Troy

I know I'm getting old when I see something like this and think to myself, how silly can you be? If you don't like the job are wanna sell herb instead, just quit, like a professional--sheesh. I discovered this video on the News One website. Someone suggested to me that they are the most prominent sources of Black news on the web. I disagreed saying the it would be the Huffington Post. I'm not happy saying that, but that is my take. Plus I don't consider this particular story "news." Again, I get that it is starling, alarming and sensational. Indeed, I was even promoted to post it here. But if our most prominent new source has to broker in this type of news, culturally we are in deep doo-doo.

Cynique, I actually learned about Cooper's death on Facebook. from another popular author's posting. I checked for a valid source to verify the story and could not find anything other than the small bit in Ebony. On the 23rd AP wrote a story that was picked out by a few newspapers. The LA Times wrote a piece and they actually linked to an interview my buddy over at Mosaic Magazine published http://lat.ms/ZL4UVK It is nice to see the LA times will post a link to a Black site, Ebony steals photos without crediting the source (you can see Ebony has me a little tight right about now). At any rate, I do not use or consider Facebook a credible news source. I would never share information I discovered there--unless it was also mentioned on a reputable source. I've seen too many hoaxes, and even fell for one once... I guess in my "Black book bubble" Cooper is high profile, but relatively obscure to the general pubic. So I know you are right about Cooper Cynique. Funny, I posed a question recently, who are our high profiles authors, with so many kicking the bucket --who is left? While no one replied to my query on this forum there was some activity on Twitter and names like Dolen Perkins Valdez, Bernice Mcfadden and Terry McMillian were mentioned. Of those names only Terry would come close to being commonly known outside literary circles. With Terry gaining a tremendous amount of attention because of the drama with her gay husband. The fact our authors garner so much more attention for the personal drama than their literary accomplishments really irks me. I even write about how Terry personal drama was elevated over her writing by Google in their search results. The same thing was done to Zane, even by the likes of wikipedia elevating tax issues rather than her professional accomplishments. The same goes for our football athletes their private lives are dragged through the mud for ratings and, I believe, because people with real money don't want them in these lucrative positions. Do we have a single Black owned daily newspaper in the entire country, to tell our stories? I just visited the Chicago Defender website and I could not even find a link to subscribe to the newspaper. Is it still in print, or just a website? I agree these "news" stories can be quite comical and compelling. I must have watched the elevator knock out punch 10 times, and talked about it in every social setting I've been in with Black folks since it happened. But sometimes I want to learn something and be informed, especially when it comes to information about Black people . Sadly that is not happening in a meaningful substantive way in 2014. I'm not sure people knew about Joe Sample. It took me two weeks to hear the news and I'm online every day. There are many fans of J. California Cooper that will not learn of Cooper's passing until they read my newsletter next Tuesday.

Here is a Michael Brown we can stand to hear more about: http://aalbc.com/authors/a-tale-of-two-countries.html

Well Cynique, I'm not exactly arguing that ignorance is bliss. But at the same time I could have heard a lot less about Michael Brown and not been any less informed. How do we benefit from the 24x7 coverage of this particular case when police officers kill civilians at better than a rate of one per day, in the US. We all know many of these killing were unjustified. My problem is that we are constantly inundated with the same inconsequential negative news. Driven not by a need to inform, educate, elucidate, or uplift, but by a desire to maximize profit. Besides the negative impact on my psyche mental we are woefully ill-informed about things that are FAR more important. Take climate change for example, why is this not at the top of our list of things we need to deal with. Why is it even controversial? The news can't get much worse about climate change, but I'd welcome more news about it. I could go on with examples, but you see what I mean. ... I envy the fact that you can derive pleasure from seeing Jay Z and Beyonnce. I derive no interest from the couple, their child, or the violent sister. Honestly I'm sure my aversion is due to having them shoved down my throat so much--at the expense of interest paid to other talented performers, as far as I'm concerned. That said, maybe I'll check the program. I'll keep an open mind, manage my exceptions, see if I can derive some pleasure the show and escape the threat of, terrorism, an uninhabitable planet, or just being gunned down by a white cop.

