Troy

Cynique, if I'm lucky enough to make it to the age you are, I don't know what I'll do with myself. I'll explain more in a separate conversation.

Cynique I'm completely aware of how the social media-fueled pop culture dominates our society. I'm also aware if how our celebrity obsessed, shallow culture distorts current events. I do my best to opt out of this simply because I also recognize how destructive it as been to both our culture and even our political process. I think we can both agree that a country feed on tweets, and reaction to those tweets, is the very thing that put Trump, a profoundly unqualified candidate, into the white house. So no, I don't think my lack of focus on pop culture limits my perspective I think it broadens it. Indeed those old youtube videos, and the new ones, are perhaps the best thing on the internet. I would trade all the rest of social media for youtube. But again, that is just me... the book slinging raceman--an extreme outlier ;-) And sure at the rate we are going all politicians will be on par with celebrities; indeed we are seeing them become one and the same. Pioneer, those terms, left, conservative, right, and progressive are virtually meaningless. Black in the south, for example, tend to be very conservative, because of their Christian sensibilities, but they vote overwhelming democrat--why? Many poor white people voted for Trump--obviously against their best interests--why? As an aside, a Whole Foods will be opening in Harlem this year, on 125th St and Malcolm X Blvd. I can't afford to shop at Whole Foods. So I have no idea what those people think of themselves--other than wealthy. Interestingly, I leave my neighborhood (Harlem) to go white neighborhoods to shop where the deals are better. Man, even cocktails in many Harlem Restaurants cost $16 or more. There are better deals on drinks in midtown Manhattan--seriously!

An author who read this post told me he has written three YA novel to appeal to this demographic, but he gets no promotion from his publisher. I was completely unaware of the books myself and I like to think I have a relationship with his publisher. There is a class of writers, who publisher will publish, but the publisher depends completely on the author using their own platforms to promote their books. Typically these writers will use social media to accomplish which as it own limitations. The most sophisticated of these authors will also have a website, but again they too do very little to promote their own websites and invest most of their energy maximizing their social media platform. The lack of publishers advertising and promoting these books, the authors focus on social media, as well as the lack of booksellers interested in highlighting books for Black men, and other factors all contribute to a lack of awareness of these titles. The lack of awareness leads some to believe there is a lack of interest or demand. While many groups contend with this issue; it seems particularly true for Black men and boys.

Progressives have twitter and Trump has the White House. I think Trump has the last laugh and he will be laughing all the way to the bank. We dominate making jokes on Twitter and they have the presidency, the Senate , and the House of Representatives. Sure we can dog the president at these inconsequential award shows or ridicule him on Twitter but these actions are of no consequence. If we've learned anything from the last presidential campaign this type of thing just makes Trump stronger with his base, and fuels his popularity. In my world the Golden Globes mean less than nothing. Did any black people win? Since I am online I did catch wind of Meryl Streep's speech berating trump. But honestly I have zero interest in anything Meryl Streep has to say. That is not to say that she does not have something of interest to say I just spend my time listening to others. I fully appreciate this makes me an outlier in terms of interest in celebrity and pop culture but as I've gotten older, this stuff interests me increasingly less.

…whenever someone prefaces a statement with, “This might sound racist…” you know to brace yourself for a racist statement. But I look at a LOT or books over the course of my day. Naturally, one notices trends and patterns, real and imagined, as one examines large numbers of books over time. One trend I've noticed, for example, is a surge in interest in Children's books. This is a great trend because there has been so much discussion on the lack of diversity in children's literature, that it actually crowded out discussion about the great literature that exists. Another trend I noticed is that corporate publishing seems to be veering even further way from publishing novels of interest to garden variety African American males. The classic refrain is that Black men don't read, but Black men would read if they were, at least initially, exposed to literature that spoke to their experiences. Mainstream publishers seem to be fixated on novleist that are written by formerly incarcerated, gay, biracial, non-American Black (British, Caribbean, African) writers. Name a popular novelist, with a book that was published in the last year, that does not fit into one or more of these categories. I could name some writers myself, but as you think of the make authors that win awards, that are covered by corporate media or pushed by mainstream publishers, I think you find the categories I listed are disproportionately represented. Most Black American men fall outside the categories mentioned. This is a large demographic that is largely ignored. This does not mane that a writer in these categories can not write for a broad audience. They can and they do, but if straight, American born, Black male writers are not getting published or actively promoted there are subjects, which appear to male readers that will more likely to be overlooked and marginalized. Now is that bigoted or just a valid observation?

