Troy

I think Boardwalk Empire is a great show. Still I think there is too much violence. But I really like the character development and pacing of the show. It is almost like reading a book. They take the time to develop, in subtle and nuanced ways, each character and it is very intriguing. Nookie's reunion with his wife was well done. But if you did not watch the previous seasons, you simply would not have gotten any it. Much more was communicated than what was in the dialog. As with all fiction I do not expect an accurate historical representation of the events. I do however expect the language, scenery, costumes, music etc. to rung true to the period. Boardwalk get A's in all of these categories in my book, not a historian may have a different opinion but it work for me. I don't care if Al Capone had a ex federal agent named Van Alden working for him or even if there was a mobster in Atlantic City named Nookie Thompson. It is fascinating that the Boardwalk era seems familiar to you. It seems alien to me. Often I wish I was reared in an era before technology, and lived a life without all this "stuff." I seem to remember an Chris' post about hallucinations, but the last post of hist that I can find is from the 14th or September: http://aalbc.com/tc/index.php/topic/2803-re-posted-for-input-from-black-men/?p=11651 I too miss his contributions, but

No Harry you are not the only one who does not believe that Ebola "just popped up" out of nowhere. It would be very hard to overestimate the evil that humanity is capable of. As far as the lesbian couple not getting the type of child they wanted. Honestly it is hard for me to be sympathetic to their situation on so many levels. At the end of day what you get when you have a child is always a crap shoot. They should be happy the child is healthy--that is what actual loving parents hope for during the miracle bringing forth a child. Would they have sued the sperm bank if the child came out retarded (mentally challenged in today's lingo) or missing a limb or two? Then again, the hate of racists knows no bounds. They probably would have preferred a mentally retarded, deformed kid, as long as it was white.

Richard I agree the internet is a reflection of our society, but everything is exaggerated, distorted to the extent that it is no longer true or useful for anything other than entertainment. We seemingly don't have the ability to tell the different between truth and lies. This has always been true as Cynique suggests with that old PT Barnum quote, but it seems to be much worse now. Maybe the Internet is just exaggerating this issue too. Who knows. Still it really is painful to watch the net become one giant marketing tool for a handful of companies, while new and meaningful contributions from Black folks are marginalized across the board. I'm sure the same has happened in all forms of media, but being actively involved with the net and watching this happen so quickly is really tragic and a real shame.

On a daily basis I see things on my Facebook wall that demonstrates how easily we can be manipulated into believing that something is true, when it should be obvious that it is not. Facebook, for example, has been putting a lot more video on my newsfeed lately. I've started to notice a lot of videos that are clearly fake. However, based upon the comments posted, people believe these fake videos to be true. It is very scary how easily we can be fooled. For example, I saw a video posted by someone I thought was pretty sharp. They used this video to prove how skilled the martial artist Bruce Lee was with nunchucks, which is a weapon made of two, foot-long sticks, connected by a short chain. Here we see Lee playing ping pong using these sticks This is not to say Bruce Lee was not a skilled martial artist, but the very idea that some people would actually believe this feat to be humanly possible is, itself, unbelievable. the same day I saw a video of an elephant painting a picture of a scene with an elephant holding a flower. It was alarming how many people simply took this video at face value, concluding that elephants are as smart as humans because this video proved they are capable of independent, creative, artistic expression. Here is another I saw sometime ago. I was impressed by the video trickery, but others believed it was physically possible to suspend water in the shape of a glass?! Actually, I think all of these video are pretty cool, but the comments are disturbing. When we see a magician saw a woman in half, noone actually believes the woman is cut in half, but we are still amused and impressed by what is clearly a trick. Why in the age of social media do we lose our ability to reason and simply believe everything we are told? Is our expectation that everything online is true? Why? Sadly we are all susceptible to manipulation on things that are much more important than painting elephants. Because we don't read* and are unable to think critically; we are such easy marks. In social media we operate, unknowingly to most, in what are called "filter bubbles" where we are generally exposed to information that already conforms to our world view. This, I believe, is why people in our society can have strongly opposed views on the same issue. We are presented with completely different information. We are not all on the same page on issues like climate change, Obama Care, ISIS, corporate control of the government, or anything that is important, because we are all being lied to (presented with information biased to our preexisting beliefs). We believe those lies because the support what we already believe. Sure there are people who consume information critically and seek out the truth, but these folks are rare. We used to rely on journalist to do this on our behalf. But those days are gone. We are left with entertainment posed as information. *Reading is not a requirement for critical thinking. Illiterate people have been some of our best critical thinkers. In our 21st century culture, literacy and the ability to think critically (I suspect) are highly correlated.

