Troy

Nellicito! Well thanks doubly for stopping by and sharing here. Facebook is one of our other problems -- but I've given up trying to help people understand why... I'm not familiar with Urban Grapevine, but I'll look into it. Again, Nellicito/Nah'Sun you are, in many ways I'm discovering, the exception not the rule. I hope Urban Grapevine appreciates your contribution and that you grow together and share in the benefits.

Yeah Black and Nobel is doing their thing. I visited last year -- just spotted it in my periphery while driving up Broad Street. The lack of balance is not just killing Black publishing it is killing our culture -- but that is another conversation. You and I might make a point of supporting Black bookstores, but MOST people do not -- it took me 10 seconds to learn that lesson online. People want the cheapest one -- they don't make the "conscious purchase". We have to compete in an environment when money rules. For many reasons, authors of urban literature are much more successful at this than literary authors -- this is why there is little balance and the trend shows a worsening. This is not to put down Urban Lit., it is just that market forces in our system support Urban lit most efficiently. I think a world with physical bookstores, and a diverse selection of literature is possible. It is just harder and not likely to make you a multimillionaire. But you can make a decent living a fulling life and contribute something of value to the community. But we have to share information, learn from each others mistakes and support each other (minimally). Right now we all reinvent the wheel and learn the hard way -- that is what i liked about the Hue-man study. There were a lot of holes in it but it was the best (only) documentation of a Black owned independent that I've ever seen. I'm a Pagano's man myself -- Triple Cheese Steak Hoagie -- accept no substitutes

...and now you know the rest of the story. Assuming you are right, it sounds like Mejah, would benefit, a great deal, by relocating to a location where there was more opportunity for foot traffic. Admittedly this is easier said than done. This important factor was never mentioned in this video (or part 1 which I did not post). Honestly the closing of bookstores have reached epidemic proportions. I suspect however if you looked under the cover you would identify factors under the control of the store owners that might have prevented many, if not most, of the stores from closing. Here is a database of Black Owned, Independent Bookstores Also here is a related article Death of the Black Owned, Independent, Bookstore.

"Black people have survived with each other in the past because THOSE generations struggled with each other and KNEW they NEEDED one another in order to survive" I agree 100% with this statement. I'm not even going to play devil's advocate to tease out any more of an explanation. "Point blank" A ) Many people lie about book sales -- not just Black authors. B ) Validated by the "white man' is a little misleading. It is a validation by the institution or entities that generate the most money that people seek. Of course the vast majority of these entities are run and owned by white men folks. Here is one of many anecdotes to support your point B: For years a big complaint I've heard from Black writers is that Black magazines, websites, etc don't pay anything or pay too little to Black writers. As a result, it was virtually impossible for Black entities to secure good writers. Fledgling websites and magazine, new ones in particular, struggled and died in part to a lack of good content. Meanwhile many of our best writers proudly wrote for the Huffington Post -- for free. It was only after the HuffPost was sold for millions did I hear anyone complaints. But Black writers still Blog for free to this day. For sure, some Black entities took advantage of Black writers trying to make a name for themselves by writing for free. But when the motivation is only money it is easy to see why folks would not hesitate to give away their content to the Huff Post versus a much small Black publication. The idea that we need each other is never a factor. I'll take it a step further. I get emails all the time from writers wanting me to promote the fact that they have published something on the Huffngton Post. Now I pay authors pretty much for everything I publish or give then a excellent barter deal -- rarely do they promote the fact that they had an article published on AALBC.com. I could go on... Na'Shun I still disagree about your assessment of the differences of the HBF and BBF. Both events attract attendees and vendors who live out outside of the physical locations of both events. Yes the authors showcased and vending at the BBF are more diverse in terms of race, but again that does not explain any of the issues Nellicito described at the beginning of this conversation. Many of the problems Nellicito and I described are relatively recent problems with the Harlem Book Fair. Some Black writers (who hustle) will make money, but the vast majority will not profit very much. The reasons are plentiful and have nothing to do with the existence of book fairs and more to do with the quality of the product. Consider this point I made earlier; "Self published authors, selling a single title, were over represented" at the Harlem Book fair. For the 1st couple of years I had a table where I sold books of many different authors -- it would be nothing for me to clear $400 in a day. I would be willing to bet money an unknown author selling a single title will not make this much. But more importantly a fair populated with a large number of unknown authors with a single book will attract fewer people than a fair with actual book sellers, and publishers. This is one big difference between the HBF and the BBF. Again, the Harlem Book Fair, in the past, attracted all of the big 6 publishers, many independent presses, antiquarian book sellers, book stores, even the likes of an AALBC.com. Again I could go on... Nah'Sun thanks so much for offering your perspective here. The willingness to express your thoughts, in a public forum, and not be intimated by someone who disagrees with you is an increasing rare thing.

