Troy

Mel I understand that you know how the stock market works and are good at research. But again most people are not. I think a side column about politics would be a great idea. Why should you be the only one who benefits from your knowledge? The challenge as you've noted however is generating interest. In order to raise people's awareness and prompt meaningful action, people have to both be aware and interested in what you have to say. They also have to understand why it is important. I've learned Google, for example, is a major road block keeping us from each other online. I've also learned that social media controls the information we see which distorts and biases our perspectives. So I research and try to understand this area, because it not only adversely impacts Black folks it impacts my livelihood. Google and social media will directly and adversely impact your ability to reach the people who most need to read your political information. I also realize the negative impact of social media and Google are happening without our knowledge, so people have not clue unless you tell them. It is like climate change. I would have no clue we were on the brink of making the planet inhospitable to human habitation unless the media informed me. Similarly, I would have no idea that Obama dropped more bombs from drones than Bush unless someone the media informed me. But information and facts alone are not enough. We need understanding and context. Just because you understand the stock market does not mean you will make money. We rely on research reports and the companies themselves to provide information. If they lie what good are our facts and information. If rating agencies and government regulators fail to do their jobs we are screwed--and we are. Did Obama drop more bombs from drones because drone technology improved and the tool was more readily available to him than it was to Bush, or did he drop more bombs because he viewed the increase in collateral damage (like killing everyone in an innocent wedding party) was an acceptable risk if fewer American's dide as a result of drone strikes? Knowlegde of facts does not automatically impact understanding.

I know. But in my opinion, politicians lie. 45 for example, plainly lies. Why would I subject myself to this? I hope the media sorts this out and gives me some semblance fo the truth. If the media out by saying, "Donald Trump tweeted today..." I stop listening. I also know unless you get your information from 9 different sources you are being lied to. So I research the thing I have time to research like the nature of the web and how it impacts my ability to eat. For other things like climate change and the activities or 45 I'll reply most on journalist and the opinions of others, including yours.

Mel I was reacting to the statement; Sadly, if my experience serves as evidence - then I'd have to agree, black women would have to sacrifice self - and that too could be a reason they're salty. Which I apparently misconstrued as applying to the relationship part--my bad. But I assumed the reason this woman, women in general, want to find a "good Black man" is that they are interested a long term committed relationship, marriage, a family. I was just observing that if a woman feels they have to go through mental and emotional gymnastics just to attract a decent dude; they are going to be in for a rough ride once the relationship gets going because that is not sustainable behavior over the long term.

No Mel, I don't watch Obama's every move--especially now. I definitely have no interest is reading 45's tweets. I'm too busy trying to eat. I do however read the newspaper and rely on journalists to sift through the morass of nonsense 45's tweets about and to do some investigations and research on my behalf and tell me what is important for me to know. I have neither the time, inclination or the resources to do this, so I rely upon the media. As you've should already know I do not think the media are perfect, and often find them biased against Black people but we need the media--desperately. For example, I believe man's activity is causing climate change. Not because I did research. I just read a couple of compelling articles and believe them. These "facts" have been disputed elsewhere. I have no way of proving which "facts" right or wrong, and neither do you. You either trust what you read or you don't. It is a matter of faith, colored by experience, bias, and intuition--our lens so to speak. Your opinion of Obama is no different. Other smart people just as informed as you are, even more so will disagree. No everyone is invested in the stock market, in case you have not noticed. The wealthy certainly benefited during the Obama years. The increase in the wealth gap has been widely reported. As far as opinions being "irrelevant without facts or evidence," I strongly disagree with the statement. That comes across as elitist. Everyone has an opinion, you may not agree with it, but if you dismiss them out of hand simply because you feel you are more informed you will never truly understand the motivations of people. You'll stop listening because you'll believe your opinion is better, the only one worth holding. That is my opinion.

"Information?" Do you mean observations, conjecture, assumptions, intuition, beliefs? They all inform opinions. But I fail to see what you are trying to communicate with that statement. Christians for example would have the "informed opinion" that abortion is murder. Others think abortions are great; the freedom from responsibility of their actions is more important that the life of the unborn, or maybe they profit from the abortion industry. Either way, both have informed opinions but have arrived at completely different conclusions. Again I ask what is the difference?

