Troy

@Pioneer1 yeah I'm sure some people metabolize liquor and weed differently. I honestly I don't believe anyone "needs" either, and many of us would do much better by abstaining. I keep liquor, beer, and wine -- mostly for entertaining. I do drink wine on my own. If I ever drink too much it is with friends. 🙂 I have not brought any weed since the 80s when you could just by it in the store, in NYC, like a loaf of bread. The last time I scored some bud was when one of my home girls gave me some medicinal bud. I made brownies -- they were banging. What I would like to try is a hallucinogen I hear the experience is spirtual 🙂 All the Black people in jail for nonviolent drug crimes should be released and paid restitution from the profits from "legal" marijuana sales.

I dunno @Mel Hopkins. Try asking @Wendy Jones. After I perform the next upgrade I'll take a look and get back to you if you do not learn before then.

A few Black owned dispensaries do not make up for the damages that has already been, and continues to be, done. @Pioneer1 you be pleased to know most of the Black women involved in the cannabis indurstry profiled in the article @Stefan shared are "lightskinded." 😉 Al Harrington says at least 70% of professional athletes and owners use marijuana. I have nothing against ganja, but I think too many of us invest too much energy and time in getting high.

Oh, OK. I actually do not know what happens on the old network stations as I only watch them if I'm visting someone and they have it on. But I'm not surprised as media platforms compete for eyeballs it is a race for the bottom.

THE MIS-EDUCATION OF THE NEGRO by, the father of Black History Month, Carter G. Woodson. The edition AALBC sells is the ONLY one published in partnership with the organization Woodson founded, the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Mis-Education is the #3 all-time bestselling book on AALBC. The copies I sell also sport the AALBC Bestseller Seal.

I'm unfamiliar with this spelling, where does it come from?

Polygamy will probably be legalized. It is kind of hard to justify stopping consenting adults ftom doing what they want to do. Now the legalization of multiperson marriages will pose a problem for all the systems out there designed to handle marriages bewteen two people. Then again, I see questionnaires with 10 options for gender... i guess they'll figure it out. @Kareem you'd consider Utah? Is cheap land the draw?

@Valerie J Lewis Coleman this is an important topic. topic.we can collaborate on some level. Reach out when you get a second troy@aalbc.com

Absolutely not. Imagine a world in which Black people operated completely free of racism, oppression, and prejudice -- Even the world of Wakanda included crazy white people trying to steal technology or butt in... White people do it all the time, they tell their stories entirely free of, or influenced by, anyone else. We rarely do it. I think it would be the ultimate form of protest literature.

Thanks @Mel Hopkins the books on the site are just the ones I'm aware of, so your posting it here puts it on my "readar" and that of others reading this conversation.

Hi @Milton can you complete this form so that I can ad the book to AALBC: https://aalbc.com/content.php?title=Submitting+Your+Book+to+be+Listed+on+AALBC Who is the artist?

Well if there is no "struggle" @Milton, what would be the point of it? What story, Black speculative fiction or otherwise, does not have struggle or some form of conflict?

Word. Today it is, drive the lane and dish out for a 3. Lebron could have played in any era. I think the game would be much more interesting if players came from (or at least lived) the cities in which they played. I hear old timers talking about seeing players in the neighborhood. Shoot some of them even had jobs during the off season. Of course they should be paid. Few are even educated. The graduation rates at some schools are appalling. I guess you don't watch HBO and have not seen shows like Game of Thrones -- HBO is all is all violence and sex, Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, The Wire, Westworld, and on. I treat HBO like a vice. I limit my drinking, eating of bad food, exposure to social media, and of course TV.

You "love" the Knicks -- wow! That is because you are old enough remember Willis Reed and Clyde play AND you must be from the NYC area. There has been nothing to love about them in decades. Me too. Which is why i look foward to the NCAA Tournament each year 🙂

@Stefan, please feel free to post whatever strikes your fancy. Don't let my paranoia hold you back 🙂 I'm essentially hands off when it comes to moderation, but I have zero tolerance for trolls.

Oh OK @Stefan I'm a little skittish when it comes to jokes like this. Over the years a troll periodically swings through here; he starts out normally, by posting a few jokes poking seemingly innocent fun at Black people. After I let my guard down he goes full on racist and pornographic. We've had a kind of wile e coyote road runner relationship. Today I can quickly clean this up, in the old days it was a real pain in the a-s. I can see where some people would not get the jokes. Americans are so lacking in Bkack history, we are liable to believe these stories.

