Troy

Peniel E. Joseph, Professor of History and Director of the Center for Study of Race and Democracy at Tufts University, was the keynote speaker at How Far to the Promised Land?: Civil Rights since Brown v. Board of Education, held on Thursday, February 6, 2014.

Chris thanks. I updated the post. The query is actually a list of articles PW has written that covered or included AALBC.com over the years. I was interviewed a couple of weeks back and used that query to find the article. I was surprised to see the coverage over the years including an article going back to 1999. There are many players mentioned still in publishing working for themselves and no longer working for major publishers. Other have passed away, far too young, like the 1st editor of Black Expressions Book Club, Monica Harris and literary agent Manie Baron. The scene, back in 1999, was far more optimistic that the 2014 article I referenced above. I told Judith in my interview that while I have hope and am working for things to turn around. I can not point to single indicator to suggest that it will do so. The ABA who suggests that the number of indie bookstores is on the rise, is simply counting them differently, including stores they would have has included in the past. that I was unaware of when I was interviewed, is something that gives me hope.

African-American Booksellers Look For a Turnaround By Judith Rosen Feb 14, 2014 The number of black bookstores has declined precipitously since 2002, when the American Booksellers Association counted 300 members. Today there are fewer than 100, according to Troy Johnson, president of the African American Literary Book Club (AALBC.com), who maintains a list by state. But with the opening of Black Stone Bookstore and Cultural Center in Ypsilanti, Mich., in November, the projected opening of Ancestry Books in Minneapolis in June, and MahoganyBooks.com looking to open a physical bookstore by 2016, it’s possible that things are changing. Read the rest of the article.

I'll Take You There: Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the March up Freedom's Highway by Greg Kot This is the untold story of living legend Mavis Staples—lead singer of the Staple Singers and a major figure in the music that shaped the civil rights era. Now in her seventies, Mavis has been a fixture in the music world for decades. One of the most enduring artists of popular music, she and her family fused gospel, soul, folk, and rock to transcend racism and oppression through song. Honing her prodigious talent on the Southern gospel circuit of the 1950s, Mavis and the Staple Singers went on to sell more than 30 million records, with message-oriented soul music that became a sound track to the civil rights movement—inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. himself. Critically acclaimed biographer and Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot cuts to the heart of Mavis Staples’s music, revealing the intimate stories of her sixty-year career. From her love affair with Bob Dylan, to her creative collaborations with Prince, to her recent revival alongside Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, this definitive account shows Mavis as you’ve never seen her before. I’ll Take You There was written with the complete cooperation of Mavis and her family. Readers will also hear from Prince, Bonnie Raitt, David Byrne, Marty Stuart, Ry Cooder, Steve Cropper, and many other individuals whose lives have been influenced by Mavis’s talent. Filled with never-before-told stories, this fascinating biography illuminates a legendary singer and group during a historic period of change in America.

