Troy

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No, no I'm not suggesting censorship, far from it. I'm talking about balance and treating people with love. Black dysfunction is paraded on TV as it it is normal while and white dysfunction is addressed. If you are constantly barraged with images and stories of urban youth killing each other, everybody starts to believe this is the way ALL black people are like this and it effect EVERYONE. Cops have itchy trigger fingers when it comes to Black men because they finger if Black dudes with shoot each other they damn sure will shoot me. I'm talking about fairness. White boys walk down the street smoke dope--no problem; while Brothers get locked up. Then the media talks about all the Black men getting locked up for drugs. Please don't mistake the media hyper-coverage of Black dysfunction, like the shooting in Chicago, as the same thing as solving the problem. Obviously it is not. The hyper-coverage is about revenue generation and the reinforcement of stereotypes. I have no problem of crimes being reported But why are you, in Chicago, not reading about the white boys in New York City killing themselves every time it happens. Why and I, in New York, getting a blow by blow update every time someone in Chicago catches a stray?

No I don't think Trump's wealth is as great as he says it is either, but that is incidental, because no one cares about it that because he continues lives the lifestyle of someone that is a super rich celebrity, buying off politicians, funding his own presidential campaign, and getting the media to jump and cover any silly utterance he makes. I see what you are saying Cynique, but I think you are looking at it the wrong way. For example, I could take your words about Trump and apply them to Obama just as easily; Obama would not be where he is if it were not for "his huge following among the discontented masses." Do you see my point? In other words, the masses did not go out select and uplift Obama, Trump, and Hillary out of obscurity. They are simply the choices we are given. The high unfavorable ratings that both Trump and Hillary are getting should tell you something. The masses don't really support either. But these are the choice we have been given, and I'd be willing to bet most people feel like they are choosing the best of two evils...

When white* people talk about Facebook marketing they make recommendations like: Facebook ads should get people off of Facebook and onto your website or mailing list. The longer people are on Facebook, the more time they have to get distracted and leave your Facebook page. Forget about vanity metrics like how many people “like” your page. Facebook’s decreased organic reach presents problems for small business marketing. *The quotes above were obtained by a company called ThriveHIve (you can obtain their Facebook marketing information here). I don't know, nor did I check, the racial makeup of this company. Based upon their phone number they are based in Boston, so the assumption that they are white is probably correct. The primary point of this post is to highlight the difference between the way Black entities talk about marketing on Facebook and the way white people talk about doing it (I know I'm talking in broad brush potentially racist generalizations here but stick with me). You see Black folks talk about getting on Facebook and using it to increase engagement ON Facebook, many have even abandoned their own websites in favor of using Facebook as their primary platform. White folks talk about how to use Facebook as a tool to support your business, Black folks treat Facebook as if Facebook IS their business. In reality, this is not about race, if it where I would be white based upon how I talk about Facebook. This is really about how sophisticated we are in the business of the web; which is not very. When the lion's share of our resources and talent go toward uplifting Facebook, or talking about how we dominate the conversation on Twitter, we weaken ourselves. My goal is to ensure Black folks have strong platforms on the web and to make sure AALBC.om is one of them

No. Trump's ascendancy is fueled by his power which comes from his wealth and celebrity. Do you think it would have been possible, for your garden variety white boy, without Trump's wealth and fame would have been as successful as Trump? Because of Trump's power he can play the masses. It definitely wasn't the other way around.

Sure the people in Chicago's south side would like the senseless murders to end. But media attention will not end the murders. It is not like Obama, Emmanuel, and those in power in Chicago were unaware of the high rate of murders before the national media attention. If anything, the media attention has provided additional fodder for the Trump campaign as he becomes the next voice for hope and change in the Black community. As far as those with a financial interest in playing down Chitown's murder rates, who would they be? The real estate moguls interested in gentrifying the area, the racist happy to see negroes kill each other, the prison industrial complex salivating at the additional beds they will fill, the privatized charter school looking the save the inner city with government funded schools, the media profiting by reporting on the carnage, who? Who, other than the small business owners in the community, have a financial interest in stopping the slaughter of Black people in Chicago or anywhere else?

Pioneer you missed my point. Please reread this post. The most profound changes in history are initiated by the powerful, not from folks at the bottom. The rape of Africa, for example, was not initiated by european peasants, but by their leaders who interested in increasing their wealth. Look at America, do you think the great masses of people at the bottom, like you and I, have any say on what the country does?

