Troy

Get rid of the language. There is no such thing as "white" people. The definition is subjective and not based upon science. At least one culture allowed one to buy whiteness. In the U.S. Italians, Jews and Irish people did not start out as white, but now they would be considered white by some but not all. The Supreme Court even upheld a decision, that a man with 1 Black great grandparent and 7 white great grandparents was Black and therefore could be legally thrown out the white section of a train. I agree with Pioneer on #2 you can't treat people equally, but you should strive to be fair. Indeed that, by itself would go a long way to eliminating racism. But people are tribal, so racism is a very hard thing to change. But greed trumps tribalism and I always said our country's problems have much more to do with greed than racism. Racism is the tool of the greedy. Today we see increasingly white people become the victims of this greed. They are the ones who lost their homes in the mortgage crisis. They are the ones increasingly addicted to heroin and prescription drugs. They are the ones who can't afford pay for school, and will suffer from student debt only to get a degree that will land them on the unemployment line. They are the ones in jeopardy of not collecting a single penny of the social security they are paying into. For Black folks treatment like this is par for the course. ...and people wonder why whites folks are embracing a Donald Trump. It is not really racism, they are reacting to being victims of greed from people of their own race--other white folks. Of course Donald will not help them any more than Obama helped Black folks... Black, white, red, yellow, unless you have some serious paper in this country, the system is rigged against you and you're simply ass out.

Hey Chris post a link to the Blog post about press this. Can you don't have to live with the length I provided. You can customize the length of the widget. The code I posted has the site set at 1500 pixels, but the code I actually pasted in the sample above is using 400. You can set that number to suit you site. Just change the height parameter, to something that works for your page. height:1500px The width is set at 100%, that way it will use the available space will work nicely on mobile optimized websites (viewable at a narrow width).

The site could be loading slowly because of the plugins you are running did you install one, or a few, recently? You could also be jammed up by too many requests (process trying to hack your site), check your server logs for unusual activity.

THIS CODE IS NO LONGER SUPPORTED Here is all the code you need. This code will also work if your website used secure communication “https://.” <iframe src="https://aalbc.com/events/list-widget.php" style="border:none;width:100%; height:1500px"></iframe> Paste the single line of HTML code above on your website and you will be able to show, an automatically updated, events calendar on your website. The font size and color will follow that of your website's style. The height parameter may be modified, to suit your website as well. 2017 events will added shortly. Events that have occurred will roll off this display after the last day of the event, automatically. The video below shows you how easy it is to add the our events to your website or blog Or course if I'm missing an important event or festival. Please let me know (post the information below). My goal is to ultimately include English language events from around the world. Right now all of the events are in the United States and Caribbean. Enjoy! Oh creating this widget was @Mel Hopkins's idea If you run into any problems using this widget let me know. The events calendar widget code is used directly below. I changed the height parameter from 1500px to 400px so that less vertical space is used. I have added it to my Edit 1 (manuscript editing service) website too.

I visited Fisk the first time I went to Nashville. The legacy was impressive, the current state not so much. I can only image what that community must have been like during better times. You lived it Cynique :-) I got the same feeling when I read the Delany Sisters book Having Our Say. I have family that lived directly across the street from the school where the Delany Sister's father taught, Shaw University. My earliest memories were in that community. However I would be much older before I realized what Shaw was or how close it was to where I visited so many times as a kid. By the time I was of college age I would have zero interest in going to a Shaw or a Fisk. But is an indication of a much bigger problem, and perhaps helps explains why Fisk, Shaw and HBCU's in general are struggling to survive...

@Pioneer1, coincidentally I just posted, just this morning a link to Brenda Jackson page. She has written 100+ romance novels and I have more than have of them on the site: http://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Brenda+Jackson I see I have to really do a better job of helping people understand the scope of the content this site contains. There is tons of content about romance books, I stopped creating "sections" on this site, because "sections" are a physical construct that that would be very limiting when applied to a website. If you are interested in the Romance, just do a search on "Romance" that will keep you busy for a while

