Troy

Happy New year everyone! Surround yourself with people you love and who love you. That is all we can do. American's, despite all the shit going down now, have been largely spared from the misery that is quite common in the rest of the world. Try to stay positive, and do what good you can. In fact, if we all can make it through the day without murdering someone, stealing something, telling unnecessary lies, and maybe share something with someone less fortunate, America would be a better place.

Hi Biaunca -- thanks for joining us! "Attack" may be too strong a word, but in the almost 15 years I've been running this site, it seems the appreciation for literature is waning. I think many things have conspired to create this situation, and most have to do with financial incentives.

NIaknows, "...could contact a company that she approves of and convince them to advertise as well." EXACTLY! I wish I thought of that myself. That is both a positive and constructive response. Thanks for taking the time to contribute your thoughts. Looking forward to reading your contributions in the future. Peace.

Thanks Cynique, I gotta tell you it gets more challenging every year. I am and will always be very appreciative of your support over that last decade.

For Immediate Release Media Contact: Evelyn Santana, BazanPR evelyn_santana@bazanpr.com 212-643-4664 X702 “THE HELP” NAMED BEST FILM OF 2011 BY THE BLACK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE New York, NY (December 20, 2011) – The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC) has voted “THE HELP” Best Film of 2011, Dee Rees Best Director for “PARIAH”, Viola Davis Best Actress for “THE HELP” and Olivier Litondo Best Actor for “THE FIRST GRADER”. The announcement was made by today by Mike Sargent, co-president, BFCC. Votes were cast and tabulated in NY at the organization’s annual meeting on December 19, 2011. Recognizing achievements in theatrical motion pictures, the BFCC awarded prizes in 13 categories including best picture, best director, original and adapted screenplay, best actor, best actress, best supporting actor, best supporting actress, best animated feature, best independent film, best documentary feature, best foreign film and best ensemble. Special Signature awards are also given to industry pioneers and rising stars. “This year was a very engaging one in cinema,” says Sargent. “Both commercial and independent fare illustrated the continued ability of Hollywood to entertain, spotlight new talent, show fresh perspectives and move audiences. Congratulations to all of the winners.” The complete list of award winners include: Best Picture - THE HELP Best Director - Dee Rees for PARIAH Best Actor - Olivier Litondo for THE FIRST GRADER Best Actress - Viola Davis for THE HELP Best Supporting Actor - Albert Brooks for DRIVE Best Supporting Actress - Octavia Spencer for THE HELP Best Independent Film - PARIAH Best Original Screenplay - Dee Rees for PARIAH Best Adapted Screenplay - Tate Taylor for THE HELP Best Documentary - BEING ELMO: A Puppeteer's Journey Best Foreign Film - LIFE, ABOVE ALL Best Animated Film - RANGO Best Ensemble - THE HELP BFCC Signature Awards include: Pioneer - Harry Belafonte A renaissance artist who brought his unique talent to all areas of entertainment in a career that has spanned nearly 60 years, Belafonte is a multi-Grammy© winning artist, an Emmy© Award winner with the distinct designation as the first African American television producer, a Tony© Award winner, motion picture film actor and producer, Civil Rights Activist and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. From his music, films, and humanitarian work, Harry Belafonte has continued to embody the very essence of the word Pioneer. Rising Star - Adepero Oduye Adepero’s performance in PARIAH is a moving, powerful unforgettable portrayal of a young woman of color coming to terms with herself, her sexuality, and her family. We believe she is truly a Talent to Watch. Special Mention - Attack the Block: Attack is a genre film that defies a number of conventions, not only by having a primarily black cast but portraying each character with a dignity seldom seen on screen and even more rarely in a Science-Fiction film. BFCC's Top ten films of 2011 1. The Help 2. The Artist 3. Pariah 4. Drive 5. The Descendants 6. Attack the Block 7. Tree of Life 8. Hugo 9. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 10. Warrior Founded in 2010, the Black Film Critics Circle is a membership organization comprised of film critics of color from daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, magazines, radio, television and qualifying on-line publications. The organization is dedicated to honoring excellence of professionals in the theatrical motion picture industry in U.S. and World Cinema. Its mission is to celebrate contributions and achievements in film by people of the black Diaspora who work in front of and behind the camera, maintain the integrity of a true Critics organization and advance a collective vision of journalists of the black Diaspora. BFCC assists in the development of new talent in the field of entertainment journalism through educational opportunities, mentoring and strategic partnerships and raises awareness of the significance of black film and black film history as a critical part of film culture and preservation. The organization meets annually in December to vote on the year’s films. BFCC’s Founding Members are journalists Mike Sargent (WBAI-FM NY/Tor.com), Wilson Morales (Blackfilm.com), and Shawn Edwards (WDAF-TV Fox Affiliate Kansas City, MO). For more information, visit us online @ Blackfilmcriticscircle.org or visit us on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/pages/BFCC/215361925204008 ###