AALBC mourns the passing of J. California Cooper: EBONY.com reports that she transitioned in Seattle, Washington, on September 20th 2014 Cooper was a great story teller. The last time I saw her was in 2009 this photo was taken a maybe a year or two earlier at the National Book Club Conference. I shot this video of her where she described a new book she was working on. As far as I know the book was never published, but this was also around the time when Black authors were beginning to see a reduction on book deals. Here is the video Strange. The only indication that I can find on the net is a small mention in Ebony Magazine--not a single news story. I was thinking, this weekend, when I learned about Joe Sample's passing which happened almost two weeks earlier on the 12th. How sad it is that we no longer have any platforms to share information important to the community. Well actually the problem is we simply don't support our platforms. Copper's passing is news worthy, but who is willing to fund the coverage? Even Ebony's coverage though better than nothing was too short to do the writer justice. Plus it appears Ebony lifted a photo from my website, in any event they did not bother to credit the source. Sometimes Ebony seems to bend over backward not to support another Black owned website (but I digress...). I will never understand our people. I will miss J. California Cooper's voice and wisdom.

It is not often we get a 3K+ word post. Engaging a long nuanced post is not something that I find that I do very often. Times have changed. Indeed, the fact that I'm making this observation rather than just diving in is a reflection of those changes. I saw this post a few days ago and immediately decided to come back to it. I knew I would need to switch gears, and slow down an minute, before trying to read what WC wrote. While I've heard of the Michael Brown case, I have not really made a real attempt to follow or understand the specifics of the event. Part of the reason is that is seems so much of it is a media circus. Where,"journalists," bent on capturing something bad, seemed to out number the protesters. Lately, it seems we are constantly inundated with bad news, from football players beating their wives and children, to radicals sawing the heads off Americans. I know shit is bad in the world, but there are some good things happening too. I'd like to see and talk more about the good things. I feel as though I'm becoming jaded, as I'm blanketed with so much negative information, 24 hours a day... ...but as a content provider, on the web, I know very well that bad and controversial news is attracts more readers. Our news outlets and social media platforms are masters at the art of propagating negativity. Of course in a racist culture, that negativity is disproportionately directed at Black people. Last night I watched one of my favorite programs in TV, Boardwalk Empire. The show features great acting and story telling, but there is always plenty of graphic violence. I then considered the other programs that I watch and enjoyed on TV including, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire, True Blood, True Detective, The Leftovers, and Game of Thrones. Each of these shows features murders, death, plenty of gratuitous sex what love there is highly dysfunctional. I'm not even sure if HBO is capable of airing a series with out gratuitous violence and sex? Can a diet of programming like this be good for one's mental well being? Lately, I do not feel consuming this type of programming has benefited my mental state. It is not as though I watch that much TV, but what I do watch features too much bad behavior and bad news. So even though this treatment was interesting, I don't have much of an appetite for more the Michael Brown story. I'm not interested in hearing what the "bandwagon activist" have to say, for I know this is just an opportunity to make money. I doubt we will ever learn the truth of the Michael Brown story. The truth is gray, much more subtle than the reporters are likely to relate. This is not the story of a rabid racist killing an gentle giant, any more than it is one of officer doing his duty and stopping a violent, threatening predator. The truth would take time to uncover and relate. It is much more lucrative and easier to do a superficial story that plays upon stereotypes.

Humm I may be living a literary bubble. I took it for granted that Toni Morrison was universally known. It does not appears that that is true today--ask around...

Widely hailed as a landmark project, Zun Lee's monograph is at once documentary photography and personal visual storytelling. Through intimate black-and-white frames, 'Father Figure: Exploring Alternate Notions of Black Fatherhood' provides insight into often-overlooked aspects of African-descended family life.The reader gains an intimate view into the daily lives of black men whom Lee has worked with since 2011 and who are parenting under a variety of circumstances - as married fathers, single fathers, social fathers, young and older, middle class and poorer. Lee brings into focus what pervasive father absence stereotypes have distorted - real fathers who are involved in their children's lives. Men who may not be perfect but are not media caricatures. Zun Lee's journey of fatherlessness and identity formation informs his insider perspective and photographic approach. Using his own biography as inspiration, Lee is able to access a complex subject matter with profound vulnerability and compassion, creating a richly woven narrative that is deceptively simple yet multi-dimensional and above all, deeply humanistic. Flanked by writer and photographer Teju Cole's empathetic foreword and by an impassioned afterword courtesy of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine Lee, this work exposes the viewer to aspects of black male identity that many have not seen, or perhaps do not want to see. It shows these men not as victims of their circumstances but as empowered agents in their own lives, as capable parents, and above all as loving, wholesome human beings. Zun Lee