Pioneer you know all the examples and symptoms you described, eyeglasses, clothing, and cars, none of those thing cause and are diseases. I seriously doubt anyone who needs eye-glasses would agree with or care about your assertion that they cause weakness , not would any one who needs clothing to protect them from the weather or a car to transport them. Man lets keep thing in perspective. So called western civilization despite all of its ills has improved the quality of life, certainly if you measure it by life expectancy and infant mortality in particular. There are scientists you argue that modem man evolved because we cook food, not the other way around. Cooking food actually reduces greatly the amount of energy we need to exert in order to consume it. Man can consume meat just fine, we are adapted to do it. The whole notion that homo spaiens evolved to eat only vegetables flies in the face off all the available science, despite what some vegetarians might have you believe. Those vegans have the luxury of being vegetarians because they can go down to the Whole Foods and buy this stuff with relatively little effort. If these "nuts" were in the wild they would die from starvation or malnutrition come the first winter. Whenever someone starts a sentence with, "I believe God...." I stop listening, because what man know the mind of God? Who would presume to know what God knows. That is like an amoeba presuming to know what Einstein knows. Of course man was meant to eat meat. We are omnivorous.

Brenda Jackson bestselling author of more than 100 novels (yes 100!): we have 53 of 'em!

59th Day of ‪#‎BlackHistoryMonth‬: Nella Larsen was the first AA woman to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing Died March 30, 1964

Classic Cynique. Sure bring your kid to work once or twice but everyday is too much. Some people are just inconsiderate. I hope the baseballer had good luck finding a team to indulge him.

Human trash makes for great ratings. But I would not call anyone "human trash." Mark is the natural outcome of being raised in America.

Yes both deals are still available @Dr T Looking forward to having your work on the website.

Sara I do recall reading something you wrote indicating that you were a NY Times Bestselling author. Things like that tend to catch my attention. But I can't find a record of the statement. Indeed I can't even find a a post that I could have misinterpreted. There are few possibilities including I was completely mistaken, the post I read was altered or removed, or I simply can't find it. But whatever the case, I'll take you at you word, that you are not a NY Times Bestselling author, and that you never wrote that you were. But again, it would be interesting to learn who you are. Sara is your name on this list: http://aalbc.com/authors/authors.php

Guest that is a very reasonable reaction, assuming everything you wrote is true. We know that Bill beat Denise, but we don't know which other women he beat. Just because we have not heard about him beating his second wife, does not mean he never laid a hand on her. She just may have simply chosen not to make that information public. In general, if a man that hits a woman, in the face, hard enough to blacken her eyes, he has probably hit other women. The vast majority of men simply don't beat don't beat anyone, let alone a weaker woman. But Bill came from the tail end of a time when wives where more like property or children, and it was acceptable to kick their butts when the needed it. Of course that behavior is frowned upon today, even when the wife ticks you off Bill will always be loved and admired for the music he made. Denise was written our of his biography, I doubt anyone under 40 knows who she is today.

....so it looks like neither Cynique or Sara will allow the other to have the last word. As long as either was dissed, made fun of or in any way slighted. Neither are willing to simply let it go. I do have to admit I would love to know who Sara is in real life. First, I would make sure all of her books are on my website--that is a courtesy I give to any active participant on these forums. But I'm also curious because a Black NY Times bestseller, I would have to know her, or at least have met her. But I understand if she wants to maintain her anonymity I understand.

Ian Randle Publishers, one of Jamaica's great publishing houses bringing great book from the Caribbean to the world! I was invited to attend the Kingston Book Festival and had the pleasure of meeting a wide variety of accomplished publishing professionals and talented writers. After doing events like this it becomes even clearer to me that there should be no barriers. We have opportunities globally. Availing ourselves of these opportunities will be crucial to our survival. I spoke with Ian for a bit. He is a really cool dude, very laid back, unpretentious (like everyone else), and has hundreds of books in print.

Cynique, Thumper and I are actually Facebook friends. I was familiar with the account and have seen it before. I guess he'll post here if he is ever so inclined--the forum still bears his name :-)

Well, sadly I would not put too much past our government.

Whoa! Thumper lives! But he has turned to the dark side I would have never guessed that Cynique. Are his reviews on Facebook getting the same kind of attention that they got here (comments)? If so that is great for Facebook. As much as I liked reading Thumper's stuff, I can't bring myself to line Marks pockets any more than I am now. But Thumper publishing he reviews on Facebook a disheartening revelation indeed. I can only assume he would be at complete odds on my stance on the social media platform.... Oh well. By the way I heard the movie sucked. My kids saw it and does not recommend it. This film too goes into my I'll watch it when it is available on Red Box, which is will be before the end fo the year.

