Troy

Exactly.

Yes, all people think differently. “What you can’t imagine is actually my modus operandi.” I like that one! I may have to steal it from you -- out it on a coffee mug of something 😉

@Delano are you taking my inquiries into the motivation as declarations of certainty? I explained why I think you are influenced by the media. You obviously consume a lot of new since you often chide me for not listening to the news. I think it is pretty obvious that anyone, unless they are obtuse or otherwise mentally defective, will be influenced by the media they consume. You can't subsist on a diet of junk food and claim it has no impact on your health. Often people are unaware of what influences drive their thoughts and behaviors. It is one reason I shun social media. The notion that the "Media was surprised by Trump popularity" is illogical, for they were completely responsible for his popularity.

No, I don't believe in the contrail conspiracies. But obviously white folks are not above polluting our environment with factory waste, faily to remove lead pipes, paint, asbestos from poor communities and we all know who lives , mostly, in these poor communities. The notion that a darker skinned person is "more" African is well with all due respect nonsensical. If you really think about it you can easily figure out why. Now if there is an agent that attacks one based upon their level of melanin then you might be onto something. But if such a chemical was available we would have seen it in use by now... If you were Sudanese you might feel differently @Pioneer1. Besides it was not Black people who were responsible for bringing Alex Wek international fame -- white folks did that. We simply don't define Black standards of beauty and when are given the opportunity we usually conform to the standards previously defined by our master. As Woodson would say our education makes this so.

Well that must be confusing; living in a constant of cognitive dissonance and all. I'm fine with simply being unsure. 😉 Seriously, your thinking must informed by something? Ideas don't emerge from a vacuum. You rely much more heavily on news that I do. I think history is a much better teacher. If 45 tweets something, it is almost certainly a lie. When the "news" races to rebroadcasts his tweets thm comments on the them all they are doing is propagating lies and giving the lies credence. I don't have the time...

Humm I did not remember discounting a potential 45 win. If you actually looked that up comment that I posted, but have not shared the link, please post it. OK you are supporting my understanding of the nature of your astrological prediction, but stopped short of entertaining the idea that you may be influenced by a biased Australian media conglomerate. You very introspective, so I figured I'd offer it as a possibility.

OK i understand. But surely your Astrological predictions are influenced by your interpretation. As you know, no two astrologers world interpret indentical charts the same way. Since your interpretation is a function of who you are, then your experiences and the information you've consumed must influence your interpretations. Right? Now if all the revelations of January result in no meaningful consequences -- or even a second term -- will January be a "watershed" moment?

Nope, because most of it is not "news." Besides I already know how the country works. I was exaggerating, but 15% of it has already burn up and that is indeed massive! Yes, it is well known that a lot of folks get their news from Facebook, but there is no indication that they are fact checking in higher numbers. Even if they did, this is increasingly difficult because news sources are not always fact checking they sources are the have an agenda like Rupert Murdoch, FIX News, etc.

My recollection was biased based upon the sheer volume and conviction of your disagreement. It is indeed interesting I'd forgot about your reversal. Still I do wonder if Murdoch and co. had any influence on your prior beliefs on climate chance and your current positionnon 45.

Nope, I had to look. It was over two years ago and I'd actually forgotten.

@I love black forums we posted at the same time. I deleted my post after reading yours, but not before you replied. Welcome to the forum. What is a "3x3?"

@Delano, I trust you are your's are safe. However I was wondering it the inferno raging across the country you live in has changed your opinion on climate change. The reason it occurred to me is the U.S.'s coverage, of the Australian coverage, of the unprescenced fires raging across your continent. Apparently, Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate is doing everything in its power to push the agenda that climate change is not a factor in the fires. This led me to believe Murdoch's influence may be -- even unconsciously -- influencing your stance on man.s influence on the climate. Media also made me think about our bets in 45 presidency. You and @Kalexander2 after losing a bet to me over 45 presidency doubled down and bet me again thinking he would be booted from office before the end of his term. It is virtually certainty that he will complete his term, in fact he may win a second. I thought about why a situation they seemed so obvious to me could be seen so differently by you and K2. Then it occurred to be -- neither of you live in the U.S. Your perceptions of what is going on here is quite distorted leading you to believe things that folks here would not possibly believe. In much the same way we, in the U.S., are given distorted views of other countries by our own media you are given a distorted view of the U.S. What do you think?

