Troy

"Is McDonald's so bad that the guy shouldn't advertise it?" That question is really not easy to answer. People do a wide variety of things for money. Some women turn tricks in strip clubs, while others would look at that behavior and be aghast, If you are an overweight, plain looking woman with a good job it is easy to turn your nose up at someone who is dirt poor, has a banging body, a face to go with it, that decides to pull in a grand or two a night grinding on random dudes. I try not to judge other folks behavior using my sensibilities. The only time I really care is when that behavior effects me. Generally the behavior of a multinational corporate effects us all--even if we personally do not use their products. Cigarettes are a good example. There are about seven McDonalds on Harlem's 125th Street. I don't think there is a single soul restaurant on the street. There is a Red Lobster, a Burger Kings, two Starbucks, a couple of Dunkin Donuts... you get my drift. McDonald's enjoys tax credits that indie restaurants didn't. The small unique business (often Black owned) has been crowded out, along with the soul of the street in fact they never really had a chance. McDonald provides a cheap alternative, but the food taken daily or in large quantities is poison. I suspect most people are not opting for the "healthy" choices, they instead are opting fr items on the dollar menu. I've read numerous articles that says there current generation will be the first to have shorter life spans than the previous one. The McDonalds of the worlds are a contributor to this, in my opinion. Advertising is a tricky thing. I have a friend, who started a book website. Their personal taste is literary, that was to be the focus of their site. Unfortunately the person was never able to secure significant advertising from literary authors or their publishers. Most of the advertising came from self-published authors, primarily in the street genre. Over the years I looked at the site and one day I was surprised, because if you looked at the site you would think is was an hard core urban fiction site. See the site reflected the advertisers, not what the owner thought was was good or important. The owner took any ad that came their way, and the site actually offered as a result. The site will close this year, but if they did not take the advertising if would have closed years ago and never having the opportunity to do anything. The advertising I get from self-published and urban authors subsidizes my promotion of the literary authors, from who I get very little support. This was one of the reasons I disliked the way the literary snobs turned eschewed and disparaged urban fiction and their authors. The literary authors failed to recognize that the urban fiction authors are part of what I call the "Black Book Ecosystem" a system which literary author benefit. Now that this system is crumbling they are suffering too--and they probably still don't get it. So, if McDonalds offered to buy an advertisement I would take it, at least today I would. But here is the thing, McDonalds is not likely to offer me an advertisement. Think about the places you see McDonalds advertising and what that demographics of that audience is like. Then compare that to this one.

I did not know Memphis was a chocolate city 65% Black. I did not get that impression the last time I was there. I wonder if you could sell sneakers and books in the same store? Seriously. Chris do you know this store: Urban Expressions Bookstore – Memphis, TN Was it one of Carl's? Is it actually closed? If so the count is 53.

The following article is printed with permission from the author. Putinism vs. The Global Obama, or Clash of the Titans Dinesh Sharma, Institute for Global Cultural Studies, SUNY-Binghamton When President Obama was elected in 2008, his approval ratings around the world were extremely high, in part due to the Bush-fatigue from the Iraq war, and his approval has remained relatively high through 2013, except in the Muslim majority nations in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. President Obama clearly does not lack vision and audacity. “By his own account, Obama sought nothing less than to bend history’s arc in the direction of justice and a more peaceful, stable world,” according to Martin Indyk of Brookings Institution. The question now is: How has Obama’s America fared abroad in the past five years and is he in a position to bend the global arc of history? In the aftermath of the Syrian genocide and Ukrainian crisis, the foreign policy challenges have put Obama in the hot seat against a traditional Cold-War adversary. Recently, two former presidential candidates McCain and Romney have claimed that President Obama has looked weak against Putin’s apparently strong arm tactics in trying to reconstruct his motherland and some semblance of an emerging Eurasian union. In fact, conservative neocons may want Obama to behave more like the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, display authoritarian leadership, and possibly start another military excursion, Peter Beinart has recently suggested. Even though the president was elected to end the two long wars and congenitally prefers peacemaking, an American president who does not enter into a war may invariably be seen as a cultural wimp. After the NSA scandal, the Drones controversy, and the sputtering “Pivot to Asia”, the sheen was beginning to wear off the Obama world till Putin invaded Crimea and blamed the West for orchestrating a coup in Ukraine. While the Obama administration has been trying to pull-off a big foreign policy victory in the remaining years -- whether it is the Iranian nuclear deal, the Mideast peace process, ending the impasse on Climate Change debate, or the Immigration reform act – with Putin’s annexation of Crimea their task just became exponentially harder. With the Russian bear on the prowl, making the former Soviet states nervous, will Obama reclaim the trust in the American ideals and values around the world? It is appropriate to muse openly as Ali Mazrui, the legendary African post-colonial intellectual of Obama’s father’s generation, has boldly predicted that Obama will go down as “a great man in history.” However, will Obama become one of “the great presidents” with the passage of time? The elevation of Obama has been completed twice over by American voters of diverse backgrounds and, at least in spirit, by people around the world. Yet, many have been waiting with considerable, though cautious optimism for “the second act” of the Obama presidency. This may be it. The Crimean conflict may have created ‘the perfect storm’ for Obama to show strong global leadership. The paradigmatic moment of the American presidency, with the re-election of the first Black president taking a quantum leap into the future has receded into our collective consciousness, to be rudely awakened by the specter of cyber-spying networks and the over-arching security state. Suddenly, Putin seems to have pulled the world back into the 19th century, as Secretary Kerry said, and revived Huntington’s “clash of civilizations,” reminiscent of an earlier more sinister Cold War era. Huntington argued that the primary axis of conflict in the future will be along century old cultural and religious lines: “The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural.… The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future.” As we try to grasp Obama’s evolving leadership style, it is instructive to compare him with Vladimir Putin. While Obama is a ‘consensus-builder’, with a fiercely competitive and ‘hawkish’ streak, Putin is a statist, who exercises centralized power, with an authoritarian personality style. Obama was a Harvard-trained legal pragmatist, with great professorial and oratory skills, before he developed into an inspiring politician. Putin was a case-officer in the KGB before he became a political operator and the president of Russia. Both were virtual outsiders before they joined their ranks. As a Rorschach test, Obama elicits fantastical and unbelievable projections from adoring masses as well as his detractors; yet on a whole host of social and cultural issues he has revealed himself to be an unreconstructed liberal. Putin as his biographers have described is a “man without a face,” with a media constructed mythic persona, and nationalistic views about the Russian motherland, otherwise called Putinism. Obama believes in American exceptionalism, especially, through the “soft power” of development and diplomacy. Putin too believes in Russian exceptionalism, which he sees as antithetical to the Western hegemony, responsible for the defeat and humiliation of the Soviet empire. Obama has repeatedly claimed America is not declining, even though emerging economies in the Asia-Pacific region may be catching up with the developed economies in US and EU. Putin clearly believes, with the silent support of China and other BRICS economies, America and the West are declining. Obama’s critics argue that the president is a champion of “leading from behind”, as if that is the cornerstone of the Obama doctrine, while his proponents have put their stakes in “nation-building at home.” Thus, Putin may have rudely awakened Obama to “the return of history” by showing disregard for the rules of international law, raising the specter of previous World Wars. The U.S. may have been caught flat-footed due to their mixed response in Syria, tightening budgets, congressional opposition, and an incomplete pivot towards Asia. However, Obama can no longer avoid the clash of the titans. If he is unable to contain and engage Putin, with verbal threats and mounting sanctions, it will redefine his second term and the presidency. Dinesh Sharma’s new book “The Global Obama: Crossroads of Leadership in the 21st Century” is published by Routledge Press (2014); his previous book “Barack Obama in Hawaii and Indonesia: The Making of a Global President” was rated as the Top Ten Black History Book for 2012.

