Troy

Hi Richard this is an interesting program. I just shared my list of the remaining Black owned independent stores on the website. I'm not aware of any remaining Black owned bookstore chains. No Richard, you would not be going out on a limb to say that all Black owned bookstores are local. Author, Carl Weber operated several stores in several cities but those are closed as far as I can tell. Karibu have several using in DC, MD and VA, but those all closed. There were a couple of other with more than one stores, but again they are either closed or down to one store like Marcus Books in CA. I don't think the Kobo program will be very helpful, at least not in the Black community. Black people overwhelming by books/eBooks through Amazon. Indeed, I do not think I have sold a single Kobo eBook. On my Power List website, I link to IndieBound (they sell books online for local bookstores and ebooks for the kobo platform.) On the new version of AALBC.com website I will present the option to buy via Indiebound at the same level of prominence as buying from Amazon, but I have very little hope people will take advantage of that option. I have never earned a penny through affiliate commissions from Indiebound. When I publish surveys people never say they download Kobo ebooks. I also think there are indications that dedicated ebook readers have plateaued and may even be in the decline, along with readership eBooks Amazon's hugh push for Prime members with future bodes poorly for Kobo's position. Any slack B&N Nook has provided will be sucked up by Amazon. Even Amazon's opponents are Prime members...

Well I look forward to reading more of what you have to write Ivy. How did you discover the forum and what promoted you to post? Also adding videos is pretty easy; you just paste the youtube or vimeo URL and the forum will automatically embed it. For images you click the blue "insert other media" at the lower right-hand side of the editing window and paste the URL of the image you'd like to include. The image of your client's book is actually stored on Amazon's site. I usually only paste images that are stored on my server, because you never know what another site is going to do with an image in the future. For example, if Amazon decides to rename, move or delete the above image it will show that broken image icon. {It is also frowned upon to display images that are stored on someone else's server. But in this case Amazon has massive servers and I am linking back to their website, so they'll not likely complaint or notice.} You can also copy and paste form an email or word document. The system is pretty good at retaining the original formatting.

Well we all know Al Sharpton was a informant, and today he has the ear of the President. Carver wasn't even 60 when he passed but accomplished a great deal. I don't know if you've ever visited Tuskegee, but that is in the deeeep south and feels like it today. If Booker was not as anxious as the Brothers in the north to be so aggressive against white folks I would not be so willing to second guess his tactics. He was a man of his time and environment. It is bad in the south today, imagine what it was like 100 years ago.

Hi Ivy welcome to the forums. I added the cover of Dark Justice I also could not resist sharing this video I noticed on your website. At the 18:30 mark the host says your email address should reflect your business; it should not be @yahoo.com or @gmail.com I think the same thing should apply to social media. I believe business owners who send people to social media, instead of directing them to their website, are making a mistake.

Ashthereader, your wording is fine, but it would be a good idea to let us know what you think about the book to get the ball rolling. I was not familiar with this book, Uncle Tom or New Negro?, until you mentioned it. SO I can;t speak to it directly, but I do know the issue with Washington is not an either/or proposition when it comes to being an "Uncle Tom." Indeed, "Uncle Tom" is a confusing term generally meaning a Black who sells out to the white man, but the character from Stowe's book, where the term originates, did the exact opposite. I see from the PW review that Malveaux is quoted as saying some of what Washington did was pure evil. As a president of an HBCU, that is a bold statement. I hope she backed it up. Again, what do you think Ash? Here is the description from Amazon:

