Troy

Chris, I'm not shooting the messenger; but i would like a little more insight. I did not know who Alveda King was until you mentioned her here. I know my pop culture quotient is pretty low nowadays, but I can't image than anyone cares what an Alveda King has to say or how well she says it. Do you? If so, why do you think so?

Hey Bookfan, I spot checked some of my sales and ranking and found the following: Confessions of a Video Vixen Has an Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #74,758 on 9/3/10 I've sold more than 24 copies of this title this year. Total Eclipse of the Heart Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #276,332 (Hard) - I've sold more than 24 of this title too. Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #11,265 (paper) - The paper version of this title has sold almost half as many copies as the hardcoveron my site, but it's Amazon rank is much higher. Obviously more people are buying the paperback over all. I spot checked a few more titles and there is little correlation between my sales and Amazon's ranks. This could be because I took far too small a sample (a handful out of hundreds of titles sold). More likely however is that my sales volumes are not large enough compared to Amazon's total sales. You are probably right predicting that 99.9% of all Amazon titles sell less than 2 copies a month over the course of a year. Consider; 10,000,000 = Assumption of total umber of Amazon titles for sale 10,000 = Amazon Rank of Juliette's book (actually it is 22K tonight) 99.90% = which means that it is selling better than 99.9% of all 10MM titles 10,000 = Number of titles selling more than 24 copies a year (I suspect even this estimate is quite high) Bottom line Juliette's stat sounds quite reasonable.

Chris, my personal opinion on what I promote is irrelevant. If I just promoted what I liked I'm sure no one would visit the website. Sure, some of the stuff I promote I do actually like, but some of it I could care less about. Much of what I promote is based upon feedback from various sources. I read reviews, I analyze my web site traffic, I look at book sales, and I listen to what the literati talk about. I even run experiments posting a variety of content to see what people like -- in many ways it is a science. I also try to balance things out. I knew before I got started Ai would generate, relatively speaking, very little interest. I however know plenty of people who LOVE her work. To answer your question I've read some of Ai’s stuff, but I'm not all that moved either. Again, I did not post the Ai stuff for my benefit, I did so for my readers. I also know that my Ai content will not generate much revenue for the site, but I'm (obviously) not drive solely by money. Yeah, I complained about the lack of pages views on the Ai post but I was really just busting y’all’s chops .

Bookfan Amazon updates its rankings hourly. It would be more useful to know what the rankings were over the course of the year and when the sales actually took place. If 24 of the sales took place in the past week she could have that kind of rank but been in the high millions the rest of the year? The sharp spike in sales trajectory might explain the ranking despite few sales over the course of a year. Tonight sometime I run the numbers for my July/August best sellers list which is derived solely from my sales on Amazon. I will compare my sales figures against the current Amazon ranking and get back to you with a comparative analysis. Keep in mind Amazon tracks the sales of MILLIONS of books. The vast majority of those books sell very few copies. Someone that sells 2 books a month, on average, is probably tied with a 500,000 other authors. When the Amazon ranking is that low (less than 1,000 or so) the differences in the sales figures probably don’t amount to very much. I don't even take notice of an amazon rank greater the 500.

ROTFLMAO!!

Cynique, I'm gonna request the cremation/ashes route myself. I think it is cheaper, besides after 50 years no one is gonna visit the grave site. In a 100 years, no one will even know it ever existed. If anyone felt that strongly about it after I'm gone and wanted a physical memorial -- they can knock themselves out. Either way, I won't know the difference. Hopefully my legacy will be more that a plaque or stone in the ground.

Off-line someone said they thought the idea was morbid, kinda creepy. They thought someone would discover the profile and think the person came back from the dead or get weirded out. I know people are pretty superstitious regarding the departed. But since Thumper and Cynique like the idea -- it can't be all that bad. Thought I've never heard of anyone doing this; I'd be surprised if I'm not the first person to do it Thanks for the feedback.