Nah'Sun probably the biggest benefit Clara Villarosa derived from saying her store was "the largest" was how it raised her profile during a period when Black books were growing in popularity. She was the go to person for Black books during this period. But, as I'm sure you know, it takes more than simply saying you are "the largest" to keep a store open. Also check out Emlyn DeGannes owner of MeJah Bookstore as she makes a plea to the community to help save the bookstore that has served the community for 15 years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuvA9bH5XQU It is interesting the store owner says her store simply would not have survived were it not for urban books.

Nah'Sun's, impression of the Harlem, Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe, store is supported by many stories that I've heard as well. However, this case study actually examines the original Hue-Man Experience bookstore which opened in Denver well before the popularity Urban/Street Fiction craze. This story ends in 2002 after Clara sold the Denver store and opened up the Harlem store. The next 10 years would be a fascinating study. Unfortunately the ending includes the closing of both stores but so many lessons could be learned. Nah'Sun interestingly, Clara's quote that I posted would seem to support your It would be interesting to see what the next owners of the Denver store would have to say.

Nah'Sun, it would interesting to read what you think the target audiences for the Harlem Book Fair and The Brooklyn Book festival are and why they are so different that comparing them, in our opinion, is not valid. "Black authors, and Black people in general, cannot "think Black" anymore...you need to EXPAND" Your logic here is lost on me. I'm not sure what "think Black" means and how that equates to not "expanding". I'm not aware of a single author at the Harlem Book Fair and I know the organizers are interested is selling to a "broad and diverse audience". I'm not sure what the Harlem book fair, or Black people in general are doing to make you think otherwise. I'll approach it differently for you. The Harlem Book Fair came about not as an effort to exclude anyone. It was a reaction to the fact that Black books were an insignificant part of the world of books. The effort was is an attempt to enable us to be heard. In that regard, the Harlem Book Fair continues to be successful. If the Harlem Book Fair and all the other fairs like it went away tomorrow do you think Black writers and books would be in a better or worse position? The quote from Mo Betta Blues does not bolster your argument simply because it is untrue. It would also be interesting to read why you think that statement is true. "Black people have survived because of other Black people" - Troy from AALBC.com

7 dead Sikhs at a shooting in a temple in Wisconsin and the beat goes on....

Bloomberg's over reach and utilization of limited resources for silly things is legendary. I heard somewhere that his net worth increased from 8 Billion to 24 billion during his 12 years in office. The last 4 years purchased for about 3/4 of a billion. The Chick-fil-A scandal can be summed up with your statement "but I think a merchant has the right to believe what he wants to believe as long as he doesn't discriminate against customers" Speaking of Chi-town has Jackson Jr. been located?

That may be part of it, but I think the primary reason is the religion itself. It seems the majority of people attending are elderly women. Other than the church leadership, men are a miniscule minority. I'm not familiar with Anyike.

eah the 4x100 is one of my favorite events. Maybe we have a chance the beat the Jamaicans in one of the sprints.

It was very difficult to watch NBC's coverage of the Olympics. If I had to look at Michael Phelps mother's mug for another second I probably would have lost it. So much time was spent on human interest instead of actual competition it was nerve racking. The were so fixated on trying to catch Orsoco in tears they did not even cover other athletes competing. Scores were unannounced -- few routines shown. Why so much coverage of beach volleyball? There is an twitter hashtag #nbcfail where people are venting over NBC's coverage. I have not read many of the tweets, they are not very interesting to me. What is interesting is that athletes are getting booted out of the Olympics for something that they tweeted. My God, you have countries guilty of murdering their citizens participating, but say something stupid on tweeter and you get kicked out.

