Troy

I'm planning to follow up on this article. Book Issues Book Review published this article 10 years before the NY Times article referenced above, which essentially failed to recognize Black folks. As far as I know nothing like this has been published since. There is no reason to believe that a related article will be published anytime soon--we simply no longer have the platforms. The names mentioned in the article are shown below. I plan to do a "where are they now" follow up to this article. If I had the resources, I would introduce the professionals who have come to the forefront since this article was published 10 years ago. (If anyone has an update on any of the professionals below email me or reply to this post) Malaika Adero – Senior Editor, Atria Books/Simon & Schuster Kwame Alexander – Blackwords, Inc. Publisher, Poet, Playwright, Author and commentator T. B. Boyd, III – President and CEO of the R. H. Boyd Publishing Corporation Marie Brown – Literary Agent Curtis Bunn – Founder National Book Club Conference Jessica Care Moore-Poole – Publisher of Moore Black Press Kassahun Checole – Publisher and Book Distributor, Africa World Press Faith Childs – Literary Agent Faye Childs – Founder Blackboard African American Bestsellers Paul Coates – Publisher of Black Classics Press Wil and Niani Colom – Wil publisher Genesis Press, Niani formed the African American Pavilion at BookExpo of America Dawn Davis – VP and Editorial Director of Amistad/HarperCollins Marlyn Ducksworth – Sr VP and Executive Director of PR at Penguin Putnam Linda Gill – General Manager of African American Literature at Harlequin Enterprises Marita Golden – Founder of the Hurston-Wright Foundation and Awards Rockelle Henderson – Associate Publisher Amistad HarperCollins L. Peggy Hicks – Founder and owner of TriCom Publicity Inc Janet Hill – VP and Executive Editor at Doubleday Cheryl and Wade Hudson – Publishers of Just Us Books Andrew Jackson – President Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) Troy Johnson – Web master and Founder of African American Literature Book Club (AALBC.com) Hoke S. Glover III aka Bro Yao and Simba Sana – Owners Karibu Books Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati – Founder of The Literary Carol Mackey – Editor for Black Expressions Book Club Naomi Long Madgett – Founder Lotus Press Haki Madhubuti – Founder and owner of Third World Press (TWP) Erroll McDonald – VP Executive Editor at Pantheon/Random House Nrichelieu Dennis and Nyema Tubman – Owners Nubian Heritage Linda M. Peavy – Acting Publisher Judson Press Brenda Piper and Carol Rogers – Owners of C&B Books Gwen and Willie Richardson – Founders CushCity.com Emma Rodgers – Co-owner Black Images Book Bazaar Max Rodriguez – Founder QBR: The Black Book Review Tony and Yvonne Rose – Founders and Owners Amber Communications Group Vivan Stephens – Founder of Romance Writers of America and Women Writers of Color Denise Stinson – Publisher and Founder of Walk Worthy Press Vickie M. Stringer – Founder and Publisher of Triple Crown Publications (TCP) Hargis Thomas – Director of Sales and Marketing at Oxford University Press Religious Publishing Clara Villarosa – Coordinator African American Booksellers Conference programs at BookExpo Kelvin Watson – Associate Director of Corporate and Educational Sales at Borders Sybil Wilkes – News Anchor of The Tom Joyner Morning Show Oprah Winfrey – Television Talk Show Host Zane – Author and Publisher Strebor Books Janell Walden Agyeman – Agent Marie Brown Associates Audra Barrett – Literary Agent Manie Barron – Agent The Menza-Barron Agency (R.I.P.) Regina Brooks – Agent Serendipity Marlene Connor – Literary Agent Sha-Shana N.L. Crichton – President of Crichton and Associates Inc Mondella S. Jones – Agent Mondella Jones Literary Agency Lawrence Jordan – Literary Agent John McGregor – Literary Agent Tanya McKinnon – Agent Mary Evans Inc Tracy Sherrod – Literary Agent Mavis Allen – Associate Sr Editor Harlequin Stacey Barney – Editor Kensington Rakia Clark – Assistant Editor Viking/Penguin Cherise Davis – Sr Editor Touchstone/Fireside/Simon & Schuster Anita Diggs – Sr Editor Thunder's Mouth Press Clarence Haynes – Associate Editor Harlem Moon/Doubleday/Random House Glenda Howard – Sr Editor Arabesque/Harlequin Jennifer Hunt – Sr Editor Little Brown and Co/Warner Young Readers Chris Jackson – Sr Editor Crown/Random House Selena James – Editor Pocketbooks/Simon & Schuster Demetria Lucas – Acquiring Associate Editor Kimani Press/Harlequin Kelli Martin – Sr Editor Jump at the Sun/Hyperion/Disney Young Readers Melanie Okadigwe – Book Club Manager for TrollCarnival, Scholastic Inc Jaira Placide – Editor Jump at the Sun/Hyperion/Disney Young Readers Monique Patterson – Editor Harlequin/Arabesque Evette Porter – Editor Harlequin/Arabesque Stacey Powell – Sr Editor Hatherleigh Bridgette Smith – Editor Pocketbooks/Simon & Schuster Karen Thomas – Editorial Director Dafina/Kensington Tynisha Thompson – Editorial Assistant BookSpan Carl Weber – Publisher Urban Books Teri Woods – Publisher Teri Woods Publishing Earl Cox – Owner Earl Cox and Associates / Publisher WritersandPoets.com and Books That Click Tanisha Christie – Publicist Warner Books Linda Duggins – Sr Publicist Warner Books Christine Saunders – Public Relations Manager Harlequin Sanyu Dillon – Director of Marketing Random House Cheryl Rozier – Advertising Director Warner Brigitte Smith – Publishing Manager Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster Learie Cunnngham – CEO Culture Plus Distributors Eric Gift – President A&B Distributors Rosie Milligan – CEO Milligan Books Bro Nati Kamau-Nattaki – Owner African World Books David Reeves – Owner Sellers Books Bob Romanow – Owner Inner City Book Distributions Luther Warner – Manager Lushena Book Distributors Patrik Henry Bass – Book Editor Essence Magazine Calvin Reid – Sr News Editor Publishers Weekly Again, the lack of platforms is why the names of these professionals are not more widely known or celebrated. Even the platforms that remain are seemingly more focused on celebrity than they are wth anything concerning Black books. Recall this article, "Negro in Literature Today," by John A. Williams which appeared in Ebony magazine in 1963. If there is any hope of articles like the ones in Ebony or Black Issues Book Review ever being written again it will have to come from platform interested feeding a people and not solely interested in making money.

