Troy

Del my engagement with you on this topic demonstrates patience if nothing else.

No Mel, book deals by Black people are fewer and those signed are getting smaller advances (at least not compared to the early 2000's). Perhaps I know this because I'm looking at the actual books published and not at social media. Here is a list of up coming books ow many of the really bug books are y talking about am I missing: https://aalbc.com/books/comingsoon.php I can't speak to movies but it is not like there have been an explosion of Black movies lately -- unless I'm missing something. Do tell. As far as TV, the streaming services are competing for content I image that this drive higher demand for any quality content. But I suspect, if history is any indicator, any benefit to Black folks will be short lived and really only benefit a few.

I'm reading Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier -- which I'm sure does not surprise anyone here I just finished reading, Raisins in Milk by David Covin and interesting story based upon his family. I also in the middle of Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston, which is out online book club pick.

...mic drop! Hey @Cynique why didn't you just say that in the first place This are the articles that deserve a big platform IMHO. I'm clipping this one now.

LOL! But how can you joke about this when your progeny will have to live through the nonsense?

Yes @Delano all of Seuss' books have a deeper meaning. This was something that escaped me as a child, and that only I discovered while reading them to my own children as an adult -- the deeper meaning only increased the pleasure of reading his books to my children. This is why the books are so special to me. Again comparing Seuss to Morrison is only an insult to you in your own imagination. Now my comments are chauvinistic too?! Del now you are just talking crazy I'm not going to even try to defend that Is the real problem your contempt for elitists? Is that why you are so hyper-sensitive on this issue? Did an elitist hurt you in the past? Also, don't be so sure the Terry has more money Toni. While I'm sure Terry is no pauper. Toni is very well off perhaps far better off the Terry. Besides, since when did money become your barometer for success? Also, in case you missed me asking the question the last 4 times, why Del did you ask me if I read Beloved?

I prefer Cyniques response to anything Rock might say on pretty much any topic--especially women

I went to the Bronx Zoo when I went to BTHS biology class freshman year. We spend the day getting high That as far as I can recall was my only field trip. Did you got on many? My big trip in grade school was a bus ride to Washington DC as a kid in the 5th grade. First time I stayed in a hotel room. This was all due to the effort of one teacher, who, years later was convicted of child molestation... We also went to a trip to Sleepy Hollow (home of the headless horseman, you probably went there) and the Central Park Zoo. A gorilla threw poop and hit ones of my classmates -- it happened just like it did in the movie Cooley High LOL. We did go on some trips and we also many things kids don't have today. My elementary school did not have much or do much, but my Jr. High school was much better. I'm always surprised me to here how few resources schools have in NYC claim to have. We had so much more and the city was struggling financially. We also did not have the additional funding provided by the lottery. All I can assume is that the government is simply not allocating the resources to public school education did way it did when we were younger. This is probably why there are so few Black boys in the NYC specialized high schools today -- grooming these young men for invisibility

My source is personal experience and talking with teachers in the NY Public schools. One teacher told me about a boy who, during a field trip to a park, pointed to over to Manhattan and asked what was that? Sound like you went to a good school @Mel Hopkins I can assure you not all schools are the same. My school did not take me to Hayden Planetarium, rockefeller center (Wow!), Museum of natural history, or the NY botanical gardens. I went to these places as an adult. You might recall Mel that the city damn ear went bankrupt when we were i grade school. You may also remember the teacher strikes during the same era. I too traveled around NYC, but it was not without risk . I group of boys in the wrong neighborhood was liable to get jumped by a gang (this happened to me a few times). I recall walking with my girlfriend in HS, we crossed int the wrong neighborhood and white kids started throwing rocks at us it was not bensonhurst but it was clearly a racially motivated event in a white neighborhood. I guess today you just get shot... @Mel Hopkins, did your family take you to Disney when you were a child?

