Troy

Amaru, interestingly this page attracts a lot of visitors through search. Oh Clarence is Black, but as Cynique inferred above, he is chose a different path. If has worked out well for him, but has not served his people very well. But then again this is the American Way isn't it?

@Pioneer1 that was I inspired :-) @Cynique, please can walk in lockstep on the otherside of the political spectrum too. Which is my biggest complaint about black folks slavish devotion to the democratic party despite the all of the policies that gave hurt our community. But it looks like I'll have to break down and vote for Hillary just in case the no-shows tip the election in favor of that nut in the opposing party.

Cynique, one's own personal filter, though important, is a completely different issue that what I've described; read up on filter bubbles. Pioneer I agree with most of what you've written, but I do get the appeal of social media. While I no longer use social media for anything other than sharing links to AALBC.com, I definitely get the appeal. It can be a massive ego stroke. I stopped using it because I don't like being manipulated. The promoting to wish someone a happy birthday, the promoting to share old photos, and even the guilt of not doing it--everything is all designed to keep you engaged get you to use their system--and they do a brilliant job. Walk around any city and look at what people are doing...

"We" as in Americans. One of the problems with the current campaign indeed our entire political process is that if reinforces the "we" versus "they" mentality. Presumably we all want the same thing a prosperous nation. Sure we may disagree on how to get there, but the we" versus "they" mentality is self destructive, and nothing good ever comes from it. So while I, personally will not vote for Trump, I'm not about to disavow the Americans who do.

Yes Cynique, you hang around smart people... But look at it this way, the stuff you see posted on Facebook is, by its very nature, biased. The majority of people who have accounts don't post, and of those that post the information is filtered by the people doing the posting. Then Facebook's algorithm determines the content that you see. Are you beginning to see how these multiple funnels skew things? Despite the hype from Facebook the majority of Americans are not posting on Facebook, so how can it be representative of what the general population thinks? Now Facebook itself has a better indication because they know what you look at--even if you don't comment, they capture the text you type--even if you decide not to submit it, and they capture everything, so they have a better perspective of what people are like, but again the data is only a reflection of the people using the system...

Cynique, the "we" I'm referring to are the millions of Trump supporters. But I'm also talking the weak ass media, so desperate for viewers that they put Donald Trump on TV at every opportunity, while lobbing him slow-pitch softballs for questions and rarely challenging him on the lies he tells to their face. But they don't do it because they are afraid of losing access to Trump. The mainstream media is weak, pathetic, and did more harm than good this presidential cycle. We are looking a real potential Trump presidency as a result!

Interesting conversation. Cynique I agree with @Pioneer1, I don't think most Black people, indeed people in general, understand how much and how easily they are manipulated. Yes there are a lot of "dumb niggas" out there, from time to time I fall into the category But you put your finger on it @Cynique, most people would be entertained than enlighten. In fact engaging folks in an entertaining way is a good way to enlighten them. But the reality is most of are entertainment is vacuous, while our enlightenment/education is banal, so yes there are a lot of dumb folks out there... Cynique I'd also be careful about using social media as a gauge of how people, in general, feel about anything. Social media create filters which present you with the opinions and ideas most likely to keep you engaged, and for most of us this is stuff that we agree, mindlessly entertain you, or vivaciously peek in on others. Potting you finger on the pulse of the Black community it is not... I think it is the primary reason why some folks can't wrap their heads around why anyone would support Trump. They consume the same biased social media fueled sources of information. But I digress... Look while folks have they rude and obnoxious counterparts Melissa McCarthy (starred in brides maids), is basically John Belushi in drag, but white folks don;t get all riles up about her characters, because whites actresses get such a wide variety of diverse roles McCarthy roles don't matter. Because our roles are so limited we run the real risk of being stereotyped in the minds of white folks. The real solution to this is not to put Leslie out of work, but to create more diverse roles for Black actresses, but until we become less dependent upon white folks for gigs this will never happen. So there will never be a shortage, rapper, slave, maid, gangster, and dysfunctional ghetto dweller roles for less than stunning, large dark-skinned Black women.