@Delano, no, not in this case. I'm I being overly cynical? What do you think the motivation was for Beyonce's "yawner" of a performance?

@Pioneer1, based upon your opening salvo and subsequent comments I'm not surprised you did not see the film. By admitting it, you've saved me some valuable time.

Pioneer, Mel makes a good point, which I think you may have overlooked. There are people in dire situations who are at peace and others in the same situation having panic attacks, nervous breakdowns, or lashing out at others. The more spiritually developed people actually need less--especially in America where our entire economy is based upon consumption. Much of our desire to accumulate things is a consequence of programming by corporations driving us to consume, so that we increase their profits. The problem is we can never get enough of things we don't need, so we are never really satisfied. This is why, for example, people of modest means, buy more clothing than they can ever wear. Their closets full of clothing with the price tags still on them and they are still not happy and they don't know why. Don't think of it as first we eat, then we exercise, and then work on spiritual development once everything else is done. Spiritual development should run throughout your entire experience, while you eat, while you exercise, while you fight racism.

Pioneer of course if someone is beating you upside the head with a club, you have to address the immediate threat before you can worry about anything else. In fact, this is a good metaphor for the situation the Black community finds itself in today. Dude, many folks don't even have the spare brain cells to read a book let alone think abut enlightenment. In many ways, everyone actively participating in this forum has the luxury of time to participate here and contemplate things outside of satisfying our immediate needs--like where our next meal is coming from. That might sound hyperbolic, but it really is the reality for many. Pioneer in your last statement you make it sound as if it is about doing what is best for yourself OR doing what is best for others. Consider the following: “The best for the group comes when everyone in the group does what's best for himself AND the group.” The quote of from John Nash, who you might remember as the Mathematician portrayed in the film The Beautiful Mind. In fact, the game theory concept was described in the film. I think American culture focuses on doing what is best for yourself, treating life as a zero sum game where one gains only at the expense of someone else. This is not true and Professor Nash proved it earning a Nobel Prize in the process.