@Mel Hopkins, you are half right. The books exist (indie authors, small presses, etc), but the are not publicized for a variety of reasons most notably a lack of platforms with a sizeable audience promoting these books. They are invisible. Are you talking about me? I know you ain't talkin' 'bout me!? What the heck you think I've been doing the last twenty years Bottom line: one man can not do this alone. I can tell you this because it comes from 20 years of experience, neither the culture or the media are aligned to publicize these books. Oh my, you could not be MORE wrong about that statement. One could always write what they wanted, but the gatekeepers are in full effect. The web and technology promised to help bring these walls down, but they are as high as ever -- perhaps higher. Yes I'm a bookseller and PW is a trade rag, so I would not expect it to be consumed by a casual reader. My job is to pull out the good stuff for the reader's benefit. However, I do think an avid reader would get a lot out of the magazine. It is a trade rag, but it reads like a commercial publication. Obviously PW is not my only source to discover books -- otherwise i would not have very many books on the site. No, that is not a digression, you make a good point. I have active promoted Victors work from jump. I even paid him to do a reading once. I'm glad you discovered one of his book here. His book The Devil in Silver was an AALBC bestseller, but you won't read that anywhere else than on this site... you can think about that for a minute. Yes, I do have my work cut out for me; On your final point we agree

Well if you still don't understand my perspective @Mel Hopkins it is not because of a lack of me trying. @Delano, so when it is all said and done do you still believe I was insulting you (deliberately or otherwise)? Further "elitist" or even "a bit elitist" is the last adjective one would use to describe me relative to books -- I embrace them all and have the record to prove it. Again, I suggest you (and apparently Mel) are reading things that I've written that simply are not there. You have characterised me as some dude sitting around here looking down my nose and people who fail to appreciate Morrison's work. when all I'm saying is that if you gave it a chance you might find that you like it and no it is not Dr, Suess and requires more more effort to enjoy. If you recall my response to you post about "10 books that have stayed with you," you'll also see that Dr. Seuss is on my list. I love his books -- I actually did not appreciate the morals in the stories until I began reading his books to my kids. GIve me the benefit of the doubt... If you really think I'm trying to insult you just ask. I'm sure I have in the past but this was not one of these times Bruh. I'm still curious why you asked me if I read the book.

@Mel Hopkins Yeah you are right about not caring in the about least about what Mrs. Obama wore. Same goes for all the hullabaloo over the princess' gown. I know how much effort my ex put into making her hair blond and how she complained when the the color did not come out right--it was very high maintenance. I know I don't have that kind a patience, which is one reason I shave my head and face. She definitely did not do it for me, cause I could care less what color her hair was. I guess yall are right. @Delano then why do so many women complain about how difficult it is to find a partner and I just dont mean a f-buddy?

Well @Milton please share your ideas

Gotchu @Cynique Related side bar: What do women do to attract the attention of a man?

@Cynique lets not go off the deep end. I was not saying that millions of men agree with me and Pioneer. Indeed I mentioned "The only men to comment on this issue is Pioneer and myself. " to indicate that it indeed was ONLY two opinions. Further to suggest the women don't style their hair to appeal to men seems to be a case of denial. I'm not saying ALL women, obviously you are not one, but surely you know a significant number do-- especially ones interested in attracting a mate. I'm sure there are plenty of brothers that Love Mary Blond hair look. It is not clear if @Delano is one of them.

LOL Word! But by then I'll be wondering where the books for Black Elderly men are

@Delano you are being overly sensitive. I had no intention of insulting you: I acknowledged both your intelligence and your work ethic (which most people would find complementary). I supported the complement with the fact that you earned an MBA. I believe the only reason that you do not enjoy Beloved is that you have not decided to devote the effort to do so. This is not an insult, just my opinion. I could be wrong, but it is just my assessment Why did you ask me if I read the book -- after I recommended it to Mel and after I replied to your post about 10 books that stayed with you?

The Clark Sisters are a great group -- or at lest they were. I have not listened to them in a very long time, but I have purchased a couple of their albums. and enjoy their old stuff. I could not tolerate much of the video, because it is Wendy Williams, not Michelle Obama. Wendy she has made a career of saying crazy things. Did this go viral on social media? Did wendy williams actually fall out?! She does not look very well.

