Troy

So Residents Chump's approval rating are down there with Slick Willie's. Not exactly a revelation is it?

Yep this is the right place. You can even add the interview here directly, like so: I've also added the interview to the your book's page: Eddie Green - The Rise of an Early 1900s Black American Entertainment Pioneer by Elva Diane Green Thanks for taking the time to share you story here with readers. btw do you have a website?

Bite your tongue Cynique.

BEFORE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION The Raymond House • 655 -13th Street • Suite 302 • Oakland, California 94612 www.beforecolumbusfoundation.com August 4, 2017 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Justin Desmangles, 916-425-7916 The Before Columbus Foundation announces the Winners of the Thirty-Eighth Annual AMERICAN BOOK AWARDS Ceremonies, October 22, 2017, 12:00–2:30 p.m. Oakland, CA—The Before Columbus Foundation announces the Winners of the Thirty-Eighth Annual AMERICAN BOOK AWARDS. The 2017 American Book Award winners will be formally recognized on Sunday, October 22nd, from 12:00-2:30 p.m. at the SF Jazz Center, Joe Henderson Lab, 201 Franklin Street (at Fell), San Francisco, CA. This event is open to the public. The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community. The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions. There are no categories, no nominees, and therefore no losers. The award winners range from well-known and established writers to under-recognized authors and first works. There are no quotas for diversity, the winners list simply reflects it as a natural process. The Before Columbus Foundation views American culture as inclusive and has always considered the term “multicultural” to be not a description of various categories, groups, or “special interests,” but rather as the definition of all of American literature. The Awards are not bestowed by an industry organization, but rather are a writers’ award given by other writers. The 2017 American Book Award Winners are: Rabia Chaudry Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice After Serial (St. Martin's Press) Flores A. Forbes Invisible Men: A Contemporary Slave Narrative in the Era of Mass Incarceration (Skyhorse Publishing) Yaa Gyasi Homegoing (Knopf) Holly Hughes Passings (Expedition Press) Randa Jarrar Him, Me, Muhammad Ali (Sarabande Books) Bernice L. McFadden The Book of Harlan (Akashic Books) Brian D. McInnes Sounding Thunder: The Stories of Francis Pegahmagabow (Michigan State University Press) Patrick Phillips Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America (W. W. Norton & Company) Vaughn Rasberry Race and the Totalitarian Century: Geopolitics in the Black Literary Imagination (Harvard University Press) Marc Anthony Richardson Year of the Rat (Fiction Collective Two) Shawna Yang Ryan Green Island (Knopf) Ruth Sergel See You in the Streets: Art, Action, and Remembering the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (University of Iowa Press) Solmaz Sharif Look (Graywolf Press) Adam Soldofsky Memory Foam (Disorder Press) Alfredo Véa The Mexican Flyboy (University of Oklahoma Press) Dean Wong Seeing the Light: Four Decades in Chinatown (Chin Music Press) Lifetime Achievement: Nancy Mercado Editor/Publisher Award: Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative, Ammiel Alcalay, General Editor

Hey man is looks like I inadvertently deleted that conversation. I have restored it now: I see that you banner has a woman. Does the photo now look familiar? When I upgraded the system, there was an option to use the poster's Facebook banner as the banner here. You can see mine was used: https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/9056-troy/ My understanding was that it would be used if there was no banner already in place. You can easily remove it or put something else up if you like.

In the 1980's in NY City people needed gates or bars on windows, heavy metal doors with 2 or 3 dead bolts locks to prevent people from breaking into an apartment or house. Still sometimes they would just wait for you to open the door and then break in. Can you imagine living in such an environment? It is weird just thinking about it now... When I was a kid people in the south did not even have locks on their doors--they would just walk right in. Just a screen door protecting them from the outside world. My cousins could leave their bike on their lawns overnight. We could not even ride our bikes without being concerned about someone stealing it. Interestingly today you are safer in NYC that you are in many of those places in the south. Those very same neighborhoods where you could leave your door unlocked, now have security systems and homes are regularly broken into.

