Troy

@Cynique I would be willing to bet that there have been, over the decades, numerous individuals who failed to salute the flag, but they they did not garner so much media attention because there was no 24/7 news cycle and no social media. Again, Colin's story is only "relevant" because of the media's reaction. No one would have wasted a camera to isolate what individual players were doing during the national anthem 30 years ago. His action would have gone unnoticed. All the man has done is drop to a knee, for Christ's sake! It is not like he risked prison by refusing to serve in Vietnam like Ali. It is not he marched across the Edmond Pettus Bridge while racist cops were beating him senseless. Let keep things in perspective. Now that 45 has chimed in and everyone has taken a sides. What will come of this? Does anyone, for a split second, think racism will actually end? Does anything think that racists will question their own motives and see things differently? What is the goal of all this attention to the various knee-bending, arm-joining, activity going on in the NFL? Again, I think the whole knee bending is much ado abut nothing, simply because it will not improve race relations. It appears it is not even enough to get Colin his job back, but even if he did, nothing would change. In a pre 24/7 news cycle/social media era Colin would still have a job. Meanwhile the activists, attorneys, legislators, educators, ministers and their organizations, who actually do the work of making change could be getting the actual work done. But today some guy taking a knew gets all the attention, our organizations grow weaker and nothing changes... I'm reading,Ta-Nehisi Coates' new book, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy. In it he draws an analogy between the aftermath of Obama's presidency and and the end of reconstruction. It is an interesting parallel we saw rise of the Klan and Black people had every benefit provided during reconstruction ripped away for another century. Poor and middle class, under-educated, white people are angry. Their social media filter-bubble-fueled bigotry is reinforced and they can't see Colin's actions as anything but overt hate of American and a threat to everything America represents.

@TSegal Adsense is a tough. You need a boat load of traffic to make any money with it. Since Google controls traffic they control your revenue. This is why I spend so much time trying to get webmasters to support each other. Thanks for the link!

@Cynique, very well put and I'm sure you are right. I guess I simply do not care what 45 thinks or what football playesr do. It is of little consequence to me. I would like to see the players, who provide the bulk of the entertainment, own a percentage of the league proportional to their participation on the field, but no one seems to care very much about that even though it is a more important issue. I don't even care if they want to risk brain injury. They know the risks. Still I can't help but feel the media is fueling the flames of this. If I turn on the TV, open a paper, or post to social media--I have to see 45's stupid tweets. Other than dropping off the grid there is no escaping his nonsense. Rather than taking a sober look at Colin's motivation and having a sensible dialog, the entire media landscape is inundated with childish bickering that will lead us nowhere good. The are no voices of reason with a platform large enough to rise above the noise and reach anyone. A thoughtful examination of the issues are not profitable. Emotion fueled controversy is, so this is what we get. Social media has put this on steroids and are laughing all the way to the bank--completely insulated from any negative repercussions due to their great wealth.

Unfortunately since 45 is president I'm forced to hear with the ravings of a lunatic. Why does anyone pay attention to anything Trump writes on Twitter. Who cares what 45 thinks about what players do in the NFL? He has no power, no jurisdiction, what he says does not matter. I'm mean I know it sell papers and drives traffic but sheesh...

Of course I'm down @Delano. Just let me know what I need to do.

AALBC.com’s mission is to help promote and uplift independent websites created by, and for, people of African descent. To that end, I’ve been researching the “best” Black owned websites. Interestingly, many of the ones I through l were Black owned; The Root, Very Smart Brothas, etc; are not. I'm also seeing sites that, based upon publicly available data, have a lot less traffic than I thought. Sites in this category include, Awesomely Luvvie and Your Black World. As a result, I actually don't have very many sites that I'm working with to compile a best of list. Can you all take a look at my list and let me know if I’m missing any popular Black owned websites that get a lot of traffic. Here is my current list: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites The sites I considered for inclusion are listed here: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites/top_black_sites_list.php (almost 300 websites were checked) My criteria for inclusion are an Alexa rank of < 500K and SEMRush rank of < 100,000. I used these factors and others to compute an “AALBC Score.” Don't worry about determining if the site meets the traffic standard, just share any popular sites that you know of, not already on my list. I will continue to track these sites over time and if they eventually do meet the criteria, I've defined, they will be added to the Top Black-Owned Website list. I will also also adjust the criteria to keep the Top Black-Owned Website list relatively short, perhaps where the list is at now, 25. In fact, I will rename the page to The Top 25 Black-Owned Websites... lists do great in search and on social media. Currently the “AALBC Score” is computed based upon subjective criteria including MOZ, SEMRush, Alexa. None of these sources are perfect by themselves, but taken together they are very reflective of the strength of a site I plan to include a subjective measure in my calculus, which will hopefully raise sites with more substantive content over sites with content that is less so. Currently Worldstar Hip Hop is #1 on my list, because they are just killing all other Black owned sites based upon traffic. But Atlanta Black Star is #2 and has excellent content. Please feel free to share this request with others. AALBC.com, also researches and reports on, the top Black book website sites, Black owned bookstores, Black owned magazines, Black owned newspapers in the United States, and Top Black Owned Websites. Read why these sites matter.

