Troy

With more than two million books in print, the Founders of Brown Girls Books created Writer’s Pro Workshops — a series of digital workshops to encourage, motivate, inspire, and teach aspiring, new, and veteran authors. With nearly 20 years in the literary industry, Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley each bring a wealth of experience to these workshops. Both maintain a commitment to the craft of writing and remain viable forces in the publishing industry. ReShonda Tate Billingsley is the national bestselling author of more than 35 books, including Let the Church Say Amen, which was made into a movie and premiered on BET in August, 2015. The movie was directed by Regina King and produced by Queen Latifah. Two more of her books will appear as movies on TV One in 2016. ReShonda won the NAACP Image Award in 2012 for her novel, Say Amen Again. She was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her novel, The Secret She Kept. An accomplished television and newspaper journalist, ReShonda has won numerous literary awards since self-publishing her debut novel in 2000, and her books remain staples on various Bestseller’s lists. The mother of three and proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. has also been inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. The author of both adult and teen novels, her latest novel, Mama’s Boy, was released in July 2015. With an MBA from New York University, Victoria Christopher Murray is an entrepreneur-turned-author and one of the country’s top African-American contemporary novelists. Victoria has more than two dozen titles, is a three- time NAACP Image Award nominee, the recipient of the Phyllis Wheatley Award and nine African American Literary Awards. Victoria’s wildly popular novel, The Deal, The Dance, The Devil is currently being made into a movie. She is a much sought-after ghost writer, editor, and she has conducted numerous writing workshops. Her newest novel, Stand Your Ground, was released in June 2015. Victoria is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

I did not watch the debates because, issues are never discussed. Debates are a festival of who can get the best sound bite in, they are broadcast to drive ratings (generate revenue) through entertainment. No one truly comes away informed about a candidate's ability to govern, just who is the most glib and entertaining. The polls are just as useless. What good it is to query an uninformed, non-voting public about how they feel ('cause they don't know) about a candidate's position. Besides, what difference does it make what the public thinks? Politicians do what the ultra rich and corporations say do. People have zero impact on what politicians do, nor do labor unions. Fact checkers don't matter. People are moved by their emotions, not facts. Donald Trump has been lying his ass off on things that are easily verified, but none of it matters, because he is going to get rid of 11 million Mexicans, and build a "beautiful" wall that the Mexicans will pay for. For some reason I don't think my grandchildren will care if I saw the Pope. Indeed, if they knew I waited on the street overnight to catch a glimpse of him, I'd hope they'd think I was stupid, or perhaps a product of my time. I've come to the conclusion the it really does not matter who wins the office of the president, because whoever is in office will do what the plutocrats say. Until this changes, and I see nothing to indicate that it will, we are going to see the rich continue to get richer and the poor get poorer. I was naive enough to think Obama would make a difference. I was dumb enough to think Occupy was the beginning of actual positive change. The Million Man March is next Saturday and you barely hear anything about it. Not that it matters because not only did things not improve for Black men, in the 20 years since the first march, they got worse. The twitter account for the MMM has less that 2,800 followers (The Nation being on Twitter seems oxymoronic to me anyway). So I'm sure you'll understand why I'm under no illusions that the Pope's presence here will not amount to a hill or beans.

Well, what, other than the fund raising, have they done since the announcement?

