Troy

That is a good question. Up until a few years ago Essence was on my list. But I went and did not care for it very much -- it was just WAY TOO Crowded to enjoy the various performances given in the different "lounges" and I'm no longer a fan of arena concerts where the headliners performed. But if you've never gone I would still recommend checking it out. Next on my list is the Bayou Classic which also takes place in the Big Easy. I went to the Florida Classic last year and had a really good time. These football games may not be "cultural expos" but they have all of the same characteristics -- including vendors or all kinds and entertainment

@Pioneer1 what country were you in? The adapter is used because the plugs are incompatible. Modern devices can handle anywhere from 110 to 240 volts You must have had a really old electric razor. Of course people who are starving are thinking eating food not... Plus, starving people can't procreate. But once the food and water thing is taken care of making babies is not far behind even if another drought, famine, or war looms.

@Chevdove It is not "my" definition of race that I'm using it is the scientifically determined objective definition which sasy all human belong to the same race. @Pioneer1 likes to attribute characteristics, like lactose intolerance, to people based upon their skin color. That is the definition of racism. @Delano as a kid we rarely went to a restaurants to eat. By the time I was in college we started to dine out a bit more -- mostly chains like red lobster. By the time I was out on my own I really started to dine out by then Jack's Nest was had closed. I believe I went once. It was just that soul food restaurant downtown to me. B Smith's was perhaps the most popular, upscale soul food restaurant downtown Manhattan (she has locations in Union Station in DC and in the Hamptons (all very nice). There was another spot too the name escapes me know but it is closed. One location remains in Martha's Vineyard, but I have not visited that one yet. Most people think chicken and waffles started in LA, but it was Harlem.

I don't know if your percentages regarding lactose intolerance is accurate. I'm not lactose intolerant. Yes lactose intolerance is a function of one's genes, but that has nithing to do with race. @Delano yeah Amazon runs the largest supermarket in Harlem. 125 street has the same stores one would find in suburban Toledo.

Damn good question. It is in the music, the food, the way people talk, walk, and greet each other. It is in the style of dress and hair. It is what we read and how we dance it runs throughout the community. It is that thing that Harlem (NYC really) has lost. I mean we make do in spots here and there, but without our own community there is no soul. People who never lived in a Black community can't really get it. The little gated community I live in is nice and comfortable but it has no soul... the community is too new and the people too transcient or self absorbed. Gentrification has sucked the soul out of Harlem.

Yeah Gilette playing the "woke" card to appeal to millennials, at the risk of turning off our generation, evangelicals, etc. I'm not sure why the comsuner product companies take unnecessary risks, like this, with their advertising. Maybe you are right @Pioneer1 😉 I use their products and occasionally try competing products, but always come back because they are the best.

It is just human nature. We are genetically wired to have sex and procreate. Our very survival as a species demands that we do this. If I were very wealthy, I'd defintely adopt some Black boys.

Lol! Yes this is true but it has nothing to do with race. Some so called Black people and white people are lactose intolerant and others are not. For this very reason I tend to stay away from the very "popular" restaurants that gain notoriety because of some celebrity's endorsement. The food usually is not better than other restaurants in the area and I'm not waiting on a long line to eat Soul or any other kind of food. Red Rooster in Harlem is one of those popular restaurants. Their food is "ok" and over priced. The restaurant right next to it, Chez Lucienne, is better. I think it is also Black owned.

Maybe you miss-quoted Fuller cause this does sound crazy. Hummm.... @Pioneer1 you are confusing me. What does "masculine woman" mean? A physically fit women, one with close cropped hair, what? Who is collecting data on the rate of "masculine women" applying to West Point -- and what does any of the have to do with being lesbian?!

Hi Nva, I like Lipstick Alley but I only use their Book Alley, which actually gets more engagement than the Black Literature forum here, whuch is primarily used by authirs interest in having a book reviewed. Obviously, I like this forum, "Culture, Race & Economy." But this forum, like any other, is only as good as its participants. So Nva find a forum participate in and help make it interesting that is really all that is required. This is also one of a dozen reasons I no longer in engage on Facebook. They don't need me and I'd rather help my people's platforms grow.

Not to take anything away from the sisters, but It would be interesting to know how many Black men graduated this year from West Point. @Pioneer1, graduating from West Point does not turn a woman into a lesbian. This statement greatly weakens your argument. We live a patriarchal white racist society. Perhaps the reason Black women were "singled out" is because that group, more than any other, would attract the most attention from people who view Black women doing anything of consequence an aberration and therefore news worthy. Maybe the other groups were not highlighted because they did not graduate in large numbers.