I just added your site to my list of the Most Popular, Independent, Black-Owned Websites As an aside: @TSegal, do you find those google ads placed inside articles work for you? From an aesthetic perspective I hate them. I also hate the fact that Google pushes publishers so hard to place ads in this fashion I'm beginning to wonder if it is a ranking signal for their search results. At any rate, I'm interested in your thoughts. I've been experimenting with their text ads, I removed them in the new website design and my earning dropped. I put them back on the page. I definitely don't like the way they look, but if I can make some more money and visitors are not complaining why not. Perhaps that is your reasoning with the inline banner ads in your articles.

@Delano I find using the speech to text function works well when I post using my cell phone. Though it does sometime choose the wrong word, it is better than typing. Touché @Pioneer1 LOL! @Cynique, well I know women you can take a joke and others who can't. This is also true for men. As a guy coming up the way I did, if you could not take a joke, or took everything said to you seriously, you would never have made it... just as I wrote that I realized, in hindsight, that is probably our collective problem. We spent so much time demeaning each other it probably did have an adverse impact on our how we perceived ourselves and our potential for success... Del were you ever teased by any of the kids in your neighborhood for being smart, or going to that fancy school? I was called "brainiac." By the time I got to high school the last thing I wanted to be known for was being smart.

@Pioneer1, that is the purpose of the website; to provide a platform for authors to make readers aware of their books.

Though Mayweather and Strawberry are incredibly talented at their respective sports they are not, nor do they say they are geniuses. They do not represent most men. They are guys, like 45, who have actually had women throwing themselves at them for most of their adult lives. It is easy to understand why they might have less respect for women, than the average man, and get away with grabbing their pussies.

Pioneer Game of Thrones is an incredible production, with great writing and acting. Each episode it better than most movies. Sure it is a product of the culture which produced it. Any culture is capable of great art.

Maybe I'm just stoopid. I don't know what Del's excuse it It could be men are just dumber that women. Seriously, you can't possibly be deficient in technology. You'd run rings around most of the people I know anywhere near your age. If you think you are bad in math it is probably because you had crappy teachers when it mattered most. Nope, @Pioneer1, your problem is not syntax, just reasoning

Like white racism, I think the drivers are cultural, not inherent to the person or their gender. But keep in mind I'm not speaking in absolutes. I'm not saying there are no differences in thinking due to gender. I'm just saying there are certainly not as many as we think they are are. Most of these differences, I'm arguing, are defined in our culture; the way we are raised the media messages we are sent, etc. Not all cultures see the same differences between men and women that we do.

I'm not saying there are no gender differences, I'm just not sure the ones Cynique described are. Are you sure those influences are not based on culture? While I love me some fried chicken (I make it at least once a week), many white people love fried chicken too.

It took my site 6 years to recover. Many sites were just obliterated My site id the 2nd on the list

@Delano that is easy, because both men and women exhibit the characteristics Cynique describes. Now I know stereotypes might support the generalizations, but stereotypes don't reflect reality. If i may, I think you and I both defy cultural norms and stereotypes in a number of ways.

@NubianFellow, all you have to do, to embed a youtube video, is to post the link. It will automatically embed--unless you tell it not to. I'd like to see the video. As we speak, I'm researching the top Black owned websites. The subject is really worthy of a book. Here is a a video of a website I stumbled across in my research they are not Black owned, but their story follows a very similar trajectory as mine. We started at the same time. The only difference is they grew much bigger. Not only is there site https://www.naturallycurly.com/ killing AALBC.com, but they are killing most other Black owned sites. It was a well done video, but honestly it was hard for me to watch, I was actually envious of their success. Now I know more people care about hair than books, but sheesh... I agree with you on many accounts, but Black websites like mine struggle not only because Black people won't support it. In fact I'd argue the website is still alive because of Black people. There are plenty of readers, willing to support a Black owned site. But the competition from social media is fierce and Google is a very flawed.gatekeeper. Check out this graphic below; it is indicative of the traffic for several websites including my own. What it shows is the impact of the Google's "Panda" algorithm update in 2011. My website's traffic dropped 75% in a single day. It took me a full 6 years to recover what I lost. 2017 will be the highest level of traffic ever, but imagine if I were not needless penalized for what I argue is a terrible decision on Google's part. I hung around but MANY Black websites, already struggling, were utterly destroyed--most never knew what hit them. In desperation, many fled to social media to regain an audience. @Cynique, Google's goal is to get everyone on Earth addicted to their applications to make as much money as conceivably possible regardless of the damage they cause. I understand you don't see much cause for concern. most people don't. But if that video did not cause you to think about about how Facebook is adversely impact not you personally, but all of us, then I'm sure there's anything I can possibly say to make a stronger case.

@dashi365, I saw the screening back in January of 2010, when the film first came out, at the IFC Center in New York City's Greenwich Village. I like that theater because they often have the filmmaker and the actors discuss the film after the screening

@Del my bad, sorry. @Cynique, we may be on different wavelengths at times but that is not solely due to gender.