In Black Hollywood Unchained, Ishmael Reed gathers an impressive group of scholars, critics, intellectuals, and artist to examine and respond to the contemporary portrayals of Blacks in films. Using the 2012 release of the film Django Unchained as the focal point of much of the discussion, these essays and reviews provide a critical perspective on the challenges facing filmmakers and actors when confronted with issues on race and the historical portrayal of African American characters. Reed also addresses the black community’s perceptiveness as discerning and responsible consumers of film, theatre, art, and music. Twenty-eight contributors including this book’s editor, Ishmael Reed, offer insightful, informed and provocative points of view on the ever changing, yet unchanged, landscape of Hollywood and film production in America. While the 2012 release of Django Unchained was the film that generated nation-wide conversations and many of the essays in this collection, this book intentionally extends that dialogue about race, history, entertainment and the image of Blacks on the screen to include an examination of the culture of contemporary films and television. Black Hollywood Unchained is critical of the roles of actor, film-maker and viewer as it asks questions that redirect our thinking about the multi-billion dollar industry we call “the movies.” Contributors J. Douglas Allen-Taylor, Houston A. Baker Jr., Amiri Baraka, Playthell G. Benjamin, Herb Boyd, Cecil Brown, Ruth Elizabeth Burks, Art T. Burton, Stanley Crouch, Justin Desmangles, Lawrence DiStasi, Jack Foley, David Henderson, Geary Hobson, Joyce A. Joyce, Haki R. Madhubuti, C. Liegh McInnis, Tony Medina, Alejandro Murguía, Jill Nelson, Halifu Osumare, Heather D. Russell, Hariette Surovell, Kathryn Waddell Takara, Jerry W. Ward Jr., Marvin X, Al Young

Chris did you notice how long ago the rebranding took place? Somehow I missed that. Two of the films are on Netflix. Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Nailah Jefferson's Vanishing Pearls chronicles the untold story of personal and professional devastation in Pointe à la Hache, a close-knit fishing village on the Gulf coast, following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This 2014 Slamdance Film Festival Official Selection delves into the worst environmental disaster in American history just as news cameras leave the scene of the crime. While 49 million barrels of oil settle in the once vibrant coastal waters, a generations-old community of black fishermen pledge to fight for justice, accountability and their way of life. Mississippi Damned is based on a true story, a family in rural Mississippi faces tragedy and triumph against the cycles of abuse, addiction and violence that haunt them all. Starring Tessa Thompson (Dear White People), this searing drama from writer/director Tina Mabry chronicles each family member's struggle to escape their circumstances and decide whether to confront or succumb to a crippling fate.

Fournoy's novel, The Turner House is a Power List Bestselling Book

Congratulations to this year's 5 Under 35 Honorees! The National Book Foundation is proud to announce its 2015 5 Under 35 Honorees: Colin Barrett, Angela Flournoy, Megan Kruse, Tracy O'Neill, and Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi. Supported by a generous grant from Amazon Literary Partnerships, for the past ten years the 5 Under 35 program has recognized five promising young writers annually, each poised to make a tremendous impact on the literary landscape. Discover these five remarkable writers. LeVar Burton to host the 2015 5 Under 35 Ceremony The host of this year's 5 Under 35 ceremony is LeVar Burton, Curator-in-Chief & Host of Reading Rainbow. The Foundation is grateful to work with Burton, recognizing him as devoted activist for reading and literature. The ceremony will be held in Brooklyn on November 16 to kick-off National Book Awards week. Ben Greenman and Rosie Schaap will return as emcee and guest bartender respectively. Learn more about LeVar Burton here. BuzzFeed Books celebrates the 2015 5 Under 35 Honorees For the second year in a row, the National Book Foundation has partnered with BuzzFeed Books to announce the 5 Under 35 Honorees. And for the second year running, BuzzFeed has created trading cards to recognize these talented writers. Read their coverage here. Previous 5 Under 35 Honorees make this year's selections In recognition of the program’s 10 years of honoring promising young writers, we invited five writers previously chosen as 5 Under 35 Honorees to make this year’s selections. Find out more about this year's selectors.

Ta-Nehisi was just awarded a Genius Grant! The MacArthur Fellows Program awards (‘Genius Grant’) unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction. There is some serious paper attached to this award. I hope Dr. West does not blow a gasket. Photo Credit: Credit: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