I forgot about this author collage: https://aalbc.com/authors/bestselling-authors-mosaic.php I use this collage on all of my social media.The collage is constantly updated based upon sales. The author images appear in the order of the number of times that author appeared on my bestseller list. Zane is number 1. Even though Zane no longer dominates my bestsellers list, it is unlikely anyone will ever unseat her. Zane has made my bestseller list 213 times the number 2 author, Jawanza Kunjufu has made the list 83 times. It is unlikely anyone will unseat him in the next decade.

Perhaps Del, you've been consuming copious amounts of pork and fried foods washing it down with Trader Joes cheapest wines?

I agree with the article save one point; we ARE normal. I've written many times on these forums that our dysfunction is a normal reaction to our environment. What is NOT normal is the inhumanity we have been subjected to for centuries in this country. Until we change our mindset to understand that we are perfectly normal. What is not normal are the people who created the conditions were are in This distinction is important.

Sure the Beyonce's team have coopted these images various belief systems...but surely you know this is for purely for the purpose of generating revenue, right?

It is not often that someone says that about something I wrote--thanks, Me! :-)

Pioneer, I see I did not answer your question. I too was aware of the book before the film. I actually know the production designer , but he did not reveal which movie he was working on until the project was essentially completed. I don't recall being aware of the women prior to the book. But I could be wrong as I've forgotten much more than I know at this point in my life :-) But again how much did you actually learn from the film? I'd be willing to bet that you don't even know the names of the three mathematicians the movie was about. Without doing a search can you? Can you also describe in any meaningful level of detail what all three women did?

Cool @Mel Hopkins I'm sure you see things that I can't see, so I'm really looking forward to speaking with you.

Pioneer the "prosperity ministry" where you give some charismatic "minister" your money to have it come back to your tenfold is all a hoax to take advantage of vulnerable people, sort of like Trump's campaign. This is the thing that would turn any reasonable person off. This is a perversion of religious practice, spiritual practice, or the raising one's level of consciousness. Along the same vein, I'm not a fan of these mega-churches. They provide great entertainment, music and moving services, but at the end of the day, the church leadership is greatly enriched while the congregants are fleeced. Many give 10% of their gross income, or more, to these "preachers" who own jet planes and lavish homes. These marks believe they will literally be damned if they do not live up to this financial commitment. At the same time "institutions" don't even pay taxes like the rest of us... Still, we spend so much time and energy trying to make more and more money--even resorting to praying for more of it, while missing out on what is most important. Working on your mental, spiritual and physical development will bring you the money you need. You will know who you are, understand your motivation and purpose, and engage in activities that will bring you exactly what you need. In a world where people focus on spiritual development, rather on the acquisition of money, there would be more compassion for others. We would not be trying to keep others in the dark (or out of the light), so that we can take what they have for ourselves.

No problem Del--thank you! Pop culture vulture, at the risk of alienating readers of my eNewsletter who are Beyonce fans AND unable to hold an opposing view in the heads, I'm going to quote you in my next eNewsletter. I think your observations were on point. I'm not convinced Beyonce dreamt this Gammy performance up on her own. I think she just does whatever she is told to do. Well Mel, I guess Milo overestimated America's tolerance of degenerate sociopaths--understandable given our pick for President. I did not watch or even look for the video of Milo, advocating sex with underage boys. Do y'all think the pedophilla revation was what motivated Simon and Schuster to cancel the book (I wonder if they took Milo's 1/4 mil)? In other words woud the book have been cancelled were it not for the pedopilla revelaton? Lets see if some other publisher with even lower standards than Threshold Editions steps up to the plate and publishes Milo's book..

Hi Chanique you are missing a lot of details, location, date, etc. Do you have a website? Post the link. Actually, the copy posted needs to be edited (which is more important for promotional information shared here than posts in a conversation). When you get a chance repost an edited version with all the details and I'll delete this one. Thanks.