Here is an axiom: Marriage and raising kids requires sacrifice. Sometimes that sacrifice requires doing something that you'd prefer not doing. Mel it sounds like what you are describing as "contortion," is simply sacrifice. I might be misunderstanding you, but you can clarify if I'm wrong by giving me examples or elaborating on what you mean. I'm not suggesting that a woman (or a man) completely give up on their dreams and their personality for their partner. But the married you simply can not behave the same way as the unmarried you. People who fail to recognize this, or refuse to do it, should never get married. If they do it will never last or they will be miserable Marriage is an ongoing series of compromises--especially if you have children. To me dating requires no sacrifice; you're just doing fun things with someone you like. When the fun is over you both go home. Sorry read about the passing of your friend.

Really, what might that difference be Del?

Del in reaction to, "...I don't think HE is a misogynist or hidden homosexual homophobe." Why thank you. Look like your psychic abilities are firing on all cylinders. Keep in mind, I have been known to engage in hyperbole to emphasize a point, play devil's advocate to introduce a different perspective, or just say something 'cause I know it might tune someone up (but I don;t do that very often). Labour of love? Man, I'm trying to stack dat serious paper! I gots t get paid!

Rosalyn McMillan (October 14, 1953 - June 13, 2017) “I would like to thank everybody for your condolences about by beautiful and amazing sister, Rosalyn McMillan, who will be dearly missed but not forgotten. Our entire family is grateful for the kind words being said about the impact her books, her artistic flair, her beauty, grace, and sense of humor had on your and our lives. My heart aches but I know she’s in good hands. Warmly.” —Terry McMillan (Rosalyn's elder sister) Rosalyn was one of the first writers whose books I put on AALBC.com. She was one of the more popular authors at the start of the surge in popularity of Black writers which began to really pick up steam in the later 1990's. Of course, Terry McMillan along with E. Lynn Harris and a handful of others lead the charge, but Rosalyn was in the mix. I can not find any news coverage of McMillan's passing. I copied Terry's thank you note from Facebook. Rosalyn and I are Facebook friends and her page was covered with messages of condolence from her family and friends. R.I.P. Ms. McMillan.

Cynique in reaction to, "I don't know that black men have earned the right to judge how black women decide to have themselves portrayed." Point taken.

Mel I was reacting to Del's statement. He said Obama cried and he was called "weak" as a result. When I responded to that specific statement I wrote, let me know when he actually does something. You informed us he donated $2M to a summer jobs program--great. I'm not going to research your statement either. I'll also take you at your word. It is not clear to me why you feel I have to research every statement I make in reaction to Obama. That is not a realistic expectation during the course of a normal conversation. For all I know Del could have made it all up, but I took him at his word too. Were you aware of the Obama crying incident before Del mentioned it? Mel, clearly you have a blind spot as too. Del wrote, "he was called weak." Perhaps you should do a little research yourself and try to understand why people are calling the man weak. Amerca is hurting and the Black community is in dire straights. If you can not see why a huge portion of the country is not as big a fan of Obama then there is probably nothing I can do to help you understand. Del I agree, as a religious leader Farrakhan, is indeed constrained, as is Obama as President. There are things we can do that they simply can not. Ongoing public scrutiny and critique go hand in hand with celebrity and idolization.

I did not hear that about Obama. I'm not even going to bother looking it up. Let me know when he uses his celebrity, money, and remaining power to do something about it. So perhaps lack of passion was not the right description. Maybe weakness is a better one. Weakness not because he wept but weakness due to inability or unwillingness to react in a meaningful way to the slaughter of innocent Black youth. I'm sure weeping and inaction would not be Farrakhan's response if NOI boys were getting shot.

Del that last point was probably more important than you realize. Perhaps that is true because there are more differences genetically, within the so-called "races" than there are between. One of the great failings of western cultures is the creation of so-called racial differences. It creates unnecessary strife. Mel I did not mean to drag you into this but of course, your comments are always prized.

