Troy

The #readingblack Movement encourages readers, of all colors, to read books by Black writers and to buy those books from Black-owned bookstores and websites. If you are interested in helping to promote the movement by using the hashtag and encouraging others to join, please reply to this message and I'll invite you to the newly created platform http://readingblack.com (which is a club on this site). There we will share information and strategies to raise the profile of #readingblack and to help booksellers meet the needs of reader, authors, and publishers. To be added to the #readingblack club you must have an account. Once you've let me that you want to join I can send you an invitation. You may also invite others to join as well.

How can a retailer flourish in such a daunting environment? By providing “emotional fulfillment,” which is one of Mr. Freeman’s favorite phrases. He means the joy customers take in seeing, touching, sniffing and testing the product before they pull out the credit card. A computer can’t match that experience, Mr. Freeman insists: “We are social animals. We aren’t robots who are going to make all our purchases from robots.” Read the rest of the article By Stephen Moore in the Dec. 15, 2017, Wall Street Journal

Yes Guest showing some of the photos would have been a great idea. Cynique well that is good to hear. My blurbs could have been a but tighter I think. I also said Toni Medina's book was appropriate for kids of all ages. That was a sip up the book deal with police brutality, and may not be appropriate for really young children (thought some may disagree).

Hi Dr. J. Aleem, it seems unlikely that I would have missed you sharing you book stores information here, but you have my attention now. Please post a website, a photo of the front of your store (preferably), or the inside if there is no store front. Also post the year you opened, the store's hours, and contact information (email, phone). If you have a video please share the URL.

Simply paste the code below where you would like to display the book websites. Updates to the book sites are made automatically. Once you paste the code there is nothing more you need to do. This code is optimized for mobile and can be run on a secure (https) website. The bookstore listing below uses the code provided below. Please send question to report bugs to me at troy@aalbc.com Thanks for helping to promote independent book websites! <!-- BEGIN AALBC.com CODE --> <script> if (!document.cookie || document.cookie.indexOf('AVPDCAP=') == -1) { document.write('<scr'+'ipt src="https://aalbc.advertserve.com/advertpro/servlet/view/dynamic/javascript/media?mid=3213&pid=0&resolution='+(window.innerWidth||screen.width)+'x'+(window.innerHeight||screen.height)+'&random='+Math.floor(89999999*Math.random()+10000000)+'&millis='+new Date().getTime()+'&referrer='+encodeURIComponent((window!=top&&window.location.ancestorOrigins)?window.location.ancestorOrigins[window.location.ancestorOrigins.length-1]:document.location)+'" type="text/javascript"></scr'+'ipt>'); } </script> <!-- END AALBC.com CODE -->

You are encouraged to share these memes to promote the #readingblack movement. Feel free to create and share your own

I guess technically it is alleged because Tavis has vehemently denied all allegations. These photos was taken during the launch of Tavis Smiley's publishing company Smiley Books. As the numbers of sexual predators continue to rise and the careers and reputations of seemingly reputable people are deservedly destroyed, it really makes you wonder do all people with an ounce of power abuse it to the determinant of others? It has been my experience that many successful people will stop at nothing for more money and the power it brings; enslaving people for hundreds of years--cool; commit genocide--where do do I sign up; take people's homes--no problem; give people cancer, you got it. Taking advantage of others sexually, as bad as that is, pales in comparison. It comes as no surprise that anyone willing to do anything for power will abuse it once it has been obtained. It was interesting to hear the comedian turned Congressman Al Franken, complain, while he was getting the boot, that 45 gets to remain in the Whitehouse for doing more or less the same thing. Franken reminded me of a child who rats out another kid, who did the same thing, but escaped punishment; not at all concerned with the problem of his own behavior.

Do you mean to say that it will be common knowledge that we will not finish his term? I ask for clarification, because some pundits have already said he is on his way out.