Say It Loud! Great Speeches on Civil Rights and African-American Identity Say It Loud is titled after the classic 1969 James Brown anthem ‘Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.’ This anthology is meant to illuminate the evolution of ideas and debates pulsing through the black freedom struggle from the 1960s to the present and the way these arguments are suffused with basic questions about what it means to be black in America.” -- Excerpted from the Preface (pg. ix)

Should I create a Facebook page for my dad? My dad passed in 1979 and without getting into all the details, suffice it to say that I did not know him very well. The profile would be a place where I can post some of his old super videos, a few photos, and some biographical information. Others could post info too. My thinking is that one it would be not a memorial, but an interactive archive of sorts. I might even learn more about my dad from the potential contribution of people I don't even know. If Facebook (or the internet lasts) my children's children could learn about their ancestor. Ancestry.com provides a similar service but it is not as accessible or feature rich as Facebook. There was an article in Newsweek that spoke about Facebook's decision to allow profiles of deceased people to persist in perpetuity. This is what gave me the idea. Plus I found it beneficial to read the posts of my Facebook friends that have passed. My dad is buried about 70 miles from where I live and half way across the country from where he was born and raised. I know I'm the only one who has visited the site more that once.

Hi Crystal. Don't worry. I'll keep promoting the poetry and literary stuff and all the rest of what we do. Actually there was a lot of interest in the Alice Walker set of interviews I posted recently. I guess Ai is too obscure to get much of a reaction from folk let us now how you enjoy the book.

7 more views since Sunday. Lemme create some more Zane and Karrine Steffans content before i go out of business

phlough, no one wil buy The Girl Who Fell from the Sky because no one can devine from the cover or the title what the book is about. Plus no one knows the author. I'm sure AALBC.com will generate some attention and sales on the strength of the review. How did you discover The Girl Who Fell from the Sky? Thumper even with the entire world wide web at his disposal Chris could not come up with any titles. Chris you might find some annunition to bolster your argument here.

Ok Cynique the new account I created "troy_via_twitter" is unable to edit a post. I'll get on it now... I take this back, Cynique. I just added this text to a post I created. I did not see the edit button until after I saved the post.

Cynique I'll create a new account and try to replicate your problem. Is anyone else unable to edit their own posts? Cynique, I see others attempting to live here in America with a completely different culture. The only way this can possibly work is if these people completely cut themselves off from the outside world. The Amish people in Pennsylvania seem to be pretty good at it. Other groups, mostly religious ones seem to have varying degrees of success. The problem is American view these groups as cults needing to be fixed. Westerners have this irritating characteristic of wanting make everything like themselves we view the entire world as needing to be fixed if they don't behave like us. We want people to worship the same God, listen to the same music, dance the same way and speak the same language... Of course I know the motivation for this is money (the underlying motivation for most things in our culture). If the foreign culture is sufficiently 'westernized" we can then ensure that the McDonalds we open up will have sufficient demand. We need an American "Prime Directive" of sorts. I guess this is better than the old technique of rape, pillage, plunder, enslave, convert... Black people in this country are not going to branch off into some alternate culture. The best we will get (without force) are a handful of people who celebrate Kwaanza aroud the holidays or small group who might join the NOI. Again, the only way Black boys will be saved is when there is a cultural shift in this country making if possible. And this will only happen if it is in the financial interest of enough of the right people.

John Oliver Killens: A Life of Black Literary Activism by Keith Gilyard http://bit.ly/johnkillens The Cross of Redemption: Uncollected Writings by James Baldwin http://bit.ly/jamesbaldwin Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy by Bruce Watson http://bit.ly/freedomsummer The World Has Changed: Conversations with Alice Walker by Alice Walker, edited by Rudolph Byrd http://bit.ly/AliceWalker

