Troy

The is un-freaking-believable... “Known on Instagram by her handle @lilmiquela, the 19-year-old is biracial and bisexual, loves high-end labels, and for months had a Black Lives Matter shout-out in her bio. She is an influencer—a social media personality who integrates product endorsements into the online documentation of her daily life—and a multi-hyphenate, with side hustles as a singer and a clothing designer. If she seems to check an unrealistic number of boxes, that’s because she isn’t real.” —Read the complete article in The Nation

They are, for me, if no new information is being brought to the table. However in an effort to not have their world view challenged or to avoid conflict most people, I believe, only seek conversations indeed situation where everyone is in agreement.

More women sign up, buy books, and provide financial support. For, this reason I think if I were a Black woman the site would probably be more successful as my inherent biases would more easily match my demographic, making me better able to select more appealing books for the site. Yesterday I added over 100 books to the site that are soon to be published. One title, a memoir, All Boys Aren't Blue is a book I have zero interest in personally, but I added it to the site because I suspect some of my readers would be interested in it. If I only added books that was only personally passionate about I would have a much smaller audience and far fewer books on the site. Besides I get my kicks from turning people on to books and writers they come to love. I also think woman, especially younger ones, have an advantage when it comes to the media, whuch would also help the site. But no, I don't think any regular visitor is turned off by a Brother running the site.

True, like religion and astrology right? Yep somethings are untestable would you put astrology in that category?

In this case those "facts" were lies or misrepresentations at best. Like any altruism Jeff Bezos expresses.

Oh brother. Pioneer, if that were true why do I reject every word that emerges from Zuckerberg's pie hole.

Yes visionaries are indeed important @Delano. Del right at this instant I'm watching a TV series calked The Orville. It is like Star Trek, but better. At any rate, if you can watch season 2 episode 5 watch it deals with Astrology. Well assuming the planet can still suport human life, I hope so I cause we seem pretty barbaric by my recogning right now. @Mel Hopkins what opinions does science hold?

I studied science too. Joe and Neil's video had no impact on my worldview, though they more or less support what I believe.

@Delano given a choice man I'd come down on the side of science. Having taken a course in Astrology, I'm probably better suited to make an assessment than the comic or degenerate. There are a lot of things, I suspect are true, that science cannot prove or disprove. As I said, there is more to astrology than "What's your sign baby?" So, I'd stop short of calling it BS.

@Delano you should tell us what you think about the stuff you share; that would be interesting. It is hard to take a conversation between a comedian and an "alleged" sexual predator very seriously ;-) “When it comes to Astrology… there’s a lot of believers… but then there’s Science!!” That is the way the podcast I referenced would open the segment on Astrology if they did one. I checked but did not see one. Astrology has no foundation in science, but if it gives people a way to make sense of and cope in our consumer driven greedy little world of ours, who am I to take that away from them? It I take Astrology away from its adherents what would I give them to replace it ... religion? So while the video clip ended with both men agreeing that astrology was "bullshit," I won't go that far because, like religion, it helps some people. The only time I would have a problem with Astrology is if they tried to teach it in school to my kids, made it part of our law, or in anyway forced me to even acknowledge it.

Science VS https://gimletmedia.com/shows/science-vs @Pioneer1 I recently discovered this podcast. Interestingly, they covered most of the subjects we discussed here including; race, vaccines, and climate change. You (everyone) should check this podcast out.

Well it depends on the market. In an environment with plenty of consumers who read a superstore like B&N can coexist with a good niche indie store. B&N, as big as they are, can't possibly carry, and be as knowledgeable, in any given genre, as a strong independent bookstore. Not even Amazon's algorithm (which is profit driven) or their customer reviews (unprofessional and often suspicious) can do what a good bookseller can do. The so-called renaissance in indie stores is a bit premature for those interested in reading books written by Black writers. Basically Amazon owns the business of selling books written by Black writers, and they do a really good job at pushing the ebooks that they've published and convincing authors it is in their interest to publish with them -- even given Amazon exclusive rights to sell! The reality is that it is much harder for, all but the most popular, Black authors to find an audience today -- despite the so called renaissance in indie stores. The job of a marketer of books is much more difficult today.

