Troy

@Pioneer1 I was unaware of the beef between Tariq Nasheed and Umar Johnson. I did a quick search on Youtube and found the video below. I did not probe more deeply because that kind of stuff does not really interest me. I always had questions about Umar's school -- especially after he blew the original dates. His views on homosexuality are extreme for someone in his field. I've long since loss interest in the "beefs." The one With Corner West and Ta-Nehisi Coates is not interesting to me, but I was aware it. Ta-Nehisi's response was classy and appropriate for a Brother at that level. I'm familiar with Tariq Nasheed's books and the popular Hidden Colors films. I have to say I'm disappointed in Tariq's response here; it is very low class. I thought he was a conscious Brother...I perceive him completely differently now.

Well nothing is perfect Del, not even science.

That is why I usually refer to it as Xmas -- that is a perfect way to describe it if you ask me.

A @Delano what brought about your change in opinion? @Pioneer1, sorry I missed your question. But I give. I'm convinced there is nothing I can show you or tell you to convince you of the fallacy of any genetic basis for "race." Now I know people like to use the term "race" to describe the way people look, but even that is a slippery slope and I rather simple describe people rather than pinning a racial label on them -- especially if don't know how they define themselves. I met a Jewish woman once. I was roommates with one of her sons. Now this woman was a straight up European Jew but in the content I met her in she was just a lighten skinned Black woman. She had a Black accent, she was culturally Black, she had Black children, and she lived with Black people -- she was Black as far as I was concerned. The lady is dead now, but a popular book, The Color of Water was written about her. Blackness is about culture not genetics.

LOL @Pioneer1 who know I got your back when we agree (even when we don't). As I said before, I completely understand your perspective -- many of them I previously shared. LIttle of what you see in Africa today reflects traditional culture, which is what you asked about. Modern African (in the cities) are perhaps more influenced by western traditions and religions than Black Americans. The was the most striking thing I noticed in the three countries I visited. It can be 90 degrees and 90% humidity and brothers are wearing three piece suits to the office. Virtually all the professional women have their hair straightened, or have it covered with a wig or head wrap. Skin lightening cream is widely available and visible in drug stores. So if they have even harsher views on homosexuality today, that is not surprising. Bt again this has nothing to do with traditional cultures. I'm not gay but I also understand some people are born that way. Still others may chose to "swing" in that direction. In a free culture this has to be allowed. As long as it does not involved children, forcing the behavior on others, or infringes on others rights, why should I care? I think people tend to overshare on the sexual predilictions more than necessary anyway. All of your conspiracy theories ignore that fact the there are a lots of white people who are gay too. Is there a conspiracy against them too, or are they just collateral damage? Again, your racial bias blinds you to the fact that homosexuality is human condition one's so called "race" is irrelevant.

We are happy to see a great deal of coverage of the Black-Owned Bookstore list! Kolumn Magazine gave the list an excellent treatment recently. Kolumn #readingblack

We are encouraging all supporters of #readingblack to use the #readingblack hashtag whenever you comment about Black books — especially on social media. This will help raise awareness of the effort. #readingblack Tweets

ewell Parker Rhodes is giving away 10 copies of Ghost Boys before its April 17 release date. Enter before March 2nd for a chance to win! #readingblack