For a little perspective, there were more suicides in New York City than homicides. The total number of suicides in NYC exceeded the number of murders in Chicago or any other city for that matter. I'm sure most of these suicides were white men. But of course the media prefers to talk about Black dysfunction rather than that of white folks, and what the media covers drives the national dialog. Imagine an alternate universe where Black folks ran mainstream media; we could all discuss the problems of crazy white folk killing themselves, while quietly, in the background, effectively and compassionately addressing our own problems. The country would start to associate suicide as solely a white problem. Of course we would ignore the root causes and not look for real solutions. We would fight over covering every single suicide first, and write stories on this disfunction day after day. Some outlets would publish grizzly photos of the victims, or create reality TV shows. The more liberal platforms would write human interest stories of the victims. It would be white suicide 24/7 and we would make tons of money. But in the space/time continuum we inhabit, we focus on Black murders in Chicago. No longer a toddlin town but Chiraq.

Thanks so much @Cynique! You are part of the last generation of Americans, who actually knew people who were enslaved in these United States of America. That is really something when you think about it. A simple DNA test and access to one of the databases like ancestry.com would almost certainly pull up those relative from TN.

The question really is what do Black women, any of us really do with this anger? Do we direct it inwards, and become self destructive to ourselves and our community; or do we take that energy and do something constructive? Anger is not the problem it is natural reaction to the real problem we confront on a daily basis.

10 Books Written by Black Writers Longlisted for 2016 National Book Award

@Cynique, did you know your maternal grandfather, a former slave? Did you family ever maintain or regain contact with your former owners? I understand being a Pullman Porter was a desireable gig back in the day, I imagine losing that gig was probably a big deal. Did you your mother meet CJ Walker? BTW what does "toddlin" mean? I tried looking it up, and I see the word was first used in song back in the 20s, but I did not see a clear, at least not to me, definition.

Cynique, do you have stories to tell from your parents? It is likely your parents lived through both world wars, the great depression, women being given the right to vote, and very likely knew, personally, people who were formerly enslaved I wonder what they would think of the world today...

African American political and social "success;" Man I think the jury is still out on that one--what would be the point of Black lives matters? Slavery did not end because of marches or speeches--nt even Twitter would have ended SLavery. Iit ended after 2% of the U.S. Population lost there lives. Enslaved Africans and mulattoes greatly outnumber the white minority. In other words they gained independence by using their bigger club. George Washington and his boys were far from criminals and peasants in the sense that you've described them. Again they too took there independence through bloodshed. All of these changes were executed through force (usually violence). It is the only language humanity seemed to understand and react to.

I met Carla at the Go On Girl! book club conference a couple of years ago. Here she shared with me her thoughs on the importance of literacy.

The Sellout by Paul Beatty was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize yesterday. The Man Booker Prize was established in 1969. The winner receives £50,000 as well as the £2,500 awarded to each of the shortlisted authors. Both the winner and the shortlisted authors are guaranteed a worldwide readership plus an increase in book sales. Learn More Last year Marlon James won for his critically acclaimed novel, A Brief History Of Seven Killings: A Novel

Hi Darlene, please share you website's URL.

The arc of justice is indeed long, but whether it bends toward justice depends on your perspective. For example, I doubt any of the indigenous people, the few left, of North America, South America, or Tanzania would agree. It has been centuries since Europeans began pillaging Africa; how many more centuries must pass until that arc bends toward justice for those people? I'm also not confident change (positive or otherwise) somes from below. Generally, change is initiated by those with, or supported by those, with the biggest club. I'm happy to consider any contradictory examples.

Hi Cynique, Of course I'm one of those people that really enjoy reading these retrospectives. In fact, if you don't mind, I'll create a separate page for this article (linked from your AALBC.com page). I'm also planning (I know finally), to publish a book next year called the The Best of AALBC.com. I would like to use this piece there too. I often think about how much things have changed in the last 25 years. I teach a web design class and I'm often struck, as I lecture, how much technology has advanced in that brief period. I really can't image how things have changed in the time scale you've described. But, it is interesting that much of what you described from your youth in terms of the creature comforts of home life are things that I recall. In south life seemed even more spartan. One of my aunts had an outhouse into the late 60's. I believe the changes are accelerating as time progresses. For example, our family only changed our home telephone once my entire childhood, upgrading from a rotary to a push button model. Today many families "upgrade" all their portable phones every couple of years. Dishwashers, washing machines, computers, and more have saved us all a lot of physical energy and given us a lot more time. It is not clear to me that society is any better with the extra time and energy. It seems like the additional time and energy we have is wasted. Can you imagine the media of your day using any of their resources to spread "news" based upon children joking about Althea Gibson's hair? It is almost a cliche to say, we have access to more information, but are less wise, less knowledgeable. What do you think?