I posted the video below on my blog: How Facebook is Perverting Your Internet The video does a great job, but absent the outrage, which The New York Times can't express, I'm not sure how effective this video can be. Nobody really cares about some Nigerian selling a purse with the free data plan provided by Google. When Facebook is goose stepping down mainstreet, slaughtering anyone who speaks out against them, then we'll care. Then again we'll probably be on Facebook's side... Winter is coming...

Ha! I corrected the typo before I read your comment @Cynique, I usually reread what I wrote before reading a reply. The passage of time makes it easier for me to edit my own writing, but I see you understood what I meant... Why would you be surprised that I like Game of Thrones? The production, acting and story so far above anything else on TV. I could do without the gratuitous gay sex, but it is HBO and they cut it out completely this season. I really like the Tyrion character--what an actor, but I like all the character--even the ones I hate. I love science fiction movies much of it is not very good. I enjoyed the film Her, Ex Machina, I'll watch the Star Wars and Star Trek, but am usually disappointed, as they are made to please young boys. When I think about "winter is coming" I liken it to our society's senseless bickering when that are much more important things to worry about, that effect us all. Man made climate change is a perfect analogy; most would rather continue fighting each other than working to together to deal an impending doom. The same goes for indie websites, all fighting amongst yourselves while Amazon and Facebook are growing ever more powerful. Christians would argue the rapture draws nigh. Winter is coming indeed.

@Cynique, I understood your statement. Why do I to keep mansplaining that I understand that Bill was not influenced by the future misogyny in 1980s rap to beat his wife in the 1970s?! It looks like you simply did not understand what I wrote in reaction. Perhaps, as you suggest, I don't write well enough, or maybe it is a case "femstanding," the female way of understanding In the context of the whole sentence, are you saying that you had no idea which word I meant between, "reality" instead of "relativity"? Sometimes spell check corrects on the fly and if I don't see the red underline, I may miss an otherwise obvious typo. We already spoke about the difficulty of self-editing. Actually, I spend more time trying explain things to Pioneer and Del than I do you Cynique. Is still called "mansplaining" if it is one dude explaining talking to another? @Del, at the risk of mansplaining, Pioneer and I can be on the same side of an issue, but for different reasons. In most cases, many of the things we discuss here are naused and multifaceted; there are many sides to one can take. It seems however, that most people for the sake of simplicity, laziness, or perhaps human nature refuse the acknowledge that many issues are complicated and that there is no "right" or "wrong;" answer. It is very easy to lump all 45 supporters into the racist bucket, but if you that you'll never understand why many people actually support him. Similarly, if you group all women together into having brains that are more "fine-tuned and detailed" than men, you'll tend to view people with that prism and fail to completely understand them. For example, you can't run a massive website single handedly without paying attention to detail--it would get away from you and become unmanageable. Any programmer knows you simply can't write code without paying strict attention to the most minute details; a single character out of place can literally bring down an entire website. Obviously I wrote that to demonstrate that I'm fully capable of being detailed oriented. Do I have a female-like brain? It that is the case how would one explain the typos in my posts?

Hi @Linda Chavis, I don't see it as hate. I seems to me that whenever a Black person critiques another Black person the negative connotation of "hate" is applied. Essentially Monique is arguing that she, and other critically acclaimed Black female actresses are not paid on par with white actress and that other Black people help perpetuate this situation. One can take issue with Monique's use of language, but the essence of what she was saying is true. Linda do you (or anyone), disagree with Monique's assessment? I don't think Monique has the desire or skill to organize the creation of another actor's union.

@Cynique, I never thought you wrote that Bill was influenced by Rap, not did I write anything to imply. That does not make sense. I know you know Bill predates rap. In fact I even wrote that you were probably right I'm beginning to see that when one person (A) has a disagreement with more than one other person (B and C). The person A has difficulty distinguishing the options of B and C, and just lumps them all together. The reasons for the disagreement are not nearly as relevant as the disagreement itself. I'm not singling you out Cynique. Del does this with me an Pioneer, and I see this in the broader society as well. Yeah, all the other social media platforms are designed for handheld devices. Facebook is really the only one that is also designed for people using laptops or desktop computers. Consumers use held held devices predominantly. Only content creators bother with laptops or desktop devices and these folks are decreasing in numbers... @dashi365, I would encourage you to see the film. It is a very nice treatment of the man. Went I saw the film Bill Withers spoke after the showing. He came across as a great guy. I was just disappointed to learn that he beat his wife, and that the wife was not mentioned in the film. That part of his life was erased as if it never existed, which I felt made the film worse because I realized it was an incomplete depiction of Withers.

Is it my lack of consuming social media or have Black LIves Matter been quiet lately? I did read about the acquittal of the the police officer in this shooting and the subsequent protests. I love that metaphor, "winter is coming;" it so perfectly describes our current state. Of course it has no meaning to someone who has not watched the Game of Thrones Series, but if you have the phrase packs a punch. @Cynique did you read the George R.R. Martin's books? Was the phase used in them or is that something made up in the HBO series?