Here are the first 55 stores that will benefit from James' largess. They will share at total $267,000. Some of that money will support California Bookstore Day, a statewide celebration — overseen by the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association — that will be held May 3. You can suggest a bookstore to benefit at James website. Here is a list of Black Owned independents :-) A Whale of a Tale – Irvine, CA Alamosa Books – Albuquerque, NM Anderson's – Naperville, IL Andover Bookstore (Hugo Books) – Andover, MA Bank Street Bookstore – New York, NY Bookshop Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz, CA Book Bin – Northbrook, IL Book Culture –New York, NY Book Passage – Corte Madera, CA Book Revue – Huntington, NY BookPeople – Austin, TX Books & Books – Coral Gables, FL Books & Greetings – Northvale, NJ Books of Wonder – New York, NY Booktenders – Doylestown, PA Bookworks – Albuquerque, NM Brazos Bookstore, Inc. – Houston, TX Brewster Book Store – Brewster, MA Broadside Book Shop – Northampton, MA Browseabout Books – Rehoboth Beach, DE Children's Book World – Los Angeles, CA Children's Book World – Haverford, PA Doylestown Bookshop – Doylestown, PA Eighth Day Books – Wichita, KS Gallery Bookshop/Bookwinkle Children – Mendocino, CA Hicklebee's – San Jose, CA Innisfree Bookshop – Lincoln, NH Lake Forest BookStore – Lake Forest, IL Little Shop of Stories – Decatur, GA Malaprop's Bookstore and Café – Asheville, NC Mysterious Galaxy – Redondo Beach/San Diego, CA Nicola's Books – Ann Arbor, MI Norwich Bookstore – Norwich, VT Oblong Books – Millerton, NY Odyssey Book Shop – South Hadley, MA Old Firehouse Books – Fort Collins, CO Page & Palette – Fairhope, AL Park Road Books – Charlotte, NC Parnassus Books – Nashville, TN Percy's Burrow – Topsham, ME Phoenix Books – Essex Junction, VT Porter Square Books – Cambridge, MA Reading Reptile – Kansas City, MO Red Balloon – St. Paul, MN Russo's Marketplace Books – Bakersfield, CA Schuler Books and Music – Okemos, MI Subterranean Books – St. Louis, MO The Bookies – Denver, CO The BookLoft – Great Barrington, MA The Bookstore Plus – Lake Placid, NY The Children's Bookstore – Baltimore, MD The Yellow Brick Road – San Diego, CA Wellesley Books – Wellesley, MA Wild Rumpus – Minneapolis, MN Wonderland Books – Rockford, IL Sorted by State and City Page & Palette – Fairhope, AL Russo's Marketplace Books – Bakersfield, CA Book Passage – Corte Madera, CA A Whale of a Tale – Irvine, CA Children's Book World – Los Angeles, CA Gallery Bookshop/Bookwinkle Children – Mendocino, CA Mysterious Galaxy – Redondo Beach/San Diego, CA The Yellow Brick Road – San Diego, CA Hicklebee's – San Jose, CA Bookshop Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz, CA The Bookies – Denver, CO Old Firehouse Books – Fort Collins, CO Browseabout Books – Rehoboth Beach, DE Books & Books – Coral Gables, FL Little Shop of Stories – Decatur, GA Lake Forest BookStore – Lake Forest, IL Anderson's – Naperville, IL Book Bin – Northbrook, IL Wonderland Books – Rockford, IL Eighth Day Books – Wichita, KS Andover Bookstore (Hugo Books) – Andover, MA Brewster Book Store – Brewster, MA Porter Square Books – Cambridge, MA The BookLoft – Great Barrington, MA Broadside Book Shop – Northampton, MA Odyssey Book Shop – South Hadley, MA Wellesley Books – Wellesley, MA The Children's Bookstore – Baltimore, MD Percy's Burrow – Topsham, ME Nicola's Books – Ann Arbor, MI Schuler Books and Music – Okemos, MI Wild Rumpus – Minneapolis, MN Red Balloon – St. Paul, MN Reading Reptile – Kansas City, MO Subterranean Books – St. Louis, MO Malaprop's Bookstore and Café – Asheville, NC Park Road Books – Charlotte, NC Innisfree Bookshop – Lincoln, NH Books & Greetings – Northvale, NJ Alamosa Books – Albuquerque, NM Bookworks – Albuquerque, NM Book Revue – Huntington, NY The Bookstore Plus – Lake Placid, NY Oblong Books – Millerton, NY Bank Street Bookstore – New York, NY Books of Wonder – New York, NY Book Culture – New York, NY Booktenders – Doylestown, PA Doylestown Bookshop – Doylestown, PA Children's Book World – Haverford, PA Parnassus Books – Nashville, TN BookPeople – Austin, TX Brazos Bookstore, Inc. – Houston, TX Phoenix Books – Essex Junction, VT Norwich Bookstore – Norwich, VT