I hear you about conversations on Facebook :-) even when explicitly asking folks to comment on my site they still post on Facebook. At any rate as a graduate of one of the country's top business schools you are absolutely right about the role of a corporation's management. Their role is to maximize shareholder wealth. But often maximizing shareholder wealth goes counter to our collective interests. We enslave people, destroy the planet, sell cancer sticks, poisonous food all in the name of increasing revenue. Man were it up to corporations we'd still be in the fields! In many ways most if us still are effectively in the fields. Now what you and I do is relatively innocuous but some if the things corporations do is pretty foul. The Lebron James argument does not work for me because Lebron James us firmly in the 1% at what point does anyone need more money? Is the extra mill or two he get for pushing that garbage food really worth it? I could see him doing it if he had Troy Johnson money. But when does it stop? But I also understand. It is McDonald's giving LeBron the deals not Whole Foods.

Hey man check out my article: I included a clip from the most recent National Black Writers Conference Also do you know if those location were part of Carl Weber's stores. I thought there were about 7 of them nationally. I could never reach anyone from those store or even Carl for that matter. I became aware of them before I created my book store database http://huria.org/bookstores but I was never able to get anyone on the phone, find a website or even get Carl to call me back, so I never added the stores to my database -- it is just as well they all appears to be closed anyway.