Man, there was a time this question would spark a lot of responses. Even lurkers would step out of the shadows and share what they were reading. Have people stopped reading, or have they simply become unwilling to share what they are reading here? Interestingly, AALBC.com's traffic has grown steadily. In stark contrast, these discussion forums have seen a steady decline in participation. I have also noticed a decline in comments on the website overall; there are fewer comments on Blog posts and on the comments section throughout the website. A page can get a thousand visitors a day and not generate a single comment. So it is not just an issue of the number of visitors; it is a change in the behavior of those visitors. The question is what is prompting this change in behavior? Yesterday I made three direct posts on my Facebook page. Two Black history month posts Toni Cade Bambara and an Ida B Wells. There was some engagement, but it was minimal. The third post was me sharing one of the racists memes that was posted on my site. That got as much engagement that anything else I posted all month. Many of the people who reacted wrote that they appreciated what I do, but most of them never comment on that stuff. Indeed some days I'll get more engagement from racist that I do from supporters. Engagement (who is moved to comment) is one of the things I traditionally use to measure how well what I'm doing resonates with people. But I'm beginning to believe that does not matter as much as I think it should. If people visit this site, stick around long enough to read something, and visit another page or two that is really a much more important measure of the success of a website. Just because people are not sharing what they are reading here does not mean folks are not reading and don't care about the site in general. As a great alternative, book clubs have been nice enough share their reading lists with me. I just published the reading list of The Nubian Circle Book Club. Book club's are always a good source of good books to read. Still, it would be nice to know what inidividuals are reading without having to go to a site owned by Amazon--who tends to focus on what is most popular or who spends the most money, rather than on what we really care about or is good.

378 Excellent Books, 77 Important Events & More: This is link to my February newsletter which I archive online. In February I changed the format of the eNewsletter a bit an focused on a few of the many lists of books I’ve compiled--which links to literally 378 book that have been selected by people very knowledgeable about books. As I continue upgrade the website I have the ability to pull together high quality literature in a way few other sites can (or will). The other cool thing is that every book is on a list, but more detail is provided about each book on an individual page--often with video, AALBC.com reviews, links to buy the book from various book sellers and more. Let me know what you think. I welcome, indeed need, your feedback.