There have been a lot of stories about returning veterans suffering from PTSD, permanently crippled, homeless, jobless, loosing homes. What a shame. Maybe one day someone will do a investigative report and research the real reason we went into Iraq, what we accomplished and what it really cost not just in terms of money, but in terms of lives lost and destroyed.

Check out Baratunde Thurston's lastest book. It does not com out until next month. I have not read it, but everything else I read or seen this guy produce has been pretty funny: His speak on Twitter was technically correct and very funny -- a rare skill. How to Be Black

All of you here contribute, in some way, to the success of AALBC.com, I just wanted to say thank you. Peace, Troy Johnson, Founder AALBC.com

writegirl, Amazon reviews, the ones submitted by users, are useless. I never read them unless I know the reviewer -- which is rare. Many are contributed by the author, or on behalf of the author, and are little more than additional promotional material. I even know some reviews which are posted to deliberately slam an author's work for malicious reasons. I do read the reviews on Amazon that are supplied by the known entities like Publishers weekly, Kirkus or the Library Journal, but those are really very short and not too informative. I would not give up on the new authors completely; just use a different method to discover them. I bet if you posted a request here: "...looking for a light humorous read by a new author. Any suggestions" people would provide some recommendations. You can also try review the " conversation.

While I'm sure many will find this book and certainly the DVD entertaining, I wonder how many will consume these products looking for serious help in their relationships. To his credit Michael is not positioning these products as solutions. In an attempt at a little sardonic wit, I suggested answers would be provided

Ladies, if Steve Harvey's books offered you no salvation the complex world of Black men and relationships look no furthur the author of "Never Satisfied: How and Why Men Cheat", Michael Baisden, has a new book Never Satisfied Do Men Know What They Want At at last, sisters you long wait is over: Michael addresses the profound questions and provides answers escaping us all. In his book you'll learn: Men don't don;t worry Mike has something for you too: Marriage, money, monogamy and more... Do Women Know What They Want? (Uncut Version) DVD "In this uncensored version, things quickly get hot and out of hand as Michael and his co-host, George Willborn, host a "passion party" to find out what the ladies want in the bedroom. Frank talk not for the faint of heart."

Carey to clarify my point a bit. If a preacher can not, in the privacy of his own home, adhere to the most basic tenets of his faith, then he should remove himself. He certainly should not be misguiding the followers. At best he is a very dumb or ignorant man at worse is is a devil in preacher's clothing.

Writegirl, reading books that have been so badly edited that I can not complete them is a rare occurrence. Typically it is the subject matter or style that prevents be from completing books -- rather than run sentences or a misplaced modifiers. How do you decide which books to read? It seems to me you'd be able to avoid the really badly edited or unedited ones with a little scrutiny or using a good source for recommendations.

Stove top I use it everything I prepare a Thanksgiving feast. I add a pound of crumpled spicy Parks sage sausage when I prepare min. Sometime i stuff the turkey, but all that does make cooking the turkey a little difficult. I bake the Turkey and stuff it afterwards if I want to make an impression. I actually I don't; even like Turkey (unless it has been fried or covered in gravy), I don't even eat it during the holidays if there is another meat available. this year I had ribs :-) Our family's Christmas dinner is ordering Chinese take out. I usually get Peking Duck.

Dorothy congrats on your latest novel! writergirl870 welcome to the discussion boards!