Almost half of the stores open in March of 2012 are now closed A & B Distributors — Brooklyn, NY A New Quality Book and Boutique — Plainfield, NJ Africa Enterprises — W. Memphis, AR African & Islamic Books Plus — Cleveland, OH African American Books and Publishing — Baltimore, MD African American Gift Gallery — Knoxville, TN African American Gifts & Books — Wichita, KS African American Heritage Book — West Palm Beach, FL African Artisans — Baldwin, NY African Book Store — Fort Lauderdale, FL African Heritage Books & Gifts — San Francisco, CA African House Institute of Learning — Jersey City, NJ African Marketplace — Los Angeles, CA Afro Books — Atlanta, GA Afrocentric Book Store — Chicago, IL Afrocentric Books & Cafe — St. Louis, MO Agape Christian Books Gifts and Music — Baltimore, MD Alkebulan Books — Berkeley, CA Alkebu-Lan Images Bookstore & Gift Shop — Nashville, TN Amen-Ra’s Bookstore and Gallery — Tallahassee, FL Arawak Books — Hyattsville, MD Ascension Books — Columbia, MD Asiatic the Soul of Black Folks — Toronto, ON Atlantic Bookpost — Reston, VA B.T.S. Unlimited Books — Detroit, MI Baruti-Ba Books — Dayton, OH Basic Black Books — Philadelphia, PA Bishari Urban Books, Phoenix Crossing Shopping Center — ayetteville, NC Black Book Discounters — Houston, TX Black Books Galore, Inc. — Stamford, CT Black By Popular Demand — Hyattsville, MD Black Classics Books & Gifts — Mobile, AL Black Images Book Bazaar — Dallas, TX Black Mind Book Boutique — Brooklyn, NY Black Orchid Books — Maiden, MA Black Spring Books — Vallejo, CA Black Swan Books & Coffee — Kohler, WI Blacknificent Books & More — Raleigh, NC Blackprint Heritage Gallery — New Haven, CT Book House Cafe & Gifts — Benton Harbor, MI Books and Beignets Bookstore — Ridgeland, MS Books In Color — North Highlands, CA Books in the Black — Columbia, SC Books 'n Things, Cross Keys Plaza — Wichita, KS Books-In-The-Hood — Bronx, NY Bright Lights Children’s Bookstore — Inglewood, CA Brighter Day Books & Gifts — Cincinnati, OH Brother’s Books — Seattle, WA Carol’s Essentials Ethnic Gifts and Books — Seattle, WA Carol's Books & Things — Sacramento, CA Celebrate — Peachtree City, GA Creative Impressions — Newark, NJ Crescent Office Store — East Orange, NJ Cultural Bookstore — Chicago, IL Cultural Collections — Brockton, MA Cultural Expression — Newport News, VA Cultural Expressions Bookstore — Clarksville, TN CushCity — Houston, TX D & J Book Distributors — Laurelton, NY Da Book Joint — Chicago, IL DARE Books & Educational Supplies — Brooklyn, NY DeesBookNook Distributors — So. Richmond Hills, NY Deja Vu Book Lounge — New York, NY Dorothea’s African-American Books and Gifts — Columbia, SC Drum and Spear Books — Washington, DC Dygnyti Books — Hamden, CT Dynasty Bookstore, Eastland Mall — Charlotte, NC EDEN Books — Hartford, CT Education 2000+ Bookstore — Long Beach, CA Ethnic Elegance — Jacksonville, FL Ethnic Image Books & More — Nashville, TN Ethnic Notions Bookstore — Benicia, CA Exhale African American Books & Gifts — Sugar Land, TX Expansion Books — Huntsville, AL Faith To Faith Books — Minneapolis, MN Forewords Books & Gifts, Located in Originations Gallery — Ann Arbor, MI Freedom Now Bookstore — Decatur, GA Gateway Bookstore — Jacksonville, FL Gene’s Books — King of Prussia, PA Global Greetings International Gift Gallery — Lafayette, IN Haneef’s Bookstore and Mosi Art Gallery — Wilmington, DE Hanna's Ethnic Bookseller — Claremont, CA Heritage Bookstore and More — Rancho Cucamonga, CA Heritage House — Charlotte, NC Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe — New York, NY Imagine This! Books Etc. — Memphis, TN Imagine This! Books Etc. — Memphis, TN Imoya Treasures, Inc — Rahway, NJ IronWood Corner — Pasadena, CA Jamaicaway Books & Gifts — Boston, MA Jokae's African-American Books — Dallas, TX Kana CDs & Books — Columbus, OH Karibu Books (6 Locations) — Hyattsville, MD King Solomon's Children's Enterprise — Winston-Salem, NC Know Thyself, Bookstore and Cultural Development Center — Philadelphia, PA Kongo Square Gallery — Los Angeles, CA Kujichagulia Book Store — Paterson, NJ LaCeter’s Book Service — Southfield, MI Liberation Bookstore — New York, NY Ligorius Bookstore Inc. — Philadelphia, PA Literary Sweets, Bookstore and Chocolate Shoppe — Columbia, SC Living Room Book & Pastry — Greensboro, NC Lodestar Books — Birmingham, AL Love Christian Book Store — Orlando, FL Magnolia Tree Books — Laurel, MS Mahogany Books — Detroit, MI Mahogany Books & Cafe — West Palm Beach, FL Mahogany Books & Gifts — Fairfield, AL MasterWorks Books — Adelphi, MD Matais Books Cards & Art — Long Beach, CA Mind & Soul Bookstore, Inc. — Trenton, NJ MochaReaders — Dayton, OH Montsho BookFairs, Etc., Inc. — Orlando, FL Mt. Zion Kid’s Village, Little Angels Children’s Bookstore — Jonesboro, GA Mutana Afrikan Warehouse — Atlanta, GA Nefertiti’s Books and Gifts — Jacksonville, FL Netu Khisa Books and Gifts — South Orange, NJ Nimde Books — Louisville, KY Not Just a Bookstore — St. Louis, MO Nu World of Books — Beaumont, TX Off The Shelf African American Books — Columbia, SC One Force Books — Richmond, VA Our Black Heritage — New York, NY Out of Africa, Windsor Park Mall — San Antonio, TX Paperback Connection — Oklahoma City, OK Paradise Book Store — Peoria, AZ Peek-A-Boo Books II, Wheaton Mall — Wheaton, MD People’s Books & Gifts — Springfield, OH Phenix Information Center — San Bernardino, CA PowerHouse Books — Hopkins, SC Precious Memories Reading and Collectibles — Richmond, VA Rainbow Books & Blooms — Yorktown Heights, NY Reading Room Bookstore — Chicago, IL Roots & Wings: A Cultural Bookplace — Montgomery, AL Sacred Thoughts Bookstore — Jersey City, NJ Sensational Minds — Savannah, GA Sepia, Sand, & Sable — Baltimore, MD Serengeti Plains — Montclair, NJ Shades of Sienna — Oakland, CA Shrine of the Black Madonna — Houston, TX Sibayne — Baltimore, MD Sidewalk University — Memphis, TN Sisterspace and Books — Washington, DC Smiley's, The Mecca of Information — Carson, CA Soul Source Bookstore — Atlanta, GA Special Occasions — Winston-Salem, NC Spirits Embodied — Pittsburgh, PA Stouffville Book Connection Inc — Stouffville, ON Sweet Spirit Bookstore & Gift Shop — Oklahoma City, OK TDIR Books — Columbia, SC Tenaj Books & Gift Gallery — Orlando, FL Tenaj Books & Gift Gallery — Fort Pierce, FL The African Book Shelf — Cleveland, OH The Black Bookworm — Fort Worth, TX The Black Bookworm — Fort Worth, TX The Black Library — Boston, MA The Book House Café, LGBT Books — Oakland, CA The Book Lovers Lounge — Lauderdale Lakes, FL The Book Suite — Columbus, OH The Crowning Seat of Wisdom, Inc. — Madison, GA The Cultural Connection Bookstore — Milwaukee, WI The Epicenter Bookshop-UIC — Chicago, IL The Heritage Center — Vicksburg, MS The Know Bookstore — Durham, NC The Living Word Bookstore — Chicago, IL The Presence of Africans In the Bible Book Center — Minneapolis, MN The Reading Room Bookstore — Atlanta, GA The Roots Book Store, Inside of Tapers Hair Care — Baton Rouge, LA The Tree of Life Bookstore of Harlem — Atlanta, GA Timbuktu — Cleveland, OH Timbuktu Bookstore — Norfolk, VA TLJ Bookstore - Prince George's Plaza — Hyattsville, MD TLJ Bookstore - Security Square Mall — Windsor Mill, MD TLJ Bookstore - The Centre at Forestville — Forestville, MD Too-No Books Etc. — Moss Point, MS Treasures of the Mind Bookstore — St. Louis, MO Tricia’s Books N’ Things — Houston, TX True South Bookstore — Brooklyn, NY Truth Boutique & Bookstore, Eastland Mall #823 — Harper Woods, MI Tunde Dada House of Africa — Orange, NJ Tunde Dada House of Africa, Green Acres Mall — Valley Stream, NY Tunde Dada House of Africa, Woodbridge Mall — Woodbridge, NJ Two Friends Bookstore — Atlanta, GA Uhuru Books — Saint Paul, MN Uhuru Books — Minneapolis, MN Ujamaa Maktaba — St. Louis, MO Under One Roof Afrikan American Bookstore — Killeen, TX Underground Railroad Reading Station Bookstore & Giftshop — Detroit, MI Urban Books On Wheels — Pleasantville, NJ W&W African American Art, Specializing in Books & Gift Items, Etc. — Fayetteville, NC X-pression Bookstore & Gallery — Indianapolis, IN Yawa Books — Washington, DC Yehudah Inc. — Teaneck, NJ Yoruba Book Center — Brooklyn, NY Zambezi Bazaar — Los Angeles, CA Zawadi Gift Shop — Brooklyn, NY Zoe Christian Bookstore — New York, NY