Yeah I used James' quote on the description of Cannon's book: https://aalbc.com/books/bookinfo.php?isbn13=9781885478535

Apparently this is "a thing" among the retarded adult set. What's a suitable punishment? I dunno, but 20 years seems a bit much. I presume she got off scot-free which is not right. I think they should cane people here in the US. Ariana should get at least 5 smacks on her butt. I bet she won't do it again.

Yes, I know what sexism means, and you were demonstrating it against men.

Thanks I have not heard the news. I never attended any of his events, but I saw him at Medgar Ever where he once taught. I took a photo of him then: https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Steve+Cannon the shot is grainy because at the time large images too all day to download on a website. As you know he was a prominent figure in spoken word circles and his influence goes back the Black Arts Movement.

@elonawashington Share the ISBN when you get can chance. I'll add the book to your new area here on AALBC: https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Elona+Washington

Now don't be sexist. I'm serious about the social media comment. Why elevate social media when the harm it has caused is well known and documented?

Del you left off most of the footnote: But I would say most of us have a “reasonably accurate” model of the actual physical reality of the universe. For example, when you drive down the road, you do not have full access to every aspect of reality, but your perception is accurate enough that you can avoid other cars and conduct the trip safely. That is a significant "but," which you deliberately left off. Still it has little signifance to the thesis of the article, which is why it was relegated to the footnotes. It is interesting to see how you positioned the article. @Pioneer1's argument, as a result, is founded upon a baseless connection.

Sounds just like social media.

Generally a publicist obtains media coverage on existing platforms for their clients, as opposed to creating the media, so I was a little confused at first. There are a number of businesses who provide this type of service. I don't really know enough about any of them to make a referral. Sorry, I could not be of more help. Hopefully one such business, or someone who can vouch for one, will see this message and reach out. Do you have a new book coming out? If so, share info about it here too.

Hi Louise please consider sharing more info about this book. The Google site did not reveal much. The topic sounds interesting.

I know some publicists. But, @elonawashington What do you mean by "...publicist who specializes in media?"

@Pioneer1 life is complicated man. Often it is difficult to make sense of it. For example, I would love for the larger Black community to embrace what I do here simply because I'm a Black man against struggling against massive corporations, who intend to exploit us, to support Black culture and people here on the web. I just does not work that way. I see people on Twitter, for example retweeting and commenting on 45's nonsense. Sure they mean well but they are only helping Twitter and counterintuitively 45. I wish these very same people would retweet my posts that are actually promotes their work, or writers that they want supported. Some even advertise on the site. So it is not that they don't support, but too much of what we do with our energy and time can undermine what we do with our money. @Cynique's contributions here were prodigious. I named the forum for her (though I honestly I was a bit sadden by her using a typo on this honor as a passing swipe rather than her just letting me know). However she spends time on Facebook not once sharing any of her brilliant posts here on the platform. Why? Maybe she wanted to keep her online lives separate. It really does not matter. The bottom line is that most people do this. They easily share trivial utterances made on social media but rarely share major coverage here. They'll gladly do it when asked, but it is not automatic. Right niw I'm too busy maintaining the site to worry about a succession plan. If the last 20 years are an indicator, the next 20 will be rough. I do recognize people do not live forever. The reality is most businesses fail and the vast majoirity don't outlive their founders. Mult-gereational survival is not in AALBC's favor, but you've all given me something to think about 🙂 Thanks

This is unfortunate for the article is interesting, supports the subject of the post quite well, but has nothing to do with Del's statement about perception being a hallucination. @Delano when you posted the link to the article it gives the impression that it supports your view of perception. @Pioneer1 if actually read the article much of your argument will be addressed. Of course previous experience tells me your views will not be altered in the slightest. The following quote, taken from the article, explains why; “Faced with a choice between changing one’s mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy with the proof.”