@Del, I don't understand your request. I think we are all biased on some level--it is natural; we are all human. However I do believe our bias lies on a spectrum; some are much more biased than others. Indeed some of blinded by it.

Then I see no upside for Talkedga''s participation. Does anyone?

Del ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson was recently named U.S. Secretary of State. Trump selected Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general to head the EPA. The problem here is that Pruitt is a climate change denier and fossil fuel industry supporter. Again, the problem here is that the press tolerates conversations about man-made climate change as if it is up for debate. Much of the country including many of our leaders don't take climate change seriously... perhaps because they consume their news from Trump's twitter feed.

Cynique, I'm gonna out cynic you a moment and agree with Pioneer here. I find it a little implausible that a single individual, no matter how rich, slick, and egotistical, could have single handily taken over as president of the United States. I don't think Trump staged this coup on his own. We are talking about players acting at a global level. These players are able to manipulate the minds and therefore control the behavior of people for their benefit. I heard on the radio that there are individuals, kids actually, in India who make thousands of dollars a day creating fake news websites. From what I know about how the WWW works this should be impossible. So either these kids are freaking super-geniuses or something is propping these kids up... Corporate media freely admits they created false equivalences regarding Trump outrageous lies by covering them as if they were true and gave him far more coverage that all the other republican candidates combined. Why did they do this? It is not as if they don't understand journalism. Initially, I just thought corporate media was just being greedy by covering the Trump as his antics are a boon to ratings. But money alone does not explain it--at least not to my satisfaction. And what is with the obsession of monitoring Twitter for Trump news, why doesn't corporate media get him in a room and ask some substantive questions?

I'm sure Talladega can use the money the band will earn performing during the inauguration. Sure, it can be argued it is blood money and one can claim Talladega has sold their souls. But in order to level a critique of Talladega you'd have to do the same for every Black institution that did anything for a President that you disagreed with Harry. I bet you'd have no problem if the band marched for Bill Clinton. Bill actually did things that harmed Black people. Trump isn't even in office. So far, Trump has been nothing but talk. Now when he actually enacts legislation that hurts Black people I'm all for boycotting Trump. For now, I say Talladega should take the money while the getting is good. Besides it is not like Black folks are lining up to support the struggling institution.

I just published the November/December 2016 bestsellers list. Children's books really dominated the list this two month period. There are hundreds of different titles sold each period, most of them only sell one or two copies, but there were scores of excellent children's books which sold several copies.

Provide the details and I'll add it right away and definitely post a link to your website. Yours is the first store in the state that I was aware of since X-pressions closed. Are there any others you are aware of?

It is not New York City (not even close), it is not DMV, LA, ATL or any place you might expect unless you live there (check out the entire map):

Only three Black writers have won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Do you know them? (off the top of your head--without looking it up).

Thanks man; your opinions has kept these forums alive, well into the age of the corporate controlled web.

Yes, I'm definitely more inclined to give a Brother, like Jim Brown, a little more leeway that a rich privileged powerful white man who has had a life time of being given passes, from everyone. Needless to say, Trump has been given more passes than all the wide receivers in the history of football. I find it difficult to believe that Hillary did not care about Bill's numerous reckless "activities," but we can't know... I mention Obama aligning himself with a Sharpton because it told me he was not really serious about addressing the needs of Black folks. If he would have summoned Brown or better yet, maintained his relationship with West, rather than ditching him after he got elected, that would have been an indication of serious intent. Now this is not to say that Trump will do anything for us, but the meeting was interesting to note and we'll see what some of it (I don't have high hopes) Sure your definition of white supremacy is text book, the validation part is the consequence of internalized indoctrination brought on by racism and the reason we struggle. That more nuanced assessment is important to understand. Happy New Year Everyone!

