Troy

Troy Johnson, Tyehimba Jess and Ron Kavanaugh after the 2017 Harlem Fete (Photo by Marcia Wilson). Tyehimba, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry this year, actually showed up about an hour after the party ended but found us in the restaurant next door keeping the festivities going :-)

Del all you have done is provide evidence to support MY case. Now if you would be kind enough to explain the relationship of any of this to quantum mechanics I'm be happy to admit I was imprecise, inaccurate or however you'd like to describe it. Otherwise, I was not "wrong," as you have clearly demonstrated.

I ponder that question question of "supply and demand" often. If it bleeds it leads, sex sells, etc, etc. I'm not convinced the appealing to our baser natures is more profitable because it is what is what we are supplied or because it is what we demand. Of course if you put Cardi B or Minaj's big ass in front of some teenage kid he is going want to see more... Every weekend buildings are filled with people seeking spiritual enlightenment or to grow closer God. Of course their is not shortage of self improvement books... Saying we are just giving people want they want is like big tobacco saying they only sell cigarettes because "people want them." Of course people want them, but they would not want them if the highly addictive products were never manufactured. The fact the cigarettes kill more people than AIDS, murder, suicide, drugs and alcohol combined just makes the whole business so deeply disgusting. The fact we allow people to get rich off these products is criminal. I'm more inclined to believe that we provide whatever it is that is cheapest to produce and generates the most profit. It does not matter if the product is good or even deadly. Profits are the bottom line. This is what makes selling cigarettes perfectly fine, even though we know the manufacturers knew how deadline they were. Fake news is gaining ground on journalism, because it is so very profitable and costs very little to produce. Look, anyone willing to pervert religion and science to justify enslaving Black people for hundreds of years will do anything for money... including making the planet uninhabitable for the human race.

Whoa, you got banned?! I can't image what you could have possibly written for that to happen, because they are off the chain over there I'm pretty sure the sister using the Condi Rice avatar is in change. Try messaging her. That is about the limit of my knowledge.

I'm glad you all posted this information here, earlier in the year I removed this event from my events calendar because I did not see anything on your website. I have just now added the event back onto our calendar: https://aalbc.com/events/index.php?st=District+of+Columbia#Magical+Mirrors+Book+Fair I also see that you are direct people to Facebook. I would MUCH rather link potential attendees to your website, as I did for the 2016 children's book fair.

Del I boldfaced the questions to be sure you would not dodge them, but you did anyway. Newtonian mechanics CAN NOT describe the quantum world. This is patently false (why am i having this conversation?). But again ,why do you keep bringing up the quantum world in a conversation about planetary orbits? You can not properly predict the path of Mercury without taking into a account the warpage of space/time, which Newton was unaware of. This has nothing to do with quantum mechanics. in fact, the relationship between gravity and quantum mechanic is currently unknown. Del, creating an analogy between the choice of options a Dr. give you for treatment versus whether considering whether climate change is real in inappropriate. A better analogy would be climate change is the diagnosis, and the treatment options are analogous to what we should do to address man made climate change.

I read he article, it seems reasonable to me, but it does not say that climate change is a hoax. Indeed it supports climate change, and even references a site which show scientific on consensus. All the article is saying is that we should not jump to the conclusion that the 2017 hurricane season is a direct result of climate change, because weather (which is obviously different than climate), is impossible to predict.