Chris you are bringing back memories and things that I have not thought about in years. But in my neck of the woods, in the 70's, the light skinned, straight haired, slim, dudes (think El Debarge) were definitely in. Cynique I suspe3ct this was true in your era as well. I think around the time of Jordan rise to prominence and gansta rap the ladies seemed to begin preferring the more thuggish dudes. You know the bald headed, more muscular, browner complexioned Brothers. You know the kinda negro that would make a white woman cross the street or the one likely to get stopped and frisked (think Suge Knight). I remember even in my college days women saying they want a "little thug" in their men. Men began wearing Timberlands rather than dress shoes, jeans took over for slacks, tattoos exploded and brother strove to be "ruffnecks." Of course education and literacy was replaced by "street smarts." Needless to say the thuggish behavior was glorified in our popular music.... you all know the story. I have to say the video off all those Black people running over each other to buy a pair of expensive sneakers was sad and even distressing. My God! It is one thing to conform to style but a completely different thing for adults to rip the door off a store for some sneakers. You can blame the people, but culturally this is our making. Chris when tobacco companies created a product that was highly addictive and lethal. They sold it by creating an illusion of being cool. So while they were killing people they were making billions. What they did was wrong. Sure we can blame the people who purchased the cigarettes, but that would be ignoring the addictive nature of the product and the powerful psychological assault (advertising) that when into getting people to buy the product. This is no different that the behavior of a drug dealer. When I was younger doing drugs was what cool people did. But you could be addicted to Heroin and still hold down a job. Then this new version heroin came along, followed by crack that was more potent, more addictive and offered a shorter high and once you got hooked it it was a wrap--your life was over and belonged to the drug dealer. Hookers in my neighborhood were tuning tricks for pocket change! The drug dealers became rich but left a neighborhoods in shambles. Even if you did not do drugs you were effected by the crime and the destruction of families and neighborhoods. This was wrong too. Ultimately, like drug dealers, corporations have to assume some responsibility and be punished for their actions. Financial gain can not be one's sole motivation. This is America's problem.

