Troy

In the first 27 days of not using social media at all. My traffic from social media has actually gone up when compared to the prior 27 days. It is also higher than the traffic from the same 27 days in 2016. After about 6 months or so I'll write about the impact of not using social media on my business. My initial conclusion is the increase this just reflects how the impact of my personal activity on social media has been on my websites traffic. I have to admit I have sometimes I found it hard to ignore the desire to share something on social media that I just posted on this site. I feel like people will not learn about the interesting book or author I just posted. Intellectually, know this is just the result of 10 years of conditioning to use social media. I know of course over time this urge will diminish. From an online social perspective, I have y'all :-) From my family and friends perspective, most are not active on social and those that are, are the ones sharing the minutia from their daily lives--either way I don't feel like I'm missing anything, From news and information perspective, I know I'm better off ignoring social media. It has been interesting to see traditional news outlets start to sell themselves on the virtues of providing true journalism and not the fake news you find on social media. The subscriber base for the NY Times has increased. It appears the pendulum may be swinging the other way. Last night (March 26th), 60 Minutes aired a segment which spoke about Fake News. They demonstrated how websites can buy fake likes and shares, which not only gives people the false impression that articles are important but "tricks" social media into sharing these articles as trending--which greatly increases the organic reach of the entity buying the fake likes. I put "tricks" in quotes, because I know social media sites can identify the artificially amped up articles, but they have little incentive to remove this fake engagement because it helps the social media platforms too. I watch and enjoy the Showtime program Homeland. One of the threads in the season's series deals with social media and how is used to influence public opinion. This is straight out of the article @Mel Hopkins shared about how social media was used to influence the trump campaign. This is actually not the first time I stopped using Facebook. About 2.5 years ago I stopped as part of a much larger campaign called, 99 Days without Facebook, which asked the question would you be happier with Facebook. I hoped to use the campaign to encourage others to join the effort. I don't think I convinced a single to leave Facebook. I boycotted Facebook for 37 days. This boycott is different. I don't care if any joins me. I'm not even trying to convince anyone to. I'm relating my experience here for my own benefit as much as anyone else's

Yes "building a progressive Black community in Michigan," is a vision in my book. The individual steps you taken to accomplish that a vision is not. Perhaps my vision can be stated as "developing an independent Black community on the web." I don't mean independent in terms of being exclusive of anyone else, but independent as in self-sufficient. Where Black folks reap not just the cultural but the financial benefits. The problem with my vision is that it is exceedingly difficult.one to accomplish. Overtime, I've learned limiting this vision to the web is short sighted. It is not like we have independent Black communities in the physical world, and they simply need to be extended to the web. I think the web reflects or amplifies the physical world and that our independence needs to start in the real world... If the weather were not so jacked up in Michigan I would consider moving there--seriously.

I was in the Mcdonalds is white neighborhood near the college I teach. A young Black woman, told a Hispanic male, "If I was a nigger I would fuck you up," There were a wide variety of people standing around. No one batted an eye. Just another day in New York City. Pioneer, perhaps you live in a more civilized environment, but if I went around checking everyone one who said the word nigger in public, I would not have time to do anytime else. It is 7:10 a.m. and I've already heard the word used by someone walking down the street. Besides I would probably risk a physical altercations--and for what?

Since I posted this Vlad video I watched several more. I noticed he stays off camera, but he constantly names drops. I'm not surprised that he is white. Vlad, clearly brokers in Black controversy in the music business and is profiting a great deal. I'm surprised he can get so many interviews and have Brother talk about controversial issues on camera...then again he is white. Addressing your issues as you have enumerated them; I'm not gonna dis Aries because of his relative attractiveness. His personal affect is the 'hood negro. I don't think it is schtick it is who he is. As discussed this is what differentiates him from Key and Peele. You obviously misunderstood Aries. In fact Aires used himself as an example of a real nigga who can navigate the white world. Pioneer it is obvious Aries was using a metaphor--come on man! I did not know that. I did not see a single video where he had white people talking about white dysfunction. He raised so much trash about Black folks I was completely unaware of. I agree and I'm not going to watch any more of his videos. I don't think Aries is "jealous." but he does recognize that he is a white man's world and the Key and Peel's will always be more successful than and Aires Spears. Think Barack Obama versus Jessie Jackson.

Yes it is true we are never in the same point in space at any given instant in time. Does the zodiac change to accommodate these changes to our relative position in the heavens? I forgot what you wrote (if anything) about the additional constellation in the zodaic.