First name unscrambled "Baby G" The media did not make up Gabby's name. Indeed I read somewhere, early on that she liked the name. If you saw her on uneven parallel bars the name fits I saw her compete earlier in the year -- amazing. Indeed all the women were. Now if they called her the "flying monkey" I would have an issue with that -- whether she liked the name or not

Actually that is a good question too Cynique, Big names obviously help, but there are no guarantee. This year's Harlem Book Fair featured Zane, Cornel West, Sonia Sanchez. The other good thing about the Harlem book Fair is that it continues to feature important people who are not household names; Nell Irvin Painter, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Carol Mackey and others. The panel discussions (broadcast by C-Span) are typically the best part of the fair. This year there were fewer panel discussions than last year. I did not see any of the panel discussion this year, I tried to peek in on Cornel's panel figuring I could get some photos, but I was unable to enter the building where the panel discussion were being held. There were a crush of people trying to enter and no one was being let in, so I went home. I suspect the panel Cornel participated on was well attended. But this does not directly translate to activity on the street or book sales for the vendors -- and it certainly has no impact on the variety and quality of the vendors for the attendees. The best attended book fairs have well known authors participating, but again, this is no guarantee for success. I'm trying to think of an example of a well attended event that did not feature a well known or celebrity author(s). Right now, off the top of my head none come to mind...

I watched this video and found it extremely interesting. The Levittown I lived near was in Long Island, NY. So I was not familiar with the community. I really miss this type of interviewing. The interviewer never once inserted themselves into the question. No long winded preambles of what they thought or leading questions -- direct questions with follow up questions that probed more deeply. I really wish journalists worked this way today. The people who answered the questions came across a little too articulate almost as if they were actors or at least very well prepped for their responses. If they were prepared with the question before hand I think this too is good as the responses would be better the responses given off the top of one's head. The only complaint I had about this documentary was, and it is a big one, is why in the heck did they not interview the Black family that moved in?!!?! This defies all logic and calls into question the purpose of this video.

Well, Cynique, those are the conclusions I'm questioning. I'm not convinced (yet), that bookstores, book fairs are things whose time has come and gone. Too many of the fairs and stores I'm aware of are plagued by issues that have nothing to do with demand. I don't think the internet is the culprit, and for a very simple reason; the internet can not replace the experience that a well run book fair or book store can provide. Next month the Brooklyn Book Festival will take place; Edwidge Danticat, Terry McMillian, Sapphire, Colson Whitehead, and others will be on hand for what I can guarantee will be a great event. The internet will support through pre-event promotion, archiving video, photos and more after the event, as well as supporting it with social media during the event. AT&T even has an app for the event. The internet is a tool to support the book fair not something that can replace it. If we compared the support and sponsorship secured by the Harlem Book Fair and the Brooklyn Book Festival, you'd see that the differences are amazingly stark. The clearly the difference in the level of support helps explain the relative success of each event. The question becomes why is the difference in the level of support obtained by each event so different?

This is a really interesting read http://aalbc.it/hue-man I talks about the Hue-man Experience Bookstore, perhaps, at the time, the nation's largest Black owned independent Bookstore. The case study address the specifics of the Hue-man bookstore, including financials as well as a snap shot of the publishing industry in the early 1990's. "I started out with a marketing plan but there were many flaws because it was based on Anglo book purchasing behavior. We were unable to anticipate the difficulty in getting African American people to buy books. I had to go back and reevaluate my marketing strategies. We thought people would come because the idea was unique. It was an upscale store with ambiance, patterned similar to Tattered Cover, which really has a national presence. And we thought that people would come--particularly middle class people with disposable incomes and a higher education level, because that was the popula­tion that I was close to. But it took a lot more marketing to get people in. The variable we didn't count on is that the store sold not just books, but culture. The customers we attracted have to be cultur­ally connected."

