Troy

Well @Sara what did you think of Dyson?

Terrific Books Coming in May, Beyond Adichie, and More!

Now you write free verse poetry too huh? Oh Brother... Given your commentary about the subject, it is more likely your free verse masquerading as poetry, not the poets listed or anthologized above. It takes balls to publicly berate an art form which you've demonstrated zero qualifications or talent to critique. Celestial you are starting to sound like our old friend Unkel Ruckus with comments like this "Aside from poetry, this is the precise attitude as to why the Black community has been trashed! 'They do not want rules! They want to behave like wild animals!'" Is that your assessment, or that of the right wings racists whose rhetoric you've apparently come to embrace? No need to reply, the question was rhetorical, for you are completely correct in your assessment: this dialog has become repetitious and is waste of time and energy.

Man you really are fixed and rigid in your thinking Celestial, I doubt you'd ever come to appreciate free verse as as poetry or any other form of artistic expression. I'm sure you know A LOT less about poetry than many of the artist that utilize the form, but hey lack of knowledge never stopped anyone... What do you think about free Jazz? I guess you'd suggest folks like Ornette Coleman don't know anything about musical theory. Those questions I posted were not to suggest that I knew the answers; as you were so quick to point out I don't. The answers are unknowable. If the conditions of the situations I pointed out are unknowable, how can rules be applied to them? What does someone like you do or think when there are no rules? Look, all the other brilliant physicists of Einstein's day were familiar with the same rules old Albert was--perhaps more so, indeed that may have been their limitation. What distinguished Einstein from all the others was his ability to think beyond the rules he did not expand on what was already known he created a completely new set of rules--something someone like you will never do, because of you own self limitations. I wrote "Rules were meant to be broken bruh," not to quote anyone but to make a simple statement, one that obviously went over your head. Why for God's sake does breaking a rule lead to "...behaving like wild, obnoxious, belligerent and uncivilized animals?" Your hyperbolic statements do not strengthen your argument in fact it substantially weakens them. It is one thing to engage in hyperbole for the purpose of braggadocio and you are given to do. But folk simply recognize this as a form overcompensation for other deficiencies... and it is easily ignored. If rules are meant to be broken, this is how we grow as individuals, and evolve as a culture. Accept it man, free verse is poetry

Can't guarantee Haki, but someone is working on it.

Well hopefully you can make it Sara :-) It is possible Haki Madhubuti will come through.

@Celestial Greatness, what happened before the "big bang"? What happens to us when we die? What is beyond the observable universe? While we do know a little about the universe, it would be extremely arrogant to assume we have a clue about what those rules are. We don't even have a firm grip on what we don't know.... LOL, me write poetry... nah man. I can barely understand most of it without a some effort. I'm more of an analytical thinker, which is why I recognize it when I see it in others like yourself. Since building this site I've grown to appreciate a wider variety of artistic forms. I'm not sure why you keep insisting kids say poetry is dull and boring. I know you realize most songs and rap lyrics are poetry. Perhaps it is the way it is being taught that is discouraging the kids you encounter. Kids will find anything boring if it taught poorly. Some people are bound by rules and rigid structure. It is much easier to conform to some preexisting rules, but that is not where the new discoveries or the great things come from. When Einstein corrected Newton no almost no one agreed because Einstein's idea because it was so radical. Albert thought outside the proverbial box. Still Einstein himself never fully embraced many of the ideas currently associated with the quantum world. Rules were meant to be broken bruh.