True, what I think of Jordan can not possibly matter to him in how he perceives himself. However, if Jordan has any interest in appealing to the great masses of Black people on a more than superficial manner, then my opinion does matter. But again, I'm sure this was not a goal of the film. Appealing to Black people on a profound level has never been a goal of Hollywood. Indeed, as you probably know Key and Peele appeal more to white folks more than they do to Black folks. for these very reasons. This is of course the primary reason for they terrific success. Of course, profit, as you implied is the measure of success and this makes it necessary for films to appeal to white folks. Appealing to Black folks is nice but certainly not necessary or a driving factor.

Del, since will soon be twice and many people on earth as the 4.2B number you posted above, does that mean some of us will have the same natal chart. Now I know, of course all of these people were not born the same year, but do natal charts repeat in cycles year to year? In other words, would someone born January 1, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. in room 124 at Lennox hill hospital have the same chart as someone else born in the same room, at the same time, on January 1, 2016?

Yes, I remember that video. Langston Hughes lived down the street from where I live today.

See this is why I do not like the term bi-racial. Saying Jordan is bi-racial, in isolation, means nothing. Jordan being bi-racial does not explain or justify behavior. Now if Jordan was raised by white people, lived in a white neighborhood, went to school with white people, and married a white woman. It goes with our saying that Jordan is culturally white. Again this would have nothing to do with his race. Basically was Aries is saying is that Jordan does not pass the sniff test of being culturally Black. Of course what it means to be culturally Black is subjective as well, but it is a lot more meaningful than the term bi-racial. Jordan looks as Black as I do, But I'd guess Jordan did not grow up in the racially and economically segregated projects and attend racially segregated schools like I did. I would probably pass muster with Aries for so-called Blackness, but there other Black people who grew up middle class and had a completely different but no less valid Black experience. Because Black people don't own anything in Hollywood, the movies we see often fail to relate an authentic Black experience--at least one that resonates with me. Even with the film Get Out!, which I enjoyed, as a Black man there are still many things I had to overlook from a cultural perspective. This is easy because I have to do it with virtually every movie I watch. For example, dating the white woman or staying in the house more than 5 minutes are just a couple of things I had to let slide because it does not speak to my experience, but again I'm accustomed to this. You could have replaced the Brother with actor of any race and it would not have changed the film one iota. It was a white film that happened to have a Black actor.

This is just another free what to expand your blog's reach. https://aalbc.com/blogs/addnewblogform.html

One of the Bloggers who recently added their Blog to AALBC.com had a very humorous take on this film: Get Out Movie Review from a black dude's perspective... Below is a quite from the review: "...These MOFOs been dating for four months. They ain't married. Since when did parents let they kids sleep in the same room, in the same bed in their house after four months of dating? Bruh you better sleep in the car. He shoulda already been uncomfortable when they allowed that shxt to go down. But again, the brotha is still there!" Now I immediately noticed myself and just chalked it up to things white families "white people do," and did not give it another thought. But it raised and interesting thought about culture and humor. The comedian Aries Spears clearly articulated the differences between a culturally Black comedian (like himself) and a culturally white one like Jordan Peel, the man behind Get Out!

Yes @Delano, that last message was in reference to Trump. And yes I realize when I wrote it that it was inconsistent with my previous statement about Trump, but I'm using a different definition of the phrase, "Alpha-Male." Twitter is optimized to spread gossip and to encourage the piling on to abuse others (as in the Leslie Jones case). Real men don't gossip or join groups to bully someone, and as a result, have little use for Twitter. @Pioneer1, of course to you and I that Koren kid's concept of "dating" is laughable, maybe even a bit sad. but it is reflective of the world we live in today. Alpha males have usually had intercourse with someone they describe as dating. Pioneer your word choice in describing social media is different that what I would use, but we seem to have arrived at the same conclusions. The WWW facilitated freedom and independence which enhances creativity; while social media limits freedom, fosters dependence and crushes creativity by defining a very narrow band of what is possible (eg use of memes. 140 characters, etc). To an Alpha male being told what to do and how to do it is entirely unacceptable. Followers are happy in this predicament--indeed they need it. Cynique original definition of Alpha Male makes this plain. I've changed my position and proudly accept the designation of Alpha Male

@Pioneer1 when I write here it is for public consumption with the idea that anyone can read and comment on what I write. If I want to communicate with anyone directly I would email them or message them directly. In my case, at least, you should read everything I write in a conversation, because I'm assuming you have. I guess that explains some miscommunication in the past I'm surprised you felt I was snapping at you. That was not my intent. Sorry about that. To explain my mission "in detail" to someone unfamiliar with me and the nature of the web would take a minute. It is like responding to a common question I get, "I just wrote a book, what do I do next?" What seems like a simple question really is not very simple it depends so much on what the person already knows, what their goals are, etc. Probing to get the detail to provide an adequate response would take more time than I have. I tell myself I need to craft a genetic response so that when I get that question, I can direct writers to the canned response, rather than ignoring the email. Pioneer your question deserves a response, but I'd like to take some time to craft it properly, because I know I'll have occasion to use it often. I won't have it done tomorrow or next month, but when it is done I will be sure to share it with you. But I will tell you this much; selling books or opening a chain of Black-owned bookstores are activities, not a vision in my opinion. The underlying reason for those activities can reveal one's motivations and shed some clue to their vision.