My opinion on this subject is not as absolute as indicated by the title, but it is pretty close. I've been advocating for Black folks for a long time. While I'm not the Brother that you will see in the street carrying a sign; I make my contribution to the fight in my own way. Obviously, a lot of what I do has to do with books, education, and our presence on the web. Today I discovered that AFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement has rebranded itself as ARRAY. The differences in the mission are described below I was disappointed by the news, because whenever I see a change like this, usually, the Black part usually gets marginalized. If you include "people of color" and all women, you really are talking about the majority of the population. My unbridled support of AFFRM was due to the fact that Independent Black filmmakers need support--desperately. It seems to me that there is already a pretty rich history of film featuring and made by white women. I image a good reason to make this type of move is; that by including white women into the mix you now open yourself up to a much larger audience, which results in the ability to raise more money and gain greater exposure which would benefit the Black films more. Sometimes this is couched under the term "diversity." Again, the focus on Black issues are often marginalized when the term diversity is part of the mix. What does "diversity" mean? Diversity, depending upon who you ask, includes; women of all colors; all non heterosexuals (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, transgender, queer, etc); all so called "minorities" (Native Americans, Hispanics, Asians. Blacks, etc), poor people, non-Christians, "mixed race" people, the handicapped, etc. you see the point. Diversity is such a loose term it could include everyone and therein lies the problem. If a wealthy white men, who happen to be gay, and all white women can fit under the "diversity" umbrella, what really is the point? I've seen many corporations and schools that claim to be diverse, but you might not find a single African-American male. In fact, mainstream publishing is one of those "diverse" environments where heterosexual African-American males are virtually absent. This absence can be seen in revenue generating positions in Wall Street firms, and even in the student body of our nation's top universities. Well I'll probably still support ARRAY's efforts, at least as they work to support the indie Black films.

You have a point Cynique; it is impossible to fight against an inherently racist system, when you are an outsized beneficiary of that very same system. I guess the "reconciliation" can be seen by how Ta-Nehisi uses his prestige, wealth and influence to benefit the rest of us.

He Named Me Malala Film Review by Kam Williams Rating: PG-13 (for thematic elements involving disturbing images and threats) Genre: Documentary Directed and Written by: Davis Guggenheim In Theaters: Oct 2, 2015 Limited Runtime: 2 hr. Malala Yousafzai was named after a girl who spoke out and was killed for speaking out. That folk hero was a flag-bearing teenager who perished in 1880 while rallying fellow Pashtun resistance fighters to an unlikely victory over British invaders in a pivotal battle of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. After settling on the very meaningful moniker, Malala's father inscribed it into his genealogy because no females were mentioned in his family tree stretching back several centuries. Furthermore, Ziauddin Yousafzai resolved to raise his daughter to see herself as the equal of any boy. While such an approach might be unremarkable in the West, it was downright heretical in the Swat District of Pakistan, a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism in the late 20th Century. For, over the course of Malala's formative years, much of the country was being terrorized by the Taliban which had taken to blowing up any schools which had the temerity to admit girls. In defiance of their militant mullah's absolute mandate against any female education, Mr. Yousafzai not only allowed his daughter to matriculate, but even spurred her to speak out online as an equal rights advocate blogger. This only served to infuriate Mullah Fazlullah who issued a fatwa against her over the radio, which led to an assassination attempt on a school bus by one of his followers. Malala, who was just 15 at the time, was lucky to survive the bullet to the brain. While she languished in the hospital unresponsive and attached to tubes, her worried folks had no idea whether their daughter would ever even be able to walk or talk again. She did eventually emerge from the coma, though deaf in one ear and in need of months and months of rehabilitation just to master simple bodily functions most people take for granted. Initially, she blamed her dad for her plight, since he was the one who'd cultivated her activist streak. "I am a child," she said, "You are my father. You should have stopped me. What happened to me is because of you." But eventually her health was substantially restored, and she became a stoic and serene symbol of resistance to radical Islam. With continued death threats hanging over their heads, the Yousafzai family (including Malalal's mom and two younger brothers) was forced to resettle in England where she would become a champion of oppressed females all over the planet. Directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim.(for An Inconvenient Truth), He Named Me Malala is an emotionally-engaging biopic chronicling the close father-daughter relationship which enabled Malala to flourish in the midst of sheer intolerance. Their tender interplay is intermittently enhanced by animated interludes which further intensifies the sincere sentiment displayed on screen. The picture makes an inexorable march to Malala's emergence as an international icon, culminating in her becoming the youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Pack the Kleenex for this powerful portrait ably illustrating the indomitability of the human spirit. Easily, the best film of 2015 thus far!

