Troy

Sure, that is true, but in 2025 doing so is MUCH more difficult that it was 30 years ago. So, while the game may remain the same it is much harder to win. There is an entire generation of adults wandering around who don't know a world where they have not been manipulated by the algorithm. Who needs social (web-based) approval for a positive self-esteem. They interact more comfortably with other humans through a screen than in person. They need trigger warnings and peanuts will kill them. Their genders and sexual orientation are fluid. Their biggest aspiration is to "go viral." Unfortunately, we handed them a hot mess, one I'm not sure they are prepared to deal with.

A gentleman should carry two handkerchiefs one for showing and one for blowing.

Interesting back and forth. Sure, flimflammers and confidence men existed long before the days of the world-wide web. However, the web does allow scammers to become orders of magnitude more effective. I think many of dismiss the adverse impact of the "algorithm" far too easily perhaps naively. We all believe we are less impacted than the other guy, but we don't have the capacity to understand how we are being impacted. Again, my strategy is avoidance, but if you are active online, as i am, you can't avoid AI-powered-algorithmically-driven feed desired to steal your attention. I go to YouTube to upload a video. YouTube buries my workspace and prominently displays the feed. 30 minutes later watch stupid videos I'm kicking myself wasting time and having to remind myself why on was on YouTube in the first place. I can stop using YouTube. The reason for me using a video sharing website, saving disk space and bandwidth are no longer factors. I can upload my videos to my own server. But I continue to use YouTube. Probably because I've been brainwashed to do so.

Again, I don’t believe this. But I gather you do. I’m sure I’m not smart enough disavow of this fantasy. I wonder if it is the fact that it is a black person behind this tech and that we (Black people) have such a profound history of abuse in this country that we desperately need to have Black people do amazing things. as a result we are more likely to buy into this story for a sense of self worth. Black people have done so many great things throughout recorded history there is no need for us to embrace this hoax.

lol! OK Fellas this does not belong in the black excellence forum. This is not about raining or anyone’s parade. This is just about critical thinking and perhaps a little basic science knowledge There is so much garbage on the Internet that is created to deceive you it is increasingly difficult to combat it. As you probably know, my personal strategy is simply avoid “the feed” as much as possible. The old Maxim’s still apply, “if something is too good to be true…“ Yes, you have to scale it up by an astronomical amount the hardware to do it would be the size of a football field… probably a city…. Just forget about it it’s not possible!

I find it hard to believe you can power an automobile from radio waves. I watched a portion of one of the video explaining the tech and describing the process... OK I can see generating a few millivolts, but enough to power an electric car -- no way! I have not done any research on this for the same reason I'm not looking for proof that the world is flat. If one could power a car why not power a home and get rid of that utility bill. Why are we putting up wind turbines and solar panels if we can extract power from radio waves?

I did not know (or have long forgotten) that Angie Stone was part of Sequence. I brough the original 12" of Funk You Up, when it first came out. It was one of the first rap records from the late 70s. I should still have it... unless it took a walk like so many of my records

The following message was sent by a friend, via text. I won’t be watching the state of the union. I never watch the state of the union. I don’t need a peptalk and Trump’s case I don’t feel like listening to a load of BS. I wonder if Elon Musk is going to give the speech or will it be President Trump? Roland Martin’s below message: On Tuesday, March 4th, we are going to present THE STATE OF OUR UNION. We will go live at 7pm Eastern (which is 6pm Central) and will go to midnight or 1am. We will break this up into 30-minute blocks. We will have Congressional Black Caucus members, civil rights activists, voting rights advocates, labor leaders, business leaders, grassroots activists and millennials. We will NOT carry Donald Trump’s speech. Instead, when Trump walks to the mic, we will go live to New Haven, Connecticut, where Rev. William J. Barber II will deliver OUR speech. My team will show clips of the twice-impeached, criminally convicted felon-in-chief, and we’l discuss these matters after Barber is done. Spread the word! TO KEEP TRUMP’S RATINGS LOW, DO NOT WATCH ANY NEWS NETWORKS. I would love to have 100,000+ watching us LIVE at Youtube.com/RolandSMartin or on the Black Star Network (BSN) app. Again, please help spread the word by sharing this with your network (family, friends, church, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, etc.). Thank you.

My bad. Actually, when I boycotted Amazon and encouraged others to do it -- I got more grief than encouragement... We are not ready. Has there been any word about the impact of the day-long "boycott" or is Amazon just laughing at us? A real Boycott would mean not buying anything from Amazon, it would also mean not working for them (which might have an even bigger impact). This is all magical thinking because it highly unlikely to happen in this universe. However, it is within the realm of possibility. Same thing with the NFL. If anyone really cared about supporting Colin's effort to advocate for Black people, everyone could have stopped playing and watching. An alternative league could have been started... Again, some of us, like the athletes, would have felt much more pain, but imagine being a part owner of a new league with the best players and who respected your humanity.

@Delano any comment?

