Troy

When I say "we" I mean the people. Without our participation all social media would be worthless. we are the ones who provide the value -- the only have they have. We can take it away if we simply chose to do it. I remember when I first heard about "Black Twitter." Stupid me started search for a Twitter-like website owned and operated by Black people. I was disappointed when I found out it was just a term describing Black people's outsized presence on Twitter. I thought I'd found empowerment and ownership and I got was proud sharecropping.

I'm feeling the effects of both the digital divide and net neutrality. Are you? I teach at one of the colleges of a major university; all the university's classes have been converter to online. Many of the students simply cannot easily engage in online courses, because they simply do not have own a computer with high speed access to the internet. Most access the internet with a smartphone. The closure of schools, libraries, cafes, and other venues that provided free internet access has effectively eliminated all sources of alternative access. Given the 3 million+ new filers for unemployment. those with access will be under increased difficulty to continue paying for it. Last year I tried to reduce my expenses -- across the board. The lowest I could get my cell phone bill was $35 and my internet access (no TV) is $65. $100 a month without income is major expense. Of course many people spend much more. Even for those of us with internet access, there is no guarantee that we will be able access the websites we need to access. Service providers are now free to throttle back on speed of access to websites. I know over the last week my ability to access my website has been greatly reduced. Indeed I'm writing this note while waiting to access my database up update my site (it just not timed out). This type error never happened before. I'll try again and I maybe I'll be able to connect and maybe I won't. I assure you we will have no issues accessing the Google, Amazon, and Facebook's websites -- I don't care who the service provider is. I've been having trouble accessing Netflix via Spectrum and have had much better luck with accessing it via Sprint using my cell phone's data network (then chromecast the program to my TV). In many instances I just give up on trying to watch watching Netflix. The repeal of Net Neutrality was a travesty of justice, and the fact that high speed Internet access is not treated like a utility is obscene. Today a handful of companies completely control our access to the internet. Poor and struggling people are left out in the cold. The internet for them is smartphone access to social media. I guess that was the goal all along. Let me see if I can get into my database now....

Releasing prisoners into a world where 3,000,000+ people just filed for unemployment and everything is closed would probably cause even more problems. I suspect most of these people really should not have been locked up in the first place. Releasing people into the world under ideal conditions is hard, but releasing them into 45's coronavirus apocalypse could be disastrous.

Hi @Walkman93 I recently struggled with defining the children's books for this website: https://aalbc.com/content.php?title=Target+Age+Group+Description+for+Children%26rsquo%3Bs+Books Is the book written from the 16 year old girl's perspective, in a 16 year old voice? If so, YA. If it is an adult, or and an adult looking back at her 16-year-old self, then adult. Generally writers start out knowing who their intended audience is -- not after the book is written 😉 Why are you torn now? Is it a market driven concern? Adults can and do enjoy reading YA literature and teens often read books written for adults, so don't sweat it too much. Talk to writers/editors/agents of YA literature.

Lol! Okay, okay. We are in the midst of the great reverse migration. It is why places like Detroit are losing population and places like Charlotte and ATL are bursting at the scenes. Oh I was thinking a program that brocast shows like that regularly must have been incredible, but I see this was a "special." The YouTube channel showing programs show a lot of movies and TV shows outting their logo on the videos. I can believe they hold the copyright.

Lord help us...

Neanderthals are extinct and homo Sapiens are one species (by definition) and is the only human species running around today. Yeah i don't know what "YDNa hormone" is but a males have a Y chromosome. Indeed that is what makes us male. Again this has nothing to do with Melanin... Chevdove I know you have nothing but goid intentions, but If we can't agree on the most basic facts we can't have a conversation on this subject.

Yes, it is a jacked up position to be in. They've lied so much overvthe ceruries you'd be a fool not to assume they are lying when they say anything. "White man speak with forked tongue." Still, I trust them on vaccines because we've seen polio, whooping cough and other diseases disapoear ... at least until recently. I also believe Covid19 is real too. Mainly because the alternative theories seem too far fetched to me.

Lol! OK sorry. The hip-hop museum never really got off the ground. In the early days of Harlem's revitalization a lot of businesses got tax breaks and money. Much of it was sqandered... I dunno all the details (or really what happened), but the physical space is a Buffalo Wild Wings. I saw there is a hip-hop museum in the Bronx, arguably the best location for it. Dude Arthea Franklin (in case you don't know who the queen of soul is) was born in Memphis. she lived diwn the street from the Stax Museum, home of the best funk studio band ever assembled.

I know someone in Detroit who has the virus. The person is Black and has symptoms. To Kareem's point: 10's of thousands of people died from the flu last year. Why doesn't the the country lose their shit over that? The government's failure to communicate the difference between the seasonal flu and covid19 is a big problem. The government's failure to stop the sale of cigarettes which kills even more people is criminal. We know tobacco lobbyists are the reason. The idea the people don't take vaccines, covid19, or man made climate change seriously is completely understandable. Now if large numbers of white people distrust the government why should ANY Black people trust the U.S. government?

