Troy

Oh OK. I just did a search on this site for info on the Seminole Wars, and the only results point back to the conversations we had here. I did a quick search on Amazon for books on the subject and they all a appear to be written by white men. When I get a chance I'll research a good book on the subject and add it to the website. It is too important an aspect of Black history not to have a book on the subject here on the site.

OK, Facebook got me today. Every time I log in to Facebook to reply to responses to my posts, I see photos posted from several years ago; from a time when I actively shared personal shots on the platform, appear at the top of my wall. The two images below were there this morning: Both shots were taken in a brownstone (a large townhouse, attached on both sides) I owned in Harlem for about 10 years. During that time I hosted a number of events. I held film screenings in my backyard, a reading series called the Brownstone Series, and for over a year I hosted a photography exhibit. The image on the left is me giving a tour of the photo exhibit of Black writers. The image on the right was taken about 7 years ago, but it could have been taken 15 years ago or today. My morning routine is largely unchanged; a cup of coffee, the newspaper, and me parked behind the screen of a computer. I've sacrificed the brownstone, a well-paying corporate gig, to be able to run AALBC.com full time, so I don't host events now. Money from a good paying job, hosting events, and a big home are nice too but these would be sufficient to motivate me to dedicate the time and energy needed to run an AALBC.com. For the past year, I've probably put in 60 hours a week or more to upgrading the website. I would never have done this for a corporation. While I've had some interesting corporate gigs over the years, I've never cared enough about any of them to put in the amount of energy I put into AALBC.com. I know part of my motivation is freedom. Since I've been running AALBC.com I have pretty much-done anything I wanted to do. In recent years this has meant some financial pressures. But what is the alternative? To get another 9 to 5? One could make a good argument that would be a great idea and that I'm spoiled. No one has ever said that to me; it is an internal battle. The culture judges folks not by what they do, but how much money they have. Over the course of running AALBC.com, I've met many brilliant people who were close to being impoverished. I know brilliance is not a function of the amount of money one has amassed, but being part of the corporate world for over two decades, this is a mentality that I've fought hard get rid of over the years. I also know how much one makes is definitely not a function of the relative value they provide. Indeed many, particularly in financial services, cause great damage while reaping tremendous personal wealth. Still, people are judged on wealth regardless of how it was acquired. More importantly, money is also a source of power, without it, you can't accomplish much. Money has to be a function of what I do, but again it is not the driver. I also know I'm motivated by doing something that is positive for Black folks. I know some Black folks like to say, "Black people are not a monolith." To me, that person is trying to communicate that they are not part of larger Black community, that they are somehow different, better perhaps. Meanwhile Black owned business disappear and the opportunities for poor Black to escape their situation go the same route. Black folks have to be a monolith if we are ever going to do something for not just ourselves, but the most impoverished amongst us. Hmmm... all I intended to do was post a couple of photos and keep it moving, but looking at them conjures up these thoughts and more. If you've read this far thanks for indulging me.

You are welcome Dee, and I'm glad you accepted my unprofessional opinion in the spirit that it was intended. You can a post that is quite feature rich, including videos. While there is a limit no the size, no one has ever exceeded it. If you create an account you can copy and paste from a formatted document, like MS Word, and most of the formatting will be preserved. Thanks for sharing.