Who are the prominent African American authors writing today? Who are the authors the general public would know--even if they have never read the author's book? There are a few conditions; The author must be alive and younger than 70. So this rules out Maya Angelou and Tony Morrison The authors must be a novelist. Everybody knows Steve Harvey, whose new book, Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success: Discovering Your Gift and the Way to Life’s Riches, will debut at #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers list, but I'm not interested in celebrities that have others writing their books. Again the author must be American. Sure Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is world renown, but I'd like to focus on Black American writers for this thought experiment. Among the many negative trends I see, as it relates to Black publishing, is the idea that we losing Black authors who are household names. We just lost Angelou, Morrison is over 100 (just kidding), Alice Walker is 70. Who is coming up behind these writers? Even Terry McMillan is not as well recognized as she was a decade ago. I can find Eric Jerome Dickey's book when I go into a Barnes & Noble, but the buzz surrounding a new release is not the same. Zane and Kimberla Lawson Roby are very popular and of course we have Walter Mosley. But none of these writers were ever as popular as Angelou, or Langston Hughes, or Jimmy Baldwin. Perhaps the younger authors don't deserve to be. But if you agree with that you have to believe there are some writers out there deserves to be as popular. My concern is that we will never discover those wrters. I tend to think the true problem is that there is much less on focus on books, literature, or even reading in the Black community. When I look back and see articles like this, covering Black writers, in a commercial publication like Ebony Magazine, I know things have changed a great deal. Can you image an article like that today? Who are the prominent authors today? Is the question even relevant?

Also so see my coverage of the The 64th National Book Awards 2013 which is presented by the National Book Foundation FICTION Rabih Alameddine, An Unnecessary Woman (Grove Press/ Grove/Atlantic) Molly Antopol, The UnAmericans (W. W. Norton & Company) John Darnielle, Wolf in White Van (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See (Scribner/ Simon & Schuster) Phil Klay, Redeployment (The Penguin Press/ Penguin Group (USA)) Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven (Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House) Elizabeth McCracken, Thunderstruck & Other Stories (The Dial Press/ Random House) Richard Powers, Orfeo (W.W. Norton & Company) Marilynne Robinson, Lila (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Jane Smiley, Some Luck (Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House) NONFICTION Roz Chast, Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? (Bloomsbury) John Demos, The Heathen School: A Story of Hope and Betrayal in the Age of the Early Republic (Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House) Anand Gopal, No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes (Metropolitan Books/ Henry Holt and Company) Nigel Hamilton, The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941 - 1942 (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Walter Isaacson, The Innovators: How a Group of Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution (Simon & Schuster) John Lahr, Tennessee Williams: Mad Pilgrimage of the Flesh (W.W. Norton & Company) Evan Osnos, Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Ronald C. Rosbottom, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 (Little, Brown and Company/ Hachette Book Group) Matthew Stewart, Nature's God: The Heretical Origins of the American Republic (W.W. Norton & Company) Edward O. Wilson, The Meaning of Human Existence (Liveright Publishing Corporation/ W.W. Norton & Company) POETRY Linda Bierds, Roget's Illusion (G. P. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Group (USA)) Brian Blanchfield, A Several World (Nightboat Books) Louise Glück, Faithful and Virtuous Night (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Edward Hirsch, Gabriel: A Poem (Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House) Fanny Howe, Second Childhood (Graywolf Press) Maureen N. McLane, This Blue (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Fred Moten, The Feel Trio (Letter Machine Editions) Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf Press) Spencer Reece, The Road to Emmaus(Farrar, Straus and Giroux) Mark Strand, Collected Poems (Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House) YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE Laurie Halse Anderson, The Impossible Knife of Memory (Viking/ Penguin Group (USA)) Gail Giles, Girls Like Us (Candlewick Press) Carl Hiaasen, Skink—No Surrender (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers/ Random House) Kate Milford, Greenglass House (Clarion Books/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Eliot Schrefer, Threatened (Scholastic Press) Steve Sheinkin, The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights (Roaring Brook Press/ Macmillan Publishers) Andrew Smith, 100 Sideways Miles (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/ Simon & Schuster) John Corey Whaley, Noggin (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/ Simon & Schuster) Deborah Wiles, Revolution: The Sixties Trilogy, Book Two (Scholastic Press) Jacqueline Woodson, Brown Girl Dreaming (Nancy Paulsen Books/ Penguin Group (USA))