AALBC.com's August eNewsletter is out, full of information about books, writers, and related articles

I just added another enhancement to the your Enhanced Author Profile @CDBurns, I made all of your pages secure. This is are of an overall effort to be part of the https everywhere effort. Eventually the entire AALBC.com website will be secure and use encryption but the Enchanced Author Pages are using this today. This will also help in SEO as well. I'm close to having some promotion ideas related to the Enhanced pages as well--thanks again for your help.

Oprah is back with a book club selection. I don't recall the last time she made one, and I have to believe it has been a couple of years since she has picked a Black book. The last one I remember off the top of my head was Ayana Mathis' The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. The selection of Colson new book was The Underground Railroad will be a tremendous boon to the author. A simple google search will reveal the incredible about of coverage of this book right on the pub date. Of course the coverage is as much about Oprah's endorsement as it is about Colson's book. It is almost like a competition to see who can cover the story the fastest. The publications that focused on the book more than Oprah distinguished themselves in a positive way. While the Oprah effect can't be ignored. I often wonder what initiates it? I mean I've watched some of the videos of Oprah endorsing the book and it is great to see someone of her magnitude bring excitement to books. I'm sure it is a very decent book. But what motivates her to aggressively promote this title; is it simply the sheer love of this one book... or is there something else happening behind the scenes? I know, I know it is too early to be so cynical, but part of me can't help but see this thing as being orchestrated--there is just too much money involved. At any rate, I've jumped on the bandwagon, following the herd, like everyone and their mother feeding into the feenzy, and sharing information about Oprah's endorsement of a Black book that will go quite well. I understand the initial print run is 200,000 copies--that is a lot of books. Fail to make the New York Times list will be surprising. It will be interesting to learn how it does on AALBC.com. There are other great books that pubbed this week, including one by Jesmyn Ward that pubbed the same day as Colson's new book (Aug 2, 2016), and Jesmyn actually won a National Book Award. Al this attention paid to a single book actually hurts other books that deserve attention as well. But I plan to email a newsletter today and I'll cover Jesmyn and the other books mainstream media overlook

Dear Friends, I am happy to report that Kevin Young will be joining NYPL as Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. He will begin his tenure at the Library in the late fall. Kevin succeeds Khalil Gibran Muhammad, who led the Schomburg with great distinction for the last five years. Kevin joins NYPL from Emory University, where he was both Curator of the Raymond Danowski Poetry Library and Curator of Literary Collections at the newly named Rose Library. He simultaneously held the Charles Howard Candler Professorship of Creative Writing and English. Under Kevin's leadership, the Danowski Poetry Library and the Rose Library have both enjoyed remarkable success, increasing their holdings, expanding public programming and access, mounting innovative exhibitions, organizing conferences and fellowship competitions, and enhancing their digital presence. Among his notable curatorial acquisitions were the Lucille Clifton, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Marie Ponsot, Sarah E. Wright, and Nathaniel Mackey archives, and in collaboration with his colleagues, the addition of W.E.B. Du Bois' copy of David Walker's Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. During his 11 years at Emory, Kevin produced a wide-ranging corpus of poetry and cultural criticism. He has published 11 books and edited 8 others. In February, Knopf published Blue Laws: Selected and Uncollected Poems 1995-2015. His influential volume of cultural criticism, The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness, won the PEN Open Book Award, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism, and was named a New York Times Notable Book. His Book of Hours (Knopf, 2014) was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Award and winner of the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets; Jelly Roll (Knopf, 2003) was a finalist for the National Book Award The roster of Kevin's honors and awards is extensive and includes, among many other laurels, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, the Donald Justice Poetry Prize, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize, the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance Award, and Guggenheim, Lannan, and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships. Kevin is widely recognized as a distinguished teacher, scholar, and public voice. He has held named professorships at Princeton, Indiana University, and Beloit College. His poetry, reviews, and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, and The American Scholar. Across his writing, his curatorial work, and his teaching, Kevin has mapped a deeply textured account of American life. From his Amistad poems through his trenchant accounts of the lives and languages of both ordinary men and women and public figures such as Jack Johnson, Muhammad Ali, and Billie Holiday, to his insightful analyses of jazz, blues, and hip-hop forms, Kevin has described the trajectory of 400 years of national experience. His syncretic accounts of American social, musical, and cultural history are notable both for the breadth of their vision and for the vertiginous pleasures they afford. We look forward to having Kevin among us. I want to thank the members of the Schomburg search committee for their dedication and unfailing good counsel, and take particular note of the leadership of Co-Chair Gordon Davis. In addition to Gordon and myself, the Committee members were Elizabeth Alexander, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Raymond McGuire, Arva Rice, and Aysha E. Schomburg. I also want to thank Alvin Starks and Mary Yearwood for their continuing and exemplary work as the Schomburg's Interim Co-Directors. Warmly, Bill William P. Kelly Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries The New York Public Library