Chris I would be very careful in confusing what we practice here in the United States with capitalism. What we have is an oligarchy; in which a handful of people control everything. This is not capitalism, nor is it democratic. Our friends at Google can put me out of business tomorrow. But worse there is NOTHING that any other Black person, or group of Black people, who would do to stop it. Of course this does not have to be the case, but we lack the desire to control our own destinies. So for now, I serve at the largess of Google. Also, and please consider this carefully, when you write, "... in small pockets their [sic] are extraordinary success stories and they are becoming more common." This is a myth. Yes there are some successes, but they exist to create the illusion that success is possible, which is necessary to keep the ponzi scheme going. It is worse than the myth of professional sports, where Black kids in schools across the nation believe they have a chance to become a professional football player. Sure there is a chance, but it extremely slim and even if they make it they'll last on average 2.5 years. The result is that so much talent that could have been used in other ways is wasted in pursuit of something that is unlikely. The kid who wasted their time pursuing football would have been better off doing something with their brain... The same goes for musicians it is fall less likely for a musician to make a good living today than it was in 1990. Again, there are successes we can all point to but the reality is that there are a great many very talented musician who will stuck struggling with the dream of making it. The same goes for webmasters of Black book websites. This is no different the lottery, sure someone will win, but the VAST majority of us will loose. It makes no financial sense for anyone to play the lottery given the odds. But again the marketing and promotion of it dupes us into believing that it makes perfect sense to play. Indeed I'm sure someone reading this is thinking what harm does the lottery cause--and that is my point. The amount of wealth the lottery extracts from poor communities is staggering! Nothing is returned to the community as a result--except for a pipe dream. We aren't even the ones who profit from the sales of lottery tickets in most cases! You know you are in a poor community when you go into a grocery store, run by someone not black, and the most prominent thing you see is a lottery machine and cigarettes. We are in a battle for the very minds of our people. Our biggest problem is we don't even recognize who our opponent is...

On October 10th, we in the Black community, celebrate Dr. Ivan Van Sertima. His master work, THEY CAME BEFORE COLUMBUS, is required reading in our community. It should be read by all Americans. Ivan Van Sertima builds a pyramid of evidence to support his claim of an African presence in the New World centuries before Columbus. Combining impressive scholarship with a novelist s gift for storytelling, Van Sertima re-creates some of the most powerful scenes of human history: the launching of the great ships of Mali in 1310 (two hundred master boats and two hundred supply boats), the sea expedition of the Mandingo king in 1311, and many others. In They Came Before Columbus, we see clearly the unmistakable face and handprint of black Africans in pre-Columbian America, and their overwhelming impact on the civilizations they encountered.

"Unrelenting" LOL! The other stuff seems pretty insightful, I don't know how accurate it is, but if it was right on the money, I would not be surprised at all. If Sara did write a book on the seminole wars, it defies logic that she never posted information about it here. It wasn't that Sara wanted to put a positive spin on all things Chicago, it had to be the positive spin her way. This is what made it literally impossible for me to dialog with her. Recall I wrote Chicago, not Harlem, should be considered the Black capital I sited things like Ebony, Third World Press, etc, and Sara disputed and shot down my reasoning by citing some inconsequential mural, as if I was unfamiliar with either city. Still I learned some things as a result of Sara posting if not directly, indirectly; while I was familiar with the seminole wars, I was promoted to look into it more as a result of Sara's posts, and learned more about them as a result. President Jackson was a busy and wicked little devil... I think the Sara experience also helped me become a better moderator too

It took me 17 years to create the first 1,00 author profiles, but just 8 months to create the next 1,500. Of course the profiles are at varying degrees of completeness at this point, but the scope, and potential of the website has increased by orders of magnitude in recent months Of course I'm at the mercy of big websites like Google and the support of my target audience, but things look promising!

Hi Dee, Thanks for contributing your poetry. I'm far from a poet critic but here are my comments. How the poem appears of the page matters I've guessed at how the poem should look and have pasted it below. The poem is quite literal, but for me it makes me think about the whole issue of "no" means "No" as it related to rape. You defy the political correctness of the cast-in-stone, "No means no" with the more realistic and nuanced; No can mean really mean yes depending on the timing . What sentiment did you intend to convey? Timing is everything when 'No' means 'Yes' No means yes when he places his lips on the left side of her neck, just below her ear gently places his hands on the small of her back and presses her body against his so close that she can hear his every breath and she tingles from the full body workout. Timing is everything when 'No' means 'Yes' No means yes when she moans in delight as his tongue gently surveys the inside of her mouth in search of her 'spot' and she submits to the pleasure. Timing is everything when 'No' means 'Yes'. No means yes when he places her body on top of his, and SHE takes control placing his hands over his head, looks into his eyes and say 'It's time'.