Thirteenth National Black Writers Conference “Writing Race, Embracing Difference” March 31, 2016 – April 3, 2016 Sponsored by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York Honorary Chair Rita Dove Honorees: Edwidge Danticat Michael Eric Dyson Charles Johnson Woodie King Jr. Thirteenth National Black Writers Conference Pre-conference Activities The year 2016 marks the centennial of the birth of John Oliver Killens, and to honor this literary champion, The Center for Black Literature, The Harlem Writers Guild, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture celebrated Killens’s legacy on Thursday, March 17, 2016. “Provocateurs: The Symbiotic Relationship between Photographers and Writers” will open in the Charles Evans Inniss Memorial Library at Medgar Evers College on Monday, March 28, 2016. The photography exhibition of 30 images features works by photographers Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Marcia E. Wilson, and Ruddy Roye. This exhibit will be on display through April 29, 2016. The Conference begins on March 31, 2016, with pre-conference activities on scholarly papers presented on the works of Conference honorees. A Poetry Café featuring well-known and up-and-coming poets will be held on Thursday evening. On Friday, April 1, Conference activities continue with the African Voices / Reel Sisters Film Series, which includes a selection of films with literary themes. Thirteenth NBWC Conference Program The formal opening of the Conference is held on Friday evening and will feature a conversation with award-winning poets on the state of poetry produced by Black writers. There will be a special presentation by Honorary Chair, former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove. Over the next two days of the Conference, attendees may participate in a workshop with an established writer, attend a panel discussion where they hear writers discuss the most recent trends in literary texts or the impact of self-publishing on the publishing industry; attend a workshop where they work on an element of fiction or poetry or obtain tips for writing a book proposal; attend a reading with an author who will read from his or her latest work; or spend several hours in the Conference bookstore shopping for books. The participating writers of the Conference are very accessible, and as the poet Sonia Sanchez noted at one Conference, “This is a Conference where writers check their egos at the door.” Our Conference attendees thus have an opportunity to speak individually with writers and to have copies of their favorite books signed. More than 60 writers, poets, and speakers will participate on panels and workshops and give readings throughout the Conference. An Awards Ceremony and Program with featured honorees Rita Dove, Edwidge Danticat, Woodie King Jr., Michael Eric Dyson, and Charles Johnson will be held on Saturday evening. This will be followed by a jazz benefit program in partnership with the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium and with featured artists Tai Allen and Dasan Ahanu. Conference panels continue on Sunday and workshops on the craft of writing will be held in the morning and early afternoon. Thirteenth National Black Writers Conference Schedule Planned Programming (As of March 23, 2016. Subject to modification.) Day One, Thursday, March 31, 2016 Presentation of Conference Papers 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Academic Building 1 Edison O. Jackson Auditorium 1638 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Coordinated by Victoria Chevalier, Linda Jackson, and Joanna Sit Panels: Decoded: Hip-Hop 11 a.m.– 11:35 a.m. Hannah Silva (“Live Writing: Black British Poets in Performance”) Creating Dangerously 11:40 a.m. – 12:40 p.m. Shante Cozier (“The Art of Noir & Contemporary Caribbean Short Stories”) Renee M. Kingan (“Pushing Back: Jayne Cortez and Unesco’s War on War”) Ciara Miller (“How [THEY] Got Ovah: Aesthetics of Three Chicago Black Women Poets”) Althea Tait (“Rita Dove: Movement Between the Aesthetics of Discomfort and the Next”) Politics of Race and Gender 12:45 p.m.– 2:10 p.m. Hilda Davis ("The Political and Psychological Implications of Movement in Harlem/New Negro Renaissance Literature”) Ilinca Diaconu-Stillo (“From Trauma to Community: War, Racism, and African-American Masculinities in Toni Morrison’s Sula and Home”) Janelle Jemmott (“Michael Eric Dyson: Writing Race, Embracing Difference”) Janelle Morris (“Service to All Mankind: Utilizing Writings by Members of Alpha Kappa Alpha in Africana Centered Bibliography”) John Scrimgeour (“The Steps from the Hill: Race and Class in Langston Hughes’s ‘Theme for English B’ ”) Afrofuturism 2:15 p.m. – 3 p.m. Kermit Rodriguez (“Toni Morrison: Shattering the Glass Ceiling with the Fist of the African Female Trickster”) Helen K. Thomas (“Resisting the Silence: Exploring the Radical Act of Remembering through Jacqueline Woodson and Jason Reynolds Young Adult Novels”) Youth Literacy Program 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Founders Auditorium 1650 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Coordinated by Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson of Just Us Books Presentations with authors Cheryl Willis Hudson Wade Hudson, Calvin Alexander Ramsey, Denise Lewis Patrick, and author/illustrator Jerry Craft. A book giveaway and group wrap-up closes the program. Program 9:30 a.m. –9:45 a.m. Welcome: Wade Hudson and Cheryl Willis Hudson, authors and founders of Just Us Books Inc. All student groups convene. 