Please provide some constructive feedback on this video. Let me know what was good and what could be done better. Y'all know I have thick skin so don't worry about being perceived as hypercritical. I'm working with a book club called called The Tea, and am hoping to use videos like this to promote the best of Black literature, and I want to make them better. No matter what you think please subscribe to The Tea's and AALBC.com's Youtube Channels to keep this videos like this coming. The books highlighted in the video include: Unseen: Unpublished Black History from the New York Times Photo Archives by Dana Canedy, Darcy Eveleigh, Damien Cave, and Rachel L. Swarns I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina I Am Loved by Nikki Giovanni, Illustrated by Ashley Bryan Defining Moments in Black History: Reading Between the Lies by Dick Gregory Ballerina Body: Dancing and Eating Your Way to a Leaner, Stronger, and More Graceful You by Misty Copeland Keep #readingblack

THIS CODE IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED A list of Black-Owned bookstores to share for those in the #readingblack movement (a commitment to read books by Black writers and to buy those books from Black-owned bookstores). The list of bookstores, shown below may be shared on your website by adding the line of HTML code to your website. As we update our database your website will be automatically updated. You may adjust the style parameters to suit your website. <iframe src="https://aalbc.com/bookstores/readingblack_stores_share.php" padding=0 width=90% height=1000 style="border-style:none"></iframe> The code above produces this the list of bookstores below. Sharing is easy!

Of course thanks for the opportunity Chris!

The first short video describes some of the reasons. I have not watched the longer documentary yet, but I presume those questions are answered in it.

Based upon feedback it looks like it would be best to abandon the proposed boycott of Amazon and redirect the energy to emphasising the purchase of books, especially books from Black from Black booksellers.

Regardless of what you might think of Roland, we desperately need MORE programs like this not less. I knew Koreans had a lock on Black Hair care but I had no idea how serious it was. Shoot, we should open up Chinese take out restaurants too. Here is the full documentary referenced above. We need to own this industry nationally. The Bronner Bros are large in ATL, why is this not replicated in other cities?

I would presume because the Brothers did not vote in meaningful numbers. If 98 percent of Black women voted for a candidate that is effectively everybody. You can't get 100% of anyone to do anything. 100% of Black women didn't even vote for Obama, and I don't think Jesus Christ (the white one) could have earned a higher percentage of the Black woman vote than Obama.

Yeah Peppermint Patti presented butch, but was was strickly-dickly. She even had a thing for 'ol Chuck B., But Cuckie boy's amorous energies were directed to toward the more feminine little redheaded gal.

@Pioneer1 why would I have a problem with TV, Movies, and Magazines being filled with nothing but beautiful Black people? I knew colorism could be bad in the Black community, but I thought that died out long ago. Why treat our sister like a red-headed step child?

A wonderful interview with a terrific writer, Elizabeth Nunez: Distinguished Professor, Hunter College. Dr. Nunez also has helped a large number of writers both in and outside of the classroom. I consider her a literary activist, though I doubt she would describe herself as one.

@Pioneer1, my sister, Danzy is Black, whether you like it or not That is how subjective and arbitrary terms work.

Wow, I did not know about Tavis until just now. I'm not surprised at all. Now if someone accused Barack Obama I would be surprised, but Tavis Smiley not at all. This is not to suggest that I think Tavis is slimey I have no reason to think that. I actually thought he might be gay. At any rate, maybe he mistreated some women or treated them unfairly. This would not be an unusual thing for a powerful Black man to do. Plenty of people are legally fired without "due process," Why did BET get rid of him? I seem to remember people being outraged about that and wanting to do something about the loss of his show. Interestingly i have not heard anything about this regarding Tavis this time around, they way I have already heard outrage for Martin, but it is still early. Maybe someone will create a platform for Roland and Tavis to do there thing.

Del you posted the video I watched it he look great and was obviously not dead, when he made the statement, that is why the impact of the video in my opinion was minimized. By today's standards it gets a big yawn and a so what?

As discussed the focus of the club has changed from the negative (boycotting Amazon), to the positive, supporting the businesses to support Black books. On social media the hashtag #readingblack will be used and doman readingblack.com will point to this website. My initial goal will be to encourage folks to read books by Black writers and to buy those books from Black booksellers and to provide the services device strategies to facilitate this process.

Based upon feedback it looks like it would be best to abandon the proposed boycott of Amazon and redirect the energy to readers to purchase books, written by Back writers, from Black-owned bookstores. I'm joining an effort, started by a booktuber (folks on Youtube who create book review videos), Denise D Cooper. I registered the domain readingblack.com and will point it to this club. I'm seeking feedback on the meme below let me know what you think? This is a play on another meme I saw which used the phrase "Buy local or bye local."