Whoa we are on a roll @Delano I agree was with this and even learned something. I'd not considered the Salon analogy and you are right. Far more people read than engage. I see the analytics, I get the emails, and I see the social sharing. I guess one has to have that particular gene to be willing to step out and expose your ideas to public scrutiny. Again, not everyone is built for this. But if only those who actively participated were the only ones to visit the site--AALBC.com would have been done long ago. Yeah Chris and I always talked about the celebrity co-sign. I also think you are right about the time frame too regarding a big time celebrity plug. But honestly, I'd hoped the celebrity plug would not be necessary, it can jump start a business or career. @Pioneer1 I watched the entire Bill Maher show in which Milo appeared--just light. Yes Milo is gay and was in his full glory of Maher's show. Bill tried to diminish Milo, but Bill is like everyone else desperate for eye balls brings Milo on his show raising his profile even more. On this issue, Maher is full of shit.

It probably is just me but I find looking at book covers this way pretty cool and interesting. Lately, I've been playing around with making collages of book covers (like the one below). These collages are not made by hand but are dynamically generated by the code used to drive much of the website. The image below is just a cropped screen shot of this page. I've created similar collages for authors (check out Walter Mosley's books), publishers (check out the one for Akashic Books), all the Carter G Woodson award winning books, and the "Top 100 Books of the 2oth Century" as examples. With the exception of the children's college, I have not made these links to the other pages available to regular visitors to the website. One of these things I need to do, before making these colleges more widely available, is to compress (make the image file size smaller) all of my book cover images (all 8,000) of them. Compression will help these collage pages load much faster and help AALBC.com stay on Google's good side. Sorry for the technical digression... I'm actually still making fairly substantial changes to the website's design while adding new content at a historically high rate. It is hard to believe it has been over a year since I started this website upgrade project, a project I through would take, conservatively, six months, I'm hoping to finish this summer--almost two years of effort.

Mel I guess I was just expressing my disappointment about blackamericaweb. Sure you vision is broader than mine has been I'm sure I'll benefit from your efforts.

Quote of the day: “Those without power are racist.” While that may be true, I don't see a viable way of combating it, in a world of alternative facts reinforced inside filter bubbles. People believe often quite strongly in what they want to believe--reality and truth be damned. Do you really think Milo being gay (assuming that is true), will make a difference to the racists who supports what the says? Again, how many outright lies has Trump been caught in before he was elected POTUS? The presales on Milo's book and his advance should tell you what people already think. I don't know how to fight this? What would you suggest? Boycotting the book? I have no interest in it. Boycott the imprint Threshold Editions? Out of the almost 8,000 books I've added, by hand, to this website there are only two published by that Threshold, but again it is not a problem for me to boycott them, as I doubt I'm selling many copies of these books today anyway. We could boycott the publisher but I've already written why I think that is cutting off our nose off to spite our face. We could take Milo out back and treat him to an ole school beat down. I'd be willing to bet hat would shut him up, but that would be criminal and not something I would recommend doing. What tactics or strategy would you employ to combat the like of Milo, or even Trump for that matter Del?

I dunno Mel. I have always promoted Black American Web and Tom Joyner. In fact, BlackAmericaWeb is a big part of Huria Search. But if you do a search for aalbc on the BlackAmericaWeb website you come up with nothing. Nothing* because Blackamericaweb simply ignores AALBC and always have. But AALBC.com is not unique in being ignored, this is the way they operate. They operate as if they view themselves as "THE Black internet" and other websites are competition. This is not a casual comment I've observed them since they've launched and they have been consistent. Actually, I was pretty excited about BlackAmericaWeb's. AALBC.com had been around a few years already and I looked forward to an ally; I was naive.. So @Mel Hopkins,while I'm open to collaborations with the Black-owned, corporate-like entities, I don't have much hope these partnerships will ver be made. These changes will be initiated from the grassroots. @Delano, again I think we have to make a distinction between actual racists, who have a belief system and who behave accordingly versus people like Trump or Milo, who will do anything for money. Also, many people including Christians are not "down with" homosexuality. I'm not clear what point you are trying to make. Are you suggesting that Milo being disingenuous? If you are, are you surprised? *Actually the search does turn up three comments on their website. One from 2014 in which I asked them to stop feeding into the frenzy over Zane tax liability.