It is hard for me to be unbiased because I know Coates father, who I view as a mentor, so I'm pleased to see his son succeed and get paid. I'm also pretty confident Ta-Nehisi's success will have a direct and positive impact on indie Black businesses. For the book launch event a Black bookseller, MahoganyBooks, with was the bookseller. I also work with MahiganyBooks, Ta-Neshisi's success, is MahoganyBooks success, is my success, and so on. Chris, the Morrison's quote was indeed a big deal. It was like getting a nod from Oprah. But even that quote was not sufficient alone to propel this book to this level of success it currently enjoys. The Atlantic provided the platform that sadly no single Black platform could provide. In other words, Black folks did not anoint Ta-Nehisi, as the spokesperson for Black suffering, white people did. Perhaps part of West's frustration is that very fact. Imagine if "The Case for Reparations" was published by Ebony Magazine, assuming they had the funds to invest in the project, I doubt the article would have caught on. I think collectively we could make it happen, but getting Black folks to work together is like herding hyper kittens. We know when white folks chose our spokespeople that spokesperson will be completely innocuous as far as changing anything. They will not ruffle feathers or offend the sensibilities of white folks, they will not incite a riot, they will be perfectly acceptable, great at cocktail parties and never really show much anger. More importantly they will eclipse anyone else that might. Since I run AALBC.com I know there are countless books covering, in great detail, everything Coates is saying and more. But again Black people published this stuff and unless white folks embrace it; it is fringe, obscure, and certainly not the fodder for national morning talk shows. People like Tony Brown and Gil Noble covered this stuff, but shows like those are a thing of the past. We have to depend on NPR, Charlie Rose and the like who embrace folks like Ta-Nehisi with open arms to educate and information Black and white folks about the obvious. But none of this really matters much to the masses of Black folks, most of whom have not read The Case and have no clue who Ta-Neshisi is... Cynique how cynical is that?

Ta-Nehisi Coates Between the World and Me debuts at #1 on the New York Time Best Sellers List. The success of this book has been quite remarkable to watch unfold.

In an interview I heard on New York Magazine, it was stated that it was social media, initiated by the comedian, that brought this issue to the public's attention. From New York Magazine "‘I’m No Longer Afraid’: 35 Women Tell Their Stories About Being Assaulted by Bill Cosby, and the Culture That Wouldn’t Listen" By Noreen Malone and Amanda Demme All of this is very powerful imagery. Obviously the media has convicted Cosby, let's see what the criminal justice system does. Man, I'm still taken by the sheer number of the women. Who has the time to assault all of these women?

The program for the Black Caucus of the American Library Association 9th Conference I've been teaching at the Queens Library for almost 2 years and an increasingly impressed by what this library system does to improve the community.

Bucked teeth never stopped me from getting a girlfriend or a wife either, but Chris I would recommend correcting your bite. Keeping it real is one thing, but not fixing you bite, when you can afford it, is like not buying glasses. Now if may be possible that your bite really is not that bad at all and correcting it not worth the effort. I could not bite into a sandwich without using my incisors/molars. The cap was really not an option as 1/2 of my front tooth was knocked out when I was a teenager. Now if you are someone like Michael Strahan where your gap-tooth smile is part of your signature that is one thing and may not be worth changing, I got braces for both of my daughters, not only do they have nice smiles they also have a set of properly working chompers, that will hopefully serve them for a lifetime. Rap artists are not typically role models for me. ;-)

Well as someone who got veneers and a cap to replace bucked, crooked and a chipped teeth. I will admit the motivation was cosmetic, but my improved bite was a tremendous benefit; any dentist will attest to that. Improving my bite alone was worth the dental work. I also wore contacts for most of my life to correct very bad myopia. Sure switching to contacts was an improvement of my appearance (IMHO), but contacts improved my vision better than glasses ever did, and glasses have additional downsides. About a 15 years ago I had the lasik procedure done, again this was a permanent fix to my vision problems having nothing to do with my appearance because I was already wearing contacts. I also loss about 20 pounds about 7 years ago, sure I look better, my clothes fix better, but the real benefit was my heath. But we can agree to disagree on those points. As far as Black women and hair, you are my senior and a woman, so of course I'm very much inclined to yield to your wisdom on issues like this. I also have to admit you have a point when you say "...sistas 'consciously' copying white women since they are who so many brothas are 'unconsciously' attracted to." But you hit upon nuance I overlooked. It makes all the sense in the world that women would wear their hair in such a way that is attractive to men. Black men of course are not immune to the europeanized standard of beauty, and probably do find women with straightened hair more attractive. I think you underestimate the amount of time, effort and money some women put into their hair. None of the sista's I know are going to go 3 months without getting a touch up. Many professional women I know go to the salon far more regularly; weekly is not unusual. To be clear, I'm not critiquing any woman's hair style. What I'm attempting to do is understand the motivation for imagery we see on the Ebony cover, why a blond haired, blue eyed white girl can pass for Black, and why all of this might point to some cultural confusion. I'm also suggesting that all of does not do us very much good mentally or financially

Thanks everyone. Here is the latest bestellers list which is baed upon the new website's design I still have some a lot fo work to do, but you see where I'm going: http://75.103.68.29/books/bestsellersmay2015.php?genre=Children%26rsquo%3Bs the new bestsellers list. The new list removes my dependency on the Amazon widget I've been using for years. It also makes creating the bestsellers list FAR easier. I can even use the code on the current site until I finish the upgrade next year: http://aalbc.com/books/mayjun_2015.htm If I decide to sell books directly, making the switch will be trivial. I was looking at drop shipping using Ingram but it does not look to be cost effective...

