Troy

Cynique, Black people have looked different from each other before we left the continent of Africa. Keep in mind all of the genetic diversity we see today started in Africa. I'm not sure infants can see well enough to distinguish facial features. Besides there is a difference between ingrained self hate and being uncomfortable with something unfamiliar. And to be clear, I'm not talking about who people choose to sleep with, or are physically attracted to, I'm talking about who people support with their money and expertise. Cynique, you or even I may not hate ourselves. We may even be willing to judge others by their behavior, ignoring the color of their skin. But I'm saying most of us do not do this. I disagree with your statement, "Black woman certainly aren't color-conscious." (who wrote this and what did you do with Cynique?) We live in one of the most color conscious cultures on Earth. Again, there are some like yourself that are not color conscious, but I suspect that you are in the minority. You do realize that skin lightening creams are on the shelves of stores from Nigeria to East Harlem today. Have you seen the film Dark Girls or the dozen of books on the subject I've shared on this website?

Here is a list of the last 35 Black National Book Award nominees and winners. Invisible Man was the first Black Book to win back in 1953

Chris your argument is reminiscent of an couple of others made here by people who disagreed with me on this subject. There however is one fatal flaw that is always made. The biggest of which is the assumption that I do not "know anything" about hip-hop. You say you grew up in the culture. But I would say that my upbringing in hip-hop trumps yours by a long shot. Sure you may know the new cats better than me, but I don't really follow pop music, so I suspect you know more about new R&B performers too. Also, I never wrote that I dislike hip-hop. Honestly I don't really know what hip-hop means anymore. It is a dubious marketing terms that can apply to blurred lines depending upon who you are. Also it is not clear to me why you say what everyone else writes is opinion based. I'm not the one saying George Clinton, for example, is not being paid the roylties he feels he is due, he was the one saying that: http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/20/business/fi-241 I'm 52 years old and was raised in Harlem. I been to actual street parties and freaked to Grand Master Flash whose equipment was connected to a street light. I've been to Kool Herc's Disco Fever. I have been to Harlem World, Mister Souls and countless other clubs you never heard of where the culture you love so much was being formed. To this day I see DJ Red Alert, Grandmaster Caz and other cats you've probably never seen live because they don't roll through your your neighborhood. I knew many b-boys that far better break dancers than Krazy Legs or anyone else in the Rock Steady Crew. Because I was a gymnast and knew other gymnasts that performed internationally as break dancers. I witnessed the transition of mixing incorporate scratching, and the rise of the DJ over bands then ultimately the MC over the DJ to the point where the the Bands are relatively meaning less. Which to me was tragic loss culturally. Finally you like others in love with hip-hop cherry pick all the positive things and make believe hip-hop has never done, and is not doing, anything negative. But that is fine. I understand. I'm willing to acknowledge hip-hop has some positive aspects, but I can't ignore the negatives. I guess at the end of the day the hip-hop I know, or at least willing to recognize, is very different than the one I know. I'm not trying to convince you to change your mind because this is a religious argument, pointless. ----------------- In the James Brown documentary, Clyde Stubblefield, the drummer, who created the Funky Drummer beat which rap artists have sampled to death. (Even thinking about the beat brings a smile to my face). Clyde said he "hated" that beat (comes in at the 5:35 mark and lasts less than 10 seconds)--I was floored. I've seen Maceo Parker perform live, I've seen Fred Wesley perform as well. These guys are accomplished musicians. That fact is lost on most people. The music they played for James was like playing chopsticks on a toy piano relative to their ability and skill. Still James treated them poorly. Now I was introduced to the Funky Drummer beat through hip-hip or rather B-boy music. As bad as I thought that beat was, hearing that beat, and so many others in context was much more rewarding. In other words I'd rather listen to the actual song than any rap song that sampled it. Now that is a pretty basic beat, wanting to hearing musicians perform more complex rhythms is really what drew me away from hip-hop music. That and the fowl language and lyrics that no longer resonated. Eminem is good. I can say that his first CD is the last Rap CD that I was excited about purchasing. Sometime I listen to it and wonder why. Although that rap with Dr. Dre still cracks me up: ------------------ Isn't fascinating how to people can agree about one subject so strongly and disagree about something else just as strongly? -----------------

