Troy

I meant Jamaican Moroons. Even the spell check does not want us to talk about Moroons. FAS I would stop short of calling entire article as ridiculous, even if every point of contention you shared is correct. The article was primarly about the Moroons who suvived in the swamps of VA. Did you have any issues with that?

Interesting article. I was aware of Jamaican Mormons, but did nit realize there was such a large community of Maroons in America.

I did not say we were free. Indeed your arguement reflects the lack of freedoms we have. Though some of us are more free than others. Closeted gay people are not free. People telling me who i can marry, what my gender is, what my sexual expression must look like, are trying to take my freedom.

Have you raised any kids? This is not something that you can KNOW until you actually do it. Spouses flake out, some kids are actually very challenging, then there are jobs losses, pandemics, etc, etc. I do however agree completely with the spirot of your statement. It always boggled my mind why so many guys have children by so many women and don't live with any of their kids. Why do so many women have kids by multiple men who, based upon their behavior, have demonstrated they have no problem not being in their children's lives. Some men/women seemingly have no problem with this while others find it unconscionable. Surely women knowingly having kids by men they know will not raise of them are aware their lives will be much harder. Is it because they know no ither way?

Sure a lot of children are born into sub optimal conditions. What do you propse we do about it?

Yes, it is called freedom. Sure, but not rigidly defined by you (or someone else) in every aspect of our lives. If someone who presents as what you understand as being white has one Black grandparent and was raised by that Grandparent and self identifies as Black, what gives anyone the right to say they can't.

@daniellegfny in response to my question, "What type of environment do you live in where you feel you have to carry a gun for self defense?" You wrote:

@daniellegfny I'm truly sorry you feel that way about this country. I've lived in several American cities and have visited every state and virtually all the major cities. Despite my numerous complaints, this country has a LOT going for it. The physical beauty and diversity is unparalleled. The place is, despite your beliefs, safe, and we enjoy freedoms other countries simply don't have -- though many of us take for these for granted or abuse them. I hope you never have to pull out your gun on someone ... the reality is that you almost certainly won't have to. Those who do are, more often than not, making a grave mistake.

@Pioneer1 yes i get what you are doing, but who cares what Fox news says good, bad, or indifferent? Trump has said or done things that I agree with, but that does not mean I'd ever condider him a source of trustworthy information. Get it?

I don't watch Oprah either. Her program is not targeted to mature heterosexual Black men ... very little is.

Whatever the society says it about, which is different based when and where. I go with however the individual self identifies. If Carol Channing said she was Black that would suit me just fine.

Her reaction was not the result of anything that happened on the plane. Many of us are under increased levels of stress nowadays plus she is a Black woman in America. I'm suprised Black women don't snap more often. White guys snap regularly, get guns, a try to kill everybody. Has a Black ever did that?

I'm sure you and @Pioneer1 will come to a meeting if minds here. I hope so. The world is not just hetero any more than it is made up of multiple races.

I revisited the article to see what the reactions to my comment about linking to the Black-owned bookseller sites instead of bookshop.org. The entire comment section, along with my comment was completely removed! I guess I should be happy Oprah mag did not completely nix AALBC from the article. I tell you it is a constant struggle... A Luta continua.

Humm... this is the 2nd time in recent days I wrongly attributed a quote to someone else that Pioneer1 made -- sorry about that. Being Black is not about genetics. This is not a belief, but a fact. If you reject facts everything you believe is suspect, like your belief in a "genicidal plot." I doubt you can find, in 2020, a photo like the one you shared because kids don't play in playgrounds any more, not because tbey have all been killed off.

You understand my point and disagree with it, because you refuse to see the conflict in your position. I don't watch fox news for the same reason i dont watch TMZ. I'm going by what YOU said about Fox and found it odd and contradictory that you would cite them as evidence of something true.

Since when did that stop you. Give your response.

@Dee Miller I was assuming, based upon what you wrote, The only explanation I could come up with was the one you provided -- that you simply do not live around as many dark skinned children as you did when you were a kid. There is no reason to believe the are fewer dark skinned children around today. Is there? Sounds like we have similar backgrounds Dee what projects did you grow up in?

Guest FAS, i suspect you comment was fir another conversation but we were talking about who sucessful Black WOMEN chose to marry not men. I basically agree with you @Pioneer1 I used to believe I had to keep up with pop culture in order to relate better to young people or participate in water cooler conversations. Over the years I found this was not necessary.

TMZ is an example of a platform I actively ignore. Do they publush anything that nourishes the mind? Of course I remember the other woman in the video. I just never heard of her. Considering she is as popular as you say I'm doing a pretty good job avoiding too much nonsense.