Harry this is why signing a petition to get Colin a job is a very superficial way to deal with cultural racism or even the NFL itself. The message (below) from the NAACP's Missouri branch sounds very serious--almost alarmist. I'll heed their message and avoid the state. I've been several times, but admittedly there is no need or even desire for me to go again. I did get wind of this travel advisory in an email from Black America Web, but I did not read their article or follow up to find the source until now. Below is their press release (emphasis is mine) from http://www.monaacp.org/urgent-missouri-travel-advisory/ MISSOURI NAACP STATE CONFERENCE OFFICE P. O. BOX 104221 JEFFERSON CITY, MISSOURI 65110 PHONE 844-NAACP-HELP www.MONAACP.ORG maryann.grayson@sbcglobal.net URGENT – MISSOURI TRAVEL ADVISORY June 7, 2017 (Jefferson City, MO – Missouri NAACP State Conference Office) A travel advisory has been issued in the State of Missouri due to the sad passage of Senator Gary Romine’s Jim Crow Bill – SB 43 – and recent events throughout Missouri. The advisory means each individual should pay special attention while in the state of Missouri and certainly if contemplating spending time in Missouri. Unlike seasonal weather advisories, where no unnecessary travel on city streets or parking might be directed, the NAACP wants to make Missourians and our visitors aware of looming danger which could include the following by example of what has happened to some residents and visitors: Tory Sanford who recently died in a jail cell but was never arrested after running out of gas when he traveled into the state accidently; Racist attacks on University of Missouri students while on the states’ campuses – as the University of Missouri System spoke in favor of Romine’s Jim Crow Bill; Missouri’s legislature Representative Rick Bratton argued that homosexuals are not human beings according to his faith; Black high school students in St. Louis have been attacked with hot glue while denigrated racially; Two internationally born men gunned down outside in Kansas City after their killer thought them to be Muslim; According to the Missouri Attorney General African Americans in Missouri are subjected to excessive traffic - 75% more likely to be stopped and searched based on skin color than Caucasians, Public threats of shooting ‘Blacks’ that terrorized University of Missouri students and members of the public. Individuals traveling in the state are advised to travel with extreme CAUTION. Race, gender and color based crimes have a long history in Missouri. Missouri, home of Lloyd Gaines, Dredd Scott and the dubious distinction of the Missouri Compromise and one of the last states to loose its slaveholding past, may not be safe. The Missouri State Conference of the NAACP will follow Governor Greitien’s review of this Jim Crow Bill – SB 43 – and we will update the NAACP advisory for the State of Missouri if this measure is vetoed. SB 43 legalizes individual discrimination and harassment in Missouri and would prevent individuals from protecting themselves from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in Missouri. Moreover, over zealous enforcement of routine traffic violations in Missouri against African-Americans has resulted in an increasing trend that shows African-Americans are 75% more likely to be stopped than Caucasians. These stops have resulted in increased traffic fines, senseless searches of vehicle and persons, and on occasion unnecessary violence. The advisory is in effect until at least August 28, 2017 starting today. The Missouri State Conference NAACP asked that you do the following: warn your families, co-workers and anyone visiting Missouri to beware of the safety concerns with travel in Missouri, notify members of your trade associations, social and civic organizations that they are traveling and living in Missouri at their own risk and subject to unnecessary search seizure and potential arrest, and file and seek help on any existing claims for discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and whistle blowing ASAP before your legal rights are lost if Senate Bill 43 is not vetoed by Governor Greitiens. VISIT www.MONAACP.org - LIKE Missouri NAACP State Conference Facebook – FOLLOW @MOSTATE for additional information and updates. To file reports of harassment and discrimination and get help call 1-844-NAACP-HELP. Contact Governor Greitiens at 573-751-3222, @ericgreitiens and ask him to make Missouri safe for our families.

Well it is not like we need proof of the obvious racism in the NFL as Harry describes in another post. Again while I know it is impossible to execute, my fantasy would be to see the NFL boycotted, watch it crumble and to see black folks start their own league and bring in the white boys --who have the talent to play. We would truly profiting from the entertainment we provide because we own the league rather than simply being Niggers for Lease, Million Dollar Slaves, or whatever you wanna call them.

Sorry for the delayed response; somehow I missed the notifications. @DelYou'll have t break this one down for me. I don't see the internal rhyme and the math reference is lost on me. Man I even had I to look up the definition of the word "Koan."

Kaepernick's name has come up numerous times on our forums regarding the relative merits of his activist and quarterbacking talent. I checked out the website where the petition can be signed, and it seems the Raven starting QB is injured. Colin, apparently, is already engaged in discussions for the role. It is not really clear to me what else needs to be done. If the Ravens can work a deal and feel Kaepernick can help the team he'll likely be hired. A petition seems unnecessary. But even if we believed the Ravens were racist; afraid of “...Black peoples’ free speech” and did not want to help their team win, and pressure from the petition actually helped get Colin on the team. Then what? Will the NFL be less racist? WIll the players be more than million dollar slaves? What will this mean to Black people collectively? I would like to see Color of change call, or anyone, call for a complete boycott of professional football. Don't watch it on TV, don't buy the products, don't go to the games, and players don't play. Maybe the profession will change in a more meaningful ways that actually benefit not just Black folks but everyone. This of course, is just my fantasy and will never happen, so we'll continue to be at the mercy of the NFL owners who are largely free to do whatever they want. No puny petition will change this....