Cynique, changing one's hair color and texture are never done to improve one's health or physical condition. Hair styles, unlike the other examples you've attempted to equate, are changed for mental reasons; how they make someone feel about their own appearance. Indeed people will disagree about whether the person actually looks better. If you are obese losing weight is virtually always a good idea, as is correcting crooked teeth or bad vision. People can not reasonably disagree about this. While the improvement in physical appearance may an additional motivator some some, it could be incidental for others. But we'll agree to disagree on this. Cynique, I believe some Black women change their hair to mimic European standards of beauty imposed upon them; even if they comply unconsciously. Do you disagree? If you agree, do you think this would tend to have a positive or negative impact on that person's self-esteem? In my mind, this is particularly evident by the number of women who fair at the attempt to turn Black hair into white hair, despite prodigious efforts. The overabundance of Black women blogging about natural hair care is in direct reaction to this condition.

I don't either Akia, but that should be readily apparent from what I've already posted. But when it comes to religious issues it is not really open for debate is it? What matters is what the person believes, Facts don't matter, the science does not matter; it doesn't even matter what other Christians people believe. There are some openly gay Christians leading Churches. While other Christians believe it is a damnable sin.

I will most likely attend this event.

...but who does not like watermelons? Seriously And Black people really do talk too much in the movie theater. LOL Yes Akia I agree stereotyping people can lead to false assumptions about individuals, but it is natural, an important skill and indeed probably a necessary survival mechanism. This is why I don't give cops any lip. I know most of them have far less education that I do, probably hate their job, and are just looking for a reason to jam a brother up to meet their quota. Now are all cops like that? Of course not, but I'll be just safer if I assume that they are.

Cynique fixing one's teeth, so that one can eat properly; losing weight, to avoid heart disease and diabetes; or getting contacts so that you can see properly can't be compared to someone dying and straightening their hair. I'm surprised you tried using that analogy to support your argument ;-) That said, of course we all should be more interested in what's in a person's mind instead of what's on their head. Further, we can never truly know what a person is about until we get to know them and you'll probably be wrong 99% of the time if you judge a person by the style of their hair. There are devils rocking afros and some very conscious sisters with straight hair. My issue with hair styles stems from two main issues; (1) the standard of beautiful for Black women's hair is the exact opposite what grows out of their heads naturally. This is a big problem from self esteems issues, stress and huge resources going toward maintenance of hair. We did not create this standard but across the globe we perpetuate this mythology (see any cover of Ebony magazine); (2) We don't even benefit financially from all of the money spent on hair care; most of this money goes outside of our community. These two things combined define exploitation. I'm tired of seeing us exploited. But we are such easy marks, like shooting ducks in a barrel.

Yeah I went for a couple of hours talking the the vendors on the street. I did not go last year (the st year I missed it). It is sad there is not a lot of energy from the local Black book community for this event. Then again there is not a lot of support from mainstream publishing which is centered walking distance away. Of course it did not start that way.. It would be interesting to have a serious conversation about this event. What do you think? Is it worth the effort? Is it airing dirty laundry? Could it be constructive?

Akia coincidentally I just finished a post where I used the phrase Brother and Sisters. The fact of the matter is that we are all Brother and Sisters. Truth be told white folks are our Brothers and Sisters too, but I'm focused on my nuclear family, who is catching all the heel, before I can make overtures to and fully embrace my extended family. Some of my more Afrocentric Brother like to refer to everyone as "Kings and Queens" that is a bit for me. but I get way they do it and it is FAR better than niggas and bitchs. I've come to conclude the reason we use these terms and allow them to be used in our popular music so freely is that we are mentally ill. Seriously, we suffer, collectively from a mental condition that presents in many ways including low self esteem. I mean what else would explain why Black women support artists that refers to them in such a degrading manner? I mean I know why white people buy it, as it reaffirms their view of us, but why do we buy it? This very week I heard a bunch of young white kids saying "nigger" I was about to confront them (something way out of my character, but they caught off guard), I started to walk in their direction only to realize they were singing a song from a BLACK RAPPER! I couldn't say shit and I went about my business.