Essence Ventures Announces Acquisition of Essence Communications from Time Inc. January 03, 2018 01:53 PM Eastern Standard Time NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essence Ventures LLC, an independent African-American owned company focused on merging content, community and commerce, today announced its acquisition of multi-platform media company Essence Communications Inc. from Time Inc. ESSENCE President Michelle Ebanks will continue at the helm of the company and will also join its board of directors. In addition, the all Black female executive team of ESSENCE, including Ebanks, will have an equity stake in the business. “This acquisition of ESSENCE represents the beginning of an exciting transformation of our iconic brand as it evolves to serve the needs and interests of multigenerational Black women around the world in an even more elevated and comprehensive way across print, digital, e-commerce and experiential platforms” “This acquisition of ESSENCE represents the beginning of an exciting transformation of our iconic brand as it evolves to serve the needs and interests of multigenerational Black women around the world in an even more elevated and comprehensive way across print, digital, e-commerce and experiential platforms,” said Ebanks. “In addition, it represents a critical recognition, centering and elevation of the Black women running the business from solely a leadership position to a co-ownership position.” Through the Essence Ventures’ investment and resulting incremental growth opportunities, ESSENCE will focus on expanding its digital businesses via distribution partnerships, compelling original content and targeted client-first strategies. In addition, the brand will expand its international growth by planting its rich content ecosystem, including the flagship magazine, digital properties and successful live event franchises, in more global markets with women who have shared interests and aspirations. “The strategic vision and leadership that Michelle has provided to ESSENCE over the years have been exemplary, and we are thrilled to work with her and her talented team to provide the necessary resources and support to continue to grow the engagement and influence of the ESSENCE brand and transform this business,” said Richelieu Dennis, founder and chairperson of Essence Ventures. “As importantly, we are excited to be able to return this culturally relevant and historically significant platform to ownership by the people and the consumers whom it serves and offer new opportunities for the women leading the business to also be partners in the business.” Dennis continued, “We remain committed to leveraging our resources to provide opportunities for other culturally-rooted entrepreneurs and businesses that further our culture and create economic opportunities for our communities. Our focus here will be on ensuring that Essence reaches its full potential via heightened capabilities, technology, products and touch points that super-serve the interests of Black women locally and globally. We look forward to helping generate new opportunities that create more value across the ESSENCE portfolio with unmatched content, commerce and international access for the millions of women it serves, as well as exceptional value for our advertising partners and content creators.” Since its founding in 1970, ESSENCE has been a hallmark for women’s empowerment and a cultural beacon of pride and celebration of the diverse images and lifestyles of Black women. Today, ESSENCE is an international, omni-channel destination for diverse storytelling and original content comprising beauty, fashion, lifestyle, entertainment and culture. “ESSENCE has always embodied and evangelized what the world now sees – the sheer beauty, power and magic of Black women,” said Ebanks. “From her influence in politics and at the polls, mandate for social justice, and demand for economic inclusion to her impact on beauty culture, leadership in equal rights efforts, and catalyzation of community empowerment, she is at the forefront – driving the cultural phenomena that are positively changing the world. ESSENCE will continue to lead that charge with, for and beside her as the unparalleled platform for her voice.” ESSENCE currently reaches a global audience of more than 16 million across its various platforms encompassing its signature print magazine; digital, video and social platforms; television specials, including the Black Women in Hollywood Awards on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network; books; and live events, including the Street Style Block Party during New York Fashion Week and the annual ESSENCE Festival, a cultural celebration that debuted in 1995 and is now one of the country’s largest annual events, attracting more than 450,000 attendees. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About Essence Ventures Essence Ventures is an independent African-American owned company focused on merging content, community and commerce to meet the evolving cultural and lifestyle needs of women of color. The company began in 2017 and is chaired by its founder – entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Richelieu Dennis. Contacts Essence Ventures Latraviette Smith-Wilson latraviette@ngmventures.com or Janice McCafferty PR janice@janicemccaffertypr.com jessica@janicemccaffertypr.com 773-736-9034

Again the sterotypes are killing your reasoning pioneer. The quote of yours that Cynique disputed is absurd on its face. As far as a traditional African cultures that accepted homosexuality and was not influenced by islam or judism... try all of them.