Gabrielle David, Publisher of 2Leaf Press, Announces Seven New Titles for Spring 2014 2Leaf Press Publishes Fresh New Faces and Exciting New Books in April 2014 During National Poetry Month New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/28/2014 -- Gabrielle David is pleased to announce the publication of 2Leaf Press titles during National Poetry Month in April 2014. Featured poets include Abiodun Oyewole, Samuel Diaz Carrion, J.L. Torres, with bilingual editions by Odi Gonzales and Ana Rossetti. Rounding out the poetry collections is Lisa Sánchez González’ long-awaited bilingual edition, PUERTO RICAN FOLKTALES/CUENTOS FOLCLÓRICOS PUERTORRIQUEÑOS, the first offering in nearly 50 years of traditional Puerto Rican folktales and legends presented in book form. 2Leaf Press Fall 2013 releases will be available as eBooks this April as well, with books by Brandi Dawn Henderson, A. Robert Lee, Not4Prophet and Sean Frederick Forbes. Readers and reviewers are encouraged to download 2Leaf Press’ first book catalog to find out more information, and get a “sneak peak” at our Fall 2014 lineup. 2Leaf Press catalogs are available online at ISSUU.COM Says David, “We’re very excited about our first Spring releases and releasing our Fall 2013 print books as eBooks. In a sense, we’re also celebrating our first two years of survival. What started out as a few writers has blossomed into a press that many people want to be affiliated with. In fact, by the end of the year, we will have published 22 books. Along the way, we’re developing a reputation of publishing high quality books and giving writers the attention they need to grow and develop their craft. By the same token, as we continue to organically build our audience, like most small presses we struggle with money and marketing. But on the upside, we have a small group of dedicated folks who donate their time and energy developing 2Leaf Press because they believe in our mission and, they are passionate about the written word. In that regard, we are truly blessed.” 2Leaf Press’ Spring titles will become available around April 15 and available for sale online at Amazon.com and other online outlets. Books are distributed through Ingram and 2LP Distribution Direct. All 2Leaf Press authors are available for readings and interviews, and reviewers are encouraged to request 2Leaf Press digital review copies at bookreviewer@2leafpress.org. According to David, “Small presses play an important role as an alternative to the big publishing houses because we’re willing to take on authors that are often overlooked in the mainstream market. 2Leaf Press’ niche is to publish offbeat, innovative multicultural writers who produce high quality work. We’re also building a reputation for publishing translations, and a willingness to reissue out-of-print books. This super-charged Spring schedule is just one of many exciting options for readers as we continue to promote our backlist as well as our forthcoming books for Fall 2014. We're having a great time publishing some really exciting writers.” About 2Leaf Press Launched in 2012 with a vision of publishing extraordinary culturally diverse writers, 2Leaf Press is an imprint of The Intercultural Alliance of Artists & Scholars, Inc. (IAAS), a NY-based nonprofit organization that promotes multicultural literature and literacy. Its founding was made possible with funding by a group of poets, writers, scholars, artists and activists, with profits ploughed back into future publishing. To learn more about a “small press with big ideas,” visit 2Leaf Press online at http://www.2leafpress.org. For more information on this press release visit: http://www.sbwire.com/press-releases/gabrielle-david-publisher-of-2leaf-press-announces-seven-new-titles-for-spring-2014-481479.htm Press Release Contact: Gabrielle David Publisher 2Leaf Press 646-801-4227 gdavid@2leafpress.org http://2leafpress.org/online/

Interesting interview Hickson thanks for sharing it here. Please post a link where the book may be purchased.

Converse's All Stars, or "Cons," as well called them came after the PF Flyers they were popular my my hood as well. I've actually never owned a pair, but they were popular. While they have waned in popularity over the years I'm not sure people ever stopped wearing Cons. http://aalbc.com/tc/index.php?/topic/2602-skippies-bo-bos-and-rejects/. Hopefully Chris can chime in with the economics of the sneaker industry.

Cynique, Converse's All Stars, or "Cons," as well called them came after the PF Flyers. Cons were popular in my hood as well. I've actually never owned a pair, but they were very popular. While Cons have waned in popularity over the years I'm not sure people ever stopped wearing Cons. I've heard the term "Bo-Bo" before but we never used it. Our analogous term for no-name brand sneakers was "Skippies" or "Rejects." There was a rhyme we use to tease people when they were busted rockin' a pair of skippies; Skippies, the make your feet fine, Skippies, they cost a dollar ninety-nine. I don't recall they rest of the lines. Fortunately I never had the misfortune of having to actually don a pair of Skippies--or worse having to wear a pair of worn out Skippies! In hindsight, we were pretty insensitive and cruel to people less fortunate. None of us were rich, but some of wore Skippies with holes in them and others could afford to get a new pair of Cons every September for school. It is not surprising the desire to have some nice sneakers led some to stealing shoes off some kid's feet while they are wearing them. March 14, 1990 Issue Chris a quote from the article supports , "With their million-dollar advertising campaigns, superstar spokesmen, over-designed, high-priced products, aimed at impressionable young people they are creating status out of thin air for those starving for self-esteem." But even deeper is the bit about the sales rep encouraging a retailer to "hook up" the drug dealers to help introduce the product to the community! Now that I think about it there was a period when stepping one someones shoes--even accidentally--could lead to a fight. I believe people have been killed over stepping on the wrong person's sneakers. Apparently this type of thing still happens. Today, I guess, no one would bat an eye at paying $150 for a pair of sneakers for a child. I can't even bring myself to buy spend that much on myself. When I do buy sneakers it is at an outlet store--last year's model is fine for me 'cause be wearing the shoes for years.

I agree with Chris, I'm not even sure why people care -- plus what I've seen so far is not very funny. Nick Cannon is mixed in here with someone else trying to get views on Youtube You can see Nick's actual photos on Instagram (a facebook property) http://instagram.com/nickcannon