9:50 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. First and second graders convene in Edison O. Jackson Auditorium Presentation by Cheryl Willis Hudson, author of My Friend Maya Loves to Dance and Songs I Love to Sing 10:25 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Presentation by Wade Hudson, author of Its Church Going Time and Feelings I Love to Share 9:50 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Third, fourth and fifth graders remain in Founders Auditorium Presentation with Calvin Alexander Ramsey, author of Ruth and the Green Book and Belle, the Last Mule at Gee’s Bend 10:25 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Presentation with Denise Lewis Patrick, author of Finding Someplace and No Ordinary Sound 11:15 a.m.– noon First and second graders rejoin third, fourth, and fifth graders in Founders Auditorium Presentation with Jerry Craft, author/illustrator of Mama’s Boyz; and The Offenders: Saving the World While Serving Detention! 12:05 p.m. Book giveaway and wrap-up High School Program 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Founders Auditorium 1650 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Coordinated by Nina Angela Mercer Poets Jennifer Cendaña Armas, Mo Beasley, and Monique “Orisha Love” Letamendi will perform their poetry for students before facilitating writing and performance workshops. The workshops will explore such themes as place, identity, and social justice. Workshop participants will write their own poems. They will be encouraged to perform their poems in a closing cypher. Program Noon –12:20 p.m. Students assemble into auditorium and break into groups. 12:20 p.m. – 1 p.m. Performances by Jennifer Cendaña Armas, Mo Beasley, and Monique “Orisha Love” Letamendi 1:10 p.m. –2:30 p.m. Writing and performance, break-out workshops 2:40 p.m. –3:15 p.m. Closing cypher (student-centered performances) Elders Writing Workshop / “Tales of Our Times” “Black Women Writing Memory, Writing Fate” 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. Edison O. Jackson Auditorium 1638 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Coordinated by Eisa Nefertari Ulen Memoirists of the Elders Writing Workshop at Siloam Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn, New York, will share their wisdom, rooted in history. Their writing explores questions such as: What does the future hold for African-Americans? Can greater knowledge of the past help us create our own destiny? Members include Gloria Bynoe, Shirley Hugguppwhite Cooper, Joan Corbett, Ernie Jackson, Lurline Martineau, Teresa Snyder, Sylvia Suescun, and Cynthia Goodison Tompkins. Town Hall Forum — Free and open to the public “Legacy and Succession: The Role and Responsibility of the Black Writer and Black Institutions” 5:30 p.m. –7:00 p.m. Academic Building 1, Edison O. Jackson Auditorium 1638 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Author, poet, and publisher Dr. Haki Madhubuti, whose latest book is titled Taking Bullets: Terrorism and Black Life in Twenty-First Century America, a Poet’s Representation and Challenge, will lead a town hall discussion on the subject of legacy and succession. Journalist and reporter Ashley Johnson will join this intergenerational conversation moderated by Wallace Ford. 13th National Black Writers Conference Poetry Café 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Brooklyn Public Library 10 Grand Army Plaza Brooklyn, NY 11238 Coordinated by Wendy Robinson and Tai Allen Ashley August will host the 7th Annual Poetry Café with featured poets Liza Jessie Peterson and Nkosi Nkululeko, the 2016 NYC Youth Poet Laureate. Emerging poets include Angel S. Aviles, Chanel Dupree, Khadijah Johnson, and Shye Sales. Day Two, Friday, April 1, 2016 13th National Black Writers Conference and African Voices/Reel Sisters Present the Souls of Black Folk: Films Celebrating Heritage 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Medgar Evers College, Founders Auditorium 1650 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Sponsored by the National Black Writers Conference and African Voices/Reel Sisters. Conference attendees will view films and film shorts that celebrate the rich history, heritage, and faith of Blacks in America. The featured films will be followed by a panel discussion and talkback. Featured Films “The Long Night” by Woodie King Jr. (1976, 90 minutes) 11 a.m.– 12:30 p.m.; panel, 12:30–1:15 p.m. “August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand” by Sam Pollard (2015, 90 minutes; 1:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.; panel, 3-3:45 p.m.) BREAK: 3:45 p.m.– 4:45 pm Film Shorts 4 pm-4:45 p.m. (panel, 4:45-5:45 p.m.) “Outta My Name” by Director/Writer Cathleen Campbell (Length: 4 min. Category: Narrative) A woman who’s ridiculed for her unusual name unexpectedly discovers the power of truly connecting with another person. “Bird” byDirector Booker T. Mattison (Length: 10 min.) A college track star who is training for the Olympics is accused of a crime. “My Home” by Director/Producer Denise Khumalo (Length: 14:40 min.; Category: Documentary) A story about an African woman’s struggle to keep her traditions and customs alive while living in an increasingly Western world. “Across the Tracks” by Director, Cowriter, Cinematographer/DP, Editor Michael Cooke Coproducers: Don Battee, Errol Sadler, Isabella Way, Monica Hines Cowriter/Producer: Kimberly Y James Coproducer, Assistant Director Monica Hines and Shaniqua Henry-Davis (Length: 15 min. Category: Narrative) Two African-American sisters grow up in 1960s Georgia. One is born with fair skin and when schools integrate, she decides to change her destiny—by passing for white. The Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts and National Endowment for the Arts. Reel Sisters is founded by African Voices and LIU Brooklyn. BREAK: 5 p.m.