I just added the photo to the newsletter, which I will email this afternoon. @Shirley Gale, there is one thing I did notice, that is worth mentioning not just for your consideration but for any other authors who read this conversation. When deciding which photo to use, I noticed you included the text "Available at Amazon.com." There was a time when that would be considered sponsorship and a company would have to pay for that kind of exposure--and that time was not very long ago. One of the things I observed in recent years as that everyone gives the largest corporations free promotion. I know part of the reason social media is so very popular is that we all aggressively promote those platforms. We plaster their logos on all of our promotional material and refer readers to these platforms often before our own websites. It is not just Black authors who do this it is most business, from individual enterprises to large corporations, (though I have to believe the larger corporation plugging social media are not doing it for free). A buddy of mine recently designed a graphic to promote our Annual Black Pack Party. He put the logos of three popular social media platforms on our flyer. I did not ask him to do that, he did it on his own; collectively we have been trained. Don't get me wrong people should use Amazon, and social media, but lets not let they them get more out of us than we get out of them. As Black folks I think the issue is even more important because this free promotion, based upon my observations, has come at the expressive of our businesses. I have always suggested that Black authors, if they are going to plug a bookseller for free, plug a Black-owned store too. In 2016, one can pretty much take it for granted a book will be available via Amazon, explicity saying it only reinforces Amazon.com brand--again at our expense. I also know authors feel there is still some level of credibility that goes along with saying that their book is available at Amazon, But today anyone can make their book available via Amazon, there is no longer any cache in saying this, at least not in the way there might be to saying your book is available in a Barnes & Noble brick and mortar bookstore, which despite their size carries relatively few books written by Black authors--especially independently published ones. I hope for a day when Black-owned businesses can benefit from free promotion too.

It is poetry man. Sonia Sanchez wrote a book composed entirely in royal rhyme, which you might confuse with prose masquerading as poetry if you did not happen to notice the form. the reader don't have to know what the form is called to know one is present. All poetry does not have to rhyme and has more to do with artistic expression. Poetry, even free form poetry can communicates in a way that prose can not. Don't get caught up in a rigid structure @Celestial Greatness, you'll bound yourself up and restrict your freedom. The world is not all about Black and white, right or wrong, facts versus myths. The universe is mostly unknown, unknowable and a mystery.

Black Pack Party 10th Anniversary Celebration We are hosting the 10th Anniversary Black Pack Party on the evening of Wednesday, May 11th. It is shaping up to be a wonderful celebration and we are looking forward to seeing you there! Venue: Norman’s Bistro Address: 1001 E 43rd St, Chicago, IL 60653 Phone: (773) 966-5821 Date: May 11, 2016 Time: 6:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. More Info: http://aalbc.it/bpp2016 Hash Tag: #blackpackparty #BlackPackParty Tweets The 2016 Black Pack Party co-sponsors are, AALBC.com, The African American Children’s Book Project, The Chicago Defender, Linda Duggins, Mosaic, Say It Loud! Readers & Writers, and Written Magazine.

Sorry man, you are right, I was wrong--completely. I should just delete my comment and your reply and make believe it did not happen is that cool?

@Pioneer1, uncharacteristically you've seemed to reply with a comments that has absolutely nothing to do with the original post. I guess you just wanted to get that off your chest. Have you considered that people of all so called "races" are the same way? For example I would not want to be president of the united states. However, I would like to be the man that pulls his strings.

Yes she is great isn't she @Shirley Gale. She is one of the reasons I have to really work hard to incorporate the work of publishers outside the U.S.

This is why indie presses are so important. Can you image anyone from a "big five" New York publisher saying anything close to what she sister is saying?

You know I actually do have an issue with the word "diversity." It depends upon who is using it for example when Shirley uses it I know she means to include Black folks--that is a given. However when corporations use it, Black folks don't have to be part of the mix, and this is very troubling. This is troubling because corporations and organizations seeking corporate support for their programs can say they are diverse, which gives the impression that Black people are benefiting, when in reality White women, gay people, Asian people, any demographic but the American Black is benefiting. I worked for several fortune 100 companies many of these companies boasted about their "diversity," but this diversity does not include us. On paper the figures can be presented to make a company appear very diverse, but a Black person are simply left out --certainly for the income producing roles and higher paying positions. This New York Times article illustrates this quite well. In fact over the course of my corporate life things got progressively worse over the past 30 years So no I'm not a fan of the word diverse, unless I'm talking about the diversity within Black culture.