Please start a new thread or carry it over to your site it it is on sneakers (provide a link). Of I KNOW about the Jews who sold sneakers and clothing to poor Black kids -- TRUST me. I did not know they had a lock on merchandise though, but it does not surprise me. I just wish all the right wingers who complain about what Black businesses do not do would factor this in and I wish left wingers would actually do something about these things. It was a big deal "back in the day" to go to Delancy Street (NY Cities predominately Jewish lower east side) and buy clothing from the Jewish business owners there. They were in East Harlem too of course, but "D Street" was the Mecca (is that a bad analogy). I remember once paying $40 for a cheap (I realize now) leather coat. No prices were labelled you bargained for everything. I literally spend all my money and had to beat the fair (35 cents) to get back home. Of course we boasted about how we were able to "Jew-them-down" on the price not realizing we were the ones being beat each time. Whenever I hear Richard Pryor tell that joke when he says, "I tried to warn 'im: 'Boy, don't you go down there fuckin' with those Jews without no money!'" it makes me smile. For from his day, to mine, to now it is still the truth. Of course, I agree we make a conscious decision not to support each other, because we value what is not Black. I don't care if it is a school, a neighborhood, a business or even a publication. We do not feel validated unless a white entity does it. It changed in the 60's because we were now legally allowed to integrate. Look I'm all for integration. The only problem I have is when we are treated, by other Black folks, as less valuable than those in the majority. Of course this leads to a self-fulling prophesy as whatever is Black, suffering from lack of support, does indeed become less valuable. By the way, I've been known to get a manicure and pedicure from time to time. You just won't see me in orange shoes, sporting earrings or those tight jeans

"...Scandal and I wear my colorful Cole Haan shoes" LOL! Hey man I'm a New Yorker, I'm accustomed to you "metrosexuals" Seriously, while I know a lot of people derive a great deal of pleasure from a fine suit, or a nice pair of heals or I can't help but feel like we are being victimized--our vanity stoked then used against us. I remember the transition of things like sneakers and jeans from utility garments to fashion statements. The only ones benefiting, were those selling the products. When we were kids we used to "snap" (tease) the kids that wore the no-name-brand sneakers. You had to have Keds or PK Flyers, otherwise everyone knew you were a sucker (very uncool, lame) or your family was too poor to be able to afford the extra $5 a pair of Keds may have cost. Within the next 10 years a pair of "the right sneakers" sneakers when up in price by a factor of 10. PF Flyers were out. A pair of suede Clydes were in, to be quickly replaced by the $100+ Air Jordans. It was not uncommon, back then, for a kid to get their sneakers stolen right off of their feet! We used to laugh at each other back then when it happened. It just dawned on me why... and it is so sad. But I digress, what does this have to do with Jewish men scooping the Sistas? Hey wait... I bet Jewish boys never stole expensive sneaks from each other. I bet they never made fun of those who could score a par of Nike or Addias, or wasted limited resources paying for them. I guess they were too busy learning what it meant to be a man and studying their religion and culture. PF Flyers the Bob Cousy joints. I see the ultra-throwbacks are now a fashion statement-they used to be inexpensive footwear.

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This THIS the real reason we should give a crap of what is happening in Russia and Ukraine. It is interesting Obama says this US does not feel the need to invade foreign countries like Russia, that is deep.

“I continue to be much more concerned when it comes to our security with the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattanˮ

Some good news in the Black book world! By the way, ALL of the books Patrik mentions are excellent!

Statistically Facebook, social media in general are majority female. All of the most passionate and aggressive uses I know are women. There is plenty of data to support this. Sure people say things on social media they would never say in person. Often emboldened by hiding behind behind an alias or an avatar, or simply shielded from an in-person reaction. Well Cynique I'm glad that Facebook has not completely driven you away from these discussion forums. While I may disagree with you occasionally I recognize we are different people and therefore MUST disagree from time to time. But you never seem to take if personally the way SO MANY people do--online or off.

A review of David Covin's novel, Prodigal (Blue Nile Press, June 6, 2014) Written by Chauncey Ridley David Covin’s Prodigal is a well-tuned engine of richly resonant, polysemous form firing on all cylinders: a hip, ripping thriller set in the mean streets of Chicago’s Southside and the meaner, grittier streets of an urban Brazilian favela, a moving historical allegory of African prodigals stranded in North and South America by the transatlantic slave trade, and an inspiring chronicle of moral growth anagogically crowned by the homeward trajectory of the prodigal axé or life force of Brazilian Candomblé and its pantheon of orixas. The opening two-thirds of the novel flash back and forth between James Henderson’s criminal career in Chicago and the parallel story of his rebirth as Zhamess, found washed up on a beach in the Bay of All Saints, Salvador, Brazil by a street gang of thieving, scavenging boys from the favela, Liberdade, calling themselves the Wolf Pack. With no passport, no money, no memory of his passage and no idea of where he is, lacking even a phrase book for translation between English and Portuguese, James relives in reverse the trauma of African slaves’ delivery, as helpless cargo, onto the alien shores of the Americas: although his landfall is greeted not by bondage but by the indefatigable Wolf Pack who, despite their own parentless poverty, feed and shelter him in the dangerous favela until his spiritual training begins at the tereiro, sanctuary of Salvador’s Candomblé congregation. Obtuse yet protean, James in Chicago is a complex anti-hero capable of anything, hence, very compelling. For the intrepid Brown Bombers—his Chicago street gang while still in high school—the stresses of fight, flight, and crime are relentless. After dropping out of high school, his tireless work ethic and good looks fuel his meteoric success as a small time racketeer. Amoral yet sentimental, salacious yet artistic, by twenty five he is rich, running for his life from more powerful and murderously efficient racketeers, and grateful to surrender his entire bankroll to stowaway aboard a cargo ship going anywhere, only to be pitched overboard to drift with the incoming tide off Salvador, without a pause in the ship’s course further south. That opening two-thirds of the novel is fast-paced with riveting action scenes, and it rewards rereading for its subtly interwoven foreshadowings of the novel’s spiritual outcome. The final third of the novel is more contemplative. The current of narrative slows yet deepens and widens as James/Zhamess penetrates the closed worlds of the favela and Brazilian Candomblé, learns the history of the transatlantic slave trade which he never learned in Chicago schools, and rediscovers his lost identity as the prodigal son of Yemenja, orixa of rivers and the “Ocean sea:” whereupon, he commits himself to the itinerant mission of bearing witness, throughout the shores of the Atlantic, to the homecoming of Candomblé to Dahomey, to his own homecoming, and to the redemptive life force suffusing all descendents of the African slave diaspora. The novel’s epiphany illuminates not only that pan-Atlantic axé or life force but also North and South American prodigals’ widely varying degrees of awareness. At one extreme of awareness is James in Chicago. Before his transformation, he is even more oblivious of his exile than the Wolf Pack of the favela and no less a product of his sordid, urban, North American environment than Bigger Thomas of Richard Wright’s Native Son. At the opposite extreme, the priests and priestesses of Brazilian Candomblé yearn homeward to Dahomey, having prepared for generations to return and be recognized as offspring of Yoruba theology. Hence, the necessary first leg of James’s Atlantic odyssey is from Chicago to Salvador, where he transforms into Zhamess in preparation for his enlightened voyage home to Africa, not to stay, but to reclaim his heritage and highest purpose. There is nothing at all self-abnegating about Zhamess’s spiritual enlightenment. Transcendent, not as God is transcendent, but by virtue of his final commitment to the enlightenment of all prodigals, he remains a muscular, vigorous individual: “. . . . Exu - opened the gateway - and brought me through – into this world. “I don’t remember a thing about the gateway. . .. “. . . [Yet,] I know the gateway in a way the iawos [Candomblé initiates] do not. When the orixas step into this world through the iawos, it is the orixa’ who is here –who speaks, who dances – not the iawo. But with me . . .. I – have come through the gate – and I act in the world.” (Prodigal 249) If Zhamess is an aspect of the Candomblé Word made flesh, then Covin’s Prodigal is its printed, sacred text. Unique, immersive, action-packed, morally redemptive and spiritually uplifting, it merits wide distribution and serious critical attention. ___________________ Also read a review written by AALBC.com's Robert Fleming

