Troy

Actually my initial reaction was that it has something to do with sexuality too. I think it is is a stupid term. I'm not a fan of People of Color either and don't use that term, because it is so broad as to be meaningless. If the term "POC" means non-white people just say that, because in my mind people of color should include white people right? POC does not exclude white or rather pink people. Adding "Black" to POC is superfluous and the "Indigenous" part just seems to come our of left field. Again the event was promoting a Junetheenth celebration which commemorates the end of slavery for Black people, or more appropriately the ADOS -- not BIPOC.

While your personal experience important to you it still can't not be used to judge broad swaths of people. Your personal observation are anecdotes. Knowing that a moving vehicle may kill you, if you step in front of it, is entirely different than knowing if the white Guy with the MAGA hat will. We have 100% knowledge of the car even before we see it. You can never truly know how the white guy will behave -- even if you know him. You can't possible know this. Again just because you believe it based upon your limited experience does not make it true for the whole. Do you also believe Jews are smarted than everyone, that Chinese people are good at math, and Black people are the best athletes? Stereotypes persist because people are lazy it is easier to hold onto preconceived ideas rather than actually treating people as individuals. Being based in truth and actually being true are too different things. As far as penis sizes, I actually have not seen too many, and I've never seen a Chinese penis. How did you come to see so many penises that you can, so confidently, draw conclusions about their relative lengths? 😲 ...that is unless you can show me the data.

@Pioneer1 you've made very broad generalizations about people based only on their skin color. This is sterotyping people and prejudicial. This is the exact same reasoning the white supremacist uses. All of the characteristics you've ascribed to white people are characteristics Black people have and vice versa. Again, you believe this because people perpetuate and internalize that stereotype. Because people hold on to stereotypes does not make them true, but i guess it does form their reality.

The following sentence was in an email I received this morning promoting a virtual Juneteenth celebration: "We are outraged by the legacy of racism in the United States and we actively protest the use of absurd and needless violence against BIPOC." I was like, "BIPOC," what heck is that? I had to look it up because presumably I'm one since it was used in an email addressed to me. After looking it up, I decided it is an acronym I will never use.

Today (June 19, 2020), in celebration of Juneteenth, when you make any á la carte audiobook purchases, including gifts, or start a new membership through Libro.fm, 100% of your payment will be shared equally between all Black-owned partner bookstores. Sign up here: https://libro.fm/aalbc Payment to partners are expected to be in the 4 figure range. Can you believe it!

I listened to all of Fullers opening remarks and to his responses to a few of the questions. It was interesting but I was surprised by how much I disagreed with him. @Pioneer1 if you like to select a few of his points I'll explain why. I'll ask you one. Fuller says there is nothing about Black culture today that anyone would want to adopt. Do you agree with that Conversely, the presumption based upon Fuller's observations above is that everything about white culture is worth emulating. Do you agree with that? If so, what those characteristics be?

Pioneer there is nothing that science that will change the "natural" role of men and women when it comes to procreation. As far as defenders you and I both know there are some women who would be much better defenders than some men. Natural defenders has as much to do with characteristics that go beyond one's gender. Didn't you watch Black Panther 😉? The neighborhood I live in, indeed the ones many, if not most, American's live in do not have "thugs, gangsters, and savages" in them. So what you are saying will not resonate with a lot of people -- even Black ones. Sure, I've seen the characters you describe on TV, on programs like The Wire, but most people don't live in those conditions -- in fact, most people in Baltimore don't live in those conditions. ...But the civil war you speak of is already underway. Look at our political system and how fractured it is. Look at the alternative universes of Fox News and MS NBC. Maybe you are right about a 2nd civil war, but the 2nd war will be fought with technology manipulating minds and behavior not with guns.

Reading the dialect, the way it was written, is perfectly acceptable. Indeed, it is encouraged. Enjoy!