Come to think of it neither have I -- excepting in the lynching photos I saw so many of that weekend. Yes it was shocking and like i said when they started talking about the Klan I started to feel kind of strange. There was an elderly sister sitting near me, but she was very fair and I only noticed her was because I was looking very hard. When I did see her she we made eye contact and we acknowledged each other the way Black folk do. Tie but Mel you don't have to leave NYC to experience this. There are kids in Brooklyn who have never been to Manhattan, or a museum, or a Broadway Play, or the beach... NYC like much of the deep south is very stratified first by class and then by race. Again the turn out at the book festival, in majority Black city, did catch me off guard. There however was a large group of young girls from some other city in MS (I have video to edit of their director (Quvenzhane Wallis) is the tallest girl in the shot). Every Black people I spoke to was from out of town. I guess you'd have to consider the literary and educational levels of the Black folks in Jackson. I have not looked them up, but I know the MS has the worst educational outcomes in the country and I know that is not good news for the Black folks there...

Perhaps @Cynique but who is Mary trying to be attractive to, herself, other females, who? The only men to comment on this issue is Pioneer and myself. I agree with @Pioneer1 in that I find Mary attractive despite her hairstyle. Now whether she wears her hair because she has been programmed to seek a European standard of beauty is a matter for a psychologist to discern and is no longer a position I'm willing to assert on complete strangers -- I doubt Mary even knows whether this is the case herself...

@Delano No, Morrison is not Dr. Suess. I guess appreciating her work requires the motivation to do so. Anyone with the brain power and energy to earn an MBA can enjoy Beloved -- if they wanted to do so. @Mel Hopkins, I created a short video to help make my point. You may still choose to disagree with me, but hopefully it will not be because you don't "understand" me.

This post was motivated, in part, by another conversation on these forums, “Black Middle Aged Men Invisible? I call BS.” I’m using the world of books to support my argument that Black middle aged men have been so marginalized in our culture; that they have been rendered invisible. I'm hoping this 3 minute video will help drive home my point. Let me know what you think?

The Spirit of a Man: A Vision of Transformation for Black Men and the Women Who Love Them by Iyanla Vanzant

I use the terms Black and white as we understand them here in the US, but I also recognize that there is no scientific basis for the designations. I'm sure there are a number of Black folks who ascribe to Peterson's worldview. Indeed, someone described him as part of the "Coon Squad," a group of folks including Omarosa who take positions that serve white folks, usually at the expense of Black folks. (Generally I believe these people are mostly interested in serving themselves, but that is another story). To answer you last question: what I find is that we in the Black community, with rare exception, do not determine who is visible. Anyone who has any level of visibility that benefits Black folks is shut down. Whether it is Malcolm X, Colin Kaepernick, or any number of Black men who try to build a platform to support Black people. The Black men who are visible are there was because white folks put them in the position. Typically it is because they are the likes of Peterson or provide some form of entertainment. @Mel Hopkins, please don't give me the names of entertainers to counter my point or some obscure business leader who the general public never heard of because they don't impact anyone's life in a positive way. I used literature as an example, because the books we produce are excellent proxy for what the culture deems to be important. Again ours is a culture that marginalizes Black men -- middle aged Black men in particular. These are the men who should be having their greatest impact on the culture, but do not. I'm not even sure why the is a topic for debate... Again, if you want to believe Black middle aged men are truly visible go ahead, but I suspect now that this might be a situation that you really can't understand, because you are not a Black man. Camille Yarbrough understands:

@Cynique that is a reasonable question. However we do know that Black men will not read novels written for women in great numbers. Before E. Lynn Harris and Terry McMillan began selling books out of the trunks of their cars, mainstream publishing did not think Black people of any demographic read enough to risk publishing books written by and featuring Black people. If you only make poop flavored ice cream, you can't use that as a reason to justify that there is no market for ice cream. As Del said Iceberg Slim was a very popular author and is one of the top selling authors on the website -- and he died almost 30 years ago! @Delano, why on Earth would you ask me if I read Beloved? What is that about?! Please tell explain the motivation for that question. I read the book even before I started AALBC.