Jane Addams Peace Association, Inc. 777 United Nations Plaza, 6th floor New York, NY 10017-3521 Phone: (212) 682-8830 E-mail: japa@igc.org www.janeaddamspeace.org Tura Campanella Cook – President Linda B. Belle – Executive Director FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS ANNOUNCED APRIL 26, 2014… Recipients of the 2014 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards were announced today by the Jane Addams Peace Association. Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909, written by Michelle Markel and illustrated by Melissa Sweet, published by Balzer & Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins, is the winner in the Books for Younger Children Category. Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes, published by Little, Brown and Company is the winner in the Books for Older Children category. Clara Lemlich, the young woman profiled in Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 was barely in her twenties when she helped to lead the largest walkout of women workers in US history. A Jewish immigrant from Ukraine, Clara found work in the New York garment industry, only to discover that the working conditions were abysmal and unjust. When the mostly male union leaders urged caution, Clara stood up and demanded a general strike. Despite threats and brutal retaliation from those in power, Clara helped to create change. Sugar is the name of the book, the name of the crop that dominates plantation life, and the name of the spirited young girl who tells us her story. The Civil War is over, but little has changed in Sugar’s life. Most of the former slaves have moved away, leaving only those too elderly to travel and orphaned Sugar. With no other children around, Sugar starts a forbidden friendship with the son of the plantation owner, but the relationship is complicated. When workers from China are hired to work in the sugar fields, tensions erupt among every layer of plantation society. Two books were named Honor Books in the Books for Younger Children category. We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song written by Debbie Levy and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton and published by Jump at the Sun, an imprint of Disney-Hyperion, has been named an Honor Book for Younger Children. “When…people sing out, they can change the world.” Widely known as a Civil Rights anthem, the song has a long history that started well before that period, and continues to inspire around the world today. With lively illustrations and moving prose, the book explores the power of community through the story of one song. Razia’s Ray of Hope: One Girl’s Dream of an Education written by Elizabeth Suneby and illustrated by Suana Verelst and published by Kids Can Press has been named an Honor Book for Younger Children. Razia’s village in Afghanistan is building a school for girls, and Razia is determined to attend, despite initial reluctance from her elder brother. Through her own advocacy and spirit, her dream for an education is realized. Two books were named Honor Books in the Books for Older Children category. Seeing Red by Katheryn Erskine and published by Scholastic Press is named an Honor Book for Older Children. In the early 1970’s, twelve year old Red struggles with the damage his actions have caused to his friendship with an older African American boy, while at the same time trying to right a centuries-old racial injustice connected to his beloved family. Realistically complicated characters and situations breathe life into this story of a young man creating change in both his community and himself. Brotherhood by Anne Westrick and published by Viking is named an Honor Book for Older Children. Uneasy in Reconstruction-era Virginia, Shad feels torn between conflicting loyalties when teachers at a controversial school for freed slaves, including an African American girl his own age, are able to help with his dyslexia at the same time that he is reveling in the sense of community and comradeship he feels with his recent induction into the newly formed Ku Klux Klan. Choosing between his new understanding of the African American community and his family and community results in hard choices and no easy answers in this look at a complex period of our history. Since 1953, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award annually acknowledges books published in the U.S. during the previous year. Books commended by the Award address themes of topics that engage children in thinking about peace, justice, world community and/or equality of the sexes and all races. The books also must meet conventional standards of literacy and artistic excellence. A national committee chooses winners and honor books for younger and older children. Members of the 2014 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Committee are Marianne Baker (co-chair, Barboursville, VA), Kathryn Bruce (Monteagle, TN), Ann Carpenter (co-chair,Harwich, MA), Julie Olsen Edwards (Soquel, CA), Susan Freiss (Madison, WI), Lani Gerson (Watertown, MA), Jacqui Kolar (Morton Grove, IL), Lauren Mayer (Seattle, WA), Beth McGowan (Rockford, IL), Mary Napoli (Hummelstown, PA), Heather Palmer (Minnetonka, MN). Regional reading and discussion groups of all ages participated with many of the committee members throughout the jury’s evaluation and selection process. The 2014 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards will be presented on Friday, October 17, 2014 in New York City. Details about the award event and about securing winner and honor book seals are available from the Jane Addams Peace Association (JAPA.) Contact JAPA Executive Director Linda B. Belle, 777 United Nations Plaza, 6th Floor, NY, NY 10017-3521; by phone 212.682.8830; and by email japa@igc.org. -End- Contributions to the Jane Addams Peace Association, Inc. are deductible for income and estate tax purposes.

