Troy

It was an an attempt at humor. Yes a few women have emailed me this sentiment over the years. I never understood it. There were two women in this forum that caused me to intervene in all the years you've posted here; one was Sara (who eventually left on her own after I deleted one of her particularly offensive post -- made against Cynique; and the other will remain nameless, but long time posters can probably guess who she is. In both cases, Cynique actually defended these women! Cynique is unique. She was always honest and definitely a defender of free speech. Nothing personal @Cynique, but I won't be going to Facebook to read your writings. @zaji if when you read something interesting by Connie please feel free to embed it in a post here.

So... you have no problem with walking on water, resurrection, parting of the seas, etc.... this is what gives you pause? Maybe something was lost in translation, or the story is just a myth or allegory.

To who, you? How would you couch the same sentiment without appearing "condescending" Del? This is a patently false and ignorant statement I guess you have never read any of my articles providing statistics and data. Indeed, I've learned over time that people are more easily swayed by emotion -- not information. Indeed you appear to be one of those people. Also, education and experience (what you apparently mean by "pedigree") are important factor that should be considered when having a conversation/debate with someone. I would not debate you about astrology and more than I would debate @Chevdove the about the historical content of Christianity. @zaji I'm doing fine. I moved to Tampa, full time, back in December 2017 and am really enjoying it. I have seen evidence of this. Indeed when a poster emails me about something another poster wrote -- it is always a woman. There was only two men that have done this in over two decades (I could tell you who both were -- simply because it is so unusual). I have even had women on other forums email me disparaging remarks about female moderators on a different discussion forums! -- trying to secretly undermine the another woman. I've never witnessed a man do this. I agree. Overly sensitive people like Del call this type of writing "condescending," when I'm simply stating a fact.

Wow this is is so deep. Mel you know you do the same thing. For example, you stated emphatically, multiple times, that I did not know how to use Twitter. The statement flies in the face of logic. However I don't recall making a similar statement about your knowledge. As far as your knowledge about the WWW, I honestly don't recall saying that you did not know anything about Mel. I don't hold that belief, so it is not clear to me what I could have wrote to give you that impression. Think you are a very smart and passionate woman Mel, one who thinks deeply about subjects and loves people. However, I do strongly suspect that there are areas of the web that I know a lot more about than you do. But this is not a personal attack as I demonstrably, know more about the WWW than most people. I also understand that when I say somethings about the web people won't get it because they simply don't have the foundational knowledge or experience. Still, often I feel it is not what I say/write, but how I say it, which is the thing that irks women far more often than it does men. I think part of the reason is as Mel stated, "...here in America women are often dismissed as NOT having knowledge about a topic." If this is your worldview you'd be more likely to perceive a slight where one did not exist and was not intended. Black men, in general, don't have this hangup when we relate to each other. As a result, we don't have to pull punches or couch things in softer language when communicating with each other. However I can relate to Mel's sentiment; white people (both men and women) assume Black American men don't know very much either. The is a result of both classism and racism. The impact of this is broad and deep culturally. It speaks to everything from our education to our incarceration. Hey @zaji we miss you (or I'll just speak for myself. I miss you). You coming to the Black Pack Party?

@Delano perhaps your knowledge of astrology can be of use here. I think when planet go retrograde they appear to stop for a moment before seemingly reversing direction. all planet move in the sky. stars appear fixed relative to each other. This @Pioneer1 is why you can determine when something took place. I believe the age of pisces corresponded with Jesust the Christ's birth for example, which is why Christians drive around with the fish symbol on their cars. I remember pointing out Venus to a sister in the night sky. She was surprised. In fact I doubt she believed me. You can see several planets with the naked eye. Most people mistake planets for stars.

One of my interns, Delia Mercado, recently wrote a bio on Gayl Jones. I was first introduced to Gayl's work when @Thumper selected her novel, Eva’s Man for our book club's reading list back in 1998. Delia's article made reference to Gayl and her husband fleeing to Paris for a few years, but she did not explain why and I asked her to expand that section to provide a reason her her leaving the States. I read the explanation, just this morning, -- holy cow! I was expecting some Jimmy Baldwin type reason. I also read the source NY Times article which provided the gory details.

I actually missed this message. I just now noticed it because Chevdove just highlighted it. The name of forum is permanent unless you want me to remove it. As far as your participation, all good things must come to an end and you've done more than your fair share participating. I'm not keen on seeing you go, but alas nothing last forever. I will miss you when you decide to stop posting. Hey does this mean you and Pioneer really aren't gonna hook up?

No.

@Cynique, I worship no man. But I'm also careful not to allow the likes of a Mark Zuckerberg to dictate to me who is a purveyor of hate -- especially when they are judging another Black person.

Yes, they are cool to you. Again, this is my point; you, describe Mel "cool." Del observed a recent conversation I was having with Mel as combative. You and Mel are never combative with each other. I know you and Sara and others went at each other like no one else on the forums have -- regardless of gender, so i'm not saying women treating each others more gently than they do men is universally true in all cases. But is seems to be the default condition. Of course this is all a matter of perception and personal observation.

@Cynique again Farrakhan does not express publicly (he is real careful with his words if you ever listen to him) a hatred of all Jews (antisemitic). Of course he would deny he is antisemitic. OK since you can't find anything on Facebook to support your claim that Farrakhan is an antisemitic Nazi (your words). Find me something anywhere. He has tons of YouTube videos and the Final Call is on the web. I'll wait...