Chris, in all the places I mentioned this I refrained from mentioning Black folks. I had two main motivation for sharing this story; (1) I was hoping that Patterson's action would serve as an example. The engagement with this story was relatively high. Many people, apparently, respect Patterson's no-strings-attached, monetary gift. There are of course Black writers that do good things with their time and money, but as with most things our needs are greater and unfortunately the supported is less. (2) My second motivation (as always) was to help raise awareness of this issue. James' popularity can help. Black, popular media, has been completely silent on what is happening with Black books and literacy in the Black community. This silence has led to a complete lack of actions in our community. I'm trying to change that. I read somewhere that Idris Elba was originally taped to play Alex Cross, but Tyler Perry was substituted later. The film was a commercial success

James Patterson Giving Cash to Bookstores By JULIE BOSMANFEB. 19, 2014 The best-selling author James Patterson has started a program to give away $1 million of his personal fortune to dozens of bookstores, allowing them to invest in improvements, dole out bonuses to employees and expand literacy outreach programs. More than 50 stores across the country will begin receiving cash grants this week, from Percy’s Burrow in Topsham, Me., to Page & Palette in Fairhope, Ala., to A Whale of a Tale in Irvine, Calif. Read the full article at the New York Times James is pledging to help U.S. booksellers keep the life-changing reading habit alive and well in our local communities. If you would like more information about his efforts, please sign up here to receive announcements.

Besides Obama is only a 1/2 sub-human mongrel . Why would anyone with the wherewithal to assassinate the president want to? He has pretty much done the bidding of the corporate elites while completely nullifying any Black opposition. The average Black teen is in more danger of being assassinated than Barack Obama is today.

Chris we need to figure out more effective ways for not just you to share your articles but for others to do the same on your behalf. I think the data you shared is helpful, certainly, but what is more helpful is the context. For example, most people would simply say, "Hey, I sold $6,000 worth of product using social media," without mentioning what it took to make those sales. This draws others in thinking they can do the same. Really this is the problem I see with social media marketing. Too many of us are hyping the benefits and downplaying the problems and challenges small business will encounter. Book sellers have it even harder, because the margins are razor slim, competition from Amazon is tremendous, and search favors corporations. The world does not really seem to mind having only a handful of companies they can buy sneakers from. Over the last 40 years I've only brought athletic shoes from 4 different companies. If you ignore the one pair of Asics running shoes I brought 4 or 5 years ago (that I still use), it would be 3 different companies, and one of those companies was Puma. Today the vast majority of books are brought from Amazon. No one seems to mind that much either. Indeed many are glad, except people like me who remember what was...

Facebook knows better than to show me some bullshit that like :-) Any any rate, this is a gimmick the Steve Harvey machine is using to build their own social media platforms. This activity cost some serious paper to execute. That is another issue completely overlooked at the Black Enterprise panel and many similar presentations that I've attended (or given for that matter)--they don't bring up costs. Another assumption is that you can be successful on social media marketing without spending a penny. Again, if you are you are not successful you are dumb. Imagine if Harvey used his platform to uplift successful Black owned websites? Supposed he highlighted a Brother with his own sneaker company or a Brother that has been highlighting Black books for almost two decades--including every book and film Steve has been in! Instead our biggest Black platforms amp social.

Thanks of the correction NavyMomCJ, I'll have to find the updated programs. I got the information I provided earlier from the PBS site.

Chris man this looks really good. I'll be joinging you shortly. Funny, tonight I attended a presentation given by Black Enterprise (of all folks) called, "Innovate or Die: How to Successfully Leverage Your Brand in the Age of Social Media." It was all social media hype. The notion that one would NOT consider using social media was not even considered, indeed it was stated as an assumption right from the jump. The general consensus is that if you use social media, you'll reap great rewards. If not, then you MUST be doing something wrong. So you can payt to promote more posts, hire a consultant, spend more time....