By the way what are the "NATURAL" roles that you speak of for men and women. Are my roles as educatore, webmaster, bookseller, and nice guy natural for a man? I thought he hacked your account for a second LOL! Prophecized by whom, Nostradamus? What will be the factions of white people who will fight each other? It is not like the slave states taking up arms against the federal government. Will it be the Alt-right against the LGBTQIA+, the Republicans against the Democrats, or some other groups?

Oh, OK, you had be worried there. I thought you were talking genocide or something else crazy. Seriously stress has different effects on people and some are under more stress than others. I've observed some really strange behaviors from people I'm aquainted with.

Wait, what? Are you talking about removing white people from America, Earth? What are you talking about? Whatever it is lets try to keep it within the universe of possibilities.

Yep that is pretty much what I mean.... Pioneer the America you seek does not exist. Women can vote and we may even see one as POTUS or Vice President in our life time. Today women can serve in the armed forces and drop bombs from drones on innocent people, or stand idly by, as police officers, while another Black man is murdered. Today, men are just women who are missing vaginas. Get used to it buddy. I'm sure the non-binary movement has you shacking in your boots huh 😉

I was sitting on a beach with a friend who once told me that the beach we were sitting on, before the casinos came, was called "Chicken Bone" beach. I thought she was joking. Many years later Atlantic City was a place we discussed reverse gentrifying now that is it not nearly as popular (expensive) as it once since casinos are everywhere now.

@Pioneer1 I think you need to leave Detroit. The Black men you are apparently being exposed to are not representative of the Black men I most frequently encounter. Here is the south, I'm pretty confident most Black men own a gun and would have no problem hunting down a pack of wild dogs terrorizing local children. Some men are raised by single women, but most go on a do fine -- perhaps not optimal, but a far cry from the blubbering whims you've describe in great detail. Lets focus on the positive brothers doing the right thing for the women, families, and communities. 🙂

Authors have compiled a public spreadsheet detailing the advances. According to Publishers Weekly, National Book Award-winner Jesmyn Ward, wrote: "Even after Salvage the Bones won the NBA [National Book Award], my publishing company did not want to give me 100k for my next novel. My agent and I fought and fought before we wrestled our way to that number." That is remarkable.

Well @Pioneer1 as Black men, of a certain age, it is a shared experience, so I'm not surprised by the 100% agreement. As we get older we, as a group, despite our numbers will be marginalized even more. Is respect your elders even a thing any more? Who is writing novels that speak to the middle-aged, or senior Black male experience? I'll wait ...

Housekeeping: @Madinah S. If you post with one of you approved account, and not as a guess like your last post, I'll delete the other two accouts. Still there is a problem on my side people are not getting account approval notifications, which is a serious problem, that I'm eorking to correct now.

Five minutes after Affirmative Action was put into place Black people (especially men) were marginalized. It became a fight for "diversity" which means everybody (gays, white women, the handicapable, Asians, Latinx, etc, etc) except white men. Black people have been lost in the diversity sauce because we no longer fight in unity. Black women fight for women's rights, the Black folks in the LGBT+ community fight those battles, and so on. Divide and conquer... All the fight for diversity has done is enrage white boys, many of whom despite their white privileged are struggling and further marginalizes Black people -- the ones who Affirmative Action was purported designed to benefit. As a result, white boys elected 45. Meanwhile Black men's graduation rates have declined relative to all other groups, incarceration rates have exploded, and our murders by police are revenue generating prizes for the media. The Black Power movement has been co-opted and watered down in more ways than I can count. Back on the plantation, Amazon proudly flies the Black liberation flag with total impunity inside the big house, while treating Black workers like sharecroppers and doing everything they can to either put Black-owned online retailers out of business, or completely control their sales channels to consumers.

