Troy

Some of these documented go back to the 13th century... sad

Pioneer. I'm NYC because my wife works in the city -- otherwise I would not be here. I prefer the climate of the southern US. New York is not self contained. Most of the low wage workers live in the surrounding ghettos and significant portions of the middle class lives in the surrounding suburbs. both groups traveling an 2 hour or more round trip just to get work. Only the very wealthy can afford to live, in a nice place that is actually IN NYC. Your statements about NYC Public school are inaccurate. At the end of the day anyone who can afford to pay for private schools does so. The public schools especially for Black folks are criminal (NYC teachers don't shoot -- I'm not blaming you). I fundamentally agree with your idea. I'm attempting to do something very similar with the online community. It has not been easy.

Pioneer, Obama is not responsible for the unemployment rate, but what his presidency has shown is how the government is completely controlled by corporate America. As president, Obama is the figure head (Obama groupies please don't shoot!) I agree with you about corporate jobs. I witnessed many middle class white folks lose their jobs to lower paid workers in Asia. Many of the middle aged, over paid white middle managers had little hope of finding the same type of employment and struggle to maintain their life styles, send their kids to school, etc. The emergence of the Tea Party, Occupy does not surprise me. What does surprise me is the almost complete lack of outrage by the Black community. We have been completely muzzled by the Obama presidency -- even former racial rabble rouser Al Sharpton is on the take -- urging Black folks to give Obama time -- for what?! Black unemployment in places like NYC's Harlem is 50% at best. It is no wonder the Police precincts here (Harlem) are give people $100 for even gun brought in -- no questions asked. Meanwhile in whitelandia...there is an arms race.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Special to Feature Editors Contact: Maēshay k. Lewis E-mail: writers@mec.cuny.edu Phone: 718-804-8882 Contact: Clarence V. Reynolds E-mail: Clarenciov@msn.com Phone: 718-804-8883 The Center for Black Literature Hotline: 718-270-4811 The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College Celebrates Black History Month with Voices from the African Diaspora NATIONAL –In celebration of Black History Month, on Thursday, February 21, 2013, the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, will host Voices from the African Diaspora: A Literary Salon featuring Pamela Newkirk, author of Letters from Black America; novelist and journalist Christopher John Farley; poet Tony Medina, author of An Onion of Wars; and poet Khalil Almustafa. The evening will serve as a kick-off event for the Center for Black Literature’s Tenth Anniversary and the Center will also be celebrating the publication of the Killens Review of Arts & Letters. The evening will also reflect upon the civil rights leader Malcolm X, who was assassinated on this date in 1965. The salon will also feature dramatic readings by Medgar Evers College students. Book signings will follow the event. As part of CBL’s John Oliver Killens Reading Series, the literary salon is a tribute to the late John Oliver Killens, author, activist, social critic, educator and former writer-in-residence at Medgar Evers College. Killens spent four decades writing and working to support black writers and their work. His vision was to host a National Black Writers Conference every year and he was the visionary leader behind the hosting of the Conference at the college. The Killens Review of Arts & Letters, published by the Center for Black Literature, is a journal dedicated to supporting the mission and work of the John Oliver Killens Chair at Medgar Evers College. About the Writers Pamela Newkirk is professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications and director of the undergraduate studies program at New York University. She is the author of Within the Veil: Black Journalists, White Media (2000), which was awarded the National Press Club Award for Media Criticism and editor of A Love No Less: More Than Two Centuries of African American Love Letters (2003). Her most recent book is Letters from Black America: Intimate Portraits of the African American Experience (2009), a collection of letters from a wide variety of African-Americans. Christopher John Farley has worked as a music critic at Time magazine and is currently an editor at The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of two novels, My Favorite War (1996) and Kingston by Starlight (2005). His 2001 book Aaliyah: More Than a Woman was a national best seller. He is the coauthor of Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues, the companion volume to the PBS series. Farley is also the author of Before the Legend: the Rise of Bob Marley, which was named one of best books of 2006 by Black