Anytime data is involved, people will game the system. I remember at least two different editors from "big 5" publishing houses saying that they consider how many Twitter followers someone when deciding whether they will publish them. One even mentioned a threshold, saying they look for 10k followers minimum. I thought that was the silliest criteria for determining whether an author would get published that I ever heard. They reasoned that having 10K followers means you have a platform. I always thought this was just another hoop they made Black authors jump through. In fact, I wrote an article saying writers don't need Twitter, based on the simple premise that the highest paid authors were not on the platform, and those that were, were not very active--like most people on Twitter. At the time, I knew authors who were buying followers. The idea that companies are buying traffic is bad enough, but the fact they are so easily getting away with it is worse. Worse because you can determine when it is happening. At the end of the day robot traffic never buys anything. Facebook was shown to be delivering fake likes for its advertisers. Again, fake likes never convert into customers, so abysmal conversion rates are a dead giveaway. Or would be if advertisers did not assume that they were doing something wrong and double down on their advertising spend. I have never done anything to artificially hype AALBC.com's traffic. Maybe that is my problem--just kidding, sort of...

We’ve Just Added an Additional Category to Our Popular Best Sellers List—Children’s Books! Over the years, there has always been a great deal of demand for more information about children’s books, and we are very pleased and excited to share it with you. We also plan to provide additional articles and information related to children’s literature. (read more).

JOURNALIST ROLAND MARTIN, MODEL BEVERLY JOHNSON AND NY TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR LALITA TADEMY HEADLINE 2015 NATIONAL BLACK BOOK FESTIVAL HOUSTON, TX -- Journalist Roland Martin, nationally-renowned model Beverly Johnson and New York Times best-selling author Lalita Tademy will headline the 2015 National Black Book Festival (NBBF), held Oct. 22-24, 2015 at Fallbrook Church (Gymnasium), 12512 Walters Rd., in Houston, TX. Martin is author of three books and anchors the daily TVOne program, NewsOneNow. Johnson is an American model, actress and businesswoman, and she released her memoir, The Face That Changed It All, at the end of August. Tademy is the New York Times best-selling author of three historical novels, including Cane River, which was an Oprah Book Pick in 2001. Other featured authors for 2015 NBBF include: · ReShonda Tate Billingsley - Author of 30+ Christian fiction novels and teen novels, whose book, Let the Church Say Amen, has been adopted for a BET feature film and aired earlier this month · Victoria Christopher Murray - Author of 20+ Christian fiction novels and teen novels · K'Wan - Author of 12+ works of urban fiction, including Animal, Animal II, Animal III and the soon-to-be-released Animal IV · Mary Monroe - Author of 12+ works of contemporary fiction, including the "God Don't Like Ugly" series · Dwayne Alexander Smith, author of best-selling novel Forty Acres, and winner of the 2015 NAACP Image Award for Best Debut Author The National Black Book Festival is sponsored by a Houston-based company, Cushcity.com, an online retail and marketing firm. General admission is FREE to the public and includes all author exhibits, featured author sessions, workshops/seminars and entertainment. Special events (reception, breakfast and/or lunch) where food is served require a ticket purchase. For more information, visit the Festival web site: www.nationalblackbookfestival.com or call the National Black Book Festival headquarters at 1-800-340-5454.