Hey Mel, to answer your question about "what is the crisis?"; I'd have to say the crisis is in the American culture. The "loss Black boys" which prompted me to start this conversation really does stem from the destructive nature of our own culture. ----------- This problem will ultimately become EVERY American’s problem. But like the proverbial canary in the mine shaft, Black men are suffering first and will suffer the deepest. Therefore I don’t see a remedy of this problem that does not address a significant change in our culture. I stated that the cause of the problem was equal rights for women. I thought I made it clear in my original and subsequent posts that I do not lay the blame and that change – indeed I think that was a progressive and necessary cultural change. While I admit the title of the discussion was designed to spark interest in reading and participating in this conversation (and it worked). I do however believe that the changes in the culture marked by the changes the woman’s place in our society, simply left the family structure to the wolves… This is a complex issue and I’m, necessarily, over simplifying things. But the roles of the mother and father in the family, for example, are so ambiguous people don’t know what to do – so they wing it. Winging it over the last 40 years has led to increasing level of failures in marriages, educations levels and incarceration – and not just for Black boys. This is not to say that the goal of the man being the bread winner and the women being stay at home moms was ideal or even realistic (especially in the Black community). But it was a cultural goal something people strove for we if you did not make it. Again it was part and parcel of a culture that said having children out of wed lock, going to jail and dropping out of school was bad. When the rules go away people are lost, confused. Today the number of books on raising children, holding a marriage together and finding a mate should tell you something. This type of information should be so firmly embedded in the culture that anyone past puberty should be able to address all of these issues with clarity and confidence. Today 40 years olds don’t have a clue and struggle with the most basic aspects of a culture. ----------------- FA Mason, a few things: While I’m not familiar with the German philosopher Kant; the exploitive nature of capitalism is obvious. What would you replace capitalism that would result in no one being exploited. If would also be helpful if you can site some examples where this is working.Heterosexual males have not cornered the market on the macho image – There are many homosexual males that hide their emotions and are as rugged as the most macho dude out there.Despite your elevation of Malcolm X as the true model of manhood there are many people who would disagree with that premise.King was not an “unconscious” colluder with white society. Indeed, he fought hard to work within the constructs of this society to obtain equal rights. This was probably the best strategy at the time.I have no idea what you mean by, “Our models of manhood are rooted in Africanity…”. Maybe you can clarify that (maybe in a new conversation). The cultures in pre-colonial Africa were diverse, and can not be described on a continental level. But even if we could take on a pre-colonial Afrikan culture how would an African American male adopt these roles 600 years later? Would it even work in the 21st century?Agreed with your last paragraph, but for the vast majority of the African American’s whose ancestors where dragged here on ships or who have been here for more than a few generations, I’m afraid the “dominant culture” is our culture too.

Wow, 19 views of this post as of 2:30PM Sunday afternoon... I guess no one gives a crap about Ai's work.

Chris why don't you provide a few examples of literary novels that were pubblished in the few years, and promoted by the white literary establishment that "stunk". Here are a few literary novels promoted, by the white establishment, that were also good books: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun Heidi W. Durrow' s The Girl Who Fell from the Sky Caryl Phillips' In The Falling Snow To name a few. As a side note: none of the publishers of these book purchased advertisements on AALBC.com. While we might know who these authors are many Black readers do not, the titles would have benefited from some additional promotion directed at the Black community.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM2alg1Z2ak Man I was smiling as I watched the trailer for this DVD. I LOVED seeing some of my favorite performers in their prime. More information about this DVD, which will be released on Tuesday, may be found here: http://runt.it/soultraindvd

No Surrender (Read an AALBC.com Book Review) by Ai Ai (October 21, 1947 – March 20, 2010), was born Florence Anthony. She changed her name to Ai Ogawa. "Ai was always a fierce and uncompromising voice. The author of seven memorable books of poetry, she earned the American Book Award for Sin in 1987 and a National Book Award for Vice in 1999. As the Mitte Chair in Creative Writing at Southwest Texas State University from 2002 -2003, she earned a United States Artist Ford Fellowship in 2009.