A Christian pastor suggesting one view porn is absurd. Typically the participants engaged in sex in a pornographic film are committing adultery. Why any pastor would encourage someone to view this stuff is beyond me. As far as everyone, else participating in them or watching them -- that is up them; as long as folks are doing it voluntarily (I know a very slippery term), I have no problem with it. I do however believe people can get a warped sense of what to expect in the bedroom especially if most of their experience is based upon porn. But sex is such a charged and sensitive subject few people including married coupled can have a meaning conversation about the subject. If Haggns spend a split second he might have figured out the underlying problem and given them more helpful, advise more inline with their supposed belief system.

Hickson, Biaunca, I completely feel where you are both coming from. The lack of cohesiveness is appalling. I can give you hundreds of personal anecdotes from over the last 15 years that would have you shaking your head. Exacerbating the problem is that we, effectively, do not control our own voices. Because of the fact this very issue will never be reported on in the mainstream media. The average person really has no idea what is going on. I just sent this message to another internet entrepreneur as few moments ago: Hickson, you are right bookstores on line and off HAVE to be come more creative to stay alive. The problem is resources are hard to come by which makes it impossible to grow. Our best resources go to "majority" owned business. It is not because they pay more. Many Black writers will write for the HuffingPost for free. Many Black authors will quote every "Major" source before the quote a black one. I've done events for Black authors who will announce Buy my book at B&N or Amazon -- every where but AALBC.com. They are not being mean -- they just don't understand. Some do, but most don't. it is a very profound problem. But there is hope. There are conscious people who understand the problem and are willing to do something about it. In fact AALBC.com would not be alive were it not for individuals like this. I'm not talking about famous people or very rich people. [Amazingly I've NEVER received an ounce of support from a famous or rich author - even though I strongly support them]. Most of my support comes from regular folk, and relatively unknown authors, like the people who regularly contribute to the conversations here. There are also others on the web -- doing their thing, day in and day out, grindin' not because they are trying to get rich, but because they believe what they are doing will benefit our people, and in turn the world.

I went back and posted the full conversation. I have admit I was beginning to loose patience with the person, but I really wanted to understand her concerns. Often the harshest critiques come from people who have never done what they are actually critiquing. But these folks are still the audience I'm attempting to serve. So while I appreciate they have no clue how difficult what I do is, I always to try to address any feedback that seems to be sincerely presented. I also realize I'm very biased, so I was hoping someone could help me understand this exchange. Am I wrong for welcoming the financial support of sponsors like Twisted Sista? Also keep in mind the Twisted Sista campaign is doing well. The success has actually help support the premise that non book related ads can do well on the site. Twisted Sista is also sponsoring a contest: http://www.aalbc.com/fun/twisted_sista.html

Yeah I heard the broadcast with Tommie and Juan, Unfortunately money in sports has removed what little consciousness these athletes had left..

Hazing on a marching band seems... silly. Unfortunately this incident had catastrophic consequence. I had the pleasure of watching FAMU's marching band perform earlier this year. I had to sit through USF 2nd string team 70-17 mauling of FAMU.

Cynique. It would be interesting to know why you write Weber work is not taken seriously. Please explain sometimes I can get out of touch from my vantage point.

ANYONE who has been here since the 90's have my gratitude and admiration!

Cynique you can always go back and edit (or at least you should be able to). Carl Weber has been around a long time. Actually he is one of the most prominent African Americans in the field. The comparison with a self-published urban author is like comparing apples to oranges. http://aalbc.com/authors/carlweber.htm