Color Of Change FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 4, 2017 CONTACT: Mark Ro Beyersdorf, mark@berlinrosen.com Black Activists and Ravens Fans Call on Baltimore Ravens to Sign Colin Kaepernick Ravens headquarters is overwhelmed by hundreds of phone calls asking the team to sign Kaepernick NEW YORK—Staff at Baltimore Ravens Headquarters are now hanging up or refusing to take comments in support of Colin Kaepernick as Ravens fans, Black activists, and Kaepernick supporters inundate the team with hundreds of phone calls asking the Ravens to sign Kaepernick. The Ravens’ egregious silencing of this outpouring of support for Kaepernick comes after the team’s executives publicly stated that they wanted to hear from fans as they made their decision. The effort to support Kaepernick is being driven by Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online civil rights organization, which has launched a website to mobilize calls in support of Kaepernick to Ravens Headquarters and is running digital ads on the front page of The Baltimore Sun’s website calling on the Ravens to sign Kaepernick. Kaepernick, who has been a free agent since March, has yet to be signed by an NFL team following his high-profile refusal to stand during the national anthem in the 2016 season in protest of police brutality and violence against Black people. He ended the 2016 NFL season with 2,241 passing yards, sixteen passing touchdowns, four interceptions, added 468 rushing yards as well as two rushing touchdowns. He is the only player with a top 50 selling jersey who has not been signed and he is the best quarterback currently on the market as the Ravens face the upcoming football season with an injured first-string quarterback and a failing second-string quarterback. “The refusal of NFL owners to sign Kaepernick is not about football—it’s about fear of Black peoples’ free speech,” said Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of Color Of Change. “It is deeply disturbing that team owners in the NFL—which has no Black owners even as nearly seventy percent of league’s players are Black—won’t sign a star who engages in peaceful protest to support his community. Colin Kaepernick speaks for so many of us, and silencing him sends a message to every football viewer that the concerns of Black communities are not valid. Signing Kaepernick should be a no brainer for the Ravens. As the home team of city that has been rife with racial tension for years, the Ravens should welcome the opportunity to send a message that they, too, want to see our country get to a better place. Our country was founded on protest and has been made better by oppressed communities continuing to protest and fight to open institutions that shut us out, including professional sports leagues. At time when pro football teams seem to have no problem signing domestic abusers, it is the NFL’s actions that require scrutiny—not Kaepernick’s heartfelt commitment to justice for Black communities.” Last year, Color of Change launched a petition in support of Colin Kaepernick that has received over 90,000 signatures. Since then, Color Of Change has continued to support Kaepernick and challenged other attempts to limit the free speech of Black communities. ### Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over one million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit www.colorofchange.org.

Wow. I can image a number of alternative outcomes for that story. The Skip Gates scenario comes to mind. Your mug shot would have been a nice image for you to test your new image uploading functionality If an 80 year old woman can break into your house, sounds like you can use a security system or simply don't bother locking your doors. Seriously hide a spare key under a rock in your back yard. Speaking of not locking doors, Cynique, in your neck of the woods ,when did people actually start locking doors?

It was loooong over due.

@Pioneer1, 45 speaks his mind too. I think there is some value is discretion. Besides how does a Kanye know who Bush likes or does not like. Maybe he does not like poor people, maybe his reaction to Katrina was incompetent but that had nothing to do with his personal predilections and more to do the failings of the local and national administrators. Sure Kayne's statement, like 45's tweets are great for the media, but counterproductive. I'll have to watch the entire video with my "Hotep Hat" and third eye engaged, and get back to you. The problem is that our activists are validated by media and they are usually celebrities. Celebrities can assist, but they can not be the leaders. Baldwin, Angelou, Belfonte assisted King and other civil rights leaders in the civil rights struggle, they did not lead it. Celebrities get all the attention because that is the way the media get more people to watch. This does us a disservice. Whenever we attempt to choose our own non-celebrity leaders the media marginalizes them, focuses on their flaws and failures, or simply don't cover them. King, Malcolm, The Black Panthers, etc, had media campaigns launched against them and may Black people were turned against these institutions and men. Sure Dr. King is universally celebrated now, but he was not during his day. I doubt a Dr. King could rise to prominence today. We'd probably be fixated on whatever a Little Richard had to say about civil rights if it the media operated the way it did today... So Colin K. the professional football player, has been thrust into the limelight as if his kneeling during a football game, given the media coverage, is the more important civil rights action that has taken place since the march on washington. And (choose your favorite local activist), struggles for the support to make a difference in obscurity.