Actually 1,400 is nothing to sneeze at. If you can get more than 1,000 people to do anything every month you have an impact, and it is enough to drive much more. By the way the traffic that you get from AALBC.com is largely due to your efforts. If other authors utilized the platform in that manner than you did, then impact would be even greater. It is one of those scenarios when more authors take advantage of the website, the more they benefit. I just started another website for a new author: Shari Farmer-Ogogo: chariogogo.com If 1,000 authors used AALBC.com as their primary web presence instead of Facebook or Amazon (now the two most popular alternatives to a dedicated website based upon my anecdotal observations), I could provided more free services to authors and and greater information to readers. I'll create the widget. Are you thinking about a seal or something similar? #readingblack

Wait, what?! First @Delano and @Pioneer1 engage in an online bromance, and now Pioneer and Cynique are showing signs of being converging to the same wavelength. 2018 does look like it will be an interesting year!

Pioneer your fixation on the artificial construct of race and the associated misguided stereotypes create a bias in your reasoning. Obviously Black people in America, indeed all over the world, are influenced by western (white) culture. But that does not have anything to do with rates of homosexulaity occuring in the population. It does however influence our collect condemnation of homosexuals through, I suspect, our brand of Christianity. As Cynique indicated, science is showing people are born this way. It will however take time a long time for homosexulaity to become more universally accepted, probably as long as it will take people to dispense with racial-driven stereotypes.

Man I started to listen to the video, which is just audio, and it is 45 minutes long. She did not open up with anything compelling enough to entice me to invest the time to listen to the entire recording. But in a lot of ways I agree with both of you; on the surface the political correctness that seems so important to millennials is really a false front to less honesty, more tribalism, increased filter bubbles and less true communication. Millennials overshare on social media creating a false facade of who they really are, primarily motivated by slick marketers who have addicted these adults on psychometricly timed rewards in the form of likes and shares. The nuances of flirting, genuine complements, or even constructive criticism is lost on these folks who spend their time communicating with each other behind a handheld screen which prevents them from truly knowing each other.

Fingers crossed Happy New Year!

Great editorial. Looking forward to hear what @Delano has to say.

Well the strategy is to create a market so that more product can be sold. If that means convincing women with straight hair that they look better with curly hair, or women with curly hair that they look better with straight hair, and that they all will look better with hair of a different color then they are happy. All that racial, self-hate stuff you mentioned @Pioneer1, is incidental. What has been an amazing trick getting women to justify all of these gyrations marketers have imposed upon them as somehow empowering. Whether it is the hair care products, the makeup, the completely dysfunctional high heal shoes, or any of the stuff women are forced to deal with, and the end of the day it is really about profit. I have throw away more working TV's and computer monitors than I care to admit. We have all be placed on a hamster wheel of consumption. The idea that Apple was deliberately making older phones slower comes as no surprise the users of technology, what is surprised is that people are still lining up to buy stuff from them. We all know this planned obsolescence is art of their business model. F#ck Apple.

LOL @Pioneer1! There were plenty of shrimps in the gumbo man! I actually took this shot to text to people back up north. My people are from the "deep" south brother, trust they get down in the kitchen and I can cook too ;-) in fact before the kids got grown, moved out, and I split with their momma, I did all the cooking.

“At Hakim’s Bookstore in West Philadelphia, there are signs of life for what is believed to be the oldest black-owned bookstore in the country. Only a couple of years ago, the store was near death’s door.” Read the rest of Valerie Russ’ article at The Philadelphia Daily News. #readingblack Yvonne Blake took over Hakim’s Bookstore (Photos credit: Geneva Heffername)

@harry brown, thanks! I'm in Shreveport with family. My aunt is a great cook. She server up some gumbo last night that was off the chain.

I did not get to the edits now I'm traveling spending time with fam in the deep south, but I have them and will get to them. Thank again, so much for the feedback.

@Kalexander2, say man send me you bio a headshot and the isbn of any previous books you written I'll create a page on aalbc.com if you like.

Well if all it takes is another season of Game of Thrones to keep you kick in then I hope they push it back until 2050. That seems so crazy that we have to wait till 2019 to see what happens with that series. You better hope the actor who plays Jon Snow does not get caught up in some sexual abuse scandal before then Merry Christmas everyone