Chris I agree with both of you points.. I'm going to add Cynique's analysis of social media to the eNewsletter I'm writing right now. I agree it is an explanation that is sourced from wisdom an experience. When I was a kid my mom spent hours standing in the hallway or on the phone gossiping. One thing I learned was that men who "gossiped" or watched soap operas were considered punks. Even to this day I can't bring myself to watch more than one episode of Scandal--it is just a glorified soap opera (plus watching the powerful sister lose her mind over a married white boy is a complete turn off). Yeah I know that is old school and guys can now gossip, wear two earnings, arch their eyebrows, sit at the hairdresser a getting a fancy do, wear colorful shoes, watch Scandal, whatever.... I just was not raised that way. I would however disagree with one aspect of your assessment of social media Cynique There is accountability. Indeed quite a lot of real world drama is caused by someone posting the wrong photo or writing the wrong thing. Indeed the repercussions are often exaggerated as information spreads much more quickly and is virtually impossible to remove once it is out. Jobs have been lose and marriages have ended over Facebook. Indeed, "Two-thirds of the lawyers surveyed said that Facebook was the "primary source" of evidence in divorce proceedings,"

Requesting Your Support of the Twelfth National Black Writers Conference and Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Black Literature Dear Friends and Colleagues: As you are aware, we are actively promoting the Twelfth National Black Writers Conference: Reconstructing the Master Narrative. This year marks a significant year for the Conference for we are also celebrating the Tenth Anniversary of the Center for Black Literature at the Conference and we are hosting a special program that pays tribute to and celebrates the writer and Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. I am writing with the hope that you will support our Conference by attending and by strongly encouraging your students to attend. You may Register Now for the Conference Our conference honorees include Maryse Condé whose historical novels represent the experiences of people throughout the African diaspora; Walter Mosley who has produced texts across many genres including crime fiction, speculative fiction, mystery and politics; poet, journalist, and biographer, Quincy Troupe whose expansive body of poems, essays and biographies vividly capture the American experience ; Nobel prize laureate poet and playwright Derek Walcott whose powerful poetry reflects the complexity of the Caribbean experience and poet, artist and institution builder Margaret Burroughs, co-founder of theDuSable Museum in Chicago, an institution developed to preserve and interpret the experiences and achievements of people of African descent. We will acknowledge their accomplishments and contributions at our Awards Program which is free and open to the public on Saturday evening, March 29, 2014 at 6:00 pm. We pride ourselves on the fact that our conference is a public gathering of writers, artists, students, professors and the general public. CSPAN will be covering most of the programming on Saturday and Sunday and we encourage you to attend the panels on “Race, Power and Politics,” “Maintaining Cultural Legacies,” “Shifting Identities in Africa and the African Diaspora,” “Reconstructing Historical Narratives,” “Saving Ourselves, Saving Our Communities,” and “The State of Publishing. You can also network with writers and lovers of literature and participate in our “talkshops” on the craft of writing. Our Poetry Café, which is free, will be at the Central Brooklyn Public Library from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm and will feature Jessica Care Moore, Tony Medina, Edward Mabrey and emerging writers. You can also view the literary films sponsored by African Voices/Reel Sisters; and attend the concert on Friday night featuring pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs and recording artists and poets Dasan Ahanu, Tai Allen, and Abiodun Oyewole of The Last Poets. We are also very excited to host a special evening on Friday, March 28 with Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. For this historic program, poet and playwright Derek Walcott will be joined by the Trinidad-born poet Mervyn Taylor and St. Lucian poet and producer Adrian Augier to participate in a program titled “The Search for Self in Caribbean Literature: Past, Present, and Future.” The conversation will focus on Walcott’s writing life and explore the themes of identity, memory, belonging and spirituality in his work and in Caribbean literature. The program will take place at 6:30 p.m., on the campus of Medgar Evers College, 1650 Bedford Ave.; the donation for this program is $10.00. You may register here. I would also like you to support the Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Black Literature which will be held at 7:00 pm on Saturday evening, March 29, 2014. This is a fundraiser for the Center and if you cannot attend, please make a contribution. Tickets for the fundraiser are $100. You may make reservations online. This will be a festive evening for writers and supporters of the Center. We will also honor former Councilman Al Vann and pay tribute to the late Congressman Major Owens and to the late writer, activist and poet Amiri Baraka. Thank you for supporting our Conference and Center and for participating in this historic event at Medgar Evers College. I have also attached a press release for the Conference. Sincerely, Brenda M. Greene, Ph.D. NBWC Director, 2014