You mean "unhealthy" right? But that is a very interesting idea and I think you are right. When I was in grade school they had a special class for the bad kids. The crazy thing was the the class was full of boys and they were are darked skinned. It make me think that darked skinned boys were bad -- an easy conclusion for a young boy to draw given the way they were all put in a special class. Many of the boys were in a gang. Ebony Magazine wrote an article about their gang back in the mid 70's they came across much more menacing than they were in real life... furthuring engaining the stereotype into the mainstream. At any rate, they didn't even make film that easily captured dark skinned people in photographs properly -- especially those polaroid cameras. Being darked was never anyone's standard of beauty. Models like Alex wek were the exception not the rule.

"Key is not relying on Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. since they ban true pro-black people. Independent spaces and mutual promotion helps us all in the long-run." This is an important point from the article. I recently stopped listening to the Breakfast Club because YouTube is constantly shoving their videos down my throat. I could be listening to a video on string theory and YouTube will autoplay some Breakfast Club video. Why? One of my most popular facebook posts this month was a link to sub-one-minute video clip from the breakfast club. Why? The most popular YouTube videos I've posted deal with crime, homosexuality or both. While my other videos enjoy no organic reach. Why? All coporate social media YouTube, Facebook, etc, show you what they want you to see in order to maximize revenue. This is undebatable, axiomatic. I argue anything white folks have ever invented, in recorded history, that is designed to maximize their revenue has NEVER served Black people. So, I'm very conscious how I use corporate social media.

To be clear, my point was that Anderson's quote got a high level of engagement. Further, no one agreed with Claud's quote many disagreeing with it with it quite strongly --even getting on me for sharing the opinion. You may like this video I took of Michael Eric Dyson being harshly critical of Obama.

Hey @Kareem I'm listening to Everything is Everything right now 🙂 the song was new to me when I posted about it earlier in the month. Sorry you don't like the cut. Hathaway was one of the most talented musicians if his era. The whole album, of the same name, is sounding pretty good so far... I enjoy funk, but it is a pretty simple form of music. Most of my favorite funk jams from the 70s and 80s sound pretty boring listening to them today, in isolation -- without a few drinks and friends around -- most really don't hold up overtime. Every generation, even this one, has great musicians. But like literary fiction most people avoid this for simpler pleasures...

Check out all 40 books nominated for a 2020 NAACP Image Award in the following eight literature categories; Biography/Autobiography, Children, Debut Author, Fiction, Instructional, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Youth/Teens. There was a time when the titles on this list were quite controversial as they tended to skew heavily toward celebrity book. The choices are much better, nowadays but skew to folks willing to pony up the entry fee. There are many great books from 2019 not on this list for that reason. There were also some odd choices like like the book, More Than Pretty: Doing the Soul Work That Uncovers Your True Beauty, by Erica Campbell being nominated in two categories (debut author and instructional). Nominees should be restricted to one category unless they are phenomenal books. I'll go out on a limb and say I doubt More Than Pretty is a phenomenal books. I also think the nominees should be Black unless they have written something that speaks substantively to Black people. Two bios on Prince is one too many and not another book on Dr. King... At any rate, I'm glad to see Black literature being celebrated. This is perhaps the highest profile event for Black books in the country. The Image Awards were also sponsors of AALBC this year, so I really can't complain all. In fact, that is the only reason I put in the effort to cover all 40 books -- I would have just covered the winners otherwise. Several of these authors would never have been added to the site were it not for their Image Award nomination.