Issues Book Review. His short story is featured in the anthology Kingston Noir (2012), edited by Colin Channer. Kahlil Almustafa, known as the People’s Poet, is the 2002 Nuyorican Grand Slam Champion and the author of four books of poetry and his debut CD CounterIntelligence. His collection of 15 years of poetry, Growing Up Hip-Hop, is used in more than 40 classrooms nationally from the elementary to the university level. In 2009, almustafa completed the “100 Poems for 100 Days” project where he wrote 100 poems in the first 100 days of Barack Obama’s presidency published in a collection of poems entitled From Auction Block to Oval Office. Tony Medina is the author/editor of sixteen books for adults and young readers, including DeShawn Days (Lee & Low Books, 2001), Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam (Random House/Three Rivers Press, 2001), Love to Langston (Lee & Low Books, 2002), Role Call: A Generational Anthology of Social and Political Black Literature & Art (Third World Press, 2002). Medina is the first Professor of Creative Writing at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and his poetry, fiction, and essays appear in more than ninety publications and two CD compilations. His latest books are The President Looks Like Me and Other Poems (Just Us Books, 2013); An Onion of Wars (Third World Press, 2012); I and I, Bob Marley (Lee & Low Books, 2009), and My Old Man Was Always on the Lam (NYQ Books, 2011). About the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College The mission of the Center for Black Literature is to expand, broaden, and enrich the public’s knowledge and aesthetic appreciation of the value of black literature. Through a series of programs that build an audience for the reading, discussion, and critical analysis of contemporary black literature and that serve as a forum for the research and study of black literature, the Center convenes and supports various literary programs and events such as author signings, writing workshops, panel discussions, conferences, and symposia. The Center also collaborates with various organizations including public schools, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Museum, the PEN American Center, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. In order to accomplish its mission and sustain its programming, the Center must raise funds through private and public organizations and foundations. Funding for Center programs has been provided by organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the New York Council on the Humanities, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Poets & Writers, and the Independence Community Foundation. For more information about the Center for Black Literature, visit www.centerforblackliterature.org or call 718-804-8883. ### Medgar Evers College 1650 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11225 writers@mec.cuny.edu www.centerforblackliterature.org Brenda M. Greene, Ph.D. Executive Director CBL Advisory Board Myrlie Evers-Williams Honorary Chair Dale Allender Associate Executive Director National Council of Teachers of English Patrick A. Buddington Chief Marketing Officer IMC Communications Group Richard Jones Jr. Executive Dean Accreditation and Quality Assurance and Institutional Effectiveness Medgar Evers College, CUNY Louise Mirrer President and CEO New-York Historical Society Lawrence Schiller President and Co-Founder The Norman Mailer Center Richard Wesley Writer, Goldberg Chair, Department of Dramatic Writing New York University John Edgar Wideman Writer, ASA Messer Professor of African American Studies &English Brown University Marcia White President Personalized Skincare Schawannah Wright Manager of Community Involvement Brooklyn Museum of Art

The Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, is one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. Over the past forty years, he has played a pivotal role in virtually every movement for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice. On August 9, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Reverend Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. He is known for bringing people together on common ground across lines of race, culture, class, gender and belief. Born on October 8, 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, Jesse Jackson graduated from the public schools in Greenville and then enrolled in the University of Illinois on a football scholarship. He later transferred to North Carolina A&T State University and graduated in 1964. He began his theological studies at Chicago Theological Seminary but deferred his studies when he began working full-time in the Civil Rights Movement with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Reverend Jackson married his college sweetheart Jacqueline Lavinia Brown in 1963. They have five children: Santita Jackson, former Congressman Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Jonathan Luther Jackson, Yusef DuBois Jackson, Esq., and