With the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics, Dawn Lundy Martin wants to make Pitt the place people go to study black poetry. “We want to help to really put that MFA program on the map so that if you’re a black poet, the very first place that you would apply to and your top choice would be the University of Pittsburgh,” Lundy Martin said. “Right now, that’s not true.” Pitt English professor Lundy Martin is co-founder and co-director of the CAAPP, which Pitt launched in March as a creative think tank for African-American and African diasporic poets and artists. Located on the fourth floor of the Cathedral of Learning, the Center records Pitt’s history as a home for black poetry and charts its future as a leader in the dialogue. Read the complete article here.

Mel, promoted by your message on Linkedin I also added the quote to Erika's page as well. Prince's simple requests helped more people than just Erika. The really powerful aspect of what Prince did is that it did not cost him a cent to elevate Erika, that is real power. And while Erica felt she was too "green" for the assignment, what she probably discovered that she was probably better suited for the job and any of the more senior white counterparts--so everyone benefited. I was hurt to discover that Ericca killed herself in 2012. Insert other media

You perfectly embody the spirt of AALBC.com Shirley. We have to support each other. If you have not already done so reach out to Wade. He has been fighting for the same thing I have for much longer--and doing a great job!

I'll include a shot in my next newsletter :-)

Del who is the "you" who are referring to, and what points do you disagree with? Did you watch the video?

... certainly not enough to effect meaningful change. Del I'm going to seriously consider to begin to looking outside the US

From the New York Times: The Faces of American Power, Nearly as White as the Oscar Nominees By Haeyoun Park, Josh Keller and Josh Williams, Feb 26, 2016 "We reviewed 503 of the most powerful people in American culture, government, education and business, and found that just 44 are minorities. Any list of the powerful is subjective, but the people here have an outsize influence on the nation’s rules and culture." The article looks at the faces of the the most powerful people the Times has identified. It is interesting to see white power describe white power as white, then seemingly lament the lack of diversity. It seems disingenuous to me; designed more to grab eyeballs rather than do the work of uncovering why this continues to be a problem... But then again the Times never actually write that this is a problem. Of course many of the 44 so called "minorities" are not Black. Below are the powerful faces the Times identified in the world of publishing. The face of Jeff Bezos is conspicuously absent, but he is mug may be found under the list of "Leaders of the Largest American Companies." In fact this list is a bit misleading in the sense that if does not reflect the true power of individuals like Bezos. The Times go on to describe the nature of the publishing list; "There’s no single authority for identifying the most powerful people in publishing, but we selected 20 who are among the most influential in deciding which books get published, which ones break out and what Americans read. Among those included are publishing executives who say “yes” or “no” to book proposals, and powerful agents and celebrities who influence which books become best sellers." "A recent survey of workers at publishing houses found that the industry remains overwhelmingly white. Nearly 90 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, and only 20 percent said strides had been made to diversity the work force." Failing to find a single Black person the Times reflects what I'll be exposed to at Book Expo America in a few weeks. As usual, the event will reflect the homogeneity that is American publishing (i.e. it will be a sea of white folks).

What determines how long we’ll live? Surprisingly, our zip code plays a large role. Not all communities have the necessary ingredients for health. People who reside in areas without easy access to healthy food options, parks for exercise, and good schools for their children have shorter lives than those who live in more affluent communities. Differences across neighborhoods were manmade and can be unmade, but it will take all of us. The California Endowment’s 10-year Building Healthy Communities initiative seeks to bring equity to all neighborhoods so that all Californians can enjoy the benefits of healthy communities and live long and productive lives.

I saw your post @Sara and I don't understand why you rejected my response, when we were obviously referring to the same war (perhaps because you referred to one of them). I'm not sure why you think the Seminole Wars are so widely known, but it is not worth debating the point. Denzel wore a cross in Training Day.

There has been a lot of press lately on the rise in suicides over that past 20 years. I believe the largest increase is among middle aged white men. During the same period the icde rates for Black men has actually gone down. Some feel that the increase in white suicide is a reaction to the loss of white privilege. While this is devastating to white folks reality, this is par for the course for Black folks--arguably an improvement. When white folks say "lets take our country back," what they really mean is lets restore white privilege. Again, racism is a tool of capitalists. We can eradicate racism tomorrow (and we should try), but lets not be naive and believe that oppression will end there.