Stefan you are working on the assumption the the different parties matter. The interests of the oligarchy were well served by the Obama presidency. Actually, we don't and the charts you presented would tell this story if your first graph also considered the 40% of the so called Black voter "block" who did not participate. How we be considered a block when fully half the eligible Black people did not vote for Obama. Do you think Black voter turnout will be higher or lower this year? The towel was thrown in 2016 with the decrease in votes for the Democrat, an increase in votes for the Republican, and a sharp decrease in votes overall. I'm sorry to read this.

Guest FAS, please consider creating an account so that I do not have to approve your posts.

I hung with the fellas playing poker during the game. Most of the guys were explayers, coaches, and avid sports fans. I didn't really pay attention to the game and am not an avid fan of the sport. I could give two-sh-ts about the half-time show or the commercials. I was there for the fellowship. I won at poker, won a bet on the coin toss, none of the boxes i brought hit, i drank more than is healthy, and stayed up way too late. All said it was a good evening 🙂

Let's not forget the fact of active voter manipulation through Facebook and other platforms designed to discourage voter turn out for Hillary by propagating targeted lies like pizzagate. Then of course there was the media's outsized coverage of 45's every utterance -- even his stupid tweets dominated the news cycle -- crowding out meaningful coverage of other candidates. Also Black don't vote in block. I know a few Brothers who voted for 45, because they are conservative and believe their self-interests are better served by Republicans. We also know the majority if white women didn't even support Hillary. Then, of course, is the electoral college that allows a candidate who received 3 million less votes win. The the points FAS mention regarding voting are on point. The electoral process is rigged and it has never really served the interests of Black people. As always we make due in a bad situation. Stefan I really can't understand this statement. I mean why shouldn't the wealthiest nation in recorded history not pool resources to treat sick people? Think about how much we spend on defense. Think about how much we spend subsiding corporations and the wealthy. You're a senior @Stefan do you collect social security or take advantage of medicare? Why should we give you those benefits?

By today's standards, men were indeed "evil dickheads" to their wives. My grandfather was born in 1885. He passed before I was born, but my mother knew her father and she said he treated his wife like she was another one of his children. My grandfather was 35 years old before the 19th ammendment, giving women the right to vote, was passed and not everyone agreed that it was a good idea. Women were 2nd class citizens and treated accordingly. My grandfather was a man of his time.

Has my old online nemesis, the troll to top all trolls, returned? I know I should be insulted by this, but "Quentin DiGiorno," son of Hannibal, caught me off guard and made laugh. These stories are just so ridiculous to get mad over.

"Happy?" No, but I'm not losing any sleep over his presidency. Yeah, I heard most of these points before. Any of them that start with, "He tried..." can be ignored. @Chevdove'Chevdove's explaination of affordable health care hopefully helps you understand the impact of it. The reality is that the mandate and lack of a public option proved to be a windfall for private insurers. The deep depression you give Obama credit for averting was just another windfall for banks as they destroyed a tremendous amount of wealth for poor and middle class people with crooked schemes. These same banks were then bailed out while millions of home owners lost their homes. In any case, the accomplishments you attribute to Obama don't explain the pain many Black Americans are experiencing. The current president can boast even better accomplishments including a booming economy and record unemployment. This is all spin and rhetoric which hides profound problems with this country particularly as it pertains to Black people. @Stefan everything you after and in including "1) Cure the insipid hatred of inner city gangs who relish gunning each other down?" is callus, nonsensical, sterotypical, victim blaming. Blaming the treatment of Black Americans themselves ignores centuries of oppression. Guest FAS adequately addressed those points. Obviously you are doing well, and I'm glad for you. Thanks for sharing you ideas here. The perspective is illuminating. Hopefully you'll get something out of the exchange that will inform your position.

Sorry I missed your emails @Maurice I probably did not recognize it as coming from you. All of the stores in NYC are small. The Schomburg's store is park of the iconic research library. It would be good if you catch an event there. Revolution is just down the street so both can be easily visited together. Revolution is focused on Markist and or communist literature (don't quote me on the focus but they are a niche bookstore) they have hosted events featuring Walter Mosley and Cornel west. Sisters Uptown is across town. You can walk, but is a hike: a ride sharing service is probably the easiest way to get there. If Janfer is there tell her Troy from AALBC sent ya 🙂