Troy

We I've seen many a afro wig in my day :-) When I wore a 'fro, on picture day, my mom used to run a hot comb through my hair. An Afro might have been called a "natural," but it takes some maintenance and a certain type of hair to pull it off.

Well you answered you own question regarding pioneer Cynique. This line is classic; "...and they take root amidst an environment where your brain is on lock down, imprisoned in an ego-centric cell where the bars are forged from your myopic mentality." Are you this witty in real time? I named the forum for you because your contributions are prodigious in both depth and duration. These forums exist because of your contributions. If you were not here the forums would be much less valuable. I still believe contributions are worth of a book. Your dedication deserves more than I can return. Naming the site for you may one day really mean something. I would be really nice if you can see that day. At the same time all of the regular contributors -- even Pioneer -- make this sites possible and give it life. I welcome indeed need his contributions too. So even when I disagree with him, I welcome his input. The literature site is named for Thumper. Even the address of this site pay homage to him https://aalbc.com/tc The "tc" stands for Thumpers Corner. But Thumper who posted here for over a decade has not posted here in years. This Cynique gives your contributions even more weight because of you longevity. The literature forum will always be Thumpers Corner and the Culture board will always be Cynique's Corner. Over the years we had some great contributors. I miss @Thumper, @ABM , @a_womon, Yukio, and so many others. I appreciate @Xeon popping by every now and then and I hope @zaji shares a bit more too. This forum is only as good as the participant's contributions. The very fact we that were are still here in the face of social media is really quite an accomplishment. When I see the success of forums like Lipstick Alley, it gives me hope for the future.

@Pioneer1, do you believe there are other galaxies besides our own? If so why, if not why not? Do you believe in the existence of electrons? Again please say why or why not?

@Pioneer1, using your reasoning virtually no one today wears their hair naturally -- including most Black men -- including myself (I shave my head). Do you see what I mean about the way you debate?

LOL, yes @Pioneer1, I did see this thread. I think @Cynique is sincerely interested in understanding why she disagrees with you so often. As she implied she does not dislike you you, I think you seem like a good natured fellow too. Cynique I think the issue with Pioneer is that he is incorrigible. He can't be reasoned with because he is more interested in "winning," the debate, or advancing his world view rather than gaining new insight or knowledge. For example, @Delano and I can have a heated debate, but at some point he or I will concede a point and I would never assume to debate him on a subject that he has clearly studied and knows more about. As far as subjective topics where there really is no "right" or "wrong" answer -- just different opinions I tend to relate to Pioneer -- even when we disagree -- because I may have held his opinion previously or I know many people who do. I doubt you share this experience with him. This may be due to differences in gender, age, and class.

Yeah, I'd have to agree with @Cynique on this one too. I spoke at a blogger conference a few years ago that was attended by mostly Black women and the vast majority of women had natural hairstyles. My mom, sister, daughters and their mother wear they hair naturally. Of course my personal observations are just anecdotes, but based upon my observations more women are going natural today than 20 years ago. I'd admit this does differ from the images we see in the media. But again we don't control this images...

I shared this on social media, but all the replies were posted on the social media platform themselves. I'll add this to an upcoming newsletter and make it clearer the responses should be posted here

@Xeon, You'll discover none of this will matter to @Pioneer1. Once my man believes something, he does not change his mind. He will never accept the what modern science tells us if it conflicts with his world view. But he is not alone, many people are comfortable with the racial categories and the stereotypes that go alone with them... it helps them make sense of the very nuanced beings humans are.

@Xeon, sure white people absolutely have something to do with it. We don't green light big budget films, give 7-figure advances, or select academy award winners. White folks determine who is successful, and as a result define what is valuable and noteworthy. Problems arise from the inevitable mismatch between what white folks validate and what Black folks think should be validated. So when African "condescend" as Cynique described it is because they believe the hype. In other words the white validation has gone to their heads and they believe they are better than American Blacks... It is already a cliche that foreign Blacks are naturally harder working and smarter than American Blacks. Of course this is silly, but people believe it, in part because white folks believe it. When we view the world from the perspective of white folks we get into trouble with each other.

@zaji thanks for asking. I'm making some progress. This past month has been very hectic. I actually relocated to Florida this month. I'd been living between NYC and FL for several years, but no longer have a residence in NYC. Hit me at troy@aalbc.com for the gory details... Basically, the upgrades are progressing more slowly than I anticipated. I'm getting close to a design I like. I also decided to keep things really simple and work with a single template; (basically a pared down version of the Blog design: https://aalbc.com/template2018.php I'd hoped to have this done before the spring semester started.. I guess I'll use this experience as a lesson for my students :-)

@Cynique would you (anyone actually) try this link again and see if it prompts you to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Thanks!

The plan is to produce more videos of this type to promote the books of publishers and authors who have demonstrated a commitment to #ReadingBlack. To keep videos like these and more coming please subscribe to The Tea's YouTube Channel. Also subscribe to AALBC.com's YouTube Channel as well.

@Pioneer1 I really wish they would report the true unemployment numbers. In places like Harlem, for black men, the number has been reported to be as high as 50% @Cynique, I also wish they would report more widely how many people are working for "slave wages" or work two slave wage jobs just to survive. I heard the places like San Francisco, people with jobs are renting out driveways so that they can sleep in their cars! This in an system where someone can "earn" more than $100,000,000,000. Sad...