Welcome to the forum @Ann Bray Smith! I want to demonstrate, than when you post a link to a YouTube video you are presented with the option of having it embedded. Below is one of your promotional videos. Also take advantage of the description and titles fields on YouTude. For example, in the description field you have "Video Ad 2" Use that space to provide a detailed description of your video. It is helpful to viewers and, just as important, search engines.

"Now, almost 100 years later, this stellar collection has been reissued as Voices of the Harlem Renaissance. Its publication heralds today’s literary renaissance with the anti-racist movement sparked by the protests against police brutality after the world witnessed the murder of George Floyd." Tragically, the owner of the small press who produced this book died earlier in the year. The family has decided to shut the company down. This week I sold a box of these books and have one more box left. I'm not sure I'll be able to get any more and I don't know what the print run. At 14 bucks this autographed (by Troy Johnson, not Alain Lock 😉) hardcover is a great value, and it is only available from AALBC, not Amazon or my new arch-enemy Bookshop.org LOL!

Every single book on AALBC is actually presented on multiple pages. Here is the link for Mitchell Jackson's book Survival Math, you will be taken to the book's primary page where you will see a big red “Add to Cart” button: You can also use the search engine to search for a title, like Survival Math or an author like Mitchell Jackson. If you are a bit more technical you can craft your own AALBC query in your browser address bar by just typing https://aalbc.com/search.php?find=what you are looking for. For example https://aalbc.com/search.php?find=daniellegfny

Bookshop.org has exploited the recent desire of readers to support Black-owned indie booksellers. Many Black-owned independents were unable to sell books on the web, or scale up to meet the increase in demand, by readings interested in supporting Black-owned bookstores on the heals of the George Floyd public execution. Bookshop.org; through deceptive and misleading tactics have managed to convince too many book buyers that by buying books through Bookshop.org that they are supporting Black-owned independent booksellers. One example, was the case where Oprah Magazine published an article in which 12 popular authors mentioned their favorite Black-owned bookstore. The article also mentioned books published by the authors. Orpah Magazine provided buy links for these book -- to the author's favorite bookstore -- instead the article linked to Bookshop.org -- failing to benefit a single Black-owned store with new business, but sending that business to benefit white-owned bookstores! Obviously Oprah Magazine was attempting to support the Black-owned booksellers. AALBC was one of the favorite bookstores mentioned. How did Oprah Magazine fail? It is easy to understand, because Bookshop deliberately misleads the public. They are making a of money as a result -- much of this revenue coming at the expense of web Black-owned booksellers with websites. This used to be called carpetbagging. Bookshop claims they share a portion of their revenues with indie booksellers, but the vast majority of these stores are white owned. Look, there is nothing inherently wrong with a white-owned business supporting other white owned business; this is America after all 😉 Where I have a serious problem is Bookshop.org positioning themselves as helping Black-owned booksellers. Bookshop does not help Black-owned booksellers. Bookshop is doing everything in their power to take profits from brick and mortar independents and to kill web based booksellers, like AALBC. Bookshop made their intentions crystal clear when said they would share profits from sales with ABA members, who are virtually all white, except AALBC.com! They excluded AALBC.com on the grounds that AALBC is a online only bookseller. At the time, I did not fully appreciate what this meant, because Bookshop.org was new and we were months away from the incredible show of support readers have shown Black-owned booksellers. Bookshop.org has benefited more than any Black-owned independent bookstore, during this period of social unrest, because they are slick. They preyed upon, and exploited Black-owned stores without significant web presence. I currently boycott Amazon, but Bookshop is worse than Amazon, because Amazon makes their goal plain -- maximizing profits. Bookshop's mission is based upon making the public believe they are a conscious alternative to Amazon and supportive of Black-owned independents. They are not. Bookshop.org is another web-based bookseller who has cleverly exploited a gimmick to make buyers believe they are supportive of all other indie booksellers. I will use my platforms and influence to make sure my customers (readers, authors, and publishers) understand that supporting Bookshop in NOT a substitute for support indie web-based booksellers -- certainly not AALBC.

Man you don't know anything about being transported in the hull of a slave ship. Stop frontin'. I'd agree Americans are all are victims of indoctrination. Some if us can't get enough of it if Americas indoctrination. I choose to ingnore most of it and promote alternatives namely the world of Black books. To be clear, are you equating the acquisition of great wealth, through evil deeds, with a high level of intelligence? Does this mean that the victims of these evil wealth creators are less intelligent?