This past weekend I added an event in which the work of Black, lesbian, feminist, mother, warrior, poet Audrey Lorde was celebrated by Angela Davis. The celebration also included a tribute to Esther Copper Jackson, a clip of which is shown below: Copper was the co-founder of the magazine Freedomways: A Quarterly Review of the Freedom Movement and served as the magazine's managing editor for the 25 years the magazine was published (1961 until 1985). Freedomways was an influential quarterly magazine that featured the the writings of Kwame Nkrumah, John Henrik Clarke, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King, Jr., Paul Robeson, Alice Walker, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin and many more. The magazine also featured the art of Jacob Laurence, Romare Beardon, Elizabeth Catlett, and others. While the magazine is referenced on AALBC.com a few times I was unfamiliar with it and was anxious to share the information with others. After running a few queries online I discovered to my surprise that Dr. John Hernik Clarke was prominently involved with the magazine from the start serving as the editor for the better part of two decades. I was very surprised Clarke's involvement with Freedomways was never mentioned that evening, I then discovered an interview Dr. Todd Burroughs did with Dr. Clarke in 1992 about his involvement with Freedomways. In it Dr Clarke say Freedonways was responsible for his becoming blind!

OK Chris. There was one interesting post on Facebook regarding this book. This is an excerpt. The kinda of thing that used to be posted here, back in the date :-) The published documentation contained herein was obtained from the Carnegie Institute of Learning, presently known as "The Carnegie Institute of Technology." The following is a partial of the slave ships owned by Jews: 'Abigail' by Aaron Lopez. Moses Levy and Jacob Franks. 'Crown' by Isaac Levy and Nathan Simpson. 'Nassau'by Moses Levy. 'Four Sisters' by Moses Levy. 'Anne & Eliza' by Justus Bosch and John Abrams. 'Prudent Betty' by Henry Cruger and Jacob Phoenix. 'Hester' by Mordecai and David Gomez. 'Elizabeth' by David and Mordecai Gomez. 'Antigua' by Nathan Marston and Abram Lyell. 'Betsy'by Wm. DeWoolf. 'PoUy'by James DeWoolf. 'White Horse' by Jan de Sweevts. 'Expedition' by John and Jacob Rosevelt. 'Charlotte' by Moses and Sam Levy and Jacob Franks. 'Caracoa' by Moses and Sam Levy. Slave-runners, also owned by Jews were the 'La Fortuna', the 'Hannah', the 'Sally', and the 'Venue'. Some of the Jews of Newport and Charleston who were engaged in the distillery or slavery trade, or both, were: Isaac Gomez, Hayman Levy, Jacob Malhado, Naphtaly Myers, David Hart, Joseph Jacobs, Moses Ben Franks, Moses Gomez, Isaac Dias, Benjamin Levy, David Jeshuvum, Jacob Pinto, Jacob Turk, Daniel Gomez, James Lucana, Jan de Sweevts, Felix (cha-cha) de Souza (known as the 'Prince of Slavers' and second only to Aaron Lopez), Simeon Potter, Isaac Elizer, Jacob Rod, Jacol) Itodrigues Rivera, Haym Isaac Carregal, Abraham Touro, Moses Hays, Moses Lopez, Judah Touro, Abrtham Mendes and Abraham All. Of some 600 ships leaving the port of Newport, more than 300 were engaged in the slave trade. A typical cargo of one ship, 'La Fortuna', was 217 slaves which cost about $4,300 and sold for $41,438.00. Only about 10% of the slave ship captains were Jews, not wanting to subject themselves to the rigors of the 6-month journey. They preferred to stay at home and continue their distillery operations which continued to supply rum and whiskey to the Indians for many years at a very great profit. REFERENCES DOCUMENTATION Elizabeth Donnan, 4 Vols. Documents Illustrative of the History of the Slave Trade to America, Washington, D.C., 1930-1935. "Carnegie Institute of Technology," Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Adventures of an African Slaver, by Malcolm Cowley, 1928. Published by Albert and Charles Bori, New York. The Story of the Jews in Newport, by Rabbi Morris A. Gutstein. The Jew Discovem America, by Cthmar Krainz. The International Jew, by Henry Ford. The Plot Against the Church, by Maurice Pinay. Protocol for World Conquest, 1956, by The Central Conference of American Rabbis. Behind Communism, by Frank L. Britton

CD which book will you promote? I would like to read if. I would also like to help you with the marketing strategy -- at least the online component. Maybe put a few heads a few heads together to think about a strategy that leverages what we can do collectively. Hit me up troy@aalbc.com