Well, I appreciate the debate Cynique. Trump and his presidency are so emotionally fueled that reason, facts, and relevant information are largely absent to very difficult to isolate. Perhaps by critically examining my own ideas, will make is possible for me to see where my own biases club my judgment. So thanks. I don't think Hillary should be judged based upon Bill's policies or behavior. But if is difficult to ignore her reaction to his behavior which she obviously condoned or perhaps enabled. I think it speaks to her own motivations and what she is willing to tolerate in exchange for moe power and wealth. Obviously, I can't know her motivation but if it difficult to look at favorably. Do you think Michelle's would have reacted the same way as Hillary if some intern was caught blowing Barack in the oval office? That on top of all the other stuff we know about--God only knows what else we don't know Bill has done. I don't who called the meeting between Trump and Brown. No, it is not my hero worship of Brown that makes me more inclined to give him a pass than Trump. I don't believe I engage in hero worship in that sense. What resonated with me is the statement I quoted from him. I've seen it in action; we live for white validation and it has debilitated the Black community. White validation diminishes Black institutions, businesses, and our very culture--effortlessly. I think if Black people truly understood Jim's statement, that would go a long way to helping Black people move forward.

OK I see you can't get past Brown's issues with women from decades ago, and it appears to be impacting your impression of Brown, and maybe you are right. But why do you give Bill Clinton as pass and not Jim Brown? Why should Brown align himself with the progressives you speak of? We can have a multi-pronged approach when dealing with Trump. Besides, the progressives haven't done such a great job holding Trump's feet to the fire so far, have they? I brought up Sharpton/Obama to contrast with Brown/Trump. If Brown/Trump reaches the same level as Obama/Sharpton, I think the relationship will be very different and there will be a positive outcome for Black folks. I can't see Brown being a Trump sycophant, in the manner of Sharpton, for the next 4 to 8 years, without getting anything in return. No, Cynique I actually have complete and utter disdain for Trump's "unscrupulous disregard for truth and legality" and our media's inability to call it for what it is rather than use it to boost ratings. But at this point, it does not matter what I think about Trump--good, bad, or indifferent he is the president and he is the man we have to deal with.

Cynique, you were the one to bring up Brown's "...history of violence against all the women in his life..." Why do you bring it up if it were not a factor in making your point? Who knows if Trump will give Brown what he is looking for? What Jim is doing is trying. Trump, whether we like it or not, is the President. We can sit in the corner and sulk while things get even worse, or we can continue to try to improve things. I don't know if Obama reached out to Jim Brown; maybe I'll look that up later. However I do know Obama reached out to Al Shapton. This does give you something to think about, doesn't it?

I appreciate and believe I can understand your perspective. You are a contemporary of Jim and a Black woman, so your perception would be different from mine, a Black man who attended the same University as Jim and was fueled on his legendary football exploits. Jim Brown from my perspective is a classic man's man. You would never see him doing the Salsa in the end zone or jumping into a Goodwill bucket after making a touchdown. Still, having recently reviewed JIm's background one has to contend with and reconcile his history of violence against women. Is it the result of a smear campaign by white men trying to keep another powerful Brother down, as it was done against the leadership of the Black Panthers. Or maybe it was the horrendous behavior of a young man who dealt badly with his physical strength, power, money, and celebrity. In any event, Jim hasn't been accused of any of these things in decades. Rather, he has been a strong activist working for us in a way that few other with his prominence do. JIm could be doing anything else. Do we ever forgive him and move on? What is better keeping a powerful advocate down because of past fuck ups or take advantage of his power advocacy?