Hi @Elva D. Green sorry for the confusion. I actually have stopped using my AALBC.com Facebook fan page. I do however post to my Facebook page from AALBC.com to share links to content on this site, but I don't sign onto the fanpage and engage there. Which is why you still see posts. I guess I'll pull the page down at some point. But I am in the process of moving photos I've posted on Facebook to AALBC.com which will take some time. In the meantime, I've edited that pinned post clarifying how I use AALBC.com's fanpage--which again is just to post links from AALBC.com At the end of the day, I'd like people to engage with AALBC's content on AALBC and not Facebook. The challenge i getting people to actually do that. You can find your content on AALBC.com's discussion forums here: https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/9284-elva-d-green/content/

Yeah, it is another filter bubble.

Interesting. Far and away the most popular links are the bestsellers lists and in the newsletter more popular that that was the list of most critically acclaimed books. I really like the fact that people are paying attention to that list, as I incorporate more Black award sources it really will be a great list of books. WInning one award it not enough, so the list of books is pretty good recognizing excellent books overlooked by the mainstream media because the NY Times have not "validated it." These are books Black folks have validated!

I hear you Cynique. I see Colin in a different light now and will monitor his progress with less cynicism. Is Black Live Matters a "movement?" I think my real problem with Colin and even Black Lives Matters is that these two entities are internet memes to me; social media creations that are only as effective as social media allows them to be. But this, of course is my bias that may be clouding my judgement. Still, I will never, ever champion anything done on a corporate site that is purported to uplift us--because that is impossible.

Pop culture is not my strong suit either, but after listening to y'all I've learned to lighten up. When I was a kid I could give you the programming on all of the TV stations. I did not need a TV guide, but there were only about 10 station--6 that people really watched NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, and two local stations. I also new all of the popular songs by Black people. I went to every Black movie that came out and I watched every Black sitcom. When cable become available I would sit with my VCR ready to record all the black music videos so that I could watched them whenever I wanted. I LOVED BET! I listened to Black radio exclusively. I mean I grew up in Harlem, witnessed, first hand, the birth of Hip-Hop. But that all started to change once I got into college. After I started the website and was really exposed to the world of books--pop culture failed to interest me. Despite being completely immersed in Black pop culture for the first 30 years of my life, I didn't really know shit about what it really means to be Black. I guess I felt like I had to play catch up ever since. But watching that Minaj (is her name a play on ménage à trois?) video if felt like I missed the last 20 years of music videos--like I was locked up for 20 years, get out and seeing an Galaxy 8 cell phone for the first time. Now seeing scantily clad honeys shakin their rumps in music videos is not new on me--BET made billions promoting those. This video was just so much better than was I recall ever seeing seeing. It is not enough for me to start watching VH1 or BET again, but it was an entertaining diversion from trying to listen to Al Gore drone on about climate change...

Sure Pioneer the video sends all kinds of crazy messages. I completely understand why the Hotep crowd, the religious right, and prudes would be taken aback. This is Viola Davis time cover taken to another whole 'nother level. But Maybe it is just a fun video and ain't all that serious... How would you make the video differently? Would you have Minaj wear a burka?

Thanks for the feedback. @Mel Hopkins what did you find most interesting?

Cynique, I know Kaepernak took a knew during the national Anthem. During the period many other football player engaged in similar activities. As far as I know none of generated as much media attention. which is really all this is about-media. I submit NFL teams take the best players given their budgets and needs, but if you are saying teams are choosing worse OBs over Kaepernak. Then you obviously have more information than I do.

Yes the production quality was very high. Clearly, they have created a video that appeals to a great number of people, I found it compelling until I realized that I was simply riveted by Minaj's physique and I had to turn away before I spent the rest of the evening looking for Minaj videos to watch all night Despite my fascination, I did not feel compelled to buy the music. Man, I have not thought about BET or VH1 in years! I would be willing to bet that more people watched the video on Youtube than VH1 and BET combined. The video has been viewed over 9 million times in less than 3 days!

This is the latest newsletter that I emailed this week. I've been experimenting with shorter newsletters. The engagement per article is much higher plus shorter newsletters are just easier to create. I add so much new content to the site each month that trying to capture it all is just impossible.

With the number of other great books still in print, it is lost on me why anyone would consider paying hundreds or dollars to read this particular book, or to even obtain a physical copy of it. If anyone disagrees I'm open to opposing opinions. @Getemchip there seems to be an opportunity to make some money here. Do you have a few copies of your dad's book laying around?