You probably have heard it in a while because it is considered derogatory (@Chevdove) when used to describe people. Yeah Chinese people don't waste much of the animal either. I had some chicken feet in a Chinese restaurant a few years ago they didn't even bother to take off the toe nails... also disgusting (to me), but they throw down in general when it comes to food. And hey, white folks make great "soul food" too. They do more with bacon than GW Carver did with peanuts.

You have a lot more experience in the arean Pioneer, so I can't weigh in with much experience. The only Black owned site I visit now is run by a woman (Lipstick Alley) and I have no problem there, but I also "play nice" there too 😉 I'm looking for other Black owned forums, but I have not any with much action (most are less active than this forum). Again i encourage people to share information about other Black owned discussion forums -- indeed Black owned sites in general. I have always promoted other Black owned sites

Man as far as Black people (the masses) are concerned social media is where it is at, if you want to impact impressionable Black folk.

Not always. It depends. You believed that 45 would not last two years. Why? What "facts" led you to that conclusion? I told you the truth and you rejected it, losing $50 in the process. Even this very moment you dismiss my recognizing the truth as "speculation made on a hunch!?" So you can't see it. That is fine. You will. The question is will you accept the truth next year? Ok, point taken. So in this case my so called "hunch," "Trumped" astrology huh?

I'm not familiar with Ivan Johnson. I'll check out the book. Thanks.

No, I actually atrract eyeballs, as in attract eyeballs to their platforms to collect more behavioral data and serve more advertisements. But to your point, it serves to distract us from understanding and knowing what is important. This logic of the statement completely escapes me. Perhaps an example of this would help. Still my reasoning proved far more accurate than your consumption of lies. I'll still with ignoring social provides news and stick with books, long form articles, and lectures by knowledgable people.

I was talking to a woman recently who described applying for public assistance and was told to have a baby that way she would get more money. She was not married at the time...

They are not stars. Even today people look up at the sky see planets and think they are stars. Unless you have some interest in astronomy you would have no clue. In much the same way people cannot read maps because of navigation systems, people look up at the sky and just see a bunch of twinkling lights that have more meaning that text written in a language they can't understand. Most of us live in urban centers which render most star light invisible anyway...

See @Delano that right there is why we see things so differently. To me watching the news on a daily basis is like listening to the daily Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and believing you have a handle on the business world. The "spot" news coverage is largely meaningless -- it is designed to attract eyeballs, and this is done through sensationalism. The news is designed more to get you all riled up and emotional rather than to inform you. Social media is this concept on steroids. People who get there "news" on Twitter, for example, believe they are well informed, but this is an illusion without historical context, nuisance, and broader foundational knowledge than a bunch of 280 characters text messages can provide. Most users of Twitter do not click through and read the underlying source material (when it is provided) and are largely content read quotes out of context, uninformed opinions, and straight up fake news instead. Mainstream in an attempt to compete with social media is not much better. You follow the news regularly. I don't. However, I knew 45 would still be in office after two years and you did not believe he would. How did consuming all that minute by minute news coverage help you? Serious question whether you choose to answer it or not think about it. Again I say to you @Kalexander2 do now be surprised by a 45 victory in 2020. The electoral college as effectively disenfranchised millions of American Voters. By the way K2 well do not have a bet for the 45 lasting another two years is this your understanding?

Yes, time and history has told this story.

@elonawashington, are you looking you for only female respondents, or may anyone respond?

Nope, I never did, but I still believe he'll serve out his term. The wheels of justice turn slowly and for men like 45 they rarely turn at all.

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am offers an artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the legendary storyteller and Nobel prize-winner. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature. Inspired to write because no one took a “little black girl” seriously, Morrison reflects on her lifelong deconstruction of the master narrative. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ film includes discussions about Morrison’s many critically acclaimed works, including novels The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Song of Solomon, her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University.

@Pioneer1 the reason no one is trying to prove this is because no one made that claim. The idea is obsurd; why you keep forcing the point is lost on me. Now the alignment of the moving stars (planets) and fixed stars can tell you when something happened on Earth, but not what happened. I think that is what @Chevdove was trying to say, but she can speak for herself. Again, post the statement where anyone said what you've claimed about describing specific events based upon the relative positions of heavenly bodies. The student thinking he's ready, does not make so.