…“gossiping over the back fence or dishing dirt at the beauty shop, solving the world's problems in the barbershop or shootin the bull at a pool hall, praisin the lord in church or fellow shipping with friends, bringing snapshots to work or sharing favorite dishes, having a heated conversation at a cocktail party or an argument with your brother-in-law at Thanksgiving dinner” That's it Cynique! I have a buddy that makes this argument and as result embraces social media--he is all in. Again the problem I have is that social media has monetized this natural human activity that you've described so well. They have monetized it to the point that all other indie site must struggle and fight to survive. Again Black sites must fight harder than any others, because we lack the supportive infrastructure that majority run indies run have. This is why I have opted out, for the most part, of social media for personal use and I limit my activity for business matters to posting links to my website (btw thanks for sharing ). I simply refuse to contribute to my own demise... Still, I don't assume Facebook will continue to be as popular as it is today, next year, or in five years. Now I know the typical Facebook user does not care about this stuff but, we know Facebook's reach for publishers is down; this article calculates by 42%. Facebook has one significant difference than the other massive websites like Amazon or Google: I have only paid Facebook, while I have gotten a check from Amazon and Google every month for well over a decade. Plus Google drives more traffic to AALBC.com than Facebook ever will. Companies like Facebook are like Ponzi schemes; they can't continue forever, extracting wealth from people and return nothing in return. Now if Facebook starts paying people in some fashion I'll feel differently. Until then we will continue to be taken to taken to the cleaners.

New Film Review: MAYA ANGELOU: AND STILL I RISE An Intimate Look at the Life of Iconic Poet, Writer, and Activist:

There are certainly more than enough smart Black people out there to participate on this forum to a greater degree than we see today. Indeed, it is not like the people who used to participate here got dumb all of a sudden. Besides the site is not limited to just Black folks, and you don't exactly have to be a member of Mensa in order to get something out participation. Rather, I think our best and brightest tend to prefer the large corporate sites. As Jaron Lanier says, and I paraphrase, the one with the biggest computer wins. Couple this with the fact that Black folks tend to marginalize Black owned entities and you have an have an environment that is tough for an indie website and essentially hostile for a Black owned one. I've seen actual geniuses, like Ishmael Reed, write at length on Facebook. They write stuff that Facebook can give a shit about, that I love to have here on this site. But when asked it they would post something here, they simply won't do it. Now these are people who I actively support and whose books I sell. But they refuse to lift a finger to support AALBC.com. I've griped about this in the past, but image how all the Black owned entities would benefit, if all the terrific Black writers lining up to write for the HuffPost for free decided to write for sites like AALBC.com? Again those with the biggest computer wins, but at what cost? HuffPost gobbled up BlackVoices then buried it. Sadly the most prominent Black websites are not owned by Black people. Still, I appreciate that AALBC.com in general content is written at too high a level to appeal to the masses. In general I need to "webify" my content: it needs to written for someone with a 5th grade education, short articles, big text, videos, images, large text, click baity headings etc. The HuffPOst has nailed all of these things: I'm aware of all of these issues, I also understand the growth of mobile has put increased pressure to eliminate long form articles, as they are harder to read on this platforms. But again, there more than enough people who want something more than this. In fact, it is those people who have helped AALBC.com last this long. AALBC.com only grows with their support--your support. Plus AALBC.com is more likely to actually pay a writer. But if good writers decide to write for the Huffington Post, or Facebook for free, why should I pay them for the same content? When writers give rich corporate sites content for free they hurt themselves and other writers. So a byline in the HuffPost or a bunch of likes on Facebook may feel good, but it does nothing for us as a people. I live for the day when the Ish Reeds of the world (not trying to pick on Reed he just popped into my mind first), get the same feeling of seeing their work on an AALBC.com has they do on Facebook. As far a collaborative effort on a book I'm down for that. I hope to being publishing books next year. Maybe this project could be one of them.

As a society we have chosen wealth over virtue. The idea dedicate far less resources to more virtuous activities like education than we do selling cigarettes. It is why Trump is close to becoming president. Sadly we are exporting this belief system around the world. Perhaps this is way some cultures are so anti-american.