@CDBurns, it looks like I missed this comment. That is a good way to measure the impact of social media; as a function of the fans and followers you've earned versus traffic. For a noncelebrity, the number of your fans/followers is a function of the effort you put into increasing them it whether it is through paid or active engagement on the platform. The size of your fan base is a good proxy for your engagement (paid and organic) on social media. Best Metric for Evaluating Social Media Traffic If your goal is to acquire traffic from social platforms then what better metric is there? I wish I had my data. Google Analytics free information going back that far is just a rough estimate and social media platforms do not provide the number of fans and followers over time at least not going back as far as I need. Of course, the platforms themselves have the data and benefit greatly from it...we, in turn, are at a disadvantage flying blind. Results of Social Media Boycott After 3.5 Months Three and a half months into my planned 6-month boycott, I've learned a lot. An increasing number of people use social media as their primary web presence--even if they have their own website. This means: Social media is becoming the only way to reach people for whom you don't have contact information. People who share photos and videos of you often only share this information in social media. To show appreciation requires social media engagement. When I research an author, bookstore, or related business, social media is the only often the only place where information is available. Often I have to resort to social media, because the website is inadequate as the site's information stale or missing altogether. People often reach out to me on social media rather than through my website or email. Unless they are highly motivated people use the tools that are most convenient to themselves, which is often social media. Social Media Use Can't Reasonably be Avoided Basically, I can't effectively run AALBC.com without logging onto a social media platform for the reasons mention above. But these platforms are largely limited to Facebook and Twitter. Today Twitter and Facebook make up 93% of all of my social media traffic (13% and 80% respectively). Five years ago it was 67% (10% for Twitter and 57% for Facebook). Again this growth in share of social media traffic occurred during a period when I've largely abandoned use of these platforms. Twitter visitors are more engaged with AALBC.com than Facebook visitors. Twitter users look at more pages and stay on the website longer. But again, Facebook drives much more traffic. Albeit the amount of traffic has not been proportional to the growth in Fan and followers over time. Facebook and Twitter Dominate, No Use for Snapchat and Instagram I have discovered no reason for me to use social media platforms like Instagram or Snapshat, despite the fact that these platforms are wildly successful and are increasingly dominating a higher percentage of Internet activity of handheld users. Globally handheld devices have already surpassed desktop devices in terms of the number of users, which is why Google has penalized non-mobile optimized websites. Almost 46% of my traffic, in 2017, came from handheld or tablet devices. Only 5 years ago it was less than 16%. If someone is aware of a way for me to effectively utilize Snapchat or Instagram to drive traffic to AALBC.com without spending a ton of money or time I'm all ears. Right now Facebook appears to be the best game in town for driving traffic to AALBC.com. I also have zero interest in using those platforms which poses another challenge. Traffic is Much Higher, Growth Due Largely to Traffic from Search Engines Resulting from Website Upgrade Google Analytics has defined 26 other social media sites that have driven traffic to AALBC.com. rounding out the top 10 are Pinterest, Google+, Goodreads, YouTube, Linkedin, Instagram, Disqus, and Reddit. Of these only Pinterest, Google+, and Goodreads have shown and growth in the past year; the others are have suffered a sharp decline. I can not explain the growth of Pinterest, Google+, and Goodreads this year. I have accounts on all these platforms, but I simply do not use them very much, nor I I plan to. Today social media traffic is higher than it was 5 years ago, but this is because of social media is a smaller piece of a much larger pie. Pages views are up over 200% compared to 5 years ago. This is largely due to the website's redesign. Of the top 5 most frequently visited web pages 4 did not exist 5 years ago. These 4 pages were only possible because of the website's new database. Organic Search (someone visiting the site by clicking a link on a search result) is 71.69%% of AALBC.com traffic year to date 2017, Social media is 4.51% For the same period in 2016 Organic Search and was 64.63% and social media traffic was 8.62% What am I Gonna Do? I'll update this shortly...