–6 p.m. Thirteenth National Black Writers Conference Opening Night Program Poets Reflect on the State of Contemporary Poetry 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Founders Auditorium 1650 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Hosted by Cheryl Wills Anchor and senior reporter for New York One News. Rita Dove, Honorary Chair of the 13th National Black Writers Conference, A conversation and readings on the state of poetry in today’s society. Featured poets include Rita Dove, Rowan Ricardo Phillips, and Afaa Michael Weaver among others. Day Three, Saturday, April 2, 2016 Medgar Evers College, Founders Auditorium 1650 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Panels and Roundtable conversations Dr. Lindamichelle Baron, Emcee “Afrofuturism: Reimagining the Past, Present and Future”: A Panel Discussion 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. The genre Afrofuturism emerged in the past two decades and is related to the term coined in 1992 by cultural critic Mark Dery. In his essay “Black to the Future,” Dery describes it as an African diasporic cultural and literary movement whose thinkers and artists see science, technology, and science fiction as a means of exploring the Black experience.” Author Walter Mosley, who wrote an essay titled “Black to the Future,” notes that this genre speaks clearly to the dissatisfied through its power to imagine the first step in changing the world. Panelists will discuss how these genres are represented in the literature produced by Black writers. Moderator: Kiini Ibura Salaam Panelists: Nnedi Okorafor, Sheree Renée Thomas, and Kiese Laymon “Decoded: Hip-Hop and Youth Culture”: A Panel Discussion 11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Elements of poetry and creative wordplay figure prominently in the language of hip-hop and in the various ways today’s youth express themselves. Panels will explore questions such as: In what ways is hip-hop culture connected to literature and the works of pioneering Black writers? In what ways can hip-hop raise awareness of the African-American literary canon? What are some of the components that would comprise a hip-hop literary movement? Moderator: Joan Morgan Panelists: MK Asante, Marcyliena Morgan, David Kirkland, and James Peterson Lunch 1:15 p.m. – 2 p.m. “Creating Dangerously: Courage and Resistance in the Literature of Black Writers”: A Conversation 2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. In Edwidge Danticat’s acclaimed book Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work, the author explores the passions and the tribulations that writers and artists face in their roles as chroniclers of cultural and political events and as the voices of opposition that strive to be heard under oppressive circumstances. In this discussion, the panelists will talk about the ways literature sheds light on the risks writers take when working under challenging cultural and political situations. They will also discuss the manner in which individual and collective truths are presented in those works for readers to interpret. Moderator: Victoria Chevalier Panelists: Edwidge Danticat and Charles Johnson “The Politics of Race and Gender in the Literature of Black Writers”: A Conversation 3:45 p.m. – 5 p.m. In the age of President Obama, one prevailing question that comes to mind is this: Is the country more racially divided or less racially divided than it was 15 or 20 years ago? Have women honestly made significant strides in traditionally male-dominated fields? Narratives written and published today that focus on racial and gender challenges are emerging heavily in the fiction and creative nonfiction works by Black writers. How do the works of these writers impact the conversations about race in America? In this conversation, the writers will discuss some of the key components in literary as well as academic writings that address issues of race and gender and examine whether the works impact the way people view race and gender. Moderator: Wallace Ford Panelists: Paul Beatty and Cora Daniels Videotape Presentation “Between the World and Me” and Ta-Nehisi Coates interview with Dr. Brenda Greene 5:15 p.m. Talkback moderated by Todd Craig Thirteenth National Black Writers Conference Awards Ceremony 6:45 p.m. – 8 p.m. Hosted by Indira Etwaroo, PhD Executive Director, Center for Arts and Culture, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation Jazz Program and Benefit Reception 8 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Skylight Café Academic Building 1 1638 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 With performance by Dasan Ahanu and Tai Allen, accompanied by Brooklyn Jazz Consortium, performing the works of Gil Scott-Heron and Oscar Brown Jr. Day Four, Sunday, April 3, 2016 Conference Talkshop, Panels, and Roundtables Medgar Evers College, Founders Auditorium 1650 Bedford Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11225 Book Proposals, Regina Brooks Writing an Undeniable Nonfiction Book Proposal 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m. Room TBA If you’ve ever been told “you should really write a book” and you’ve decided to give it a try, this workshop is for you! From memoirs to cookbooks, if you want to be published in nonfiction you’ll need a book proposal. In this session, Brooks will teach both the art and science of crafting an irresistible book proposal. She will walk you through the key elements of a book proposal—section by section. Poetry, Keisha-Gaye Anderson 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m. Room TBA This talkshop will explore how memory—actual, imagined, and re-imagined—is used in African American poetics to witness, communicate and construct collective realities, while also serving as a call to