Thanks @Shaun Randol I folks do indeed use this to discover he work of some of gth writers you've published. . @zaji, I hear you, while your three year old has the same mental capacity and can probably exert more self control than 45, she is not in control our military nor does she have the ability to write and executive orders. In other words, your three-year-old is not dangerous. Unfortunately, what 45 says matters.

Yes, you are right, I need to mention readingblack.com. thanks for the reminder.

Please share this video and subscribe to The Tea's YouTube channel -- they produced the video.

No it is not just you it is the reality. African are not immune to this either. When Africans behave in the manner you describe just recognize they have fallen victim to the very same influence.

@Cynique you raise a very interesting issue. But I would be cautious and consider your resentment. It is true Africans are receiving a great deal of accolades in the film industry. This of course extends to the Idris Elba, the brothers who stared in Stars Wars and 12 Years a Slave (too lazy to look up the spelling of their names). The same thing could be said for white america's love affair with the African writers. I only say consider your resentment because it is formed from a white sensibility. Black folks, globally, have far too much work to do to be bogged down by who white folk decide the flavor of the month will be. So if they want to help praise on Lupita and ignore talented Black American's fine... but we must be careful in harboring resentment against other Blacks folks based upon what white folks do. I'm not trying to, nor would I attempt to lecture you Cynique, but I'm really talking to everyone who might read this an share your sentiment. I don't think is it a minority sentiment it is just one we don't often hear expressed because we really have a very limited voice in mainstream media. @Pioneer1 I saved the video in my queue to stuff to watch. I have no clue when I'll get to it but if I do i'll hit you up again.

@Delano, thanks for sharing this article man! How did you discover this article? These guys completely understand what is at stake. I wish this message reached the masses. As these huge companies have come to dominate the Internet, “they have caused a variety of problems of which we are only now beginning to become aware,” he explained. Echoing something Rupert Murdoch said last week, he identified one of these problems as the tech giants’ failure to pay for the content on their platforms. “They claim they are merely distributing information. But the fact that they are near-monopoly distributors makes them public utilities, and should subject them to more stringent regulations, aimed at preserving competition, innovation, and fair and open universal access.” In economic terms, Soros suggested, the tech giants were making excessive profits and stifling innovation. And their behavior was also causing larger social and political problems. Social-media companies “deliberately engineer addiction to the services they provide,” he noted. “This can be very harmful, particularly for adolescents.” In this sense, tech companies were similar to casinos that “have developed techniques to hook gamblers to the point where they gamble away all their money, even money they don’t have.” It wasn’t merely a matter of “distraction” or “addiction,” Soros went on. Social-media companies “are inducing people to give up their autonomy. . . . It takes a real effort to assert and defend what John Stuart Mill called ‘the freedom of mind.’ There is a possibility that, once lost, people who grow up in the digital age will have difficulty in regaining it. This may have far-reaching political consequences. People without the freedom of mind can be easily manipulated.”

<a class="twitter-timeline" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/readingblack" data-widget-id="956911751261454336">#readingblack Tweets</a> <script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");</script> The code above will result in the display below. The display is both responsive and supports https: #readingblack Tweets

The Divine Butterfly: Inspiration For The Journey To Your Purpose by Karen H. St. Hilaire The group of ladies speaking with Karen are members of "The Tea" book club. The Tea select books every month and create a series of videos on the author and their book. New videos are released every Thursday (subscribe to their YouTube channel to support their work). I have been working closely with The Tea and they have been extremely supportive of my efforts with AALBC, including #readingblack. I'll be featured in more videos, and even participated on one of the club's discussions--this is really good stuff and I'm excited to be working with The Tea

Thanks for the voice of reason @Bill. The 90's comment was really over the top, but as you wrote the article itself did address an important subject. I do need to address the way the site is organized to help people appreciate amount of information that is contained here, and that is the final stage of the redesign. My blog is actually sporting the new look: https://aalbc.com/blog/index.php/2018/01/23/mantle-proudly-publishes-authors-shithole-countries/

I just now noticed the post @Pioneer1, it is over 90 minutes long, man I don't know when I'll get a chance to watch this. 90 minutes is a long time to invest in a amateur video with folks I don't know... why don't you share the time stamp(s) of the portions of the video you feel should be watched.

@Bill, Amazon has the global capital markets at their disposal. They could acquire investors while not showing a profit for years. Organizations like AALBC.com do not have that insurmountable advantage. My best hope is that this platform and help create the "careful discussion among the potential benefactors/market-constructors," for it is in our self interest on so many levels. Without the massive and ongoing infusion of cash, that Amazon enjoys, how do we compete? I believe we compete by providing a service readers desire that Amazon can not provide. Some authors like @Mel Hopkins, simply do not make her books available for sale on Amazon. I know others who do the same. I appreciate and understand why many authors are not willing to embargo Amazon. Alternatively, authors can directly sell signed copies or sell their books at a price lower than what Amazon offers. These are two easy things authors and publishers can do to compete -- while earning more per book sold. However, as you suggest, we'd still have to contend with Amazon's one-click ordering bolstered by the loyalty created with their Prime membership. This is a tough nut to crack, while many readers are motivated by the spirit of #readingblack, most need more of an incentive. Any ideas?

Yes there are a variety of both technical and colloquial uses for the word "Gang." Were you simply providing more information or was there a point you were interested in making? Funny your post brought to mind the debate here between Information and knowledge. You posted a lot of information about the word gang, but it would have been more interesting to read what knowledge you, personally, were attempting to convey.