Troy

We live in a country where Black people are regularly killed by po-po, and there is relatively little outrage. Certainly, nothing sustained and definitely nothing that changed anything. Asian dude, with a record, ignoring the instructions of both the flight crew and Chicago police gets his ass dragged off a plane, and the entire nation is in an uproar and can't stop talking about it! They are calling for a boycott of the airline--it is way out of proportion!. A woman live streamed her man dying after being shot for NO REASON, and there was five minutes of outrage. Puhlese. Where are the calls for the man to have complied with instructions to get off the plane? On a lighter note:

I like the new photo @Delano, you have not changed a bit. Black don't crack :-) Pioneer, I would describe myself it terms that would make sense to you, Black, brown eyes, bald, 5' 7' stocky, etc. but if the asked about my race or anyone else's, I would say "human" or homo Sapien Sapien if pressed. Political correctness is unclear at best and dishonest as worst. I prefer honestly, I recognize honesty is often mistaken as rudeness or rudeness disguised as honesty.

Everyone who is a regular visitor to AALBC.com's forums knows I'm on a mission to help Black folks maintain control of some portion of the web--especially where our stories are concerned. Currently, the majority of authors who email me information about their books do not have their own web site. This was not always the case. Despite websites being easier and cheaper than ever to maintain, authors are increasingly not creating websites for themselves. Obviously, the popularity of Amazon and Facebook is one of the reasons authors have begun using a Facebook or Amazon as their main web presence. Of the two, Amazon is far better than Facebook, if the author creates an Amazon Central Account (something I currently recommend that authors do). But Amazon is extremely limited in the features they provide for authors--you can't even add hyperlinks. Facebook is simply not a website, and I won't bore you explaining why. The weaknesses of both, from the author's perspective, is that they are optimized to maximize their own revenue. Uplifting, empowering, and enriching the Black community--any community--is simply not part of their mission. The features available on @CDBurns, AALBC.com page (http://ChrisDBurns.com) are simply not provided by Amazon or Facebook. In fact, I could provide so much more if I had more support from the authors I'm attempting to benefit. It is an investment in our community. Over the last ten years, we have lost an incredible number of Black-owned bookstores and Black book websites. Our prodigious engagement on Facebook has been a terrible substitute for what we've lost. But the main problem is that we have given the very control of our online culture to a handful of powerful corporations. Join the fight against corporate dominance of the website and use AALBC.com as your primary web presence.

Cast Your Vote Here

I just discovered looking at my own author profile: https://aalbc.com/authors/home.php?author_name=Troy+Johnson that when I make a blog post it is shared to social media. I'd forgotten about that don't even remember what mechanism I used to setup to do that. I'm not gonna worry about it. I make less than a handful of blog posts a month.

@Pioneer1, you're gonna love this one While I'm filling out this form on the AWP website, I'm considering pitching them a panel since AWP will be in my neck of the woods next year, I got to the question of "gender." Usually, this is a binary choice Male or Female but no, AWP presented me with this veritable cornucopia of choices. Gender: Female Male Agender Androgynous Bigender Cisgender Gender Fluid Genderqueer Intersex Transsexual Transgender Two-Spirit A gender not identified here I want to meet the person who feels the needs to choose the last option--surely they must be extraterrestrial. This is political correctness run the fu*k amok! I could see three options Male, Female, Other. Book why does AWP need this information anyway? Are they planning to make special accommodation for the deluge of Two-Spirt and Gender Fluid attendees? I seriously doubt it. Like a buffet, I was felt compelled to choose more than one option. The form allows you to do this!? I'm going to choose "A gender not identified here." I'll not be defined by society's restrictive labels! On the same form: Race/Ethnicity: American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Black or African American Latino Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander White A race/ethnicity not identified above The striking thing here is that there were more gender options than Race/Ethnicity. This is another stupid question, as the options are not mutually exclusive. I picked, "A race/ethnicity not identified," because my race is Sapien. I'm not half way through the form and these folks are already pissing me off. They are gonna love my subject; driving a stake through the heart of what they hold so dear... social media. Maybe I am a "Dinosaur" @Delano...

Man, I just now learned that Charlie Murphy passed. He was only 57. Charlie always stuck me a more rugged, manly version of Eddie Murphy. May he rest in peace.