AFRICAN BOOKSTORE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS IN BUSINESS & THE LIFE OF ANTHONY HORATIO - 2/13/1933 to 2/20/2017 Anthony Horatio Harrison, an African-Jamaican, born on February 13, 1933 in Kingston Jamaica, was the founder of the African Bookstore. In the 1990's Anthony Harrison, after working several years as a Precision Machinist, from the United Kingdom to the United States of America, always believed that his children along with his community should constantly engage themselves with constructive information. Through this firm belief, he started to sell books. Anthony Harrison sold books from his vehicle from 1992 until August 1994, after that period he opened the first African Bookstore in Broward County, Florida. The store flourished and therefore with that success he continued to support and encourage economic stability, self-reflection, independence, and empowerment of the community. The African Bookstore has now taken on a more advanced approach through the new millennium by enlarging their website under new leadership. Anthony Harrison’s daughters who are educators, along with new Technological Executive personnel, are familiar with the dynamics of the Internet age, and so they continue to inspire others to read, and are firm believers in the educational process of self-knowledge and enrichment. The above information was provided courtesy of Yvonne Harrison-King. Today the African Bookstore is web based only. sales@africanbookstore.net www.africanbookstore.net

Pioneer I'm sorry man I'm having trouble following your reasoning. You are conflating a lot of issues in a manner I find confusing, You can have alpha males in white and blue collar jobs You can have alpha males who are rich or poor. You can have alpha males that are physically imposing and aggressive and those who are nerdy Again, I guess it boils down to how you define the term, "Alpha Male." The term like the term "Race," is in the eye of the beholder. Perhaps because both "Race" and "Alpha Male" are technical terms and are also used more loosely in colloquial settings. I see now it is that later usage which causes the most confusion. Going back to race for a second. Suppose I say, "Joe is Black." If you think about it, what does the really say about Joe? We can't infer anything specific about how he looks or even his culture. Describing Joe as "Black" has more to do with the person using the term than Joe himself. The same is true calling Joe an "Alpha Male." Unless you knew the person making the statement very well, you really could not know what they were saying about Joe unless you asked for clarification. I do agree however that the culture is aligned to create compliant worker bees and blind consumers. If that means eliminating the "Alpha Males," who would fight against compliance with the program, then I agree with you. Alpha males don't spend all day scrolling through their Instagram and Twitter feeds.

Pioneer, the title of the conversation was random thoughts, so I guess anything goes. Are you asking because you have no clue? Did nothing I wrote in response to Cynique's post reveal anything to you? Indeed does my activities and behavior, as reflected on the website, over that last 20 years say nothing to you about my vision? Let me answer your question with a question. What do you think my vision is?

I did just look up Magnus after making my post and now I see why I drew a blank. I looked up the correct word this time and see that it means one of the Magi (proper noun) and it also means magician, sorcerer, or astrologer. Del when you call Cynique a Magus what are you actually saying about her? Thanks for believing and saying that you believe in my vision. It helps. I can't do anything that I'm trying to do alone. I'm not sure any of us can go through life doing anything of value in isolation. We need the support of others. Thanks.

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Yeah I'm sorry I missed you @Dr T , I was running the whole time. Did you do Punta Gorda the previous weekend? I stopped by Copperfish Books, In Punta Gorda on my way back home it is a neat little store. I was not aware of the fair in Venice this weekend. I just added it to my website: https://aalbc.com/events/index.php?st=Florida#Venice+Book+Fair+and+Writers+Festival I'll be watching basketball and playing poker with my boys on Saturday.