I post this here not to bash the Harlem Book Fair, but to use the Book Fair as a case study of sorts, for the issues that hurts the Harlem Book Fair hurts similar events across the country. Perhaps some of the comments made here will help not only the Harlem Book Fair but other events as well. Nellicito wrote a lot. I wish I had time to address her points right now. As someone who has witnessed the fair from the beginning and actively participated in all aspects of it, for more than a decade my perspective is quite different. In fact, I suspect if Nellicito been at the1st few book fairs her reaction would be much more critical. I'll be back later with my comments. I hope others will chime in sooner.

This conversation was started to continue on initiated on Facebook. I'm not keen on giving Facebook all my ideas so I decided to continue the conversation here: Nellicito Writes: My Reaction: Rahiem reacts: I Reply: Nellicito Unleashes:

I pushed this one up to the top of my queue! I used to live near Levittown. When I worked for Grumman. It will be interesting to see how the topic is approached.

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Anthony Browder USA Cell # 240-271-5634 Egypt Cell # 01120585933 Directors of U.S. Excavation Mission to Meet Egyptian President Morsi July 31, 2012 Luxor, Egypt Dr. Elena Pischikova and Anthony Browder have been selected, from a field of foreign missions excavating in Egypt, to meet President Mohamed Morsi Friday August 3, 2012 at Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt. Dr. Pischikova, Director of the South Asasif Conservation Project and Mr. Browder, Director of the ASA Restoration Project, have collaborated on the excavation and restoration of the 25th dynasty tomb of Karakhamun since 2008. They were the first foreign team to return to Egypt following the 2011 revolution, and are to be acknowledged for their dedication to their work and their desire to maintain close relations with the people of Egypt. The discoveries made during the excavations by Browder and Pischikova will greatly expand the knowledge of the 25th dynasty – an often ignored period of ancient Egyptian history. Karakhamun was buried in an elaborate tomb on the west bank of Luxor over 2700 years ago. He was a priest of Amun and is believed to be a member of the royal family of Shabaka, the 2nd king of the 25thdynasty. Dr. Pischikova and Mr. Browder will present their findings at an international gathering of Egyptologists at a conference to be held in the Mummification Museum in Luxor, Egypt on October 1 thru 4, 2012. For more details on Karakhamun and the October conference visit www.southasasif.com or www.asarestorationproject.com

I have to admit Cynique the White folks leading Blacks did cross my mind -- but hey it was "Monday Fun Day" This video just helps to reinforce the argument that it does not always take loads of money to save such programs. Waterstar, that is so very true.

Why? I have know idea either Cynique. That you could find unbounded pleasure from this requires no explanation. I was only interested 'cause The Roots provided the music. "Music Room": Backstage before the show, Jimmy, Carly Rae Jepsen, and The Roots grabbed some instruments you'd find in an elementary school classroom and performed "Call Me Maybe." Carly Rae Jepsen - vocals, triangle Jimmy Fallon - wood block, tambourine, bass drum Questlove - washboard stick, kazoo, recorder Tuba Gooding Jr. - kazoo, recorder Frank Knuckles - bongos Captain Kirk - ukulele James Poyser - melodica Mark Kelley - toy xylophone Black Thought - tambourine

I hear the Nation of Islam has taken to the street in response to all the gun violence in Chi-town. I hope it help. Gun violence would probably increase the underground trafficking of guns, but if guns were banned you could at least start locking up those possessing them. And since the guys who possess the guns are the ones actually using them, I suspect the murders would decrease -- especially between knucklehead settling some personal dispute. It is obvious by now that Obama's reelection and overall strategy is not to show any overt support of the Black community. So I doubt he'll be speaking out or doing anything of consequence in Chicago, Newark, Philadelphia or even his own backyard of SE Washington DC. Batman?! I don't remember seeing the caper crusader helping anyone in the Black community either

I was just asked "What's the Buzz on Sapphire's latest novel The Kid" I just seem to remember it falling flat. I read through the reviews on Amazon - something I never do as I don't know the reviewers and I know many are written to artificially slam (haters) or praise a book (author writing their own reviews). True to form the most of the reviews were 1 star or 5 star. Did anyone here read the book? What did you think? The Kid [Penguin July, 2011] Fifteen years after the publication of Push, one year after the Academy Award-winning film adaptation, Sapphire gives voice to Precious's son, Abdul.