No Cynique, the concept of xenophobia is not new. But cultural influences exert a much bigger influence on our behavior than innate ones. I'm sure you are familiar with the "Doll Test." If you watch even the first couple of minutes of this video you can't help but find it heart breaking. Worse still is that our preference for white over Black persists into adulthood. Black adults just have more sophisticated language to rationalize, justify and mask their self-hatred. It boils down to cultural indoctrination, not an innate characteristic, that results in us being xenophobic against ourselves! But as you can see from the "Doll Test" video everyone is else views Blackness as inferior as well. How many Black people flock to Europe and eschew visiting Africa with disdain and contempt even. On a more basic level; how many more people will buy a book that I sell from Amazon, who is charging a higher price, than the exact same book from a Black owned book seller charging less? I've done blind A/B testing, and even outright appeals of support and Amazon wins EVERY TIME. On an recent experiment Amazon was delaying shipment on a title and still more orders poured through Amazon. I may not be as old as you Cynique, but I'm tired of struggling myself sometimes. You see the battle is not just a against corporatization or racist, it is against our own people. Again, that is the toughest battle to wage. Again the midterm elections make this quite plain.

Harry for all practical purposes all Black people are Democrats. Even through many of us have conservative social views, we vote democratic in such a large majority the few non-democrats, like myself, are inconsequential. Creating another party, for Black people, is unnecessary because, we already have one, the Democratic party, with a Black man holding its highest office. Of course our votes are taken for granted. We don't vote when it really matters and when we do we vote it is for style over substance, popularity over issues. The police office in Ferguson, will not incur a criminal penalty. . What next?

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Cynique, I think our problems, not just Black folks, but across the culture is more greed based. I don't think folks are born racist or afraid of people who are different. I do however believe we are socialized to be that way. I was raised to be prejudiced and a bit racist because I was raised in a segregated environment. The environment was segregated not just by class, but by race. I'm even afraid to say the environment was segregated by intellect as well. Essentially anyone with a brain in their head left the environment as soon as possible. I also don't think Black people are united. I did not come to this conclusion until I left the corporate environment and went into business for myself full time. Sure there are many Black folks who are supportive of each other, but I don't believe there are enough of us. The reasons are plentiful, but they essentially boil down to a distorted view of how protect one's self interest. You see, Black folks typically tend to embrace the majority and all that it holds dear, from their educational institutions, corporations, communities and even their physical appearance. This too is understandable, and it is a force that is too powerful to contend with. It is like trying to hold a family together where half the people in the family desperately want to be in another family. When the family is strong it can embrace the world in such a way that everyone benefits. Today we have a weak family, as a result, we operate from a position of dependency and weakness. If you define unity by wanting the same things. We are indeed unified. Indeed all of humanity is unified, as there are universal desires and needs. But our pursuit of those needs serve a few exceedingly well while the majority of us, of all colors, struggle unnecessarily.

After posting the review above. I discovered, quite abruptly that Bill has been accused of 13 rapes. Once case wa settled out of court. It is hard to determine what is true or false. most of the accusationsa re coming from people expreessing outrage over rumors already circulating. Aparently The Cos, or his naive social media manager, wanted people to create memes and they went crazy with the rape subject.

Chris really I'll have to check that book out. http://aalbc.it/chrisburns Chris when you get a chance check out the video on fake facebook fans. I think you will find it enlightening.

The Cos has a new biography out: Cosby: His Life and Times by Mark Whitaker

Thanks again Milton. I'll have to include information about Saunders' new book in our next eNewsletter. Do you have a preferred book seller?

I forgot to mention I discovered the video, I shared above, in another blogger's article: Why Copyblogger Is Killing Its Facebook Page By the way, I'm not killing my Facebook page. I'm simply not investing a lot of time engaging with the platform. I'm content with what little traffic and business I go generate from the platform.