You never heard of Stax? The Staple Singers, Isaac Hayes, the Queen of Soul... Memphis woul be a great place Do Black people still live in Compton? Ladtbtime I was there it was mostly Mexicans. Harlem had a hip-hop museum it lasted about 5 seconds. A couple few seconds less than the Black bookstore. Problem with it being in Detroit is ... well ... it is Detroit. 😞

Ok we need to distinguish the parent company from the website or mobile application. Alphabet and Amazon are far more diverse with multiple monopolies. They will need to be broken up. Facebook and Twitter are far more vulnerable as they are dependent upon their social platforms, which we really control. Twitter is far more vulnerable that Facebook.

Perhaps. But I think Black people will eventually see the light. Also the under 30 crowd really does not use Twitter it's us ole headz that use it. I take unscientific polls every years with my students (~100 , 18 to 30 year olds) and Twitter lags behind all other social platforms including TicToc and Snapchat. Instagram is what my students use most. After 45 is out of office Twitter's days are really numbered. I give Twitter 5 years before they become as relevant as MySpace. I agree. I also have faith that it will happen... eventually.

I've been to Hong Kong (not really China) and Japan several times. I did not experience a stitch of racism and I traveled off the beaten path in both places by myself. I have however experienced blatant racism from Chinese people in NYC. In fact, I've experienced more racism in New York City than anywhere else on the planet. Of course most of this is due to sending so much more time in New York City than anywhere else. Again, people are not inherently racist ... perhaps many Americans are, but given our history of racism what do you expect?

I agree on the consequences (job loss, lack of accumulated wealth, fear mongering, etc). Where we differ is on the causes of these consequences. Because we disagree on the root causes, our approaches for dealing with the situation will differ. Fundamentally we have to look out for ourselves and our own first. However, for a society as large and complex as ours we can not hope to survive unless we all work together. This of course is exceedingly difficult today because we live in different realities with differing truths.

I did not say I was afraid. I'm concerned though, because there is indeed a disconnect between what we are being told and the government's reaction. Kareem you ask questions that are impossible to answer or unreasonable. This question, for example, presumes all Asians and White think identically, which obviously they don't. Of course I disagree with the statement; it is illogical to agree with it.

Kareem these statements are ludicrous on their face. I point them out because they weaken your arguement. When you ask questions about "race," it is difficult to understand what you mean. I know it is difficult to accept, but there is only one race. There are very dark skinned people with straight hair and light skinned people with nappy hair. Race, as I believe you understand it, is not a function of nationality. When you mix nationality (Mexican), with ethinicty (Arab) and a meaninglessly broad term like "America Indian" you make things more convoluted. People are not nearly as phenotypically homogeneous as your comments imply. You would not say Americans have sun resistant skin why make that claim for Mexicans or Arabs? Everyone is differnt Kareem, and that makes us all special.

@Kareem ok 🙂 45 is POTUS, people eschew vaccinations, and believe climate change and Coronavurus are hoaxes because people don't trust the government ... I can't say that I blame them. Your life.

Ok, but I still think Black people should stop using Twitter. It is not an either or proposition; we can do both. The social media sites will defintely not make it 50 years. If those sites go beyond 20 I'll be surprised. Google as we know it today will change as well, companies like Google and Amazon will have to be broken up.

That was some TV show! How often did it broadcast?

Sure, a consequence of opperating in a historically white racist society. Why sue Twitter? Stop using it. Black people disproportionately use Twitter and complain about it's biases. The solution is simple -- stop using it! They'll go out of business or change. Google unfortunately is a monopoly so the same tactic would notas easily as it would with Twitter.

No, there is a world of difference between homo erectus and homo sapiens. I doubt anyone could today could even breed with erectus if they were not extinct. Of course they feel threatened. It is really interesting that you've grouped Asians in as "honory white people" to make your argument. You also left out the fact the countries on Africa are taking precautions too.

That is like saying Black people are suspect to myopathy and osteoporosis because they can not get Vitamin D as easily as white people from the sun. Melanin (or lack of it) is a genetic adaptation based upon one location on the planet, relatively trival difference bewteen each humans genetically. Differences in skin color and texture of hair does not make one human being superior to another, just better adapted to the climate -- Perhaps another reason i prefer Florida to New York. Lol! Oh don't get me wrong i know hunans are freaky i just wanted Pioneer to share a website. Besides, as easily as the virus spreads, the rimmee would have been infected long before their tongue made it to the rimmee's anus. 😛

Kareem i can spend all day picking apart that article's false and misleading claims including: "...obvious fact that the entire African continent is virtually free of coronavirus." This flys in the face of fact that there have been cases there and the continent is bracing themselves for many more. It is not a penny pont in the context of an article full of misleading information. I hope you are ultimately right about the number of deaths. But given 300K people have contracted the virus globally in a very short period of time and we are not testing people and people are still running around all willy-nilly who knows. What, pray tell, is the government's motivation for all of this? @Kareem are you also against vaccinations?

A site promoting the eating of feces?! Show me one @Pioneer1 - just the url unhyperlinked. I don't to hurt my site's SEO.