@Cynique, you are a talented writer. Not because I agree wholeheartedly with what you wrote but you just have a talent for succinctly expressing yourself, one that I wish I had. @Pioneer1, technically you're right this is our country, but as Cynique pointed this is really not true. Here is an anecdote, that might help emphasize the point: I started a web based business, 20 years ago, selling books. The vast majority of other businesses like mine have long since failed or they disappears as quickly as they emerged. As far as I know, my web based business was the only one capable of proving a mostly living for someone. This is not to toot my own horn, but it is to explain that we don't have as many websites selling Black books online. This also means readers will find it harder to discover good books, which means that those books will be read less, and the publisher and authors of those books will make less money, which means fewer good books will be produced and the downward spiral continues. But why are there fewer web based booksellers? First, Google controls a website's discoverability. Google alone can dictate which sites survive and which sites fail. I've already described how almost 7 years ago Google took 75% of my traffic cut my adsense payments by over $2K a month--over night! I did nothing wrong, but I say this to explain Google's power, who in one day put many websites out of business. Google also uses the search engine to put the book store in front of organic search results. This had the additional impact of reduce traffic that bookseller websites would normally get if Google were not using their search engine to hijack customers. This is a tactic only monopolist can utilize. They are prevented from doing this in the EU, but in America Google can go buck wild. Of course Amazon is already effectively a monopoly when it comes to Black books. Has anyone noticed that virtually all the authors who post information about their books here direct people to Amazon? Even the few that link to their own websites, direct readers to Amazon when they get to their websites. This might sound like a minor thing, but it is a seismic shift in our collective behavior and that hurts the Black book economy and will ultimately kill if were it not for the activities of a few folks like myself doing what they can to stop it. Of course on the horizon is another existential threat to the Black book ecosystem, Net Neutrality which basically prevents internet service providers like Verizon from slowing down or even blocking, access to other websites. This means that if Net Neutrality is repealed on December 14th (you can petition to stop it here) it is almost certain that business like mine will need to pay a lot more for their website to have decent access to the internet. The price for access could conceivably be more than I can afford! No, Black people do not own the country, but neither do most white folks. The country is owned and controlled by oligarchs, and there is seemingly nothing that we plebs can do about it. People are so dead set in behaving against their own interests. This is a function of our education system, which by necessity, must create a population too ignorant understand why electing a "45" is a grave threat to our way of life... Yes @Delano, we can be our own worst enemy.

@Del, I know you are not a mind reader, despite your vocation so I'll clarify a few things. I never use my credentials in the manner that your described to win arguments, that would make for a very weak argument. I was making a point about people who are willing to argue with someone on a subject where one people demonstrably knows more. I gave several example of this including your knowledge of Astrology, but you are so fixated on believing what you want to believe the point which was clearly expressed escaped you, but I'll rephrase: The climatologist and scientist who study this stuff no far more than I do. I would never try to use what minimal knowledge I have to rejects their findings. I say this because I know they know a lot more than I do. Credentials, study, and experience do matter. I don't remember you ever conceding that I was right about sampling, but that is big 'cause you quite adamant that I was wrong. Del the statement above has nothing to do with what I wrote. Did you know the problem with Newton's calculations were discovered to be wrong because they failed to properly calculate the path of the planet Mercury? I assume that you know the orbit of a planet is not in the realm of quantum physics. You wrote "You are wrong," but I'm not. You just don't know enough yet to know why. Now if you asked me for proof I'll tell you to look it up, because we had this conversation before (why is why I used the example), and I now know you never used the opportunity to learn anything. Del in the documentation that YOU provided they explained why the temperature numbers were recast, and may be recast in the future. Honestly, did you read the entire website? Basically, they are attempting to compensate for known problems with the historical temperature taking methodology. For example, the old style thermometers were less accurate, and they use sophisticated computer models to correct for the measurements. Del figuring this stuff out is not as simple as correlating CO2 levels with temperature over time... again, with all due respect my friend, I don't think you know enough about the subject to speak intelligently about it, let alone reject the findings, of the world's scientists. I know I don't. I still don't comprehend you think that you do? If we were face to face and you told me I never presented Pioneer with information to support my claims, I would have said, "N-word, STFU 'cause you don't know what the h-ll you're talkin' about."

Lowell Hawthorne, President of Golden Crust, whose remarkable life was chronicled in his memoir, The Baker’s Son: My Life in Business, tragically took is own life Saturday. I met this Brother earlier in the year at a party for his publisher Akashic books. My initial take was a low key brother with a pleasant demeanor. I would never have known he was worth tens of millions of dollars. His business story was quite remarkable.