LOL! man there has been some very crazy shit posted here over the years, and this was the first time I felt it necessary to distance the site and myself from something someone wrote. The main reason was the way you presented it as if it were factual, definitive, and indisputable, none of which it was of course, but I could see some kid coming here reading what you wrote and putting it in a school report of something, a lot of the site's traffic comes from schools. What you wrote belongs in Wikipedia I think this is the first time you conceded a point. I'm proud of you. I see some of my time and energy has not been wasted. You really should consider not using the word "Race," in the way that you have; it is wrong technically and confusing in a colloquial sense. Maybe try "ethnic group," this is more accurate and less confusing. Scientific American defines more than 5,000 of them. I also found this map that would probably make you very happy, as it uses all the terms you like: I have to concede your point about what it means to be Jewish. I looked at a few Jewish sites and they all say that you do not have to be observant to be considered a Jew. I find that fascinating! This must be an effort to bolster their diminishing numbers rather than actually count the number of adherents to the religion. I will now always look at the estimated number of Jews with a side-eye. Dude, you can be American and Puerto Rican. We used to call people like J-Lo Nuyoricans (New York Puerto Ricans). It is a matter of culture. You do not get to define that for her, or anyone else for that matter.

To Resist: The Trump administration rescinded protections for transgender students in public schools. The most vulnerable among us urgently need your support. To Educate: LGBTQ-specific curriculum in schools is still rare and Lambda's Writers in Schools Program provides valuable instruction about queer lives through queer literature. To Support: Anti-LGBTQ bullying is a problem in schools. Reading queer stories changes hearts and minds and helps create more supportive environments for kids. To Foster: When a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender writer visits a classroom, they give LGBTQ students positive role models which assures them they are not alone. To Save Lives: Most of us have a story about a book that offered us guidance at a time of extreme need. LGBTQ books save lives every day. i got this email this morning and for some reason it made me think of @Pioneer1

The opinions expressed above in no way reflect AALBC.com, it's affiliates, or Web master. You have mixed more terms than I can address. Even with your pre-19th century understanding of race, African refers to the continent. Many white Africans would disagree, legitimately with your descriptions. Africa is home to over 50 nations, countless entinicities, and one race. Judism is a religion, if you don't believe the religion, by definition you are not a Jew. It is like not believing in Christ and calling yourself Christian. Sure judism like any religion is part of one's entnicity. J Lo is Puerto Rican (if she says she is). One's nationality is a legislative thing. Your rules are not universal. Laws regarding nationality vary. Some people @Pioneer1 are members of more than one nationality. You can't force people in neat little boxes of your own design. Not only it is narrow-minded it is unnecessary.

I dunno Del maybe you are right. Prior to Trump's election, I thought it would be a wake-up call. A clear indication that something needed to be done to right our course as a nation, now I'm beginning to see it as perhaps the beginning of our final decline as a nation...

YOu all should check out the recent Blog Post related to this subject:

Interesting points. You probably saw the protracted conversation; "What does it mean to be Black?" on the forum. Personally, I embrace all three terms. Though I definitely use "Black" most often to describe myself. I only use American if I'm outside the States. Interestingly I named my website "African American" Literature Book Club, but the name is too narrow. The implication is that it is only for African-American. The word Black may be more appropriate because it is not limited to national borders. But I honestly don't know if "Black" people across the Diaspora would embrace the word as easily as we do.

Well 2017 turned out to be a banner year for Black writers. Three Black writers have won in the Letters and Drama categories. This is unprecedented and a welcomed trend--half of all the Pulitzer Prizes awarded to Black writers were given in the last 10 years (out of a 101 year history). I feels like someone heard all the shit I was talking about the Pulitzer Board earlier in the year Well congrats to all the winners.

As some of you know I not using social media for at least 6 months. Instead I'm using other websites to help promote my content. So for this list I ran a Google search to find articles and other lists on other websites where I might be able to share a link to my page. During my search it was interesting to discover so many articles on the issue of African writers who feel they are the flavor of the day. It was interesting because I noticed this trend myself. here in US, African authors dominate disproportionately book deals and the media's attention in general relative to Black writers. However the same was true for the media's outsized focus on Urban fiction before that African writers, and chicklet before Urban fiction... The attention paid to Black writers goes through ups and downs the sad part is that black people control none of these trends we rely solely upon white corporate media media and we react accordingly. When was the last time you read an article about Urban fiction? With the exception Ray Brown's Good2go publishing https://aalbc.com/authors/imprint.php?imprint=Good2go+Publishing there is no urban fiction promotion here. It is not like the readers of the genre went away all of a sudden, they are just ignored. And we can't do anything about it...at least right now.