"....who shops a WalMart, patronizes MacDonalds, visits FaceBook, utilizes Google and Wikipedia..." You sell-out get off this discussion forum Actually another great post, I guess that is why this is your house Cynique.

this program ended in 2010, but was an excellent combination of jounralism and relating a story Bill Moyers Journal (Audio) | PBS Veteran journalist Bill Moyers returns to PBS with Bill Moyers Journal, a weekly program of interviews and news analysis on a wide range of subjects, including politics, arts and culture, the media, the economy, and issues facing democracy. Capitol Crimes Wednesday, May 05, 2010 11:00 AM With disgraced lobbyist back in the news and on the big screen in Alex Gibney's new film, CASINO JACK, we re-present Bill Moyers 2006 in-depth exploration of Abramoff and his Washington world. CAPITOL CRIMES investigates the Abramoff lobbying scandal, revealing the web of relationships, secret deals and political manipulation and opening a disturbing window on the dark side of American politics. The fall of Jack Abramoff has exposed a huge web of corruption that still remains vastly unreported by the broadcast media, even as prosecutors continue to chase down leads and quiz insiders and witnesses. Moyers and his colleagues untangle emails, reports, interviews and facts on the record to provide viewers with a coherent pattern of criminal and political chicanery. http://www-tc.pbs.org/moyers/rss/media/BMJ-capcrimes.mp3 Populism, Social Change and Our World Friday, April 30, 2010 11:00 AM In this special one and half hour edition of Bill Moyers Journal, The Journal travels to Iowa where one group has been helping ordinary citizens fight for change for more than three decades. And, Bill Moyers and populist Jim Hightower to look at the history and legacy of people's movements and discuss how ordinary people can reclaim political power. And, Acclaimed author Barry Lopez joins Bill Moyers to discuss nature, spirit and the human condition. Lopez is an essayist, author and short-story writer, whose many books include ARCTIC DREAMS, winner of the National Book Award and OF WOLVES AND MEN, a National Book Award finalist. And, a Bill Moyers Essay. http://www-tc.pbs.org/moyers/rss/media/BMJ-1353.mp3 Bank Reform and Net Neutrality Friday, April 23, 2010 11:00 AM The Internet has transformed business, politics, and culture – but will a corporate agenda kill freedom of the Web? With radio and television dominated by mega-corporations, more and more Americans have turned to the Internet for news – but a recent court ruling gives Big Telecom more control over broadband. Bill Moyers talks with FCC commissioner Michael Copps to discuss the future of 'net neutrality', the fight for more democratic media and the future of journalism in the digital age. And, as President Obama makes the case for strong financial reform, Bill Moyers sits down with veteran regulator William K. Black, who says Wall Street is already been breaking current rules. http://www-tc.pbs.org/moyers/rss/media/BMJ-1352.mp3

"...they think that it will take interest away from their books." Maybe you are right Chris, but I also know it was not always like that. Back before the Black book business peaked, authors would often have a page of links to other author wesbites. Today they only link to social media.

Can you post or email me troy@aalbc.com a screen shot of what you are talking about

Yeah people where, mostly self-published authors, were getting crazy tagging me on their books and other content I have nothing to do with. I consider that behavior spam just stopped everyone from doing it. Post a link here for your author's page

Chris, I set up an advertising program several years ago. It was rife with problems. The biggest challange, in the Black book world, is finding sites with the right technology and sufficent traffic to make the ad network viable. I even looked beyond the book world. The largest Black sites are not Black owned and the remaining top Black sites, are not ameniable to this form of collaboration. The idea is just wrought with challenges.

Chris you simply get it--and it is refreshing. Sometimes I feel like I'm beating by head up against the wall trying to explain to others things you seem to inherently get. You put the Powerlist Logo on your site as a result you are; linking to MahoganyBooks and supporting a Black bookseller, one that is working to open a bookstore earning commissions on any book sales generated promoting the Power List the only national bestsellers llst focused on books by and about Black people directly supporting the authors of these books sharing a resource to readers looking for these books directly supporting the ever so fragile Black book ecosystem You see Chris, you did this without being asked. This may sound trivial to you, but it is a pround action, for I STRUGGLE to get authors to do this--even those authors who are on the list simply don;t get it! I know, it sounds counterintuitive; why does an author not support a platform that directly supports them and may even generate some income? I know part of it is technical, many auithors don't know how to do it. But I suspect that is a small factor in explaining the situation. Then again I ask, why does an author invest so much time and energy in a

alidawriter, Thanks for sharing your story. This is criminal and something needs to be done. The state of pathetic state of public education for many of our Black boys is of course directly related.