Coal: The Saga of Coal from Slave to El Diablo Negrito (The Black Devil)

I hear the word on a daily basis myself. Walking down the streets of Harlem you can't avoid hearing the word. But as you walk down these streets, I have to say using the n-word is relatively low on the list of priorities of things that need to be addressed. If you listen to the hip-hop station on Sirrius radio. You will hear the n-word in virtually every "song." Once, when struck by the copious use of the word' I recall listening to 10 songs in a row but before I stopping counting. I just found that so crazy the the word would be used to frequently in the music we produce. But then again we don't really control what is broadcast over Sirrius, do we? Thanks for sharing you message here St-Clinton. You are doing God's work.

Arbitrarily passing judgment is the main problem I have with this entire affair, other than being made aware of it at every turn. Besides, is robbing the couple of tens of millions of dollars likely to help or hurt their situation? Does anyone even really care? The idea that TMZ can enrich themselves broadcasting all these videos is disgusting. Our nation is dysfunctional. It is nothing short of a miracle that people are not beating each other unconscious more frequently. I guess one good thing about 24/7 access to social media; is that it is sufficiently distracting to placate the masses, lulling us into complacency.

The Dynamic Southern Region of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. will kick off a seven-month tour featuring prominent writers who are also active members of the sorority. The tour will begin in Atlanta, GA on Saturday, September 20th at Greenbriar Mall from 12:30 - 5:00. Presenters include distinguished Delta Authors: Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook Victoria Christopher Murray Stephanie Perry Moore Ruth Watson Dr. Marjorie Kimbrough Dr. Martha Ward Plowden Angela Ray Brenda Jackson L.D. "Neicy" Wells Dr. Francene Breakfield Join us for this special event sponsored by the National Arts and Letters Commission and hosted by the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter. An Anthology of Sisterhood is a collection of more than 100 original poems, essays, short stories and lyrics commissioned from twenty-two women who are joined in sisterhood through their membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Each chapter of the book highlights a different author and allows her to share her voice and unique experience of sisterhood. Topics include positive relationships among women, spirituality, friendship, sorority life, sibling rivalry, and gender equity. The roster of contributors represents 10 states and includes educators, health professionals, politicians, business owners, artists, and writers. They are leaders in their community and within their organization. L. D. Wells & Dr. Francene Breakfield Co-Editors

Barnes & Noble is offering 50% off two upcoming titles from bestselling two bestselling authors A Christmas Prayer (Grand Central Publishing, October 28, 2014) by Kimberla Lawson Roby and INSTINCT Daily Readings: 100 Insights That Will Uncover, Sharpen and Activate Your Instinct (FaithWords, October 7, 2014) by Bishop T.D. Jakes

Sounds like the next Steve Harvey Book, Think Like a Man as Well as a Woman. Sure I like to hear expert opinions about a subject, Del. But expert opinions can be completely wrong. I can't think of a single field of study where expert opinions are not diametrically opposed. On many subjects, even technical ones, I prefer to hear the opinions of older people, people who have experienced life and witnessed a few things. For example, I often find it very frustrating to hear the "expert" opinion of some 30 year old Black person on how great social media is for society; a person who has no real concept of what life was like before social media, or life before the Internet for that matter. I'm not sure what you mean by, "...emotional sensitivity, but you may be a bit impatient and want it to develop quickly or in a direct or linear fashion." If you could elaborate on that, that would be cool.