Yes this forum is truly is indeed a microcosm of the world particularly as we "embrace our truths and distrust the source of rebuttals to them." That fact has indeed made be sensitive to the characteristic in my own behavior. I try to keep and open mind and have adjusted my position when new information, or a different perspective, was introduced here. @Cynique, I have changed my position a number of times based upon your commentary. For example, after Hillary became the democratic nominee for president, I, like so many other Black folks decided to simply not vote. But after reading your words it became clear that I needed to vote and I did (obviously for Clinton). As you know Cynique, I have always appreciated your mind and have personally benefited from it. Del calls you a "Magnus" (I still have not looked it up to know what it means), but a rose by any other name... I think it is society's loss that we spend so much time consuming on social media consuming and spreading the "wisdom" of inexperienced children, and dumb rudderless celebrities while ignoring the sage words of our elders. This is the primary reason I've stopped using social media. You have to be careful where you consume information. Now that we know social media is used to manipulate people, I refuse to use it. How many Black people, I wonder, decided not to vote in the last presidential election because of the "information" (propaganda really) that was deliberately fed to them in order to dissuade them from voting? This, I guess, is also the reason why I've dedicated my life to selling books. It is not so much about the books themselves, but the knowledge contained within them. This is also why I spend so much time promoting what others may feel is my competition-- other booksellers. It is also why I promote the Black press and Black journalists. I think platforms like this forum are necessary. The goal is not to compel you to spend every waking moment with a handheld device in your hand scrolling through the content here. Nor is the goal to sell your information to big data firms and marketers to manipulate your behavior. The goal is to exchange ideas and hopefully learn something new. I appreciate the majority of people look for ideas that reinforce what they already believe. That is why social media excels and why it is so popular. I think what has always set regular contributors to these forums apart is that we are not afraid to exposure our ideas to critique. This is really not an easy thing to do. So while we may exhibit traits of the general population, of holding fast to our ideas. You can't do that here very long and enjoy or benefit from the process.

I actually did not make the Punta Gorda Book Festival, but I did make the Southwest Florida Reading Festival. I'm probably gonna chill for a while. The next book Festival I'm definitely planning to attend is the Sacramento Black Book Festival in June. when I plan to speak about the corporatization of the World Wide Web and how that has adversely impacted the Black book ecosystem. Hopefully, the talk will be more interesting than it sounds :-)

Here are a couple of videos of Kimberla Lawson Roby at the Southwest Florida Reading Festival In the first video Kim and two other NY Times Bestselling authors describe their favorite bookstores: Beatrix Williams Vero Beach Book Center, Vero Beach, FL FoxTale Book Shoppe Atlanta, GA The Poisoned Pen, Scottsdale AZ Murder by the Book, Houston, TX Banks Square Books, Mystic, CT Diane's Books of Greenwich, Greenwich, CT R.J. Julia Booksellers, Madison, CT Kimberla Lawson Roby Dock Bookshop, Fort Worth, TX Shelly Shepard Gray Books&Co, Beavercreek, OH Page & Palette, Fairhope, AL Here Kim talks about her work. Overall it was a really nice book fair. The weather was great low 80's, low humidity, and on the river front. The Fort Myers is a really nice place this time of the year. The only real downside is was that there was not a lot of cultural diversity in the participating authors and the attendees. Here I'm with author D. Watkins A random crowd shot. While there were many events for children and plenty of kids in attendance, there were also a lot attendees who senior citizens (a good thing). In fact, during Kim's presentation, I'm sure I was younger than the average person in the audience. The audiences I observed during the panels skewed white, female, and 60+ Below is author Edward R. Laden. He was the only Black author participating or exhibiting that I did not know, but there were not that many Black authors in attendance. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to talk to Edward, but he has a website: http://www.leadstory1.com/

It has been a few years since I've run book giveaways, and I'm happy to reintroduce this benefit to AALBC.com visitors. Technically you have to be a newsletter subscriber to win, but the is a small detail compared to what you can win!

Man Pioneer you seemed to have internalized ever racial stereotype invented by our oppressor. Even your reasoning is inconsistent You implied that the dominant alpha males was usually the wealthiest with the most choice in women, as if that was not longer the case. But the individuals you presented both had women throwing themselves at these brothers and both were quite wealthy. You speak about Black men as if we are gorillas.

@Pioneer1, @Cynique , is right man. The fact that rap music is riddled with Nigga this and nigga that, should be proof enough. You do know that the vast majority of rap is purchased by white boys, right? Also, I hear the word "nigger" uttered every time I hit the street. If I get on public transportation is not unusual at all for young men say it in front of white people. I even hear young white people say it. When I taught young folks they used the word so liberally I started to think something was wrong with me asking them not to use it. One kid used "my Ninja" instead. Which seemed kinda silly... The days of the unspoken rule of not using the word in front of white people is over, surely you see that? If not go to a rap concert, and listen to all the white people sing the word lead by a Black man. Times have changed buddy.