Cosby being sent to prison at this stage of his life would be very tragic, but if he is guilty of what he is accused of, he should have been locked up a long time ago. The question will forever remain, why now? Why this reaction after 50 years?

@Cynique, your reply was beautifully written, poignant, and rang true on all levels. You have a gift. I wish I could relate stories as easily. That said, I really do not think I way off base when I wrote the reaction to my perception of Viola's Time cover. The way I worded my statement it may have sounded like I was describing your's, @Mel Hopkins's @Delano's, and anyone on the opposite side of the argument as exactly the same. Of course, that would not be fair and not my intent. I was summarizing very briefly, what I took away from the entire conversation. Of course, the details were more nuanced... But Xeon's statement illustrates my point: “Just because the respondents agreed with your racial paranoia doesn't vindicate you, it just makes you all ashamed of black women.” Again, while you and the others did not say this explicitly, taken as a whole, this statement, as ludicrous as it might seem to me is it not out of line with the overall sentiment of those on the opposing side of our the debate. Cynique, do you agree with Xeon's assessment of my opinion of the issue? Obviously, I reject it, but based on your intuition, the reading of what I actually wrote, and what you know of me what do you think? @Pioneer1, I was not trying to start anything other than thought and conversation. It was just that the way Christal described the situation with trying to obtain a relationship with Black men hit me in much the same way the reaction to our perception of Time Magazine's photo of Viola hit me--unexpected and intense. What does a "Good Black" man mean? Man I dunno...seemingly it means perfection; immune to the ravages of racism, strong, financially secure, tall, handsome, smart, spiritually sound, a good communicator, great protector, compassionate, great in bed, in physical shape, gets along with your family, a good cook, no kids, no crazy exs, likes everything you like, has no vices, and is in love with every aspect of your imperfections. Does that sound about right? Of course, if men are looking for the exact same thing in a woman, there would a shortage of them too... that is, "the "goods are odd." Perhaps this is where the problem resides. Many of us appear to be looking for characteristics in our partners that don't exist in any human and are characteristic we do not possess ourselves. @Delano why don't you date more Black American women? Interestingly, I was never interested in dating anything but Black American women, but that was more due to the provincial nature in my youth. @Xeon, please feel free to express yourself. In 20 years, no one has every been banned for expressing their opinion. Now if you come at Cynique sideways, we have a problem.

There are beautiful women in all complexions. Of course, this is not a universally shared opinion. Obviously, in western cultures, higher levels of beauty are often associated with people who have lighter complexions but as I've argued continuously this is a consequence of living in a white culture. @Xeon, the colorism you describe in Asian cultures may actually have more to do with class. Darker skinned people are associated with the woking class, outdoor laborers. By the way, I think Gabby actually did lose about 100 pounds:

I asked about your opinion of Farrakhan reaction to Wallace's question because I wanted to be sure I understood who I was talking to ;-) It was a reality check question of sorts. You appreciate that there are people who disagree with the Minister, most notably esteemed journalists like Mike Wallace. We can also agree, I'm sure, that the media has unfairly demonized Farrakhan which reduces his effectiveness because Black people buy into it. Can you really blame me if I'm a little biased towards a Black man? I remember that 60 minutes interview went it originally broadcast, because I was saddened that Wallace would portray the Black nation of Nigeria in such a way and there was nothing I could do about it. Farrakhan became a hero because of the way he promptly and properly put Mike Wallace in his place. If Wallace had interviewed any of our current "leaders" I doubt any would have expressed the justified anger and outrage, while intelligently dismissing Mike's nonsense. Maybe one of Obama's weaknesses is his lack of passion. People say the brother is "calm, cool, and collected," but if you don't display anger every once in a while, it can be perceived as a lack of caring. If you can't get angry about the increase violence in the Black cities and your actions don't indicate that you are doing anything about it, then it is really hard to win the hearts and minds of people... do you see what I mean? People got angry with Farrakhan for taking money from Qaddafi, I guess they want him to be beholden to Mcdonalds or Wells Fargo instead. This is one reason he is labeled an antisemite as if that is a thing, Black call each other. Given the number of Jewish people who profited from the enslavement of Black people being mistaken for an antisemite when advocating for Black people should not be much of a concern.