True but this is largely because we have been excluded from enjoying the fruits of our labor. I can't tell you how many times I have a conversation with a "Afro-American" who was born here but descent of slaves from the Caribbean or South America. Most of the Negros do not identify as American. Instead they embrace, quite fervently, the colonized national identity of the island or portion of the land mass created by whatever European nation conquered their ancestors. For course I understand this as tied directly to ethnicity. So if a Brooklyn born Jamaican wants to self identify as Jamaican, you can't force them to embrace and self-identify as Afro-American just because you think it is more accurate -- despite the fact that the alt-right don't give a damn where you come from if you are "Black." Seen, roots?

True. I still use both "Negro" and "Afro-American" generally for effect to highlight those use use antiquated ideas. But this term is not very accurate because every person in America or who has every lived here is of African ancestry. Am I wrong? -------- Sidebar: @Madinah S. actually has two accounts (@Madinah Slaise) The vast majority of accounts that are created are never used. There are several new accounts created each day, but rarely are they used. Most of the guest posters have accounts even @QueenX who has several but always posts as a guest. Maybe there is a problem using the accounts -- that I'm not aware of. Madinah did you get the confirmation that your account was approved? This is is important because this may be effecting participation if confirmation emails are not going through.

I don't believe there is term that perfectly describes all the brown people of African descent, who are American citizens, that everyone would embrace. @Pioneer1 likes "Afro-American," to me that sounds antiquated, like "Negro." ADOS (African Decendant of Slaves) is another term, but I'm not a fan of it because not every Black person here in America is a descendant of an enslaved African. Despite our internal diversity, what we universally share is oppression due to the color of our skin. "Black" works not so much for how it describes us, but what it represents, a people with a rich history, culture, and civilization going back thousands of years before the first caucasian emerged from a cave.

Hi @Mel Hopkins no book seller, I have spoken to, has ever witnessed anything like this before. I was not totally prepared for the surge in books orders -- no one could have anticipated that kind of demand. It put an strain on the entire book distribution chain no one is unaffected not even the big "a." But you are right I was in a position to quickly scale to demand. The things I had working for me was, The website was prepared for the traffic. Thanks to a surge in traffic last year I was forced to upgrade my web server. I ditched Amazon and began selling books directly (many new customers stated they chose AALBC because they'd rather support an indie book seller over Amazon) I simply would not have gotten the extra sales if I were still an Amazon affiliate. Access to credit. I could have brought a couple automobiles with what I spent on books in the last 10 days. I was able to hire help quickly. I had the time and energy to do this work. I worked every day since since May 28 at least 12 hours per day. One evening I had a few friends and tomorrow I'm taking completely off -- but that was it. Yesterday I didn't even take time for dinner. I'm technically capable and was able to quickly make changes to the website, like adding a feature to say when a book would be available. Most of the problems I encountered was simply the availability of books. Because of the pandemic, some books that are still in print, are simply unavailable to me. Some publisher have been shut down until March. Distributors, printers, shipping companies are strained. this all effects booksellers. Virtually every customer has been completely understanding -- it has been amazing. I do have to say there was once customer that gave me some grief.... A month after their order shipped (before the surge), I gave the customer their tracking code. They emailed and called complaining that their book has not yet arrived. They should have gotten it in about a week (it was shipped media). The tracking number indicated that the USPS lost the book in transit. This is info the customer could easily see for themselves. I was unaware of the lost package, because once I provide a tracking number I leave it up to the customer to get back to me. Now during the pandemic everything is slower and lost packages happen occasionally. The customer was sent a new book, but they had to feed me the classic line, "This is why I don't like to deal with own-Black businesses." I know... I was floored too! I explained to the customer that you can't judge all Black-owned business based upon this single transaction with AALBC -- especially when the problem was caused by the United States Postal Service and I made good on the order. If just seems to me that Black business are held to a much higher standard. Literally every other customer has been a blessing. I was selling a hardcover of So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, but the hardcover is unobtainable right now. I went back to customers, and offered to send them the paperback version instead, with a $10 refund for the difference. To a person they all said, "Keep the $10 we wanna support!" I could not believe it.