Talib was in Ferguson and he is a relatively well known rap artist. That is why he was interviewed, not because he was the best person to assess the situation from a political stand point. I know Talib's mom she is an English professor at Medgar Evers college and runs the Center for Black Literature, who host the National Black Writers Conference each year. Talib's brother is a professor at Columbia. Talib is conscious for a reason but that still does not make him the best person to speak on the subject. There are many activists on the ground, from the community, who we should be hearing from more. This, for example, is why CNN's Don Lemon's Interview with Talib degenerated so easily Talib was the the right spokesperson and Don was too busy being defensive. True journalism does not happen in the mainstream media. As a result we are left with an altercation instead of more insight about Ferguson. Cynique did you all really believe the struggle had been won? Did you ever envision that we would be talking about racism in 2015 a half a century after the civil rights movement? From my perspective, things were always bad and they are getting progressively worse as time goes on.

Veritasium produces videos that I look at regularly, because I'm interested in science. This one however was an unexpected surprise as it digressed from their usual subject matter This video fills in the gaps in what I've observed but could not come up with a satisfactory explanation. Over the years my Facebook fans has increased while engagement has gone down. I assumed this was simply a strategy by Facebook to encourage you to buy more ads, but it runs much deeper than that. Last year the Washington Post reported that The US Department of State spent $630,000 (of OUR money) to acquire 2 million page likes and then realized only 2% were engaged. If you run a Facebook fan page you really should invest 9 minutes and watch this video. It will explain a lot. Again the remedy would appear to be to simply get rid of fake fans, but Facebook makes this seemingly simple task so tedious that it is not worth the effort. The same thing appears to be happening on Twitter to, but there is 3rd party software that help you identify and remove fake followers which I do every 6 months or so.

Talib reflects the feelings of many. Not a single individual in my young adult class voted. So complete and profound was the lack of interest I did not bother to even go into it. But I didn't vote myself. Harlem is so liberal my vote would not have mattered one way or the other. In the last midterm I voted for all 3rd party candidates. But those candidates got so few votes that my votes were literally meaningless. Maybe not casting a vote sends a stronger message, as it makes a larger majority of people who could not be bothered. Again despite being a bastion of liberalism, and home to Al Sharpton, Black folks are still not educated well, are still stopped, frisked, and killed by police officers. I have been stopped by the police more times than I can count. Would one more vote for a democratic politician changed anything? ---------- Why a so called journalists seeks the opinion of rap artists on anything other that rapping is a travesty. Again, I know it generates traffic and sales, but it does nothing to further the conversation or advance or collective knowledge. Despite the fact that Talib reflects the attitudes of many, who cares what he thinks about the power of the vote? Indeed, in Ferguson, given the demographics and historical voting rates, voting should have ABSOLUTELY been part of ANY strategy. Any journalist worth a damn would reported on this and explained why this is true. Rather than exposing the opinion of a rap artist who models the complete opposite behavior.

Man Jean Toomer's Cane was the first book our online discussion forum read back in July of 1998. It is one of my favorite books. I'd never read anything like it before. Indeed, I never knew anyone could write a book in that fashion. In 1998 I was 36 years old, with two masters degrees and never heard of Jean toomer or anything like Cane. I was blown away. Again I assert the net, today, gives you what is profitable, not what one wants or what one needs. It is much more profitable for a Black website to talk about Jay_Z and Beyonnce at a Nets game than it is to discuss the masterwork Cane. How in the world could I know, for example, I wanted to read Cane if no one ever speaks about about it? I was introduced to Cane through this website and I in turn introduced countless others. Chris it really is not a chicken or an egg conversation. The net crowds out conversations about Cane, and shove the Jay-Z garbage down our thoughts. It is much easier and profitable to post of video of Jay being attacked in an elevator than it is to carry on a conversation about Cane. There are many people who'd rather discuss Cane than Jay-Z. But they'll never have the opportunity because of many of the reason I discussed. Also John Keene wrote a similarly styled novel called Annotations that is worth checking out if you liked Cane.

