Troy

Yes there are indeed a great many Black folks on TV now. Interestingly I don't watch any of the programming. I may try Queen Sugar, based upon Natalie Brazille's novel, I hear that show is good. I don't know how many more white people now see us as human as a result of more Black folks being portrayed on the small screen. But I'm sure it is more than if would be otherwise. I think Black people are in a better place than we would be otherwise.

@Cynique, sorry, when I was referring to media I meant the news media. Obviously, people are free to talk about anything they want to social media. This discussion forum is a form of social media. It is impossible for journalism to be done for free, but the current model is not serving the population very well. Indeed it is the model that put 45 in office. I'm all for taking a few billion from the defense budget and using it to fund a news agency to free it from commercial influence.

That is interesting Cynique. I think you are a product of your time. How do you feel about a white Jesus? I'm old enough to remember all white TV and I remember being excited when Black people were finally depicted on the screen. It makes a difference to see yourself reflected in movies and to have stories that speak to your experience. More importantly it is important for others to see our experiences as well and not just a ghetto dwellers or big booty vixens in music videos. Perhaps if white folks saw us in films with universal stories that resonated with them, they would not be marching in Charlottesville. You see we are presented with broad diversity of they humanity everyday, but they are not presented with ours Most of the Blaxploitation films were filmed in my neighborhood so they were really exciting. When I watch a film like Shaft I marvel over how much Harlem has changed.

I pulled these images from a blog post of the same name, “My fellow white Americans.” The article is worth reading. These images are described as being from the Charlottesville, Virginia white racist rally (or whatever it was called). I was struck by the imagery. It actually saddens me. I feel like I really should be angry or even afraid. Both emotions seem to be more appropriate reactions. Perhaps if I were there I would have felt that way. But seeing other Americans behave this way just make me sad for both the protestors and this nation. If white American men, the prime beneficiaries of every benefit America has ever doled out, are so angry, one can only be amazed that every Black person in America has not gone completely insane. Our collective ability, as Black people, to hold it together, on any level, in this nation, for so long, is truly a remarkable feat. Any white person who believes another Black person is the cause of any problem they might have and who is so motivated by such a belief, as to participate in such a rally is unimaginably misinformed. I'm sure there is nothing that could be said or done to convince them otherwise...

Mel you may actually know the software as well as I do. Much of what I know is HMTL, which is not specific to the feature of the blogging feature of the software. I'm sure @richardmurray, knows the software better than I, as he uses it more. It would take me some time to create the tutorial video, one because they take time, and two I'd actually have to get up to speed on the software and I don't know when I'll be able to do that. What I really need to do is check the vendor's website to see what documentation they have and direct people there. Here is a link to a description of the blogging software: https://invisioncommunity.com/features/apps#blogs

Between Nukes from North Korea, the rise of the Klan, the NFL's boycott of Colin Kaepernick, and 45 in the whitehouse. The media must be beside themselves with glee. So much sensational news to "report" on, so much money to be made... It really would be interesting to know how much Twitter stock 45 owns.

The fact of the matter Pioneer is that no scientist, Black or white, has proven that apes came from men. In fact all the evidence points to the scenario Cynique described. As Xeon, wrote simply saying something, or believing it to be true, does not make it true--but you know that. Where did you get the idea that apes evolved from man anyway?

Xeon another reason I complain about the lack of Black influence in Hollywood also has to do with the revenue. Not only do we not get to tell our own stories we don't profit from them either. This is, and always has been, untrue. In fact, Black people have been spending the better part of the past century correcting the racist nonsense produced by so called white "scholars" about Black people. For example, I'm reading a book, written.by Drusilla Dunjee Houston, called the Wonderful Ethiopians of the Ancient Cushite Empire. This book was first published 90 years ago and is incredibly significant because it help Black people understand, indeed prove that Black people had an advanced culture long before Europeans emerged from caves (that is not a hyperbolic statement). She is writing about a subject that I was completely unaware of because it was simply not taught the the schools I attended. Leaving Black people out of history is a crime in progress. There are a great number of Black folks telling our stories. One problem we face however is the fact that much of this information is crowded out by all of the nonsense that is pushed into our face by corporations solely interested it our money. Of course a Nicki Minaj video will be appeal to more people than a Drusilla Dunjee Houston book, so this is what we get. Over time people begin to believe that all we are Minajs rather than Houstons. Of course white folks do engage true scholarly research as if pertains to Black people, but this is a relative recent thing.