It seems writing FCK is an acceptable why of writing the f-bomb. I see it plastered on shirts everywhere. Would writing F*CK, or just plain FUCK be any worse? (Technically, in my case, it is. By simply spelling out the word correctly I run the very serious risk of running afoul of the Google censors, who determine where their ads can be placed, but that is another story). At any rate, I thought this video was cute. But is is largely preaching to the choir and I seriously doubt an actually racist will change their thinking after viewing it. Indeed why would the view it? The Internet has become such a stratified bubble--I doubt anyone who could benefit from watching this video would ever come across it. Social media have become so fixated on showing you what they think you want to see it, the likelihood of discovering something interesting that vary with your world view is much harder, unless you are inclined to seek it out.

... four years later thing has gotten much worse. As I look back on the literary author i recommended (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Heidi W. Durrow, Caryl Phillips), Two are not American and one (Heidi) is the daughter of White Danish immigrant. I realized recently that we have not had an Black American novelist on the NY Times Bestsellers list in months (last I checked). I helped create the Power List to make of for what is not showing up on the Times List, and the end of Essence's Bestsellers List, but gaining traction has been slow. I'll persist but it is hard work. I've recently increased my emphasis on promoting works by classic authors who are great writers but are obscure today. Interestingly writers like Ernest Gaines and Jamaica Kincaid (who is still writing) fall into that category. Others like Carolyn Rodgers or Drusilla Dunjee Houston are seemingly completely unknown. Even worse creating content and expending energy promoting these authors will not likely generate any revenue, zilch. Indeed promoting these authors saps limited time, energy and money. This is why so few people are doing it today. It is hard and there is no financial reward. The same is true for fiction written by contemporary writers. There is simply no infrastructure to support them. Everyone stands on their own, doing what they can with social media. But that is inefficient and ineffective. These conditions create an environment where our authors are simply not discussed. Conversations on this forum, about Black literature, is virtually gone. None of the websites I've tracked over the 15 years are doing any better. Book clubs are considered a great resources for boosting word of mouth, but there are simply not enough clubs, to make a big difference, besides they are not organized in a way in which any influence they have could be exploited. There may be some action on Goodreads, but I don't use that site, I like to support our own business--or at least entities interested in working with me. The attitude of supporting our our businesses, seems anachronistic, relic of a bygone era.

The men you often gripe about Harry are outliers, statistical aberrations, so unusual they could be ignored while trying to understand the general population. The problem is that these statistical anomalies make for compelling, inexpensively produced TV the masses. Sadly too many people come away thinking that many Black men that behave just like Desmond Hatchett. In reality, there are many more men like me, who have two kids, by the same woman, a woman that I was married to before those kids were conceived and that I have been married to for 24 years. Unfortunately, no one has taken the resources to make compelling programming with positive Black characters, doing normal things, so we are left with programming highlighting the exploits of dudes with 34 children, houseswifes, flavor of love and the rest. Obviously it can be done, The Cosby show was one example. But it seems no one really cares enough to demand anything better. That is really our problem not the handful of cats running impregnating anything stupid enough to spread their legs.