Well I'm sure Trump has supporters that are racists, and I would definitely put racists in the dumb category. But Hillary non-supporters don't make them automatically racist, stupid or filled with hate for her. When we all supported Obama over Hillary it was not because of hate or stupidity--though race almost certainly was factor. I'm not aware of any plan that Donald has the only thing I know about what he says are the sounds bites the media promotes to such an extent that they are unavoidable. Still the only point I'm making is that his appeal does not suprise me an is understandable given the shitstorm poor people face in this country. How can one argue that Dems are "...doing the greatest good for the greatest number..." when wealth inequality is at a virtual all-time high in America? "Losing a job" is the essence of what brought Obama into office. Remember millions of white folks voted for Obama; his imagery of "hope and change" resonated with a nation. But the nation is now disillusioned after getting more of the same; despite having Obama at the helm. Hillary, for many, is a continuation of this--whether it is true or not matters little. Trump is a desperation move by an angry, disaffected, and struggling population... this is what breeds racism amongst the uneducated. How else would you explain the fact that Trump actually has a chance to win? Even though one can objectively say that Hillary as far and away more qualified to be president than Trump, this does not matter. People are looking for something different. Bernie, Trump, and Obama all had "something different" this going for them.

If the only choices were only Hillary or Donald. I would pick Hillary. But there are other choices and right now I'm planning to exercise one of those. Another option is to stay at home. I would be willing to bet right now that come November if you added up all the eligible voters who; (1) did not vote, (2) voted for the 3rd party candidate, or (3) voted for Trump, it would greatly exceed the number of voters who vote for Hillary--and many of hillary voters would do so holding their noses. While I would never vote for Trump, I'm not so quick to dismiss his supporters as stupid or racist. I think that is a simplistic perspective, and ignores that fact the the middle class is suffering. Even the life expectancy of white boys is going down. Despite all the rhetoric from the Dems about how great America is doing, one could make a VERY strong argument that we are worse off today that during the great depression. Declining life expectancy, a decent education out of reach for most, high wealth disparity, millions of home foreclosures... Again for those of us are doing OK, relatively speaking, it is easy to ignore the masses for people trapped in a cycle of deepening poverty. I won't even get started on the havoc we level on foreign shores... But to answer your question @Cynique, I think Bernie would have probably done more for the masses that Hillary would and less beholden to the oligarchy--at least Bernie talked a good game. But we'll never know...

Oh OK, I did not realize that you knew Leslie Pioneer. You see I've never met her and all I know about her is the characters she portrays. I also figured that since she was acting, the characters she portrays has nothing to do with her real-life personality. But since you obviously know her, I defer to you. That was a funny skit

Not if they are shooting and killing each other.

Yes, my question was very similar to yours regarding slavery, but the answer to that one is easy. Most people would, and to this very day, pick slavery. Being a slave even without the benevolent master is easy. Freedom is hard. @Pioneer1, all I'm trying to get you to do is a appreciate the fact that Leslie (all of us really) is much more than her physical appearance. But since you dodged my question, I assume you understand what I'm saying but refuse to concede the point. Also, we don't know what Leslie is like in person, she might be very sweet, in the stereotypical feminine way that is important to you. Finally many men find Lupita flat-chested boyish physique more of a turn off that Leslie's. #teamleslie

The same people (not the president) who run the country will continue to run it. 12 years of Bushs and a potential for 16 years of Clintons will make very little difference for the masses of people both Black and white. If you are set financially you will probably be fine. If you are struggling now you probably continue to struggle; your children will find it very difficult to do much better than you are doing, which is why white folks are having fits right about now, wanting things to go back to the way they were... Many of us feel America is the greatest country in the world. If you a wealthy it probably is, but if you are not wealthy, like vast majority of people who live here, it is a completely different story, and if you are poor, well your situation is really quite sad. I watched Michael Moore's latest film last night, Where to Invade Next. It is worth checking out. The changes needed in American go way beyond anything Hillary or Donald will or even can do.