Cynique I was waiting to read your perspective. Regarding your last question; keep in mind the title I chose to use was deliberately provocative. I'm not sure how useful the question is since it is premised on a title designed attract readers -- that is unless of course the responder thinks the statement is actually true. Mel I have no idea why your photo is so big -- I just thought you REALLY wanted to be noticed. LOL When I get a second I'll look into it. Theologian your description of why the Black church is in decline is mirrors my sentiments so closely I thought I wrote it. Perhaps the turning point was not the 60's women's movement, but the point when Black men stopped going to church... Luckylois, this one is simple; but first I have to point out that "accomplished sister" and the "eye candy sister" are not mutually exclusive. They are often the same person. But for the sake of argument I'll answer your question as posed: An accomplished sister, with any semblance of self-esteem, will want a grown assed man -- full stop. A grown man will have development enough common sense to avoid doing jail time and will have learned enough in school to get a high school diploma. Judging by the number these types of dudes are increasingly short supply and are readily snapped up when available. Adult boys can’t deal with standard of behavior demanded by an accomplished women. These brothas opt for the shallower relationships, often based upon looks or other "skillz". Finally, someone posted a comment on my discussion board that really made a lot of sense: "The system is founded on white supremacy .. so the system is working JUST FINE." Clearly White folks with real wealth and power are doing quite nicely. Certainly we can not rationally believe that the problem facing the Black male will be addressed, in the current system, unless of course those very few folks with the wealth and power are actually faced with losing what they have as a consequence of Black folks suffering.

Hey Cynique, I'm confused. I can edit my posts with my regualr user account (created using facebook login). Do you have an "edit" icon underneath your posts (see graphic): Unregistered users should be able to see the boards. This I pretty certain it works. I've been traveling a lot lately and I often lurk myself using public PCs and without logging in. Why do you say this does not work? Thanks for the feedback.

While my title might imply that I believe equality for women is the cause of the problem; I don't believe this, I do however believe, while we were sorting out ways to empower women we forgot that the same effort still needed to be directed to empowering our young men. In this regard, we have failed abominably. Mel this, viewed in isolation, is a great thing. The problem however is that Black men are failing to do the same – regressing even. Additionally, I’m not so sure that Black women, despite the advances, are all that happy. Considering the types of books that cross my desk; a significant portion of them deal with relationships. It is already a worn out cliché that “there are no good Black men out there”. The old line from Mahogany: "Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with", rings truer today than ever. This problem hurts both sexes. Apparently the assumption was that the men would be alright, that they (we) had all the advantages – it’s a man’s world after all. Maybe following the woman’s lead or example is part of the answer. But whatever we decide to do, we’ll need to do it together otherwise we will both fail.

There is some interesting commentary on my facebook profile: http://www.facebook.com/aalbc (even though I think the conversation is better suited for this discussion forum )

Of course I’m not saying that women don’t deserve equal rights. I believe they do. What I am saying is: in the course of creating the major cultural changes required to give women equal rights to men, the “traditional” roles of men and women, within the family structure, was cast aside without a suitable alternative structure being put in place. As a result, the family, more importantly the father's role in it, has been undermined. The result is what we see today. This is not a problem limited to Black folks, but given the additional challenges we face the effects are much more severe. Man’s role as head of the family, with the mother providing support to the man; sounds absurdly conservative by today’s standards. That model however was largely unchanged for a millennia until the 1960’s. The skills, knowledge and cultural wisdom normally imparted to young men by their fathers, is no longer valid. Indeed the post equal rights era role of the father is completely unknown, unaddressed. Today, fathers don’t raise men, because they were not raised to be men, nor were their fathers before them. In many families today the presence of the father is not viewed as necessary or even desired. Many of the high school boys we are talking about are three generations or more without a father in the house. Meanwhile our post equal rights culture further devalues the importance of the male figure. The government provides more financial assistance to families without a father present. Today it is easier than ever to get a no fault divorce. The list of well intentioned, but destructive legislation provides incentives and enables women to raise children alone while releasing men from their responsibilities. The role of the woman is up for grabs as well. The sexual revolution has left today’s woman without a road map for how to deal with men. Birth control and abortion has changed all the rules and we are more confused than ever on how we should treat each other. Every generation has to reinvent the wheel. The increasing number of books and articles on relationships don't seem to help. Today most Black women will never marry. Of those that do get married the vast majority of those marriages will fail. While we witness the absence of fathers in the home; another alarming trend will rise as well – absentee mothers. As women continue to strive for “equality” with men, and free themselves from the burden of raising children alone; they too will abandon their children. An increasing number of children in our community TODAY are not raised by their mother or their fathers. In some communities a significant number of children don’t know who either of their parents are! There is no quick fix for this problem; at least not one that would virtually eliminate our freedoms. The only solution may be time. In the meanwhile, things will get worse before they get better – especially for us…