BEFORE COLUMBUS FOUNDATION The Raymond House • 655 -13th Street • Suite 302 • Oakland, California 94612 August 18, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Justin Desmangles, 916-425-7916 The Before Columbus Foundation announces the Winners of the Thirty-Fifth Annual AMERICAN BOOK AWARDS Ceremonies, October 26, 2014, 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. Oakland, CA—The Before Columbus Foundation announces the Winners of the Thirty-Fifth Annual AMERICAN BOOK AWARDS. The 2014 American Book Award winners will be formally recognized on Sunday, October 26th from 2:00-5:00 p.m. at the SF Jazz Center, Joe Henderson Lab, 201 Franklin Street (at Fell), San Francisco, CA. This event is open to the public. The American Book Awards were created to provide recognition for outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America's diverse literary community. The purpose of the awards is to recognize literary excellence without limitations or restrictions. There are no categories, no nominees, and therefore no losers. The award winners range from well-known and established writers to under-recognized authors and first works. There are no quotas for diversity, the winners list simply reflects it as a natural process. The Before Columbus Foundation views American culture as inclusive and has always considered the term “multicultural” to be not a description of various categories, groups, or “special interests,” but rather as the definition of all of American literature. The Awards are not bestowed by an industry organization, but rather are a writers’ award given by other writers. The 2014 American Book Award Winners are: Andrew Bacevich Breach of Trust: How Americans Failed Their Soldiers and Their Country, Metropolitan Books Joshua Bloom and Waldo E. Martin Black Against Empire; The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party, University of California Press Juan Delgado (poetry) and Thomas McGovern (photography) Vital Signs, Heyday Books Alex Espinoza The Five Acts of Diego León, Random House Jonathan Scott Holloway Jim Crow Wisdom: Memory and Identity in Black America Since 1940, University of North Carolina Press Joan Naviyuk Kane Hyperboreal, University of Pittsburgh Press Jamaica Kincaid See Now Then, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Tanya Olson Boyishly, YesYes Books Sterling D. Plumpp Home/Bass, Third World Press Emily Raboteau Searching For Zion: The Quest for Home in the African Diaspora, Atlantic Monthly Press Jerome Rothenberg with Heriberto Yepez Eye of Witness: A Jerome Rothenberg Reader, Commonwealth Books Nick Turse Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam, Metropolitan Books Margaret Wrinkle Wash, Atlantic Monthly Press Koon Woon Water Chasing Water, Kaya Press Armond White Anti-Censorship Award: Michael Parenti Lifetime Achievement:

This even had been rescheduled to SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2014. 10th African American Literary Awards Show SATURDAY, SEPT. 27TH , 2014 MIST HARLEM 46 WEST 116TH STREET, NY NY 5:30-7 p.m. VIP Champagne reception 7 p.m.: Doors Open 7:30 p.m. Awards Dinner presentation 9:30 p.m. After party by DJ Stormin Norman Gourmet buffet from Madiba Harlem 2014 Honorees the late Dr. Maya Angelou & James Earl Hardy Purchase Tickets Mention "AALBC.com" and get the $150 VIP Ticket for $100? As described here: Portion of proceeds to benefit non profit Harlem Educational Activities Fund (HEAF) Sponsors Uptown magazine media sponsor Uber Aloft Harlem For sponsorship opportunities please contact Musa Jackson: 646-326-4104 musajacksonproductions@gmail.com Read our coverage of The African American Literary Awards Show over the past decade.

Here is more information about all the previous award winning titles

Harry Brown, are you suggesting that the Neo-Nazis are potentially aligned; as in "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" scenario?

I found this video on a cool new website: www.afrostateofmind.com There has been a resurgence interest in natural hair styles and this change has been reflected in the number of books on the subject that I have seen lately. I did not watch this particular video all the way through as I just wanted to see the reveal. I don't think this is a fair assessment of the difference between "natural" and relaxed hair, for one the model is wearing a wig--a crazy looking one at that. And her natural hair was... I just call it undone. This particular model would look equally attractive, albeit different, with a nice natural style or a halfway decent looking wig. While I personally prefer a natural style, I don't really care what women decide to do with their own hair. I don't even sport a "natural" style myself. I shave my head bald. I don't like my natural state of a receding hair line, growing bald spot, and salt and pepper color. Perhaps if I lived in a culture where natural signs of aging were respected for what they are, signs of maturity, I might allow my hair to grow out my head, naturally. But the baldie bean does offer one important benefit--I don't have to deal with the barbershop any more. That was one activity I never liked, my time and money is better spent now. Well at least my time is ;-)