Del I don't delete posts when people are wrong, or even say stupid things, but I will reject them including your statement that I've never provided Pioneer proof, because it is false. I told you, in a manner of speaking, to STFU, because you on that point you don't know what you are talking about and you are becoming increasing arrogant in your ignorance. Even sinking as low as to suck up to Pioneer, Have you no shame! @Pioneer1 can be confident that I'll agree, or disagree, based upon my own opinion or my knowledge of given subject. I'll even adjust my opinion accordingly. @Del have you ever modified your opinion on anything as a result of something you've read here? If so, can you share one or two examples? If not, how can you grow, if you always think you are right and everyone else is always wrong? I bolded the question to ensure that you saw it. @Cynique, I'll say poorly educated because this science is not that new; plus the American public education system is known to be poor by global, first world, standards. Man's knowledge changes over time and that knowledge takes time to disseminate. Isaac Newton laws of gravity stood for hundreds of years until they were shown to be wrong. The calculations are good enough for a great many of things, but 'ole Isaac did not know anything about the warping of space/time and as you suggest even Einsteins who corrected Newton, can be corrected as well. Look you can have a great life completely ignorant of space/time, the nature of race, or even the causes of global warming. But when you say things that direct contradict what the best minds have collectively determined, based solely upon your own uninformed musings, you just sound like a kook. The world is not flat gentlemen.

OREO, was originally published in 1974, is the only book written by Fran Ross, OREO, an AALBC.com bestselling book, tells the story of a young woman, nicknamed Oreo. I'm still collecting votes for your Favorite Black Authors of the 21st Century (I'll update the list with the most recent entries shortly). I have to eliminate a lot of authors because one of the rules is that the authors had to have been alive and published a book in the 21st century. Jimmy Baldwin would be at the top of the list give the number of votes he has received. Baldwin was #8 on the 20th Century List. Some submitted Fran Ross who passed in 1985. While Fran does not qualify for the 21st century list, it did bring to mind the book she published, which Thumper reviewed back in 2002, when Northeastern republished it along with a umber of other classic titles. Gs book was republished again in 2015, and is definitely worth checking out.

The price will be right to enjoy a wonderful book festival in Kingston Jamaica, WI. Details to follow! Sign up for the AALBC.com eNewsletter to be sure you get the details as soon as they become available.

@Del refer to the link you shared on the other conversation:

One of the consequences of selling books is that you learn a few things...things that you are anxious to share, which is what makes it worthwhile. @Del, this is a tired debate with @Pioneer1, over the years I've presented him with a great deal of information to show that there is on one race. Indeed, this website covers the subject quite well. I'm afraid you don't know what I know what I've shared with Pioneer in the past, so you really should stay quiet on this point. Just because Pioneer says I've never shared evidence with him does not make it so. Again, a cursory search on this forum shows that not to be true. Look, I was poorly educated in science like you too obviously were; and was taught there were multiple races, which it was known to be factually inaccurate. But I grew up and read more widely and learned what science has known for a long time. This is old news guys, I'm sorry you reject the information, but your inability to accept known science, because you refuse to change your minds, is just dumb. Pioneer when you cite sources that misuse the word, that is not proof. We all know humans are described as if there are different races, but that is sloppy and scientifically inaccurate: “Race is an invented political system, not a natural biological division. The Human Genome Project has confirmed that the human species cannot be divided into genetically distinguishable races. Race is a political grouping created to support slavery and colonialism, and its boundary lines have shifted over time and across nations to suit political ends…” —Dorothy Roberts, author of Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, And Big Business Re-Create Race In The Twenty-First Century Again, as @Cynique, pointed out it is a semantic issue; and one that I argue is confusing people, leading them to believe there are multiple human races. We need another term. I don't think "breed" is the right word. We need another way to talk about people that eliminate "race." Ethnicity, phenotypical characteristics, nationality, culture are all fine. From almost 15 years ago: PBS Program- Race: the Power of an Illusion I've also shared volumes of information about the subject on the website with Books we've reviewed: The Myth Of Race/The Reality Of Racism: Critical Essays The Race Myth: Why We Pretend Race Exists in America Of course there is much more, but again if one rejects science, and would rather hold onto their stone age ways of thinking, there is nothing I can do about it. Once one is presented with the truth they can no longer claim ignorance, then only thing left is stubborn stupidity. I willing to work with ignorance, stupidity requires a professional. So while I've reshared information here, moving forward I will not continually share and reshare information with someone, on a subject, once they have made it clear they will not change their mind. Pioneer's view on the subject of race is one such situation.