@Delano, oh I thought you were using Wattstax to demonstrate how Jessie Jackson could have rallied a million together the way Farrakhan did for the MMM. @Cynique, I'm glad you agreed with this clip of Farrakhan As you said you are removed from his influence. I am not. I walked by Mosque #7 (Malcolm's mosque) every day a boy. I patronized the businesses they operated and saw how they cleaned up ex-cons, people the rest of us threw away. But I'm not naive enough to think they are perfect. I remember how the Brothers would try to recruit me as a little boy when my mother was not looking. Yes I do think your impression of the man is colored by the white-dominated mainstream media.who are often overtly hostile to the NOI. Where did you learn about the statements the exit FOI members? Did you know the Final Call the NOI's newspaper was recognized by the Association of Black newspapers as the best Black newspaper in the country? I mean you site Farrakhan complicity in Malcolm X's killing, but that was over 50 years ago. The reasons for all of that I won't pretend to understand or know, but the Farrakhan has publicly apologized for that and the families have attempted to make amends as far as I recall. You also left out the involvement of the federal government's involvement. You also did not mention the many NOI member who were slaughtered by the feds and local police. We all know the NOI was virtually crushed by our own government with the aid of media propaganda to diminish and marginalize the Nation of Islam. Again the media did a great job demonizing the NOI and excusing the Feds. Sure Black on Black crime in Chicago is bad, but to use that to diminish Farrakhan's effectiveness is totally unreasonable. What the hell is Chicago PD doing? Still Chicago's crime rate is relatively low (though I understand you may not appreciate that listening to the media). Chicago's per capita rate is murder rate is much lower than Detroit, Baltimore, and St. Louis (which are some of the most dangerous cities in the world, based upon their per capita murder rates). Washington DC's murder rate is pretty crappy too, but we never hear anyone laying the blame at Obama for the murder rate of DC, Chicago, or the United States. What makes these anti-Black power campaigns so effective is that many of the victims reject the fact that they are indeed being victimized. So yes Farrakhan is elderly and his recent speeches are not nearly as powerful as they were when he was in his prime. If we let mainstream media determine who is important to our communities we will be misled to our own detriment .

I was in Atlanta over the weekend, in the running for the “Literary Activist of the Year” Award. The awards ceremony was actually part of an entire weekend of events hosted by AAMBC (African Americans on the Move Book Club). I attended one of the events, a panel discussion billed as the following: “Meet relationship experts Terry Deron, Jevon Dewand, Gregory Alan Williams, and Stephan Labossiere and others in a conversational piece moderated by Rolling Out journalist Christal Jordan.” The Brothers on the panel were all good looking, very articulate, and successful. Two were former professional athletes, one was an author and artist, and the other was an actor. They all have published books. I was impressed with what they had to say and told them so during the Q and A. But a couple of things that were said during the presentation really struck me though. One was a statement by journalist Christal Jordan, who was the panel's moderator. I was able to catch records just a portion of what she said, (on the 20-second video below. She prefaced a question to the four gentlemen on the panel with a very negative statement against Black men. If I was on the panel, I would have challenged the preface entire preface of her question. Before I could whip out my camera, Christal also cited a statistics to bolster her argument supporting the difficult of Black women to find a good Black man. She said there was an 18 to 1 ratio of Black women to men (in favor of men). She did not cite a source, but the stat was accepted as true, unquestioned, by those on the panel. During the Q&A a woman (virtually all of the attendees were women), asked one of the Brothers why he was not married since the odds were 18 to 1 in his favor. The Brother replied, without missing a beat “…the odds were good, but the goods were odd.” I was actually taken aback by that statement and began to wonder if Christal had a point, because if a so-called relationship expert would say something like that what must the average Brother think? The same Brother, who was previously married and now divorced, went on to say that he wanted to find the right women because he was not interested in getting divorced again, which is completely understandable, but was unnecessary and simply wrong to indict an entire population of Black women, based on nothing more than his own experience During the Q&A I asked all the panelists to say what their marital status was. None were married, two were divorced (one twice), and they all had children. I did not say this, but I find it just crazy that we always trot out Brothers who have not demonstrated any success at maintaining a long-term healthy relationship as "experts" (think Steve Harvey). It is no wonder so many sisters believe that Black men are out to hurt them. It also made me think of the conversation about Viola Davis' Time cover photo, where the assumption, despite statements to the counter, was that because I did not like the photo and found it subtly racist that I must be hating on Viola Davis, and by extension Black women in general—which is just ludicrous. Is the strife between Black men and women really that bad?