@FerociousKitty, NYC is really no longer a place for artists. It is simply too expensive. I'll be in Ft Lauderdale this weekend, but I prefer Tampa which is a much larger city. I've been to the other cities you mentioned many times and enjoy visiting them. I could live in any of them. Outside of NY, LA, Chicago and maybe DC, the rest of the cities are pretty similar all the same they tend to be somewhat provincial, but are getting better as they attract more people from larger cities. If you can live in Pittsburgh you can adapt to life in any of the cities you mentioned and enjoy better weather. @Mel Hopkins can give you some feedback on ATL. It is indeed a chocolate city but is very spread out and traffic going downtown is a nightmare, so many people hang out in the in their local suburban communities which are all starting to look the same to me with the same chain restaurants, stores, etc. The real estate is inexpensive if you want a big house. As far as the dating scene, I have no idea which city is ideal for that. Admittedly, men generally have an advantage in this regard. Have you considered "swirling?" 😍 Austin Texas seems to be popping, but getting expensive pushing people out to the suburbs which is happening in many cities. Even downtown Raleigh is expensive I just started a profile for you this morning: https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Deesha+Philyaw You can send me a bio, headshoot, and link to audio or video (youtube) you might have.

Yes I'm in Tampa FL @FerociousKitty. I purchased a place here in 2011 and have been living here full-time since 2017. I actually live in the suburbs (not downtown). It is actually the "country" by my NYC standards. I can see raptor birds, alligator, fox, deer, cranes, turtles, snakes all in the same day from my back yard. As far as pros and cons it really depends on what you want and where you are coming from. I was born and raised in NYC, but I always preferred the south it is quieter, less expensive, cleaner, better weather. Unless you have some serious paper living in NYC is very stressful. The downside for me is the Black middle class is small and somewhat insular. Still I'm building a network of book people and friends. I've known two Black women who moved here and hated it. They found it difficult to meet people -- especially men. This is a common refrain for single middle aged women, but I imagine this is true in many places. As far as seeking professional help after our breakup I did not do that, because I'm a man. Seriously, I have great friends who were super supportive. By the time the ex made it cyrstal clear that she did not love me or want to have anything to do with my website I was happy to be free of her. The kids were grown and out the house, I already had the place in Tampa, so the transition was relatively easy. That's the condensed version, of course the full story is more complicated than what I've just related. I'm assuming there is an Author Profile for you on the site FK, if not send me your info troy@aalbc.com

I just finished Genesis Starts Again. It is a novel written for preteens but I would absolutely recommend it to older readers and even adults. I currently rereading The Mis-Education of the Negro because if it actively speaks to our current predicament, I'm going to actively sell it in the real world. I'm also read The Famished Road as it generally regarded to be a great work of literature and I need to read some great literature now. I was pleased to discover my copy was signed to me by Ben Okri years ago (I'd forgotten 🙂)

I read the Nation's article and was outraged, but not surprised. Some damning quotes; Jared Kushner’s real-estate business obtained arrest warrants for 105 former tenants since 2013, resulting in 22 debtors’ going to jail. Hundreds of these arrest warrants can be rubber-stamped by judges in a single day. You already know the complexion of those thrown in jail... And of course these are traditionally the most vulnerable members of society, disproportionately black and brown, bearing the brunt of this perversion of the law. The impact doesn’t just include a couple weeks in jail but lost wages, potential lost employment, scrambles for childcare, the burden of a criminal record, and the psychological stress and humiliation of being locked up for being poor. Corporations are literally trying to bring back slavery and our government is perfectly complicit... like the last time.

Yeah Zane is far-and-away the all-time bestselling author on AALBC. I doubt anyone will ever catch her -- certainty not in my lifetime.

Hey @David doc Robertson thanks for sharing this story. Would you be willing to share a chapter with our readers? Ifvso hit me uo troy@aalbc.com?

Sorry about the two-time divorce thing @FerociousKitty, but both arappropriate as she took from me the only think she could hurt me with and that was the loss of an intact nuclear family. But it us great in that im free of her negative energy 🙂 I don't mind answering as it is probably a subject we should discuss more frequently. There is no alternative to "big social," and that is really the point. In my opinion the WWW was better before big social and we cant know how much better it would have become. The decline of what was "Thumper's Corner" is a microcosm of what has happened across the WWW during the rise of big social.

Hey Guest FAS please create an account. Thanks.