History Before the World Wide Web (WWW) became available to the general public discussion forums were quite popular on privately run bulletin boards. Operating these bulletin board required a high level of technical expertise and an significant investment of time and money to manage. Even the participants had to be tech savvy just to participate. Later corporate run platforms like AOL and CompuServe stepped in and made things much easier for everyone. Running forums, and participating in them, was made a lot easier. Of course you had to play by the rules laid down by the corporations, plus they charged monthly fee just to participate. The opening of the WWW allowed anyone with a bit of technical skill and a little bit of money to create their own discussion forums. You no longer needed a corporation. People happily ditched the fees, rules, corporate oversight, and enjoyed the benefits creating unique forums. The additional benefits for those starting their own forums was that they and their participants had the freedom to determine the subjects and the rules for participation. As a result, one could find discussion forums filled with other kindred spirits on virtually any subject. It was in this environment in which our forums Thumper Corner, and later Cynique's corner, thrived. The Rise of Social Media In the age of social media now anyone can setup a discussion forum—absolutely no technical skill is required and it is all free. As a result, the number of groups exploded. One Facebook alone there are more forums dedicated to Black books than I can keep track of. Indeed, the level of granularity on Facebook is down to the individual. Individuals have their own discussion forums—with themselves as the subject. It was during this period were AALBC.com's saw it steepest decline in participation. Today some of the old participants here are now active on social media. Interestingly, it is not as if social media provides a better or even equivalent substitute to the discussion forum. None of the Black book forums or groups I've participated on social media have come close to Thumper's Corner in terms quality of conversation on books. The forums were also read much more extensively by non-participants (lurkers). There is no social media platform where one can post a comment with formatting as simple as what yiu are reading here. The vast majority of groups I've seen on Facebook are just used by others to self-promote. I too use those groups for this purpose. It takes almost about 2 seconds to share something on a Facebook group—you don't even have to go to the group. Many tout the benefits of Goodreads, but I don't use Goodreads at all. It reminds me of the AOL days where you are greatly constrained on what you can post. You can't even post a hyperlink back to your website. At the end of the day all of these corporate websites invest a great deal of effort in keeping you on their platforms, and they do a great job. Perhaps it is not that Thumper's Corner has been replicated on social media, social media provides a different and superior value proposition. If that is the case, someone please explain it to me for I can't see what is superior about social media. I won't even get into the issues of supporting Black owned entities, how social media invades your privacy, or any of the myriad of other adverse issues I can raise regarding social media. I think we have lost more than we have gained during the rise of social media. I did not feel this way 5 years ago. It took time for me to understand what was happening and to see how things have played out. Other Reasons for the Decline of Participation Our Our Forums I'm not sure the rise of social media is the only reason for the decline in the popularity of the Thumper's Corner discussion forum. Thumper's Corner's heyday also corresponded with a surge in popularity of African American literature in general. Also during Thumper Corner's prime we also managed an online book club* (The Coffee Will Make You Black), under the leadership of Thumper himself. The online book club ended in 2006, this too certainly put downward pressure on discussion forum participation. *A decade ago managing the platform required a great deal of my time. I often did not have time to even read the books. But today with AALBC.com being my full time job, my kids grown, and the AALBC.com website being greatly improved, managing a book club would be much easier. In 2017 I plan to recruit and Book Club Manager (if you ave any recommendation for this role, please let me know. Most people really don't like their ideals challenged. On Facebook I can't tell you how many times I've read someone boast how they are blocking someone because they posted something that they disagreed with. In almost 20 years I have never banned anyone from these forums for saying something I disagreed with. Banned for being a troll, spamming, or obsessively vulgar and rude yes. But for saying something that I don't like, disagree with, or is unpopular—never. That would defeat the purpose of these forums. Sometimes that opinion I starting our disagreeing with is one that I later embraced. This is how people grow and learn. Growth and learning are fundamentally the my goals for these forums; which is one reason I'll keep 'em going. I'd be willing to bet money these forums will outlive Facebook.

Thanks Cynique. We all try to do better...that is about all we can do since no one is perfect. I'm always wary of people who have to tell you how smart they are. This should be self-evident. Simply saying you are "a published author" means nothing without seeing the actual product. Over the better part of the last two decades selling books I've seen a lot of garbage. Besides being published does not make you a decent human being...