I just emailed Shannon. If he replies I'll ask him to pop in. I found a reviewer for this book too.

@Delano, when you write "sociological dinosaur" the implication is that from a social perspective I'm archaic or behind the times, which has an a negative connotation. I think from a sociological perspective my thoughts, at least on this specific point, is more enlightened. Don't you see that the rise of a Donald Trump is a direct consequence of technology fueled manipulation, fake news, and filter bubbles? I was on a three-hour flight yesterday and the guy next to me never put his phone down. he was swiftly switching between texting Instagram and Snapchat it was amazing. His fingers flew across the glass like nothing I've seen before. Yes compared to that dude I'm a dinosaur (I dictated most of what you are reading now). While he spent three hours consumming memes, I was reading articles and thinking. Now I'm not going to suggest that my use of time was better because it was really a difference between entertainment and education there is time for both in all of our lives. However our social media is driving us toward continuous consumption of brief bursts of entertainment and away from information communicated in long like articles and books. Technology, in addition to manipulating us, is also concentrating wealth into the hands of a few. these are the things that have created an environment that has allowed 45 come to power. In fact it was the same thing that brought the inexperienced Barack Obama into office as well but that's another story...

@Pioneer1 I'm not going to muddy the issue by getting it into all the other characteristics you described like lips size head angularity (whatever that means) and all the rest. I'll just stick with your definition of black dealing with skin color. On one hand you say those who are not Bernie Mac black are simply mixed like Obama and myself. Then you introduce some people Chinese looking people from southern Africa and say they are "racially black!" Those people have characteristics, racially speaking, that one would normally associate with Asians. However you find no difficulty in calling them black. Don't you see how little sense that makes? It's just too inconsistent. In fact it is so inconsistent and subjective it is impossible understand. The fact that all your reasoning is based on 18th century science does not help your position either. As I said a million times there is only one race and it is human. According to you, the majority of so call Black people in America are "mixed race," not truly Black. Therefore what it means to be black to you is to either be Precious purple or look like the Chinese looking people in South Africa.

ALL PRINT POETRY AND LITERATURE TITLES PUBLISHED BY BLACK CLASSIC PRESS ARE 20% OFF FOR NATIONAL POETRY MONTH! (Discounts will be reflected in the shopping cart). Learn more about Black Classic Press on AALBC.com!

OK I see why I misunderstood you @Pioneer1, In this conversation I've been equating Black with African-American, Afro-American, Negro, etc as it relates to African American culture. You are equating Black primarily with skin color, with no real relationship to culture. Still, it is not clear given your definition why Obama is not Black. He is basically the same complexion as I am; am I not Black? My mother and sister are much lighter than Obama, are they also not Black? Let me know.

@Pioneer1, so you are asserting that l Blackness is solely about skin color. And because of his complexion, Obama is Black. Do I understand you correctly Are you also saying culture as nothing to do with what is means to be "Black" in America?

There was an interesting segment on 60 minutes this evening. They described how social media companies design the apps to engage you--individually! They do things like hold back likes so that they can display them in a burst because for some people that will keep them more engaged. Anyone who uses social media should watch this program. Again White folks know exactly what is happening and we still talking about how to get more engaged on social media...

Thanks for letting me know about Shannon's book. I remember him telling me about the research he did at the Schomberg Library, which is down the street from where I live. I see the book was originally published in a couple of years ago. I have to admit I'm disappointed he never shared information about the publication of his book here. Perpahs he felt it was too academic... At any rate, I just added the book to the site: https://aalbc.com/books/bookinfo.php?isbn13=9781479889082 and I think I might have someone willing to review it. I see you can share images now Where did you find this image?

I was reading this like, "Wow, someone else's birthday is today too." Thanks so much for you kind words Cynique. I truly appreciate you, you are a gift to us all every day of the year!

I'm working more closely with authors and publishers across the African Diaspora and Africa. Over the years I've discovered restricting the books I cover and the audience I attempt to reach to American is unnecessarily limiting. In fact, it is narrow-minded. Here are 25 female African writers you should read. Some have realized great fame and wealth in the Unites States. Others are relatively unknown in America but are very successful in their respective countries. These writers come from different African nations and write across genres. Who won't go wrong reading any of their books. Actually, since I add ever book on this site by hand, that should go without saying ;-)