Men don't have to go this this at all. There are plenty of unattractive Black men with successful careers, because they are talented. Forrest Whitaker, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Rock, etc, etc. I think the video advances the objectification of women, which does not really serve us very well. But that is in my opinion and I'm sure people will disagree. The conversation that has emerged here, and arguably the video itself reveals the sexism inherent in our culture. I agree women do have to look much more attractive than men performing the same task. Women who fall short get a lot of grief where men don't.

Del yes I did give up and said so explicitly. I never would have figured this out. As far as the thought you've expressed, it is an interesting one, but impossible to prove.with today's technology. If thoughts do exist, I wish more people would pick up and execute some better ones.

Talks of boycotting the NFL existed long before anyone knew who Kaepernick was. You all give him entirely too much credit. Players have striked owners have locked them out. The strife between owners and players is an on going beef. So what are we fighting for now? For some team to give him a job? I thought we were fighting for better treatment of Black people everywhere. The media has made this about Colin, and so have we...unfortunately. Don't get me wrong. I'm not blaming anyone for trying, but at the same time nono one is above critique--not Obama, not Farrakhan, not Dr.King, no man is perfect or above critique. Somehow we have turned Colin's knee bending into something sacrosanct--it is not. I'll let you in on a secret, as long as we continue gave the NFL our money nothing of consequence will change. Colin's kneeling will not lead to a boycott. Shoot Colin does not even have a say if he can even play or not... puhlese. Kaepernic can only "protest" at the NFL's whim, because they are calling the shots.

I hope you are right. Will he be thrown, or forced out of office in the next 18 months?

Xeon, in terms of the relative merits of the film I agree a white person can do a fine job. Bigelow is a big name so I'm sure that was a factor. But it does make a difference to me because Black people have been largely cut out of the creative process in the motion picture industry--even when it comes to telling our own stories. I seem to remember Don Cheadle complaining that there was not a single Black person, in Hollywood, that could greenlight a film. I don't know if that has changed, but it shows if you look at the films being made and who is making them.

It makes little difference whether Kaepernick plays in the NFL or not; for it will make no difference in the way the NFL treats players. Again, there were many other players who took knees, raised fists, and engaged in other forms of "protest" during the National anthem. Some were given media attention others were not. Indeed if the broadcasted did not show kaepernick's taking a knee and spend so much time talking about it his "protest" his would be a nonissue. You see, if our protest is a function of the media's (even social media) coverage, then it is doomed to failure. His protest is a direct function of the media coverage. However, if every Black people simply stopped tuning into games the NFL's games, the NFL would feel the pain--whether the media covered it or not. That is true power.

Troy, can we count on you to stand up for our friends and family in Missouri? The NAACP last week issued a travel advisory for the state of Missouri calling for all African-American travelers, visitors, and locals to exercise extreme caution given the recent series of concerning, race-based incidents throughout the “Show Me State.” Black Missourians need your uncompromising support to fight back against assaults on their civil rights and civil liberties. Help show me a state where African Americans are no more likely to be stopped and searched by police than their white counterparts. Show me a state where African Americans are free to travel any road they wish without fear for their safety. Show me a state without Jim Crow-style legislation preventing individuals from protecting themselves from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Show me a state where freedom and justice are common to all. Donate $5 Donate $10 Donate $50 Or any amount of your choice. Thank you for your support, Derrick NAACP Interim President and CEO P.S. Your contributions to the NAACP are 100% tax-deductible. Donate now. © 2017 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Find Your Local Unit | Unsubscribe Are you all getting these emails, or seeing this stuff on social media?

The focus seemed to be on the flaws in how others perceive us. I wanted to raise the issue of how how flawed our self perceptions can be. I think I could make a string argument that others perceive us more accurately than we perceived ourselves. Shoot, Facebook's software knows people better than they know themselves. But of course I may have misunderstood what you said and stand corrected. (1) You can use embed code as you have done above. You may also use standard HTML markup code to insert audio directly, as shown below <div id="audio" class="audioplayer" style="padding:10px;margin:10px;border-style:solid;border-width:1px;border-radius:5px;"><p>Listen to an Interview of Troy Johnson Interviewed by <a href="https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Lee+E.+Meadows">Lee E. Meadows</a> on Detroit’s WPON’s “Book Beat” February 4, 1999</p> <audio controls> <source src="https://aalbc.com/audio/troy.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"> Your browser does not support the audio element. </audio> </div> As demonstrated below: Listen to an Interview of Troy Johnson Interviewed by Lee E. Meadows on Detroit’s WPON’s “Book Beat” February 4, 1999 Your browser does not support the audio element. So while this is possible the issue is where will you host your audio file? As you can see from the code above. My audio file is located here: https://aalbc.com/audio/troy.mp3 If you have a place to store the audio file (your website, maybe google drive, etc) you can use the code I provided above to insert your audio. Maybe google drive (2) Promote Feature: is actually pretty powerful. It allows you to promote a post here across multiple social media platforms. It is better than most social sharing options in that you can customize the posting across that different platforms (3) Probably but I'm have to research this. (4) Cool. There are many features of this discussion forum software that I'm not familiar with. A couple of weeks ago I applied a major upgrade that improved the software and added new features including the concept of clubs, which are analogous to groups on Facebook. The developers of the software appear to be implementing many of the popular features available on social media (without the invasion of privacy)