I Trina there were a couple of typos in my first point that made it confusing (beat me up later @Cynique). So the book cover is just a girls photo? The Theatre Communications Group like to use photo, not text as book covers too. Please post your book's ISBN's that will help me identify them as well.

Are you kidding! Please post it--absolutely! I love reading your writing.

I hear you Cynique Are your folks telling you that things are getting better? Is there cause of immediate optimism? What are they saying? The situation will indeed play itself out, but not in the sense I think you mean. You see I don't believe that the conditions that currently exist were created on their own, by pure chance. Great neighborhoods are not created by luck or happenstance, its take work and planning. The same is true for bad neighborhoods. I tend to believe Chicago's south side is being set up to be "rebooted" the way Harlem, the U Street Corridor in NW DC, and other, formerly, chocolate communities have been. Things will get so bad in Chicago people will beg to have folks locked up. Actually, I thought the reboot of Chicago's south side was started when they famously demolished those Taylor projects. Where did those people go? Some folks in Harlem projects are paranoid they will loose their homes for fear the City will turn the projects over to private management companies who will impose "market rate" rents. Sadly their are no affordable housing alternatives for people in New York City. There are many families who have occupied (been trapped really), in the projects for 3 and 4 generations! The South Side of Chicago will definitely get better, but I doubt many of the current residents will be the beneficiaries of that improvement...

Dr. Sandra Jowers-Barber, assistant professor of history at the University of the District of Columbia interviews Sylvia Y. Cyrus, Executive Director of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. The Association for the Study of Negro Life and History now called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History was founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1915 in response to the lack of information on the accomplishments of African Americans. Dr. Woodson, who died in 1950, didn't start his formal education until he was 20 years old. From that late academic beginning he went on to become the second African American to earn a PhD from Harvard University. He established Negro History Week in 1926 and 50 years later in 1976 the week that week became a month-long celebration that today is supported nationally and internationally. Sylvia Cyrus discusses the significance and on-going importance of the Association. AALBC.com will make sure that all of the titles published as part of the partnership of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History and Black Classic Press.

AALBC.com is working with Black Classic Press (BCP) to help promote and sell these books as well as all of BCP's titles. If a visitor sees a book published by BCP on AALBC.com they will be given the option to purchase the book directly from BCP. Books like The MIseducation of the Negro, a 22 time AALBC.com bestselling book, already sells well here but there are still many people unaware of the title and the additional focus will benefit many readers. The Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), which was started by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1915, is dedicated to continuing Woodson's work. ASALH’s mission is to "create and disseminate knowledge about Black History, to be, in short, the nexus between the Ivory Tower and the global public. They labor in the service of Blacks and all humanity." It is also worth noting that there are many different entities, and individuals, publishing The Miseducation of the Negro, as the title is in the public domain. However BCP's partnership with the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) will ensure that you are getting the best reprint, with the highest fidelity. However the most important reason for purchasing Woodson's books that have been published by BCP is that your purchases will directly support Carter G. Woodson's organization. I've actually replaced all the other version of Woodson's books, published by other entities, in favor of the BCP/ASALH's reprints. I'm telling you, the Black Book Ecosystem is growing stronger!

From time to time I run ads on this website that have nothing to do with books, but are services that I actually use and have no problem endorsing. Of course I never link to a corporate site without getting something in return. In this case the people I refer get a meaningful discount. In the case of Uber, this can cover a entire ride. In the case of Google Express, it can mean a few free boxes of cereal from Costco. But the real benefit, from my perspective is that I earn an additional referral fees for anyone I get to sign up. Plus those that I sign up can get the same benefits I do when they, in turn, get others to try these services. This can translate into real money, indeed many websites' business models are founded on this approach. Of course getting people to sign up for just Uber or Google Express is not a long term business strategy (think pyramid scheme or MLM), because you have a finite number of potential clients, they can sold by anyone, and they can only sign up once. As a result, these activities have limited periods of viability for making money. But there are, I'm sure, a few people left out there who have still not tried Uber or Google Express. I think the coupon is worth giving Uber and Google Express a try--even if you can't be bothered trying to refer anyone else.