Del the market has indeed spoken. But lets be clear, the market does not speak for us--it rarely does. Young Black readers do not read newspapers (or books for that matter), because they simply can't. They get nothing out of newspapers because they are unable to understand the content. Did you see the article I posted recently: where it points out that in New York City only 8% of Black 8th grade boys are proficient at reading? Why would an efficient market create a create a product no one can consume? Markets exist to make money, not to create an environment where we have competent, caring, knowledgeable, loving, and happy adults. Lately I've started to notice a lot of video on Facebook that are clearly fake, or not what they appear to be, but people believe them to be true, based upon the comments. I don't know if the people are stupid or what. But it is very scary how easily we can be manipulated. Again I think if we read more we would not be such easy prey. The disappearance of newspapers is not helping.

I think a public person, a celebrity, is entitled to the same level of privacy as you and I. As far as my willingness to watch a team fielded by Klansmen, what makes you think we don;t do this today? OK, so that may not be card carrying members of the KKK, but they could have the same sensibilities, we know many owners of teams fell that way. Again why should I care what the personal opinion is of some athlete is? I there to be entertained. People still love and go still go see R. Kelly and Chris Brown. And if Ray Rice was not canned, the stadiums would still be filled. I completely agree we expect our warrior class both in athletics, and in the military, to turn all that off and become politically correct metrosexuals.

We recently lost the bookstore Azizi Books, in Matteson, Il and their website BlackBooksDirect.com. Like so many other stores and websites there was no fanfare, no gnashing of teeth, just the loss of another platform dedicated to promoting our books. As the number of platforms available to showcase our work continues to dwindle, the opportunities available to authors to reach readers becomes more difficult. This creates an environment that fosters a competitive spirit which does not serve us, or our readers, very well. I will share short recommendations to authors and publishers here. Even the most conscious authors may want to improve the situation, but simply does not know how. If you have a suggestion post it here in response (if you are new to this discussion forum you'll need to create an account). Here is my first recommendation: Add a link on your website to an independent website If you are an author with a profile page on AALBC.com and don't have a link to that page on your website--you really should provide a reciprocal link back to AALBC.com. You may run this query (copy & paste the code below into your browser) to find your AALBC.com page (just be sure to replace the first+lastname with your own name) : https://www.google.com/#q=site%3Aaalbc.com+firstname+lastname This suggestion is not just about linking to AALBC.com, it really is about providing support to your online community. Fifteen years ago, before search, this is how we shared information about each other online. Book sites linked to other book sites, authors linked to other author websites, etc. Many, if not most, authors had some form of a "websites I like page," where they provided links to website they liked. Today, despite sophisticated search engines, it is simply much harder for indie sites to be found. Linking with each other is more important than ever. Today everyone links to a social media platform. Authors should link to an independent online bookseller, your favorite bookstore, your local newspaper, a magazine, an event you’ve participated in, or even the website of a service provider you’d recommend. Again, these links help those independent websites be discovered. As they are strengthened, their ability help authors and the Black book eccosystem improves. We all benefit from that especially readers. It has always been my practice to link to other websites. In fact, on virtually every AALBC page I have a "related Links section, just for that purpose. People often suggested linking to other websites is a bad idea, why link to a “competitor?” I always felt if there was another website, which provided a great service, it benefits my visitors to share that information with them. Next month will be the start of my 18 year running AALBC.com and my opinion has not changed. Indeed it is probably one reason I've survived for so long.