activism and social change. Through close examination of language, structure, form and other devices used within selected poems from the African-American literary tradition, workshop participants will become familiar with approaches to this craft that focus on powerfully commemorating, documenting, and witnessing subjective and collective struggle endemic to the Black experience. Participants will employ this understanding in creating their own poems for sharing with other workshop participants. Fiction, Victor LaValle Building a Better Novel 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Room TBA You want to write a novel, but as you’ve learned easier said than done. While inspiration and enthusiasm are great they don’t help you figure out how to organize all those pages you’ve written. We'll discuss basic questions about how novels are structured, how to map out the motivations of your characters, how to identify (or create) a good antagonist, how to create a dramatically interesting narrative for the reader to follow and more. This is going to be a talk about the mechanics of a novel, nuts-and-bolts stuff. AALBC Publishing Workshop Noon – 2:30 p.m. Room TBA A workshop on fundamentals dealing with various aspects of the publishing process, focusing on practical elements such as editing, promotion, book production, and distribution presented by AABLC (African American Literature Book Club) with Troy Johnson, Carol Taylor, and Earl Cox. Panels and Roundtable Conversations Patrick Oliver, Emcee “Creative Writing Programs and Writers of Color: Current and Future Trends” Noon – 1:15 p.m. This discussion on creative writing programs and workshops is an outgrowth of the essays, conversations, and concerns of writers of color in MFA programs and writing workshops. Very few writing workshops focus on writers of color and both Junot Diaz and Honoree Fannone Jeffers have recently written essays on the lack of diversity in these programs and workshops. Students and workshops participants in creative writing programs make up a part of our audience. The discussion will focus on topics such as: Do MFA programs and writing workshops offer safe spaces for writers of color and are writers of color marginalized in these programs and workshops? How can we address these concerns in MFA programs and writing workshops? Moderator: Donna Hill Panelists: Meena Alexander, Victor LaValle, and Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie “Black Writers in the Digital Age” 1:30 p.m.–2:45 p.m. African-American writers have faced many hurdles in getting their works published. While the Digital Age, or New Media Age, have presented new outlets to submit works, what rewards and risks do the Digital Age offer Black writers? Has the Digital Age broadened the readership of works by Black writers? What are some challenges Black writers face in the new information age? Panelists will explore and examine these questions. Moderator: Akiba Solomon Panelists: Paul Miller, Farai Chideya, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, and Johnny Temple “Shaping Memories: The Odyssey to Adulthood” 3 p.m.–4:15 p.m. This panel will address the various themes and moral values captured at historical moments of time in the journey from youth to adulthood. The novels and memoirs by these authors cross several genres and attract a cross-generation of readers. Moderator: Cathie Wright-Lewis Panelists: Coe Booth, Breena Clarke, D. Watkins, and Michael Datcher A Conversation with Michael Eric Dyson and Khalil Gibran Muhammad “Writing Race, Embracing Difference” 4:30 p.m.–6 p.m. In an essay titled “Writing Race in America,” which appeared in the “Chronicle of Higher Education,” on March 10, 2014, David Wright, a Black writer and associate professor of creative writing at the University of Illinois, Urbana, argues that creative writing teachers should not allow their students to avoid the difficult subject of race. Wright’s argument is based on the premise that race is socially constructed, is very much present in America, and that contrary to what people may assert about living in a postracial society, we live in a fully racial one. This premise guides the conversation that will be held between Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad.

Now that is an interesting point--at least the image of Jesus were were taught to image here in America. He does look like a member of ISIL and probably would not have made it past the first round of U.S. drone attacks.

54th Day of ‪#‎BlackHistoryMonth‬: Writer, Activist, Feminist, Toni Cade Bambara born March 25, 1939 I know this is the second Black History Month update today, but I could easily do 5 a day (smile). If you are not familiar with Bambara's work you are missing out--seriously

Cynique actually I do take this seriously. A lot of effort and time is involved in what these folks are doing. Besides taking the time with the creation of customized graphics. They are spoofing ip address from all over the world, spoofing email address including ones from my own domain. In fact, they may be the ones responsible for making my site unavailable last saturday. It is virtually impossible to tie these folks down to a single individual or group. The web is still a lot like the wild west, there is no rule of law. No one is going to protect you but yourself, and your ability to protect yourself is a function of your resources, time money and energy--and I have no money. Again I've been doing this over 18 years it has never been easy. Remember, I had to abandon the last discussion forum several years ago because the software developers could not keep up with the spammers. While humor may soften the emotional blow, it is not very useful as a form of protection.