Yeah, for the most part, I am mostly concerned about the racists who will string a Brother up, or shoot up a Church. I'm also concerned about those rabid racists that feed Black people into the prison industrial complex, by not providing adequate educations and hyper-aggressive policing. I'm not too worried about the little old lady who clutches her purse more securely as I walk by because she has been brainwashed by the media or the person who voted for Trump because they are suffering economically and fell for the lie that Mexicans immigrants have taken their jobs and believe a wall will help them get a well paying job. Jim Brown has already demonstrated his commitment, as an activist by dedicating a lifetime to helping Black people. He is not interested in simply hanging wth Trump.

I'm uncovering a treasure trove of radio interviews. Here is a radio interview with Thumper. Thumper was an integral part of the AALBC.com website for over 10 years. He moderated our Coffee Will Make You Black, online book club, reviewed over two hundred books, and was such a dominant contributor to this discussion forum, I named it in his honor; “Thumper’s Corner.” Listen to an Interview of Thumper Interviewed by Delores Thornton on “A Round 2 It” - Radio Program April 2003 Your browser does not support the audio element. Delores provided several more cassette tapes for me to convert to digital format, but despite my best intentions I never did allocate the time to convert all of her programs to archive on AALBC.com. I'm glad I was able to save Thumper's interview.

According to the comments on Youtube, the video made in in 2010. Again Cynique you seem to be fixed on Trump being a rabid racist. If this is your only world view, you'd never be able to conceive how a Black activist, like Jim Brown, might be inclined to be willing giving Donald Trump. Instead of you'd rather demean Brown by describing him as groveling when you and I both know, Jim Brown does not "grovel."

I saying that I don't believe Trump is nearly as racists as the Neonazis to whom he appeals. In fact, it is likely that this racist demographic will fare worse under a Trump presidency, because we all will. You see, racists believe that their problems are actually caused by Black people, never realizing that it is in fact people like Trump that have taken advantage of them in order to enrich themselves. Perhaps after Trumps has been in office for a couple of years these racists will see that Trump I think I have been pretty consistent about my opinion of Trump. I always understood why people voted for him. Don't confuse my understanding of (or willingness to understand) a Trump supporter's motivation with my agreement with that motivation.

Lee E. Meadows, Ph.D interviewed many authors in the late 90's on his “The Book Beat” radio program, which broadcast on Detroit’s WPON 1460 AM. Some of the interviews he did are archived in AALBC.com and include: Evelyn Coleman, J. California Cooper, Eric Jerome Dickey, Tananarive Due, Lolita Files, Linda Dominique Grosvenor, Hunter Hayes, William July II, Renee Killingsworth, Lisa Saxton, Camika C. Spencer, Roger M. Davis, Delores Thornton, and Omar Tyree. Lee used to send me audio cassettes of each interview and I would convert them into Real Audio files. Back in the 1990's Real Audio was one of the most popular ways to deliver audio content on the web, but today one can provide audio using standard HTML and mp3 files. After converting the tapes to Real Audion files, I would then upload the files to the web server, and place the code on a web page to allow visitors to listen the audio files. It was a labor-intensive process. When Real Audio, became obsolete, I never got around to converting these files to mp3 files and these interviews were unavailable for the better part of a decade. The current website's upgrade has made it much easier for me to converted these files (and many others) and they are now available. The other thing that strikes me about these interviews is much how much we things have changed. 18 years ago there was a radio station, in a major city that broadcast a program dedicated to Black books. The program's host was willing to work with a variety of others including AALBC.com to help promote and expand the reach of these broadcasts. This was just one small aspect of a landscape in which Black books are not celebrated as much. Because of Lee Meadows work a portion of our history, our stories have been chronicled and preserved. Thanks Lee! Lee actually did several interviews with me; the first almost 18 years ago. Listen to an Interview of Troy Johnson Interviewed by Lee E. Meadows on Detroit’s WPON’s “Book Beat” February 4, 1999 Your browser does not support the audio element.