...check out one of my all-time favorite books, BILLY by Albert French I discovered this book from another book seller before I started AALBC.com. It was just a great read. Albert French is a cousin of John Edgar Wideman, if memory serves.

I hear you Ray. Trump is the spawn of America. An America that is deeply wounded, mentally ill, and in desperate need of help. In reaction to the lack of attention, the masses act out, like the unruly kid in the classroom. A country whose people are valued have no need for a Trump. Trump is our reaction, our unruly student. Rather than figure out what our problems are and deal with them, we act out and try to elevate Trump to the presidency. It is a desperate act of defiance by the masses of a dominant culture who are losing ground and are afraid of what this means.

Great graphic novels will definitely appeal to young men; the bestselling award winning MARCH trilogy from Rep. John Lewis. Book one was on our Power List, sat on the NY Times Bestsellers list for close to a year, and won all kind of awards. Makes a great present for kids.

@Pioneer1, I understand what you are saying. But there is so much more to a woman's attractiveness than her physical characteristics. Here is a simple question for you. Would you rather be married to Lupita Nyong'o (who you have pictured above) or Leslie. Now before you answer I'd like to add a couple of additional parameters. Lets assume the following Ignore, for this exercise, both women's professions, wealth, and celebrity status--just assume it does not exist Lupita is terrible in bed. Worse, she doesn't even like sex Lupita is dumb as a door nail, you are embarrassed to bring her around friends and family. She is frustrating to talk to because she grasps so little. Leslie is brilliant, a tremendous conversationalist, others seek her council, and she is always coming up with great ways to make money Leslie is far an away the best lover you ever had, each time is better than the last Now tell me Brother who would you prefer to marry? Also, in this scenario, would you consider Leslie a beautiful person?

Well Harry I found the video, and of course I can see why it is so popular on Facebook. I could not watch the whole thing. It profoundly sad on more levels that I care to comment on. Despite that I think the mother is trying to be a good parent. She would not be the first person I've observed publicly shame their child on Facebook. I'm surprised when otherwise sophisticated parents do this sort of thing. In my mind they make themselves look far worse than they make the child look.

If you really want to be depressed. We don't even benefit from the shaky economy you described. The technology is developed largely by foreigners. The best and the brightest from around the world come to the US and get great jobs. Foreigners dominate our PhD programs in the stem fields. Americans--and definitely Black people--are stuck out in the cold. One reason is that our education system is too shitty to produce people with the ability to actually enter these high tech fields. Black folks run around talking about having the "power" we have on Twitter because we dominate the sharing of nonsense, meanwhile we are too dumb to even work for Twitter and collect a paycheck! So when folks from India and China, get a clue and go back to their countries the U.S. is screwed. Trump wants to close the borders, he better consider what that means because we will don't have the intellectual capital to run the country let alone develop technology. We've too busy playing Pokemon Go. Oh, it is too early to get me started this morning

Yeah if the valuation drops and the stock price tanks--it is a wrap for the companies. But all the major players, have already extracted an incredible amount of wealth, they and their descendants are set for life--even if the companies go bankrupt tomorrow. Everything from here on out is gravy. I have not researched these companies, but they probably own tons of real estate, physical assets, boatloads of cash, and no debt. Plus they have all of our data. The amount of information they have on us is mind blowing; it may be their most valuable asset. I would not say they have zero value.

"... their real power is in building up platforms that aren't a part of the machine." True dat. You know I have a good buddy who I have conversations with like this every so often. During the last conversation he said, "If I agreed with you I'd be out of a job." He is a social media manager for a not-for-profit.