I attended the Harlem Book Fair, this past saturday. Being a Harlem resident and the owner of the largest website dedicated to Black books, one would think that would be a no-brainer, but it is not, and that is a story for another day. Anyhow, I decided to go to the book fair and speak to all of the street vendors. I did not leave myself enough time so I only got to about 3/4 of them. One of the people I spoke to, much longer than most, was the author of the article above. He is in my age range (one of the few on the street that day who was), and he has been involved in the book world for a longtime, so we actually had a lot to talk about. In fact, he wrote about our conversation in his article. It is interesting to note: that I had no expectation that our conversation would be fodder for a newspaper article, but in 2015 everything goes huh? At any rate, it was no big deal and I learned long ago never say or do anything in front of anyone you would not want to read about on the cover of the New York Times (and today see on Facebook). Here is Johnnie Bunting's book I did not run into Johnnie during the fair, but he was on the only formerly incarcerated authors on the street that day. I think books have provide and outlet and an avenue for some of our Brother and Sisters to make a way for themselves. But all writers they can't do it by themselves and unfortunately there are not many platforms around to help them.

Richard given that everybody and their mother has published a book, even with more than 1,000 authors profiled on this site, I have only a small fraction fraction of them. But this site was never intended to include everyone who ever published a book. Some curation takes place here. But as the desire (or need) to generate revenue increases the curation, or selectivity goes down. this is the model for that makes social media so successful. I really try not go down the path of putting just anything on this website. I think readers need this. Someone has to separate quality from the mediocre. Right now those with the most money, or fame wins. Quality is secondary I hope to distinquish AALBC.com as a place where readers can find quality. Also, keep in mind, I'll include authors in the "anglosphere" if they write something of interested or importance to Black folks. One of the first non-black authors on this website was Jack Erza Keats. Richard I think you are absolutely right "famed membership" is a powerful draw. Indeed it does not even have to be that intense; as Facebook provides a platform for anyone, not to necessarily become famous, but just to be heard. People want, some desperately, to be seen and heard, to know that they matter to someone else besides themselves. This is very powerful and difficult to compete with... especially when what you are offering in exchange is the opportunity to discover a good book to read. Also the dynamic that drives a Facebook is completely different on these discussion forums; for example, sharing minutiae from your daily life would just be boring here. I do not want to even try to replicate that aspect of Facebook. But I need more people have to contribute. The crazy thing is that people will email be stuff that they believe my readers would be interested in but they will not take the extra step to post it here. Now I know sending an email is easier than posting here, but the very same people will take the extra to share something on Facebook! Here is something that I recently shared from a notice I saw on Facebook, Call for Submissions: Fall/Winter 2015 Killens Review of Arts & Letters. Now I went to the linked website, copied and pasted the information to share it here. The information is presented much more nicely here than on Facebook and MORE people will read it here. I simply don't have the time to do this each time I think readers here would benefit. Despite working with this entry that publishes this magazine, for years, I can not get them to share this type of information here. The impression that Facebook is more powerful is simply wrong in this case. Indeed the belief that is is what is constraining all of our growth. Again changing this mindset such that we more actively utilize our own resources, within the Black book world will be the best thing I can accomplish.