Del thanks for sharing that link there a wealth off information about climate change. I'm not sure why you still have these question after seeing all this information. The site explains, for example how they ca,lculated the 97% number: Do scientists agree on climate change? Yes, the vast majority of actively publishing climate scientists – 97 percent – agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change. Most of the leading science organizations around the world have issued public statements expressing this, including international and U.S. science academies, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a whole host of reputable scientific bodies around the world. A list of these organizations is provided here. They also provide an interesting graph of the global temperature changes: Global temperature rise from 1880 to 2015. Higher-than-normal temperatures are shown in red and lower-than-normal temperatures are shown in blue. Each frame represents global temperature anomalies (changes) averaged over the five years previous to that particular year. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA Scientific Visualization Studio/NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. If you want the underlying temperature data and can't find it on the website, why don't you reach out to NASA and ask them for it--not everything is on the web. Maybe you have to go to the library. If can't be that hard to find if you extend your search beyond the web. I also see from the site that measuring temperatures are far more complicated than I imaged. The accuracy of the equipment has changed over time, and as the locations where temperatures are measured have becomes more urbanized temperature would go of because cities are hotter. But these are scientists and they are not stupid, so they are working to factor all this into their measurements. Without understanding what you are looking at taking temperature data alone (I see now) is not nearly enough. This is why I leave this stuff to the experts who study this stuff.

@Cynique, yes this argument is about semantics, or rather what the word "race" means and how it should be used technically. To argue this is not about "facts" is a weak argument that can be made about anything. @Delano, this is the argument that 45 and his ilk uses against the way news is reported, as in there are "alternative facts." This is why we have so much more access to information but as a people we know and understand so much less. "Breed" would actually be a better word to use than "race" in the way that @Pioneer1 is using it. Siblings could be of different "breeds," but still be of the same human race.

So you believe virtually all of the planet's scientific community (save the ones in the pocket of big oil) are all making this up to enrich themselves?

White men do crooked things to enrich themselves. What else is new? If scientists decide to revise their forecasts I'll change my mind, but Al's finances are not a strong enough reason to change my mind at this point. Again, while it was a reason for me not to take him at his word originally, now he has the globe's scientific community on his side.

Search 45's income.

Sure, I'm sure Al Gore and his massive carbon footprint was one reason I discounted his story, but I can't ignore all the other scientists. Why would they all lie and deceive us?

So @Pioneer1 I'll take that to mean "yes." This is why eliminating racial attitudes (racism, prejudice, bigotry) will take a very long time. First, folks, both Black and white, who think like you have to die out and stop spreading this kind of thinking. Man that would be easy. When white folks were living in caves and killing each other for food. Black people were building pyramids and universities that lasted not hundreds, but thousands of years. Everything the Greeks knew was derived from Africa. But that is not to say the Black people are superior, in fact white people come from Black people... we are one race of people.

No, not any more, because you can easily look it up yourself. Now I know you won't look it up, because you know what they say about where to put something if you don't want knee-grows to discover it....

I've never read any of Feynman's books, but I really enjoy his videos--one of the greatest things about the web is the ability to hear someone like him speak. I doubt I I would have heard of him otherwise. Del is the only other person I know who has mentioned his name. I would imagine most scientists would say astrology is rubbish. To me that is like saying a belief in God is rubbish, as I'm sure many would. I agree with almost everything Pioneer wrote in the post above. Yes the U.S. has some of the best universities on Earth, indeed this is where many of these foreign students are educated...for now. I teach at one of New York, best pubic schools, and have been for several years. I've taught hundreds of students but less than a handful of Black Americans. Of course the the countries most prestigious Private schools in STEM subjects. A girl who graduated after I did from under grad was he first Black woman to graduate my school with a civil engineering degree! Absolutely, a complicated lie which sounds good is always more desirable than the complicated truth. I often think those with the most willingness to tell these lies can achieve the most financial success in America. ----------------- Skip to the 17:30 mark, it is my favorite part of the video.