Here is the video you were referencing. I try to catch all of frontline documentaries and I probably saw this one. Since this is 90 minutes on I will watch it this evening on a regular TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9uIiWCS3N4

"...the net is giving people what they want." Del I disagree with that statement. I would have agreed with your before I became more cognizant of how and why material is produced on the web. Here is a more accurate statement: "The net is giving people what is most profitable" Now I know you are saying, "What's the difference?" The thing that is most profitable IS what people want." In reaction I would say not necessarily. You see, what people get is what they want AND what is least costly to produce. This is why we get more reality TV than well written scripted programming. This is why you get news in sound bytes rather the result of true journalism. This coupled with the fact that so many of us have never been exposed to anything better, so we take what we get. You, and everyone else, can name more celebrities than politicians because the names of celebrities are constantly shoved down out throats. Also, there may indeed be more bars than bookstores, but if you actually considered all of the paces than books are consumed and included libraries you may still find that many communities have the capacity to serve more readers than drinkers. ------------ Chris I'll check out the video now and get back to you. I would never every try that drawing of the naked woman with my young adult students who never finished high school, but I could see where that would work well with a different group. You sound like a creative teacher. Besides in high school, there is a much greater attention on nonfiction literature, and less focus on poetry, because of the adoption of Common Core Standards in New York State, but that is another conversation....

Richard perhaps in the larger scheme of things that is true. But have you ever wondered why Asians run all the Dunkin Donut franchises in the Black community? Have you ever wondered why more chinese takeout is consumed than soul food in the Black community? Have you ever wondered why we buy all of our fake hair and other hair "care" products from other groups? The vast majority of Black children are educated by white women... Black folks used to dominate the numbers racket in Harlem, now New York State robs us. One of the most profitable casinos in the US is here in NYC. It is owned by a Malaysian corporation that is sucking the community, of mostly poor people, dry in exchange for tax revenue. When I was a kid you could go into a store and buy marijuana. All the profit from those business was illegal and the Black folks selling it went to jail. Soon the state will be mandating and controlling who profits from marijuana sales; meanwhile people doing the exact same thing are still locked up. Cynique this statement, "If everybody was healthy and no body smoke or drank or if nobody committed crimes or needed welfare, the economy would totally collapse." is probably the most cynical thing you written in a long time :-) But I could see why you would say this. I think it a lot myself. The problem is that we as a society have never really tried the alternative. I grew up in a world where everyone smoked. Both of my parents, most adults, and all the cool kids, I knew. In between puffs my mom always told me to never start smoking. Today when I see someone smoking, especially a young person, it seems anachronistic. Being able to compare the two worlds I know the non-smoking world is better. I also know a world where everyone has the opportunity to have a good education would be better than what we have now. Having such a large portion of our population being ignorant drags us all down. The idea that we would allow this to happen confounds me, but this is perhaps a consequence of a population of uneducated people... We are so accustomed to the way things and are, and are so afraid of change that we fight change it even if it is an improvement. Racism is a manifestation of ignorance, a lack of good education. It is one of the reasons I run this website and teach. But both activities will put me in the poor house. This is how our country rewards these efforts.

Unfortunately, we never lived in a democracy. Some more accurately call it an oligarchy/plutocracy. The system never really for us. Funny as I read this I'm listening to Francis Cress Welsing. If you wanna talk about the impact of racism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fyCnSE0G04

Yes. Yes. No. Failing to exercise ones's right to vote has never stopped anyone from complaining--including our friends in Ferguson, where just 4 out of 10 people turned out to vote in the most recent election. Speaking of republicans, last night I watched a documentary on James Brown. I did not know that James actively campaigned for Richard Nixon. James was the prototypical Black Republican, "I don't want nobody giving me nothing, just open the door I'll get it myself." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYNJK5sHHeo

No Mel, though that would be a good idea. My thinking with disqus many of the content providers from newspapers to individual bloggers could, in theory create a virtual social network with our own websites. Many websites already now allow visitors comment on their content using Disqus. I have been using it on AALBC.com for a couple for a few years. The software allows regular people to keep track of where they comment and if anyone replies. The benefit is that writers are no longer bound to an individual social media network--the web itself becomes the social media network and individuals control their own space. It is the ownership versus sharecropping model. So no you can use disqus to comment here, but you can use the software to comment elsewhere on the website.