Pulitzer Prize-winning, Harvard professor Annette Gordon-Reed reviews Wil Haygood’s new book, Showdown, on Thurgood Marshall and racial segregation, in The Washington Post Book World. Gordon-Reed details Haygood’s cast of characters whom Marshall encountered while being confirmed before the Senate as the first African American Supreme Court justice. Gordon-Reed writes: On Southern senators What a cast of characters! There was the chairman of the committee, James Eastland of Mississippi, who had a plantation and whose father had allegedly lynched a black man. In a conversation with the new Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Eastland mused aloud that “you Kennedys always care about the Negras” (usually spelled Nigras). Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was also “lying in wait” for Marshall, hoping to trip him up while, unbeknownst to everyone but some in his home state, supporting his own half-black daughter. Sam Ervin of North Carolina--the self-described “country lawyer” from Harvard Law School, who would later gain fame during the Watergate hearings for his waggling eyebrows and down-home demeanor--was also part of the group of long-serving Southern senators whom Edward Kennedy referred to as the “reliable old bulls.” They, he said, “controlled Judiciary as a sort of fiefdom.” On President Lyndon B. Johnson There were larger-than-life characters on the other side, too, not the least of whom was Marshall himself, with his great sense of fun and the fearlessness with which he pursued his goal of ridding the country of racial discrimination. The man who appointed him to the court, Lyndon B. Johnson, thought he recognized a kindred spirit. He said to Marshall, “I’m nominating you because you’re a lot like me: bigger than life, and we come from the same kind of people.“ Read the entire review in The Washington Post

I read only paper books now, so this really comes as no surprise to me. On my most recent bestsellers list, only 2 of the 30 books where electronic, and both of those ebooks were only available in eBook format. However, if you look at all books sales, eBooks outnumbered physical books sales 53% to 47%. Most of the ebooks sales were inexpensive downloads--which has really decimated my revenue from commissions on book sales--but that is another story. While book bootlegging does take place the impact has not been the same as it has been for video and music. People who buy hardcover books don't buy them on the Black market; they buy them through normal channels. Mass Market and regular paperback books are not worth the time, energy and punishment--it is just easier to bootleg DVDs you have a larger customer base and they are cheaper to copy. While the New York Times article makes no mention of this, Black booksellers, online and off, have been smashed to smithereens. Of course the New York Times, who writes for white readers will not report on this segment of the business, so it is largely unknown to the general public. I guess the Black book ecosystem will rebound, but, as usual, we will lag our white counterparts by years.

The Plot Twist: E-Book Sales Slip, and Print Is Far From Dead By ALEXANDRA ALTERSEPT. 22, 2015 Now, there are signs that some e-book adopters are returning to print, or becoming hybrid readers, who juggle devices and paper. E-book sales fell by 10 percent in the first five months of this year, according to the Association of American Publishers, which collects data from nearly 1,200 publishers. Digital books accounted last year for around 20 percent of the market, roughly the same as they did a few years ago.

The #1 Power List Bestselling Author, AALBC.com Bestselling Author, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author, National Book Award Winning Author (my prediction), and heir apparent to Jimmy Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates will write the new Black Panther comic for Marvel! So says the New York Times. Coates has "the juice" right about now. Black Panther No. 1 (coming 2016)

You know Cynique, now that you mention, it Hitler rose into power for the same reason.

Here del you can easily check the last time someone posted by visiting their profile. Here is a link to Cynique's profile. Yeah I see that she has not posted in a week. You can also check for her on Facebook she is active there too, but I don't follow her (anyone really) there. I'm sure Cynique will pop up again when the spirit moves her.

Celebrate the Longlists for the 2015 National Book Awards!The National Book Foundation released their Longlists for the 2015 National Book Awards this week. The 40 titles in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature represent a diverse body of exemplary literature, selected by their panel of judges. AALBC.com will of course highlight the books written by African American Authors. Ta-Nehisi's, Between the World and Me, will win. I've never failed to predict a National Book Award winning title.

Welcome to Death Row: The Uncensored History of the Rise & Fall of Death Row Records

I don't know enough about Aussie politics to have an opinion (remember I'm in America where Trump is the most important Political topic and nothing beyond out shores is significant), but if you are impressed I'm impressed too. Was the guy put out before his term? Is that unprecedented? Were there no clues, or scandals indicating that this might be a potential outcome?

Hi TMP. I'm don't know what you mean by "African American Publishing Directories." Would you describe what they are?

I'm looking forward to November :-) The website redesign is progressing, I'm also securing more content, but the larger question remains will it make a difference? Actually that should have been the question I should have asked back in February.