I can't give Sara any grief on her English given the many typos I make (I just fixed 5 typoes in my last post). Besides I have no expectation of error free typing unless the message is unclear because of it. Personally I found Sara impossible to communicate with. I stopped engaging with her months ago, and I've long stopped trying to understand her motivation for participating on this forum. I do know she had no interest in exchanging ideas, or learning anything. But that would not make her any different than most people... If she is actually a published author I think she missed a great opportunity here. The fact that I have no clue who she is or what books she has written is a colossal waste, because at the very least I would have created a presence for her on the website at no cost and used any opportunity to promote her work where it made sense. But I have to say I never did understand why you felt it necessary to exchange barbs with her. I wished I started deleting those earlier on, but I actually thought you two were having a bit of immature fun. The other problem is when people read these types of base exchanges they get intimidated, turned off, and are less likely to join the fray. Obviously, I have no problem with a heated debate, but the ongoing tit-for-tat, back and forth, that every conversation between you and Sara devolved into was a waste of everyone's time and it more difficult to read the more interesting parts of a conversation. The idea that Harry's post on Nat Turner could so so quickly devolve into you being called a "ni--er bi-ch" is disturbing. It seemed like a bad pattern was just getting worse. That was something I wanted to prevent.

Did I mention you can purchase Woodson's titles directly from Black Classic press for an enjoy a 30% discount until October 31? Replace "Negros" with African American, and this quote would work perfectly today!

Black writers are over represented (again) on the list of finalists for National Book Awards. This really is something positive in the world of books. Of course this by no means makes our for a couple of centuries of marginalization in the book world. It will take a lot longer to make up for that. I can say that the National Book Foundation is doing their part to make a positive impact in the world of books.

That is just it Cynique running for the Presidency is like a relativity TV show, pure entertainment and no substance. I think a system that would put ether of these two in the position to be the president is profoundly flawed, and the nation will get the short end of the stick. It seems no intelligent, righteous, ethical person would subject themselves to the gauntlet that is running for POTUS in this social media crazed, 24-per-day news cycle age. We are a culture that values symbols over substance. I'm sure the polls will illustrate how serious a problem this has become. If Donald wins the problems could be more serious than I imaged. Meanwhile here in Florida, the land of Trumpettes, we are looking at the potential for 150 mph sustained winds.

@Sara I'll unblock your account to give you the opportunity to remove your posts and delete your account (you created it, you delete it). While Cynique did not feel I should block you based upon that last post, I disagreed for a number of reasons. But I'll give you one. I have no interest in providing a platform for a Black woman to refer to another Black woman (an esteemed elder no less), in the language that you used. I let a lot of stuff go, but even I have to draw the line somewhere. There is no justification for it, and I won't tolerate it here. If you want to trash another Black woman using that kind of language, go to Twitter, and have a blast. If you decide not to delete your account and continue posting, that is up to you, just keep the above in mind.

As I spend countless hours over the last few days in the tedious task of migrating content to my database I've been listening to Youtube videos. The following is of journlist and writer Christopher Hitchens who discusses in great detail the criminal activity of Bill Clinton Man if you listen to Hitchens go on about Bill Clinton, I'm not sure confident he would vote for Hillary as Sam Harris seems to be. Now Hillary is not Bill, but sheesh she supported and presumably had knowledge of everything he did, and even ran with her own schemes. I see now that Frank and Clare from Netflix's House of Cards are based upon Bill and Hillary. It did not dawn on me until now, but it seems obvious now...

Yeah I thought you might enjoy this @Cynique While this was an all out attack and there is really nothing I can say to dispute him. The point he made about preferring a random person off the street to Donald Trump as president is one I'd actually agree with. It really would have been very interesting to hear Hitchen's take on Hillary/Trump fiasco.

Sam known for criticizing people who believe in God just unloads on Trump. I actually found his rant very funny.