New York used to have much more programs like this on TV and the radio. Today this segment (the 2nd hour) has been relagated to the web. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, but virtually nothing is being done to promote the fact that this show is on the web?! Sure they have social media presence, but we all know how good that serves us. I also "get" the no one is gonna spend a dime to advertise the show. But at some point, folks have to use what little they have to promote what is important. Otherwise all the Black community is going to get on the radio is, top 20 R&B and a comediian with a laughing sidekick, Chris, the articles by the high students are very intersting. Are you still in the classroom? Also, I want to promote the book on the site--what happened to Lulu's affiliate program? I can't find it on CJ.

I have not decided what I'm going to do, specifically, myself. Right now I'm leaning toward leaving my fanpage up, with the picture like the one above, as a permanent protest on Facebook. I think there has to be a call to action explaining to other businesses (independent Black-owned ones, in particular) why the action is necessary and perhaps join the effort. As you mentioned it is important to raise awaremeness--that is why I don't no want to just leave. I would also like to help people understand how, through colloboration we can provide a better service to each other and enrich our businesses rather than Facebook. As the rersult of our conversation I felt it was important to distiquish the protest to that of one of our business owners (including self-published authors) and those of just people "socializing" with friends. Again if people what to socialize on Facebook that is fine with me. I just think we can, have to really, to give Black owned independent business owners a better option than Facebook. Simply put, Facebook is NOT OUR platform. They have no interest in serving us and they don't. Facebook is doing what they need to do, we need to do thay same.

I have nothing to add Chris. "Oh, on Facebook all of our posts would be too long and people would stop reading." That pretty much sums up what I dislike about communicating on Facebook, from a personal perspective. You already know how I feel about it from a business side. Speaking about long articles, the Amazon article in The New Yorker was excellent, but I doubt many of us will read it. I actually subscribe to the magazine and the most striking thing is the length of their articles. They take the time to delve deeply into a story which is more revealing and informative. Clearly there is an audience for long form content--online and off. But Black folks are being trained to consume small "Digital Chunks" of information... News is expected to be delivered in less than 140 characters. Black folks "look for handouts", white people are "seek funding." The resulting difference in perceptions permeates the entire culture, from crowd sourcing to investing in businesses. What was the name of the store? I want to make sure it is in my database: http://huria.org/bookstores/

"Most of us spend our lives looking for approval from white people, and white institutions and white corporations."

Chris to be clear I just make the contribution to African Voices, they live up to their commitments and even immediately acknowledged my contribution on social media. It was only after visiting Indiegogo to make that contribution, that I decided to look at past campaigns only to discover the none of the filmmakers provided the perks promised. Indeed none of the campaigns reached their funding goals, but they got all the money pledged (as you mentioned). I never thought about it 'cause who has time to check on these things... I too have sold ads as a direct consequence of using Facebook too. But Facebook has NOT allowed me to sell more than I was able to sell before Facebook was started. Facebook was not something I needed to help AALBC.com. Using Facebook today has just increased my overhead, and I don't think it is worth the effort Sure the world has changed and a lot of people are on Facebook. The mantra is that you have to be where the people are. I used to believe if myself. I don't buy it anymore. I'm trying to demonstrate that if we work work smart (or even better together) we don't need Facebook--any more than we need Myspace or Twitter. We have the tools today. For example, I have been about to grow my eNewsletter substantially using http://www.manycontacts.com/ 1% of my subscribers pay to receive it, plus I have one sponsor in each issue. My eNewsletter does not rely on Facebook (or even search) at all. I have no problem if others want to share a link to it via Facebook, I encourage it. But they will never read it on Facebook-- indeed it is not possible to even post this type of content my eNewsletter contains on Facebook.