The Caldecott Medal, established in 1938. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. The award was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. Perhaps this explains why, in 83 years of handing out the award, only 4 Black illustrators have won the medal. OK, that last sentence was a bit snarkier than necessary, but let's be clear, the reason so few Black illustrators have been honored with this award is racism. Racism is so deeply embedded in our culture that the white world of publishing did not see fit to publish many books featuring Black characters. When they did the illustrators were often white. In the rare instance when a book illustrated by a Black person was published, it was obviously not considered worthy of the award. One of the white artists included on my list is the prominent illustrator, of books featuring Black children, Ezra Jack Keats. Keats's is included on my list, because books by white writers of the Black experience are important too -- I still remember the first time I saw the book a Snowy Day (which won the medal in 1963) and how excited I was. Keats would go on to be honored again, in 1970, years before a Black illustrator was recognized. Indeed the first Black person did not win a Caldecott medal until 1977 when the husband and wife duo of Leo & Diane Dillon shared the Medal for Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions -- a full 40 years after the award first bestowed! There have only been four Black Caldecott Meal winners in the history of the award: Kadir Nelson (2020), Javaka Steptoe (2017), Jerry Pinkney (2010), and Leo & Diane Dillon (twice 1977 & 1976) Nelson and Pinkeny have been honored by Association for Library Service to Children more than an other Black artist, perhaps more than any artist (I did not research this). They have each either won the Medal or Honor (the honor is sort of like being a runner up) three times. A Black woman has never won the Medal, though a few, three to be precise, have received a Caldecott Honor: Oge Mora (2019) Ekua Holmes (2016) Faith Ringgold (1993) Historically, the Caldecott awards have largely over looked Black artists. But things have absolutely changed in recent years. As they have changed with so many book awards in recent years. More than half of the Caldecott Honors and Medals, that were given to Black children book artiists, were given in the last 10 years. In 2020, the Medal was given to Kadir Nelson and two of the three Honors went to Daniel Minter and Rudy Gutierrez! Things have changed. Publishers are now publishing more books featuring Black characters, that are also written and illustrated by Black people. Black illustrators are finally being published and recognized for their talent! We are living in a historic period right now, at least as far as children's literature is concerned. Will it last? The publishing industry is notoriously fickle when it comes to Black books. Urban Fiction was selling like hot cakes a few years ago. Before that, chick-lit was popping. We've seen the the popularity of detective novels rise and wane. I'm sure many of you remember the erotica we could not buy enough. There is still demand for all of these genres as there always was for children's literature it, but big publishers are simply publishing less of it. At this instance, books dealing with racism is the rage, at least until the media move on to the next shiny object... One clever publisher even created a board book book on racism book for toddlers. They are working it! In fact, the author, Ibram X. Kendi has every age group covered when it comes to dealing with racism, or "antiracsim" as he curiously calls it: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning for or middle grade/ Young adult readers) How to Be an Antiracist (one of the most popular books in AALBC ever) Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America At the end day, the question remains: what will we do when the major publishers move on from children's books written and illustrated by Black people? Will we wring our hands and lament the dearth of books featuring Black children and stories again, or will we do something about it ourselves? *Notes: I did the research to come up with these names of Black illustrators for this article, by reviewing the 83 year history of the Caldecott Medal. There is a possibility that I missed a name or two. The information provided on the award's website does not include photos of the illustrators or identify them by their race. As far as I know, AALBC is the only web which has attempted to do this, as we (i.e. me) has with many other awards. If you find any omissions please let me know. My list of Caldecott Medal winners and honorees includes some non-black winners, including Ezra Jack Keats and Gerald McDermott.

The words are not synonymous. Black is a superset of African American. For example Nigerians are Black, but not African-American. Both terms are imperfect. No human is black in complexion. Is a white South African immigrant living in Chicago an African American? On AALBC, we capitalize Black when referring to people in articles we publish.