Whoa! @Delano, I was reacting to your statement, "You are both assuming what Mel and Cynique think and instead of asking their opinion you speak on their behalf." The both could have only pertained to Pioneer and me. But I'm glad to read if was not intended for me. Sadly, much of the criticism of Farrakhan is cherry picked from white (often hostile) media coverage of the man. Sadly, much of the good Farrakhan has done, that @Pioneer1 described, was obviously unknown to you all and now is being completely ignored or marginalized. White media another job well done! No one is saying you have to follow Farrakhan's brand of Islam (I don't). But to discount the man's accomplishments as a leader who has turned the lives around of so many that society has through away is just wrong. Again, if you have not been to a service and seen the results, then you can't possibly know. Again if you rely on mainstream media for an understanding of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam you are being lied to. @Delano, yes I'm aware of Wattstax; it was great. I saw the movie in the theater when it came out in the early 70's. But surely you realize that it was entertainment right. I could fill an arena with people to see the top Black Talent performing today. You are comparing apples to oranges; when comparing it to the MMM. No one is suggesting that Farrakhan is capable of saving all the Black inner cities why go off the deep end and suggest that @Cynique. Malcolm X and Dr. King combined failed to do that. We are talking about a mere mortal--far from perfect. No one here worships him. Seemingly, Black workshop is only acceptable when it is Obama. It will be very interesting to see what Obama does over the next 20 years. If he has nearly the impact that Farrakhan has I would be quite pleased, but very surprised. I'm sure you have seen this 60 Minute interview when Mike Wallace, a respected journalist, had to audacity to say that Nigeria could be the most corrupt Nation on Earth. @Cynique is Farrakhan wrong in the video below? Do you think Obama would say something like this. Do you see why Black folks in the so-called "inner city" very the two men differently?

@Pioneer1, do you really "get a lump in your throat, and feel an urge to put your hand over your heart when the flag goes by or somebody is singing the national anthem?"

@Del Snoop is world famous and enjoys an active career. He is a pop culture icon. Not speaking for Pioneer but why call Farrakhan a sell-out because he plays classic music, that seems a bit silly. Sort of like the way we used to tease kids who spoke proper English or tried to do well in school Farrakhan does not hate all white people I heard him say that he greatly admires Jascha Heifetz and that guy is Jewish. Y'all gotta stop listening to white people and listen to the man. Malcolm X called white people blue-eyed devils too, but even he was speaking about their behavior--which is, and has been, quite devilish. @Cynique I thought though you were talking about who knows Jillian Bond today. But even 22 years ago the disparity in recognition and respect for Farrakhan over Bond among Black people, men, in particular, would have been just as great. Jullian Bond simply could not have spearheaded the masses in the way that Farrakhan did--assuming he even had the inclination to do such a thing, which I doubt. But this is speculation on our parts and all we can really do is disagree about it...

...plus people lie on surveys giving responses to make themselves look good. Then there is the troll factor... We can poke holes in my little survey all day long. In case it was not obvious, I even said the survey was not scientific. Speaking of surveys and racism, I just about finished a book that I would recommend, Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, It is really a fascinating study of big data. It attempts to explains why surveys and Facebook posts are flawed ways of understanding people and why our Google searches are much more revealing of our true selves. Google search, for example, indicate that child abuse, abortions, and even racism is much more prevalent than what the governmental data reports.