Mel I agree with you about sugar in our diet, and I appreciate that if I was being consistent I would not have a problem with Bloomberg's sugar law any more than I do with his smoking law. You pointed out that sugar consumption doesn't interfere with another's personal space the way smoking does, and that is part of the reason I have stronger personal opinions about smoking. The problem I have with Bloomberg's law is not what he is trying to accomplish, but who his targets are. The real culprits are the corporations that our government is beholden to. Why is a small business owner put on the hook for selling a product that really should not have been manufactured in the first place? People who want a lot of soda, can simply buy two servings. or stores can offer infinite refills. Again, the law is silly because it is too easy to subvert and it does not address the underlying problem. At least the smoking law allows me to enjoy a meal in a restaurant without being poisoned by 2nd hand smoke. There are numerous documentaries describing how corporations put tons of sugar, salt, and fat into our food to sell more of it. They target children, get government subsidies and contracts to sell this junk in schools. Many colleges have fast food franchises ON CAMPUS! Soda costs less than water in the stores. Fresh produce cost more than junk food. It does not have to be that way. Meanwhile this has wrecked havoc on the nation's health. But corporations are here to save us (profit even more) with surgical procedures, pills, health clubs, and the like. Of course the Black population is disproportionately impacted with obese, diabetes, hypertension, and all the challenges associated with these illnesses, My father passed at 44 from these illnesses; his brother was in his 30's. Originally Michelle Obama went after corporation's products. Under corporate pressure she, then focused on getting people to exercise more! Of course Let's Move sounds great, but if you are drinking 700 to 1,000 cans of soda a year, as many of us are, there is simply enough moving in the world to make a difference. We tend to blame the victim in this nation, and too often those victims are Black folks.

I went back and edited a bit of what I wrote yesterday but the spirit of my message stands. Chris why do you say the research report I linked to is skewed? Here is the link to the actual report. Good research should not be skewed, outside it is useless. Man I really do believe Disqus is blowing an opportunity by not promoting their software as a tool to connect websites and blogs without having to go through a social media platform and having the majority of their readers syphoned off. I hope I don't sound like I'm begrudging the lurkers, indeed they are as almost as important as the writers. All internet properties need readers. Also, readers are probably more likely to share something they have read here as any writer would, and lurkers always far out numbered readers. Even frequent contributors lurk on occasion. Yes, everything does run its course, but what is left it its place should be superior. I just think across the board, for Black folks, we are losing more than we are gaining. Amazon is not an alternative for a Black owned independent books store or website (even though this is where we buy most of our books) Twitter is not a substitute news source for an Black news paper or website (even though Black folks use Twiiter at a higher rate than any demographic) Khan Academy is not a substitute for a school (even though it is promoted as such to poor folks who are provided with failing schools) and so on...

Not only were social media sites not an alternative forum for discussion, social media users were less willing to share their opinions in face-to-face settings. So says a study conducted by the Pew Research Center and fielded August 7-September 16, 2013 by Princeton Research Associates International. Over the last few years as activity on these discussion forums has decreased (quite substaintially), I often contemplated why. I recognize that social media takes up more of people time, including my own, but I also recgnize that social media is not a perfect subtitue for a forum like this. In a forum like this one has the opportunity to see everything that is written. On social media, unless you actively look, the platform decides what you see. In a forum like this a conversation can span many months, years even. On social media the conversations are much more fleeting. On social media you can't share rich media. You can't even make text bold or italicize it. Of course there are many deficiencies, but there are some benefits too. Social media is very easy use and access. But perhaps the biggest benefit is actually the reason I derive far less pleasure from social media; you can't have a vigorous, debate on social media. Debate just does not happen, really. Social media understands this is not what people really want to do. People are not likely to express an opinions if they believe other will disagree; it is human nature. The report I linked to above goes into more detail. Traditional forums, like this, are less desirable to most people because you are more likely to encounter someone who may know more about a subject than you do, may feel more strongly about that subject, and may strongly disagree with you. Most people avoid these situations. Which is why we always had more readers (lurkers) of these forums than writers who contributed to the conversation. Social media has exploited a person's natural desire to be agreed with and liked. There are people, like me, however, who like to have their opinions tested and like to debate. But I know, from my personal interactions that I fall into the minority. This discussion forum, and other like it, provided a platform for me to express myself the way I could not in public. I miss the days when I could debate with other more frequently on subjects that I care about. Sure sometimes the debate devolved in arguments and some folks would not play nice could become abusive, but that happens in the real world too. Social media does not provide a platform to debate, that would attract far less people, and not be nearly as profitable. So I find myself biting my tongue as I would in the real world, and the opportunities to express a more complex side of myself ideas and explore those of other is becoming rarer--despite all this technology.