Hey @Cynique, I pulled this image from your website: I'll probably replace or add this book club's photo here on the site with the image below. Can you tell me the month and the year this club read your book? I'll update the site to reflect your book being on their list. Thanks.

The college football especially the largest Division programs are perhaps one of the most exploitative institution of Black men. The majority of the student athletes don't get degrees and the one who do earn them don't learn very much. Obviously the majority do not enter the professional ranks, never able to financially benefit from the efforts, like everyone else. The student athletes should absolutely be paid for the the entertainment they provide commensurate with any any revenue earned from ticket sales, broadcast licensing, and products sold. The universities are providing the NFL's minor league and the rest of the student body is subsidizing this with exorbitant tuition and fees. The NFL owners are gangster who are robbing the public blind and we are their happy victims.

@Xeon, you can blame Del for the gross diversion. @Pioneer1, are are different forms of intelligence. Determining one's "overall intelligence," is often limited to how well people perform on standardized tests, or advance in school which marginalizes people--especially smart Black people--who don't have college degrees. Often obtaining a college degree is more a function of opportunity, resources, who your parents are, where you live, one's performance on a high stakes test that measures one form of intelligence (test taking). It is not a function of one's overall intelligence. But we all know this--otherwise there would be more Black men getting college degrees. Some people are smart in terms of interpersonal skills, mathematical skills, language skills, physical skills, and so forth.

OK I'm clearly missing something. Is this the original koan below? Thoughts do exists just follow the peebles. I still don't get it. How do the apples or Principal some in? Pioneer must be smarter on this form of intelligence.

Interesting. I think a person's belief of who THEY think they are can different from reality as well. People can fail to live up to their own self perception. We will know people like this and they typically have unlikable personalities.

Cynique, TV viewership is actually a very big deal. A big stadium can hold 100,000 fans, the TV audience can be 2, 3 orders of magnitude larger. The Super Bowl garners an audience of over 100 million --That is more than 5 times more all of the people who attend all of the NFL games in an entire year (including preseason)! Most football fans have never attended a game--who can afford it. In fact, the NFL does not need to sell tickets from a revenue perspective. But they charge exorbitant prices because they are just very, very greedy! Were it not for local municipalities giving away our money to pay for arenas and cable systems charging higher our rates to everyone to subsidize the NFL broadcasts, the game would not be nearly as lucrative as it is. The real revenue come from TV which is a function of viewership. If a significant portion of the audience (i.e every Black person) stops watching there will be a material impact on the owner's bottom line. But we don't understand this and are unable to use a very simple tactic and effective tactic. We could start now during the preseason and simply stop watching pro football. Yeah Spike ain't about to get involved unless there is some money to be made. I ain't hatin' on the Brother, but we should recognize what he is before anyone confuses him with being an activist.

“Uninformed men make unsafe leaders. that is the primal cause for so many errors of judgment in state and national councils. We look upon them not as statesmen but as promoters of petty politics, for out of their deliberations spring no alleviation of the woes of the world. It is from this lack of understanding in leadership that the world suffers most today. We could discriminate between the true and false in our civilization, if we knew more about primitive culture. The way by which the first man climbed must ever be the human way. Racial prejudices are the greatest menace to world progress. Classes clash because the wealth of the world concentrates more and more in the hands of a few.” —Drusilla Dunjee Houston (Read the full excerpt, better yet buy or borrow the book and read the whole thing) Man, we have been singing this song for a long time! Houston's book, was originally published in 1926! However she helps identify and address the causes. I'm going to promote this book for an extended period, because the information is sorely needed. If you agree please read the book and share the information. This is not about selling books to make money—it's about sharing knowledge (You know that really should be obviously to anyone with a passing familiarity with the site; if this site was just about making money, it would have ended years ago).

We'll see what happens. Amiri Baraka once called Spike Lee an "opportunist." Amiri was an activist. Spike is another story...