After an certain age comic strips failed to hold my interest. As a kid we used to get the Sunday paper delivered by a newsboy. Do they still have newsboys any more? At any rate the first thing, and probably the only thing I would read were the comics. There were so many comic strips in our local Sunday newspaper. I'm not even sure if a Sunday editon of the paper, The NY Daily News is even printed. Of course none of the comic strips featured Black characters, save the rare occasion when Franklin appeared in the Schultz strip. Even as late as the early 2000's there were very few nationally syndicated cartoonists (less than 10). I kept track of them for years here: http://aalbc.com/authors/comics.htm One day Aaron McGruder emailed to complain (literally) that he was not on the list. I added him to the website. After that I always got his books in the mail. My youngest was a fan. She was also a fan of Jerry Craft who I got to know personally. Jerry was always kind enough to do a really nice autograph of his books to my kid. Charles Boyce was always supportive of the site. Now as a look back at that page I really should update it. While our cartoonist have fewer platforms there a lot of good ones that we all should know. Recently I discovered Charles Siler. He is a conscious artist whose drawing often depict a controversial subject. He allowed me to use one of his strips on my blog we both were concerned about the fact that Essence stopped using the Black owned Community Book Center, after more than a decade of service, in favor a a white owned store. As I think more about it, the benefits of Black owned newspapers go beyond words on a page. They were one of many institutions , like a good bookstore, that tie communities together. My kid's photo was in the Amsterdam News (local Black owned Newspaper) when she won a spelling bee held at a Black owned book store (Harlem's Hueman Bookstore), which was sponsored by the Harlem Book Fair. This type of thing possible 10 years ago could not happen today. It is actually quite sad for me to see all these newspapers, bookstores, and even websites whiter away and die. These institutions served real people. The worse part is that we aren't even the beneficiaries of these changes. The trade-off means more profits from some corporation.

Once all the senior citizens who are reading newspapers kick off, that will be the end of the Black owned newspapers. When i used to commute to work, most people could be seen reading a folded newsppaper. Now most people have those ubiquitous white ear buds connected to their heads. I too read a newspaper most days, I used to go to the newsstand and buy my local Black-owned paper, the Amsterdam News every Thursday. But since they don't have newsstands anymore I have not read one in a while. I did subscribe, but I really should resubscribe--just because. I was planning, for the longest to subscribe to the Chicago Defender, it was widely considered as the best Black newspaper in the country. Interestingly, at the last National Newspaper Publishers Association Awards (previously known as the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association), named The St. Louis American the Best Black Newspaper in the nation. The Final Call came in second. [Read the entire article at The Skanner.com]. The Final Call coming in second was a surprise to me, as it has an obvious bias. I pick up the Final Call from time-to-time as they are hand sold, old school style, on the street. I went to the Defenders site recently and saw all the News One web properties at the top of the page. I clicked an article and was actually sent to the New One site. Between that and the news widgets, automatically pulling news stories from feeds, It is not clear there is much local writing being done on the website. When viewed on the web, there does not seem to be very much to distinguish any of the nation's Black owned newspapers. Cynique you may not know this but I used to publish a crossword puzzle here on AALBC.com: http://aalbc.com/fun/crosswords.htm -- I used to enjoy a good crossword puzzle, but have not done one in years Peace

... and a Brother decapitated some poor soul in Oklahoma on Friday. Harry, Black and white people can go back and forth all day pointing fingers at each other over who kills more of the other group. I'm not sure how productive this activity is--other than getting people riled up. I'm not saying that people have no reason to be riled up--we absolutely do, but generally it is at that point which are are most easily misdirected and confused. You and I have are much more likely to be killed by another Black person. The question really is, why is that happening and what can we do about it? I don't think blaming the Klan will help us identify our most pressing problems. We have structural problems in this country that have disproportionately hurt Black people, over hundreds or years. In the past, we were able to deal with these problems, in 2014 we seemly, completely helpless--despite our first multiracial President.

Actually as far as I know there are no daily newspapers left in the United States. But in a post-racial American this matters very little. I'm quite confident Ruppert Murdock's, Wall Street Journal and Jeff Bezos' Washington Post has us covered in the print dailies. Plus, with the gift of the World Wide Web, we have up to the second coverage of all that is important to us as Black people. Our most significant sources of news of importance to Black people is amply covered by the Huffington Post. What else could we possibly need? Surely the few remaining Black owned newspaper must realize they are no longer needed or wanted--subscriber rates should tell them that. Besides who has the time to read a newspaper? Turning all those pages is down right barbaric. Besides, modern people consume news in bytes sized chucks of 140 characters, on a hand-held device running software optimized to deliver advertisements and facilitate consumption.

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.