Yes that us what I mean. You will strongly disagree with me on occasion but never with Mel or Chev. Maybe @Pioneer1 has a point. 🤔

One of the nicest Jamaican restaurants I been to is right here in Tampa. It is owned by a young Black couple. You can't use Detroit as your yard stick Brother. I went to a terrific soul food restaurant in ATL a few years ago. Im not sure if it is Black owned, but every soul in the restaurant was Black so I assume it was.

@Pioneer1 what is stopping you (anyone) from doing it here?

but I'm talkin' 'bout @Pioneer1...

Necessity. @Pioneer1 you need to visit places like ATL, the DMV, or NYC. There you will find proper soul food restaurants with great service, fine decor, and excellent food. Even here in TPA there are excellent Black owned establishments. when i used to get my hair cut i did it at a fine black owned salon. They would serve you a glass of scotch or bourbon in a nice glass too. Even AALBC.com servives because of the support of Black people. All is not lost. The problem is we must do MUCH better and there are inidications that we are.

I don't, because i dont buy into the premise of your accusation. Perhaps if you shared a single vile thing Fsrarrkhan wrote on Facebook i could respond to your question. I'm still waiting... I actually agree; he should communicate with the public the way a normal POTUS does. But Twitter is making too much money to stop him. There needs to be new rules defining how a president communicates with the media and public. Yes, because Mark and the rest of them are full of shit. We have that. It is called the World Wide Web.

Toward Fair Trade in the Hood There is a trade deficit in the hood. This trade imbalance is initially internal: North American Africans refuse to patronize each other, preferring to enrich others who rarely buy from North American Africans, including whites, Asians, Arabs, Latinos, et al. As we make our daily round, we should ask ourselves how much money do we spend with each other and how much with others than our own kind? It is simple math that our businesses will soon go out of business for lack patronizing by us. Yes, other culture groups thrive on each other and us. Ask your self why we have a trade deficit with Arabs, Asians, Africans, Latins,et al. Ask yourself why are North American Africans the 16th richest nation in the world with a trillion dollars income but languishes in poverty because of the internal and external trade deficit. Why do we spend money with people who never or rarely spend money with us? Is this not the sign of mental illness? Buy Black campaigns are a failure. The Kwanzaa ujamma or co-operative economics is a joke. Often vendors at our fairs and festivals are non-Black such as Koreans selling us barbeque but when has a Korean bought anything from a North American African? This trade deficit must end immediately. We want fair trade or no trade. And no matter how painful it may be for us to patronize each other, we must do so for our economic survival and thrival. Imagine this: if we spent most of our trillion dollars annual income with each other, we can tell the white man fuck you and your reparations. We will give reparations too ourselves. We will give economic justice to ourselves. We will solve our traumatic slave syndrome our selves through peer counseling and discarding all residue of white supremacist values and behavior, including bullshit learned from public schools, European religion, literature and the monkey mind media, including television and Hollywood that perpetuates the world of make believe and conspicuous consumption Dr. E. Franklin Frazier told us about in Black Bourgeoisie. --Marvin X

@Cynique thanks for the thoughtful response. It is clear that men regularly express disagreement with each other and the women on these forums. Men even go as far as to wager on those differences. Here is a question for the women who regularly post: @Mel Hopkins, @Chevdove, and Cynique have you, in recent memory, disagreed with something written by one of the regular female posters mentioned and have expressed that disagreement? If so, would you describe ths issue or post a link to it. Thanks.

This and many other stubjects... That's deep stuff @Chevdove.

@Delano why are you are so anxious to point out when someone else is wrong. Please tell me why what I wrote that was wrong or "kinda wrong." Did you read the title of the book that Pioneer posted? Did you comprehend the statement I made in reaction to it? Would you like to change you mind?

They could boot Jesus the Christ AKA Barack Obama and Black people would still not boycott Facebook. I wonder if the NOI will stop using Facebook. What?! You are simply parotting what anti Black white peoplw say about Farrakhan. OK @Cynique tell us what Farrakhan wrote on Facebook to "defile Jews?" ....I'll wait. Cynique, if being Muslim and speaking out against jews, or anyone, else who does bad things to Black people can get you booted off a stupid social media platforms where does the censorship end?

That is interesting. While I'm certain @Cynique and @Mel Hopkins have had disagreements (no two people agree on everything). They appear to keep those disagreements to themselves. Allow me to mansplain, I think part of the reason is that women recognize that they are more sensitive and don't express disagreement, opting for harmony, unless they really don't like the other woman, or otherwise don't care about how she feels. In the 20+ years I've run this forum it is only women that have taken something said to them so seriously that they left in a huff. Men, on the other hand, have tougher skin. I'm sure there is nothing cynique can say to you pioneer (much to her chagrin) to run you off these forums, but I'm not so sure that is would be true for the average woman. Del has admitted he was wrong on a number of occasions. Most notably he recently lost $50 to me for being wrong. Cynique generally expresses her opinion on subjects. While we may disagree with them, as I do from time to time, they are how she feels (ex Farrakhan is a Nazi). People are entitled to their opinions. Cynique does not express opinions that run counter to known science and assert them as fact; like there are multiple human races or that man's impact on climate is a hoax. So there really aren't too many opportunities where she needs to admit she was "wrong."

What! I'm playing 774 (pioneer's community reputation number) straight tomorrow. I did not know the Earth was the only planet not named after a God 🌍