Subject: TwistedSista Ad Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 6:26 PM Please remove the TwistedSista ads from AALC. I come to your site to purchase books, not to view ads designed to stir up hair issues within the black community. Please keep your ads limited to those directly related to books. Concerned Visitor [Editor's Note: an alias] -------------- On Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 8:04 PM, Troy Johnson <troy@aalbc.com> wrote: Hey Concerned Visitor, I appreciate you taking the time to email me your feelings about the Twisted Sista ad campaign on AALBC.com. I have no control over authors or publishers decisions to place ads on AALBC.com. Indeed, book advertisements represent a small percentage of advertising revenue generated by AALBC.com. Book ads represent such a small percentage of ads on AALBC.com, I would not a viable business without the non-book ads. I’d be interested in reading why you find the Twisted Sista ads so offensive. The performance of the ads, based upon the number percentage of people who click them, indicates that a large percentage of people do not take offense with the Twisted Sista products. As an aside, I run the site entirely on my own. It is literarily a daily struggle to keep AALBC.com profitable and remain true to my mission of providing visitors with the variety of literature that we produce. We have lost many book sites over the last few years. No one in the business of selling books by and about Black people, does this to get rich, it is a labor of love and a lot of hard work. Support – especially financial support, is very hard to come by. Take a look at these articles and let me know what you think. Black Book Websites Need Love Too http://aalbc.com/blog/index.php/2011/03/09/black-book-websites-need-love-too/ What Happened to the Best African American Literary Magazines? http://aalbc.com/blog/index.php/2011/11/28/best-african-american-literary-magazines/ Peace, Troy Johnson President, AALBC.com, LLC --------------- Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 10:31 PM To: Troy Johnson Hi Troy, I can appreciate everything you stated in your response. My reasons for not wanting to see Twisted Sista ads at a site black women know, trust, and love are as follows: Although Twisted Sista caters to us naturals, it contains a bunch of junk-garbage ingredients - perfume, parabens, alcohol, cones, glycerines, and a long list of stuff nobody can pronounce. The ad itself is supposed to be for black women, yet shows a nearly white woman in the advertisement. This is what I "read" when I view the ad: Unless YOU look like HER, YOU should NOT wear your hair natural. YOU may as well continue relaxing, flat ironing, straightening, weaving, and wigging your hair. These five-and-dime products are attempting to take advantage of the uninformed. Society seems to WANT black women to continue walking around with short, broken-off hair. These products are DESIGNED to convince us that our hair will not grow, is incapable of growing, and in dire need of a relaxer, and hair weave or wig. Did I mention that the product line is terrible? The shampoo is drying and coating. I abhor the coating on my hair, which is responisible for making my hair feel so stiff. And my scalp seems to get sweaty faster than it does with other shampoos. The conditioner leaves the same coating on my hair. It completely dries the hair out, leaving it parched and begging for a sip of moisture. All the best. Thanks for writing back. Love your site! Concerned Visitor --------------------------------------- On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 9:38 AM, Troy Johnson <troy@aalbc.com> wrote: I’m glad you like the site Concerned Visitor. Again I appreciate the feedback. I’m in no position to judge the relative merits of the Twista Sista product line. However I did read the ad copy and the products are designed for people with straight or curly hair. I suspect, judging from the models used, the product is targeted to mixed raced women (perhaps competing with the Mixed Chicks products). In addition, Twisted products are inexpensively priced. Apparently there is a market for this type of product here in the US. Presumably the product achieved some success in the UK. The product that appeals to everyone has yet to be invented. People have even complained about some of the books that are on the site. Does that mean, for example, that because someone has an issue with Urban Fiction that I should pull all of the Urban Fiction off my site? The Twisted Sista’s make AALBC.com possible. If you support AALBC.com you should be glad Twista Sista is spending money to reach my audience and promotional effort with us. You don’t have to like their products – personally, I have no use for them either :-) Troy Johnson President, AALBC.com, LLC -------------------- Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 8:39 AM To: Troy Johnson Subject: Re: TwistedSista Ad You know Troy, if that is your stance then there was never a reason for you to ask why I took issue with the ad. I took the time to answer your question because you asked it. There are new web sites being developed to serve the best interests of black women everyday. Goodreads, for example, sponsors ads that are book related - period. I belong to a group of 6800 networked ladies who are waiting to learn your response to this inquiry. I will assume that I have your permission to share, as I consider this a done conversation. --Concerned Visitor ----------------------------- From: Troy Johnson [mailto:troy@aalbc.com] Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 9:20 AM Subject: RE: TwistedSista Ad Deep. You think Goodreads only displays ads for books (please review their site you’ll find non-book ads)? You want to compare an independently owned company, run by an individual with Goodreads -- majority owned and operated, with millions of dollars of private investment? You feel Goodreads serves the interests of Black women (I can’t recall the last time I was a Black book on the Goodread homepage). Please share the conversation. Again, I’m open to reading and hearing the feedback. If you are sincere, you might be moved to harness your network of ladies to help constructively correct the problems you perceive. Please share the conversation. I’ll do the same (without your name and email address) Troy Johnson President, AALBC.com, LLC

Classic Cynique! Carey I hope you read what Cynique has written, think about it for a while, and reply with something that reflects that process.