The Annual Harlem Literary Bunch was co-hosted by Morgan Stanley and 37 Ink an imprint of Simon and Schuster (another reason I'm not boycotting the entire publishing company) Going clockwise from top left are; Janet Hill Talbert, former VP and executive editor at Doubleday now owner of On This Rock Jewelry with author Brian Keith Jackson; I believe this brother is one of the co-owners of the restaurant (someone please correct me and provide a name); Dawn Davis VP and Publisher of 37 Ink with Author and Morgan Stanley Managing Director, Sandra L. Richards; Malaika Adero, author and former VP at Atria Books who now runs the boutique book development and literary agency Literary Tribe/ALT, with iconic literary agent Faith Childs; author Tiffany Dufu with bookstore owner Noëlle Santos, who Chris Burns hipped me to, coincidentally. the very same day plans to open the only bookstore in the Bronx; and me, Troy Johnson, with Wendy Hilliard, a former Gymnast who runs the Wendy Hilliard Gymnastic Foundation. The following videos are readings that took place during the event. A full brunch was served. Copies of all the books were provided. The venue was Minton's Restaurant, which the venue as the of the historic Monton's Playhouse, a short walk from where I live, one of the great things about Harlem. Erica Armstrong Dunbar reads her book on Ona Judge the Runaway Slave President Washington Pursued His Entire Life Tiffany Dufu Explains How to Achieve More by Doing Less Super Model Pat Cleveland Reads from her Memoir Sandra L. Richards reads from Children’s Book RICE AND ROCKS

Yes, he came across as gay to me too, but what difference does that make? Again, let's not confuse being gay with being an opportunistic troll capitalizing off our dysfunctional culture. I'm sure this guy would diss his own mother on Twitter if there were money in it. "...why not consciously promote and buy from trade book publishers who are responsive to our culture." Mel that is a goo idea and is exactly what I'm trying to do here. The challenge is corporations own the media and our minds and our behavior. Sure I can reach some folks, but Facebook, for example, has become very powerful in control what we consume. For example, Milo book has gotten a ton of coverage and it is not even out yet, while the Coretta Scott King Awards were announced for 2017 and there was barely a mumbling word. Del in 2024 is only 7 years away are you predicting a Trump loss in 2020?

“It may be on the way out in the next decade.”—@Delano Is that a prediction? Man, 10 years is a very short period of time--less than half the life of this website. I don't see it changing that quickly. Since I've been observing media, this effect has only grown in intensity. This about it, journalist struggle to make a living and some can generate great wealth with fake news. The market forces are too great for this to change anytime soon. If Simon and Schuster don't publish the book, there are 20 other publishers, with bIg advance checks in hand, lined up hoping for their opportunity to publish Milo's garbage.

Pioneer there is so much information available, in books currently in print today (many showcased on this website. Enough to keep on busy for several lifetimes, but the fact of the matter is this stuff is not going to be covered in school--ever. The role of schools is not to educate people. You know that right? We celebrate Columbus while completely ignoring all the people who were already here... how sick is that? The other problem is that history is really is not that interesting to most people. The history of Black women in science is even less interesting. To the movie's credit, the fictionalized version of history made the story compelling by throwing in Taraji's 'tude, Mahershala's sex appeal, and a few white boy saviors and you have a formula for mass appeal. The movie had nothing to do with teaching us anything. It was about entertainment, which sadly has become the replacement for education.

Milo Yiannopoulos is laughing all the way to the bank. The interviewer from CNN, despite her faux outrage, is greatly helping this Milo's profile. CNN is doing this because these interviews generate mucho dinero for their company. The hypocrisy is sickening. This is all about money. Milo is no different than Twitter, CNN, and CNBC. This was the exact same thing that raised Trump's profile. Outrageous statements are profitable. Now I appreciate I'm is actually feeding into the frenzy of Milo, but I do this because I know full well I'm not going to make money from this effort because corporations own that market. I just hope to make some points that will help people think about the platforms they use. Milo Yiannopoulos’s has a book Dangerous coming out in June. It is already #30 on Amazon--not in some miscellaneous sub-category either. It is #30 overall! The book is published by Threshold Editions, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Yesterday I posted a link to AALBC.com about a fascinating book, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong Dunbar, which is also published by Simon & Schuster. Someone posted the following in reaction, Old time lurkers and posters here will recognize the comment coming from the author Emanuel Carpenter, who used to post here regularly...but that is another conversation The rest of this article has been moved to my blog