 4 years of 45 were it not for social media. Is the ability share memes with friends with the trade-off?

I'm checking out, Beautiful Nubia and the Roots Renaissance Band. This was recorded in a book store and record shop in Lagos Nigeria, The Jazzhole. It represents what a Black-owned bookstore can be in the United States. I had the opportunity to visit the store back in 2009., but have never seen the band.

@Pioneer1 to your points who know how lightly I moderate this forum right. I allow people to say anything they want. What happens to people who say dumb shit like "Black people are immune to covid-19?" Someone corrects them. They are not allowed to say utter nonsense without being challenged. These people always leave on their own and often remove all of their posts on the way out. Twitter's platform does not allow this. On Twitter someone can say Black people are immune to Covid-19 and they would be supported by countless algorithmically driven bot's that amplify and share the message to those most susceptible to believing it while other bots rejects people that would reply with the truth. An estimated two-thirds of tweeted links to popular websites are posted by automated accounts – not human beings. Do you think the way AALBC forums, for example, are moderated protects free speech? Just know that how we operate here is impossible on Twitter and that is the problem. I wish Twitter would just die already.

Perhaps, but they are still fringe -- not nearly representative of all Black people. Sure many of these are gun toters, but the reality is the majority of Americans do not own a gun. Almost 3/4 of American (obviously most of these white) have never even fired a gun. If you listen to the media you'd think all white people are amassing arms to launch another civil war. The media want you on the edge of your seat and scared because that is how they make money. I didn't see any because I did not watch the coverage. I'll read about it later or watch the coverage after journalists have thought about it for more than 5 minutes. As far as Trump supporter go. These are people like the ones who supported the inexperienced Obama -- they just want a government that serves them. The Obama administration bailed out wall street while millions lost their homes. Obama helped ushered in Trump, because Trump represented the change that Obama failed to deliver. I believe it is simple as that. Race is only a factor for some white people, because they have been manipulated into believing it is a factor and are too ignorant to know better. Ignorance is one the rise as people will lose two full years of schooling before the pandemic is over. How many white people willingly laid down their lives to defend a wealthy white man right to defend slavery, when they thought they were fighting for states' rifht or some other bullshit?

The society is much rougher on boys that girls -- especially in the classroom. The impact of single women raising boys can not be ignored either. I believe boys need to be raised by men. Moms are great, but they are not men. Further I doubt boys raised without fathers are as good at fathering as they would have been if they themselves were raised with a mothers and father. Girls raised without fathers are at a disadvantage too. Ask a woman about her relationship with her father, that will often explain a lot about them.... Sure some White (and Black) people believe this, but to assume all do is stereotyping. There is more than enough wealth of everyone -- regardless of ability -- to live a comfortable life in the country. Honestly if I were a multi-billionaire I could not amass so much wealth while so many around me were suffering. Maybe because I've seen so much poverty and I know we have wasted so much human capital because of structural inequities in our culture. No, ignorance is. I know my livelihood is dependent upon the world wide web, but I'm beginning to think society was better off without it, all things considered. We need to figure the WWW technology out because it is killing us

-raising the price of tuition forcing millions of parents and students to go into debt. -using biased admissions polices based upon wealth and nepotism -getting rid of affirmative action for Black white keep in firm y in place for white Specialized schools like Stuyvesant don't even let Black students in any longer the school has over 2,000 students but only lets a handful of Black students in each year. Sure they have an admissions test, but most of the public middle schools in the segregated Black neighborhoods don't prepare students for schools like Stuyvesant or Brooklyn Tech. I used to speak and Brooklyn Tech at Career Day. I would speak to several classrooms and not see a single Black male student. Rich folks are immune to the poor public schools in urban centers because they send their kids to private schools. Yes @Pioneer1 most of these people are white. Again if these white folks were truly racist, why don't they do something about all these poor white people? Why are some white folks so unhappy they they would attempt to overthrow the government. The poor and ignorant people are racist, rich white people are just massing wealth and an alarming rate.

Yesterday Twitter announced they are permanently banning President Trump's Twitter account. After a "close review," Twitter concluded that 45 violated their, "Glorification of Violence policy." Twitter is full of shit. I don't even follow 45 on Twitter, but the stuff I've seen him Tweet over the years has been just as inflammatory. Twitter more than any other social media platform is responsible for the rise of 45, as they provided the platform to amplify his lies and rhetoric. Just how much more money did Twitter make as a direct result of being 45's megaphone? Billions I'm sure. In order to maximize revenue Twitter has taken hands off approach to 45's rhetoric. Maybe Twitter and Trump were working together all along. Twitter's ban of 45's account is too little too late. The damage has been done. Twitter does not have to take responsibility or suffer any consequences. Their management has grown quite wealthy and we are left to suffer the consequences and pay the price. I have more respect for Donald Trump, than I do for Twitter... Sadly, Black people use Twitter a lot and we are overrepresented on the platform as users. I remember thinking #blacktwitter was a new Black-owned social media platform until I learned it was just Black people on Twitter. How well has Twitter served us? I sure Black people would be better off without it. Maybe use the time to read a book...