Call for Submissions: Fall/Winter 2015 Killens Review of Arts & Letters. Deadline: August 1st!Notice! Currently Accepting Submissions!Join our mailing list for updates! Call for Submissions Killens Review of Arts & Letters Fall/Winter 2015 Works are to be submitted by August 1, 2015. The Fall/Winter 2015 issue of the Killens Review of Arts & Letters seeks submissions, fiction, essays, poetry, and artwork that reflect cultural and social memory and myth in literature and art. THEME: “Memory and Myth” Memories have a magical power: they can stir our imaginations and deepest emotions. Memories are creative sparks that can be the genesis for heart-warming memoirs, provocative essays, conscious-raising poems, or creative nonfiction and fiction narratives. Author and poet Tracy K. Smith notes that wanting to write about her mother’s death was the impetus for her newly released memoir, “Ordinary Light.” The late Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez said that “the heart’s memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good.” Every age has created myths to help us understand the mysteries of the universe and the human condition. Mythologists and writer Joseph Campbell inform us that myths are public dreams and that dreams are private myths. In the Fall 2015 issue of the Killens Review of Arts & Letters, we want to explore the theme of cultural and social memory and myth in literature and art. We seek submissions of fiction, essays, poetry, memoir, and artwork. The Killens Review of Arts & Letters is a peer-reviewed journal that welcomes Black poets, novelists, short story writers, playwrights, journalists, essayists, scholars, emerging writers, and artists whose literature and art speak to the general public and to an intergenerational range of readers represented throughout the African diaspora. Submission of Material The Killens Review of Arts & Letters is published once or twice a year by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY. The Killens Review seeks book reviews, essays, short stories, creative nonfiction, art, poetry, and interviews related to the various cultural, sociopolitical, and historical experiences of writers and artists from the African diaspora. The aim is to provide well-known and lesser-known authors as well as educators and students opportunities to create and expand the canon of literature produced by people of color. While the Killens Review of Arts & Letters welcomes unsolicited material, we prefer to publish original material, i.e. first-ever publication. Unless otherwise selected by the editors, we cannot run a piece that has previously appeared elsewhere in print or on the Web. Please submit to only one category at a time: essay, fiction, interview, poetry, prose, and art. We aim to respond to your submission within two months. Essay, Fiction, and ProsePlease send one piece at a time. We have no set maximum length or minimum length for prose submissions. (The average word count is about 1,500–2,000 words.) Most submissions, however, are between 2,000 – 4,000 words.Please set up your submission in letter-sized format, with ample margins, double-spaced, using a standard typeface (e.g., Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial) and font size (12 point is best).Include your name, title of the work, and page numbers on your submission.Also include a one- to two-sentence bio about the author. If the submission is an academic essay with references, please include your bibliography at the end.Please do not submit book manuscripts. Poetry: Please send up to three poems. Art and Photography: We welcome all types of image submissions. Please include a short note about the context of the images and title and/or caption information. Please include no more than six hi-res jpegs (at 300 dpi). Electronic and Postal Submissions Kindly e-mail material to writers@mec.cuny.edu with “Fall 2015 Killens Review” in the subject heading. Please include a brief introduction of yourself and of the work being submitted. On the first page of your submission be sure to include: 1. Your name2. Telephone number3. E-mail addressPlease make sure the pages are numbered. Or mail material to: Center for Black Literature Medgar Evers College, CUNY 1650 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11225 RE: Killens ReviewMaterial will only be returned if the sender includes a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE). Please send your submissions no later than August 1, 2015, to “Fall 2015 Killens Review” (in the subject line) to writers@mec.cuny.edu. Please include name and contact information on the title page. Purchase copies of current and back issues. ### Killens Review on AALBC.com

Yeah in an ideal world police officers would be true professionals. When a cop is confronted by a Black woman with an attitude one would think, THE POLICE OFFICER would defuse the situation. We have no expectation that this will happen. Black people have top make sure we don't ANYTHING that might upset the officer or confuse him with our actions. Imagine we live in a country where a child, in a park playing with a toy gun, can be gunned down about an officer without warning!? The police "Offiseers" (to bite KRS 1), are yet another problem Black people have to deal with living in the US. Do you realize a lot of people don't call the police when problems occur, because most of the time they just make matters worse. I have had countless interactions with the police. One even pulled a gun on me. But I have never called the police for anything. So when NWA ran around back in the 80's talking about "Fuck da Police" that struck a cord in me, as well as millions of other Black people.

Akia, I'm actually still not convinced. Indeed I'm even more suspicious of this story. The link you provided was not to the purported source, the Kenyan Times. This particular article you linked to links to the Kenyan Times, but not to this article. When you originally posted this story had already done a quick search on the Kenyan Times website and could not find the story. All I could find were a bunch of other sites linking to a bogus link on the Kenyan Times--if they even bother to link at all. This video is more of the same. It appears to be computer generated reading of the same, as far as I'm concerned, unsubstantiated story. Whether the story is true or not whoever created the video made some money given the number of views. If you find the original article in the Kenyan Times I may take this seriously. The fact that all of these other websites are circulating this story with reckless abandon is the problem with the internet. But I get it it is quite profitable to share crazy stories and if you wait around to find out if it is true, then you risk making a lot of money. If the story turns out to be bogus there is no penalty for spreading a fake story.