I meant to share this message when I first got it a couple of weeks ago. I got it through text messages and email from multiple sources. I’m surprised no one else posted it. Some sources only focused the boycott on a handful of businesses Amazon, McDonald’s, Walmart… if every black person on earth boycotted Amazon for one day, Amazon would not notice a difference— especially if those same people simply did delayed their purchases by one day. My initial reaction was that this won’t have an impact because it needs to be a sustained effort, basically one in which we stop supporting these businesses until they “give.” Which means we will probably feel some pain too. And I think that’s the problem. We are not willing to feel any pain to achieve our own liberation. ——— •DEI BOYCOTT PLAN. • THIS IS THE FIRST STEP. • LET’S FOLLOW AL SHARPTON’S LEADERSHIP. • HERE IS THE DEI BOYCOTT PLAN THAT HAS BEEN SENT OUT TO SHARE WITH ALL OF YOUR CONTACTS. • THE 24 HOUR BLACKOUT HAS BEEN SCHEDULED AS THE FIRST OF MULTIPLE COUNTER MEASURES TO THE ATTACK ON DEI OUR FIRST OFFICIAL ACT: • As our first initial act, we “TURN IT OFF”. • For one day we show them who really holds the power. • WHEN: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 28TH. from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM. WHAT NOT TO DO: • Do not make any purchases. • Do not shop online, or in-store • No Amazon • No Walmart • No Best Buy Nowhere! • No McDonalds DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON FOOD: • Fast Food • Gas • Major Retailers • Do not use Credit or Debit Cards for non essential spending. WHAT YOU CAN DO IF NECESSARY: • Only buy essentials of absolutely necessary items such as (Food, Medicine, Emergency Supplies) •If you must spend, ONLY support small, local businesses. SPREAD THE MESSAGE • Talk about it. • Post about it. • Document your actions that day! WHY THIS MATTERS! • Corporations and banks only care about their bottom line. • If we disrupt the economy for just ONE day, it sends a powerful message. • If they don't listen we make the next blackout longer. • This is our first action. • Our numbers are powerful. • This is how we make history. AGAIN, • FEBRUARY 28TH. • The 24 Hour Economic Black Out Begins. WE MUST USE THE POWER WE DO HAVE AND SEND AN ECONOMIC MESSAGE WITH OUR NUMBERS AS DR. KING DID IN THE 60’S. NOW SHARE THIS MESSAGE AS OUR FIRST OF MULTIPLE ACTIONS AND STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE ACTIONS. There's gotta be a way to reach many others ! We Must become unified

The entire time I was looking at the video and trying to imagine what the brother did to provoke such a vicious attack then the reporter said the attack was unprovoked?! It makes no sense. Are these the “race soldiers” @Pioneer1 is always talking about?

It was alarming to hear the way they talked to the Ukrainian president.

It’s actually phenomenal.

A nurse I know told me at least half of the women coming into the hospital to give birth have Herpes, Syphilis or Gonorrhea!

Yes, Smith acknowledged that.

Agreed, but it won't happen. Generally, these platforms are built by business people. Ala Johnson, Hughes, etc. The "talent" shows up does their thing. Martin is not gonna join up with Reid and share his platform with her. Now if some other entity built a platform and brought them both on board that could work, but it would be very hard to execute -- make profitable enough for someone to try.

I’m not sure if what Roland Martin does is considered journalism. It appears to me that he shares his opinion on a variety of topics relevant to Black people. Also, Roland appears to target Black people as his audience. He is not in search of the “white co-sign.”. What Roland is doing is not easy. I don’t get the impression that people like Don, Candice, and Marc are willing to do what it takes to build a platform they need someone else’s platform.

“freaks and perverts” oh my LOL! I actually was reacting to your description of “desperation” rather than being “impressed.” One man’s freak is another man’s prude… Indeed, some of the best things in life cannot be purchased. But there are also some pretty cool experiences, (freaky to some) that for all practical purposes can be far more easily be purchased. @Pioneer1 where do you find these pictures man?

I have not been following this story, perhaps because I’ve never watched Joy’s show. I don’t have anything against Joy from what I hear she’s quite the journalist and 24 years is a great run hosting a TV program I attended a book event yesterday featuring Will Packer. He brought along a couple of ex athletes and sports pundit Steven A. Smith. Interestingly, Smith said that Joy Reid’s show was canceled because we didn’t support her by tuning in the way we did during the Obama administration. He said they are all responsible for maintaining viewership.

I first learned about Diana Krall when she appeared on Sesame Street many years ago. I remember Patrice Rushen from back in the day she was a prodigy if I recall. That was where my junior high school graduation was held. I only went there one other time. I walked around in there last year for the first time in almost 50 years. It hasn’t changed.

Have ya listened to any rap lyrics lately LOL! Word! BTW Anyone bother to read Melania's memoir, or hear anything about it? Playing the long game... Well, as with most things, it depends. There are some activities a typical woman is physically incapable of and/or completely unwilling to do.

These are the #1 bestselling books in the United States across the following eight categories: Adult Fiction (Hardcover), Adult Fiction (Paperback), Adult Nonfiction (Hardcover), Adult Nonfiction (Paperback), Juvenile Fiction, Juvenile Nonfiction, Young Adult, and Poetry. Check out the top 50 books in each category.

@Milton, If you don't already know. In addition to adding info about you book here, you should also complete the form @richardmurray shared. You can complete the form even before your book has been published. I usually add books to the site that you and other authors, who already have a presence on AALBC. I can do this based upon the information shared here or on the linked website. However, there wasn't enough information about the book here or your website, to allow me to add it to our online store. Minimally I would need an ISBN. Also, what is the format of you book? Is it an eBook? Even if it something that you are only selling from your site, I simply send readers to your site

Hi @Tales from Zeal Didn't the pro in the industry provide guidance in this area? You are asking people who don't know you or you or, more importantly, your work to introduce you to an author who will read and endorse your book. There is a slim chance of that happening as a result of you inquiry. You should attend book fairs and conferences and get to know other authors. These are the people most likely to endorse and read your work. What you should do here is post information about yourself and your upcoming novel. Share a video describing the book and keep us appraised of your progress. As with any community develop a relationship with folks. Here is a good example of a writer, Milton J. Davis who always posts information about his new books. Now if he ever asked for an endorsement (he hasn't yet) I would certainly consider it. I hope that helps.