Stefan you make it sound like it was really a diverse group of people. The Black men present were outliers not representative of the group which was dominated by groups like The Proud Boys, America First, The Oath Keepers, Boogaloo Boys, QAnon (sp?). These folks do shit like blow up federal office buildings and Black churches.

You want the same thing, you want destroy what is left... and rebuild from scratch.

I believe school were better prior to my generation. All things considered. Colleges were cheaper and better. The university system I teach in today used to be free. Today largest universities care more about athletics than teaching... I suspect most people, 60 and older, with a high school education was better educated than someone with a college today.

Yeah I heard of Gaston. Yeah Woods loss was news worthy but this is 2020 and we are stupid and his passing escaped note. I read the Black Enterprise articles shown in the opening post they were so much better than the promotional fluff they publish today. It is sad how much we have lost.

So does @Pioneer1

Yeah but it is ending next week you didn't exactly need a crystal ball for that one... What am I missing?

It is still there in name only. The Harlem people like Tom Wood (R.I.P.) grew up in is long gone -- I never witnessed that Harlem. I'm typing this while in the Greenwood section of Tulsa OK (AKA Black Wall Street). It is "still here" by your definition. Parts of the Bronx were destroyed too like Mott Haven (part of the South Bronx across the bridge from East Harlem),today I could not afford to live there. BTW who is that gentleman you are using as your Avatar now?

On this we can agree!

AALBC's two best years were 2020 and 2019 were under Trump's administration and I got a stimulus check! Here is the kicker: AALBC's worst years including my single worst year, 2011, was during the Obama administration. Obama Cre did nothing for me. Indeed it created a penalty for people who could not afford health insurance. Trump got rid of that stupid tax penalty. Now you got me thinking... Why did AALBC do so much better under a Republican president? Did @daniellegfny have a point? The reality is that the truth is complicated. I know some of the reasons. One, of the top of my head, does have a lot to do with who was in the White House. Still, we need a more stable person to represent us. Hopefully Biden will not put me into the poor house ... seriously.

... an ISBN13 for this one too.

Got it. What about this one (include the ISBN on your website too):

So you see no difference between 4 years of Trump versus 4 years of Obama and as a result are completely indifferent to the two presidences? Pioneer, that kind of absolutism makes no sense because it ignores incremental progress.

Why you keep saying that Harlem wasn't destroyed? I lived through it. Maybe our definition of destroyed is not the same. This was the Harlem I grew up in. This scene was three blocks from where I grew up. I could have easily been one of those boy. The cases two are carrying are trumpets. Back when public schools had musical instruments they would let you take them home to practice. One time this older kid stole mine from me. I chased him and inexplicably he turned around and retuned it to me, patted me on the shoulder and said he was just playing. I later found out that an adult he knew saw what he was doing. The person knew my mother and my mother told me. She told me never to fight someone robbing you. Of course in the streets it is not that simple. No kid in America should have to worry about getting robbed, when I grew up it was a constant threat. Harlem defined urban decay. It was destroyed Brother trust me.

@Pioneer1 why are you dismissing Abram's impact with such ease? Would you have preferred that the two GA Senate have gone to Republicans?

Join Us TODAY! A Conversation on the History of the AABLC and with AALBC Founder Troy Johnson and Filmmaker, Booker T. Mattison at the F.R.E.S.H. Book Festival at 1:00 p.m. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82023234394?pwd=UGlkOGlzQjVIZkkyeHkxNWc5ZXpVZz09

Abrams is playing the long game. Two GA senators is far better for all of us than an state governor. Let's just see what the Democrats do now that they got control of both houses.

@Milton help us booksellers out and always include your book's ISBN.

I have over the years come to have a low tolerance for the so-called news. I'm perfectly content to wait a week or so and read what actually happened rather than the blow by blow. To me it's just a tactic media organizations use to sell more advertising. That said, Trump's behavior in recent days is alarming the reaction of many of our citizens is even more so. Apparently some would really like to see a coup. This is a reflection of the profound dumbing down of our population and/or the critical situation many people feel they are in. @Delano if you are suggesting that your astrological predictions foretold recent events I'll take you at your word. Many pundits have been suggesting that Trump would not leave willingly. To me those predictions were irrelevant because it doesn't matter what he wants he will be removed. As cynical as I am about our country I cannot believe that any attempted coup led by white insurrectionist would prevail. We are better than that despite all of our flaws