I guess the biggest difference is that Baldwin wrote all the pieces in his seminal work, while Ward's includes a host of contributors. I have not heard much about this book, since it came out this summer. The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race by Jesmyn Ward Buy This Book AbeBooks Amazon BarnesandNoble Books-A-Million IndieBound Borrow from Library Publication Date: Aug 02, 2016 List Price: $26.00 (store prices may vary) Format: Hardcover Classification: Nonfiction Page Count: 288 ISBN13: 9781501126345 Imprint: Scribner Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc. Parent Company: CBS Corporation Book Description: National Book Award-winner Jesmyn Ward takes James Baldwin’s 1963 examination of race in America, The Fire Next Time, as a jumping off point for this groundbreaking collection of essays and poems about race from the most important voices of her generation and our time. In light of recent tragedies and widespread protests across the nation, The Progressive magazine republished one of its most famous pieces: James Baldwin’s 1962 “Letter to My Nephew,” which was later published in his landmark book, The Fire Next Time. Addressing his fifteen-year-old namesake on the one hundredth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, Baldwin wrote: “You know and I know, that the country is celebrating one hundred years of freedom one hundred years too soon.” Award-winning author Jesmyn Ward knows that Baldwin’s words ring as true as ever today. In response, she has gathered short essays, memoir, and a few essential poems to engage the question of race in the United States. And she has turned to some of her generation’s most original thinkers and writers to give voice to their concerns. The Fire This Time is divided into three parts that shine a light on the darkest corners of our history, wrestle with our current predicament, and envision a better future. Of the eighteen pieces, ten were written specifically for this volume. In the fifty-odd years since Baldwin’s essay was published, entire generations have dared everything and made significant progress. But the idea that we are living in the post-Civil Rights era, that we are a “post-racial” society is an inaccurate and harmful reflection of a truth the country must confront. Baldwin’s “fire next time” is now upon us, and it needs to be talked about. Contributors include Carol Anderson, Jericho Brown, Garnette Cadogan, Edwidge Danticat, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah, Mitchell S. Jackson, Honoree Jeffers, Kima Jones, Kiese Laymon, Daniel Jose Older, Emily Raboteau, Claudia Rankine, Clint Smith, Natasha Trethewey, Wendy S. Walters, Isabel Wilkerson, and Kevin Young.

It appears Sara's account, or perhaps Sara herself has been, hacked by an actual troll? I have to block the account as I don't have the time to manage these exchanges... Kam interviewed Nate Parker and even asked him about the allegation of rape against him. You won't find his response interesting on the point (I didn't). Nate also seems to be saying a lot to come across as a devout Christian. I'm always nervous around people who have to tell you they are Christian; being a Christian or Christ-like is one of those things that should be self-evident, and I guess they have to tell you 'cause you wouldn't know based upon their behavior...

After watching the trailer, I'm not all that anxious to see this documentary. It is like being a war vet suffering from PTSD, and watching a grisly war movie. Over the past decade Manhattan has become a much nicer city. The image below shows the old meat packing district which used to be a freaking disaster. Today it is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the country. I don't get it, because I would definitely not want to live in the area. It is far too noisy and busy for my taste, but even for those with a desire to live there, the real estate is WAY out of proportion (think $1 million+ for a 1 bedroom and you still have to pay for maintenance, taxes, parking, schools, and everything in the vicinity is expensive). The city is almost crippled with all the new construction, but virtually none of it is for people with moderate incomes. Instead much of the new housing stock belong to investors with no need or interest in living in these places--it is just a safe haven for rich folk's money to grow. Meanwhile poor people struggle for decent housing and schools. Here is a little anecdote: In most places in the country you can go to a municipal park and play tennis for free, assuming tennis courts are not already in your community. Forget about tennis courts in schools, the vast majority of schools in Manhattan don't have them (if any). In New York City you have to pay $200 a season to play tennis in a city run park--and there aren't that many places to play. But rich folks play in private clubs where the fees are often staggering. Suffice it to say the next Serena will not come from New York City I could go on all day with little anecdotes like this. Basically if you are rich New York City is great place to live, but even if you are middle class you can't truly appreciate all the City has to offer. If you are a wage earner and make less than $150K a year you will struggle to find a decent place to live in Manhattan and still have enough money to do some of the things people with salaries that high, anywhere else in the U.S., might expect to do like take vacations own a nice car or pay for private school for their kids. New York could truly be a great city if did something to accommodate anyone other than the rich.