Troy

I was not aware of the eclipse—thanks @Chevdove! l also see there will be a total eclipse on my birthday in 2024

It looks like all of them — even psycho and the exorcist.

Where do you find this stuff?

Well there was an agenda crafted, and I’ve shared it here before: The Covenant with Black America. It was an evolving document written and published by Black people which is probably why Obama never showed it any public consideration. There are some people who believe doing what is best for say Amazon or Google is what is best for all of us and by extension, Black people. We have been convinced these companies are great and can do no wrong. However the reality is that they have destroyed diversity, creativity, and independence on the web — especially as it relates to a Black people. This analogy extends to America as a whole.

@Pioneer1 I would have guessed the good professor was here longer too. I guess fondness breeds familiarity. A few claim they do, but no one really remembers their past lives. So for all practical purposes death is death. But to your point maybe we are so murderous now because we believe our victims will be going to heaven

I just like the arc of the story. I'm not suggesting any of it is actually true @Pioneer1, though it is interesting to ponder the idea. If everyone believed it to be true maybe we would behave like it and the world would be a better place.

Never. But you did not need to string the brother up to make the point. The real stroke of genius was the absurdity in what they do in real life is just as absurd as the playground scene.

@nels I've probably actually read more books by Sowell than you have. Was there a specific issue from this book that you would like to discuss?

In this case that is a good thing

We can't have a meaningful conversation if you ignore my questions and make false accusations.

@Maurice I embedded the videos for you. I’m very familiar with both songs but never saw the videos. The one by of Gil Scott was nostalgic for me, because it showed the neighborhood I grew up in during the period I grew up into it. this image, from the video, shows the video from my window. I was a bit higher almost parallel to the train tracks. That is Park Ave in East Harlem. The same park Avenue where very wealthy New Yorkers live, only the train is underground there. The train was so loud and the windows so poorly insulated you could here your self think when the train was going by. @Croocked T any of MJ’s videos are classics, Earth Song was on another level

This page is really just a landing page for the newsletter sent on October 5, 2023. The eBook version of our first published novel Running to Fall is only available from Amazon. If folks are interested, I'll elaborate.

I looked at some of the comments; most seem to be coming from Black people. I wonder if these are real accounts created to stoke controversy. I know there are a lot of fake accounts on Twitter and elsewhere on social media -- no reason this can't be true for YouTube. But are fake account also generating fake video views? It is possible... but seems unlikely as it would be hard to believe that the GOP are that crafty. Plus, they would have to use this technique at scale to have an impact. I've so much BS on the web I'm admittedly jaded.

That makes sense @ProfD. So, on some level, I've fed into the GOP's agenda

This is a 50 sec clip from an hour-long interview from with Dr. Claud Anderson and The Breakfast Club, that I uploaded to YouTube in January of 2020. I'm sharing it here, because it has been watched 33K times -- virtually all of those view have been within that past 30 days -- more than 1,000 views a day! There is always a reason for when something goes low-key viral. I don't know what it is, but if you have any theories please share.

@Delano I missed your question from two years ago. Yes, that was Morrison, West, and Sanchez. They were at an event hosted by the Center for Black Literature in Brooklyn @Croocked T thanks for sharing your experience. I was never smart enough to get social to work for me -- maybe I never spent enough. I've spent even less on Google advertising. I really on organic traffic, sadly Google controls that too... The problem with the social media advertising for a site like mine is that I'm selling inexpensive low margin products, books. Still people may discover a book here, but turn around and buy it at Amazon. The other problem is once you stop adverting all that traffic you've paid for disappears. I'm working on a website upgrade that I hope will convert more people when they do visit the site and drive more traffic. The advertising situation has not gotten any better. Fortunately, I have ability to sell ads directly. I'm still always at Google's mercy when it comes to traffic as they control my organic traffic with their search engine. At the end of the day I have to rely on people -- they are the only grace.

It is really hard to craft a good short story. I though this one was fascinating.

@Niccolo Machiavelli I had to think about your question: As @Pioneer1 mentioned other groups have them, of course. A prominent leader of Chinese people is Xi Jinping. You can of course look to heads of State of Arab and Spanish countries for their respective leaders. You can also look to the captains of industry in those countries for more examples. The ADOS or Foundational Black does not have this. We have no country we can point to. Even when we had a Black head of state here in America he made it crystal clear that he was not the president of black people. All of the true leaders, not the ones white folks propped up for us, but the true leaders, and organizations, were systematically eliminated or marginalized. We are desperate for leadership because as group we need it and there is a void. Many of us work very hard, but we do so independently, without the benefit of cohesive, collective Black support. We need the “white co-sign” to do anything at scale. @ProfD references this when he talks about being on code. We can’t be on code, because the best and brightest of us are trying to get the white co-sign—a perfectly rational goal if you want to make it in America. Between our individual pursuit of the white co-sign and the ongoing assault against meaningful Black leadership, the best we can hope for is a Brother Al or a Kanye West, these are the folks invited to the White House to speak for Black Americans right?

@Pioneer1 yes, no graphic violence. When they tied the guy up to the swing I thought that was brilliant!

Same here when that old lady cut loose with “nigger” out the gate I was fully engaged. It was as if Aunt Bee from the Andy Griffith Show got to speak the way she would if she really was from a small town outside of Raliegh. NC in the 1950s. Back to your idea. You also need a critical mass of people participating to keep it going. At least 10 or more cause people will not make every movie and will fall off… You’d have to do some recruiting. once people see it is fun more we’ll join.

Sure I can set up a forum for that. But that can be set up in a zoom (or similar platform) and someone can share their screen from a streaming service and talk about it in the chat windows of the platform. If the film is streaming for free on YouTube this will probably not be a technical issue, could be one with their tend if service. I dunno. Or we can just agree on the film and watch it on our own time and talk about it on the forum. This will make it far easier. I prefer this method not curse it is easier, but I don’t wanna be commenting on a film while I trying to watch it.

we spend too much time doing the entertaining. But that is the easiest way to get rich in this raciest country, so I get it. I saw ice cube on Sesame Street the other day. He like ice t, snoop, Dre, etc are mainstream now… if Tupac and Biggie lived long enough they would be too.

i thought it was a good film

I’m about 3/4 of the wsy through the film and am enjoying it. I’m have more respect for Shatner’s acting ability. some other guy Nicollo or something disparaged Sharpton in another conversation. Another questioned the relevance of the concept of a black leader. Both were valid comments. i never said anything about the effectiveness of Sharpton leadership or the strength of it. I was just indicating of all the people out there he is the only one trying with a platform who has mainstream media’s attention. Is he MLK or Malcom X? heck no. my main point is that the black community is essentially leaderless. Not the NAACP or the Black church’s various factions speak for black people. maybe that leadership is impossible. maybe it is unnecessary. I’m any event it is absent. however Al Sharpton is about as close as you can get. How about Oprah?

@Niccolo Machiavelli, Leader of the black community. Do you need directions?