Jacqueline Lavinia Jackson, Jr. Kam Williams: Hi, Reverend Jackson, thanks for the interview. Reverend Jesse Jackson: Thank you, Kam. KW: What plans do you have for this year’s economic summit? JJ: First, to gather people to discuss the new economic agenda. We just got through the political agenda with the inauguration of President Obama. Now, we have to deal with the economic agenda. No access to capital, needing more access to technology, etcetera. We want to call the banks to invest in America. In 2009 we had 600 black dealerships, today we have 200. We have lost TV and radio stations. We must re-strategize. KW: Given that we now have an African-American president and black billionaires, is this a post-racial society? JJ: We don’t have a lot of black billionaires, actually. We are not in a post racial society. We are a multi-racial society and substantially racist. We still need to access jobs and contracts-–all those level playing fields are very much needed. KW: What would you say is the #1 economic issue African-Americans are facing today? JJ: Access to a jobs. Next, the recovery of houses lost when the banks targeted our homes and businesses that move our future forward. KW: Do you see Wall Street as being at odds with Main Street, or can the 1% be a part of the solution for the woes of the 99%? JJ: The %1 have received their needs through greed and lack of regulations--too few have too much and more have none. It’s too unequal and unbalanced. The middle class is sinking. A dormant few are at the bottom. KW: Thanks again for the time, Reverend Jackson, and best of luck with the Economic Summit. JJ: Thanks. ============================================================== Press Release REV. JESSE L. JACKSON TO HONOR GOVERNOR DAVID PATERSON, BERRY GORDY & WILLIE E. GARY AT THE WALL STREET PROJECT ECONOMIC SUMMIT Wednesday, January 30 — Friday, February 1, 2013 Special Guests U.S. Pres. William Jefferson Clinton, Jamie Foxx, Dionne Warwick and others; Special Performances by Multi-Grammy®-Winning Gospel Recording Artists Mary Mary & cast of the upcoming Broadway show “Motown: The Musical” WHAT: The Rainbow PUSH Wall Street Project will host the 16th Annual Wall Street Economic Summit. This year’s summit, “Wall Street to Main Street” focuses on access to capital, career development and labor. WHO: Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., Founder and President, Rainbow PUSH Coalition and The Wall Street Project WHEN: Wednesday, January 30, 2013 – Friday, February 1, 2013 ((Agenda can be sent upon request)) WHERE: The Roosevelt Hotel, 45 East 45th Street, New York, NY 10017 @ Madison Ave. Highlights of the three-day summit will include: • Wall Street Project Small Business Institute (SBI) • Wall Street Project Career Symposium • Raising Our Voices On Advertising in The MarketPlace • The Business of Sports • The State of Emerging Managers • Parity in Public Procurement Opportunities • The Business of Hip-Hop • Labor Breakfast: Assault on Labor Unions Access to Capital Luncheon, Thurs., Jan. 31, 12:30 p.m. ET •Honorees: NY Governor David Paterson, Attorney Willie Gary •Speakers: Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter •Keynote Speaker: U.S. President William Clinton •Performer: Multi-Grammy® award winning artists Mary Mary •Sponsors: WE tv& General Motors Gala Fundraising Reception, Thurs., Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m. ET •Honoree: the legendary Berry Gordy •Performance: Broadway production “MOTOWN: the Musical” •Presenter: Singer and actress Dionne Warwick •Presenter: Jamie Foxx •Sponsor: NV Magazine Civil Rights & Economic Justice Minister’s Luncheon, Fri., Feb. 1, 12:30 p.m. ET Honorees:Rev. Joseph Carter, New Hope Baptist Church, Newark, NJ; Dr. Freddie D. Haynes, III, Sr. Pastor, Friendship-West Baptist Church, Dallas, TX& Rev. AndrewWilkes, Affiliate minister, The Greater Allen Cathedral of NY and Editor of Urban Faith. Keynote speaker: U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, (D) NY The Wall Street Project challenges corporate America to end the multi-billion dollar trade deficit with minority vendors and consumers; while working to ensure equal opportunity for diverse employees, entrepreneurs and consumers.The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization protecting, defending and expanding civil rights to improve economic and educational opportunity. WSP Sponsors Include: Allstate, Ariel Investments LLC, Bank of America, Blaylock Robert Van, LLC, CitiBank, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase & Co., NYSE Euronext, SEIU,The Boeing Company & Wells Fargo The 2013 honorary co-chairs:Danny J. Bakewell, Sr., Chrmn & CEO, National Newspaper Publishers Association; John Graves, Pres. & CEO, PR Networks, Inc.; Mellody Hobson, Pres., Ariel Investments LLC, Louis James, Pres., & COO, Motor City Logistics; Byron Lewis, Founder & Chrmn, Uniworld Group; Former NY Governor David A. Paterson; R. Donahue Peebles, Chrmn & CEO, The Peebles Corp; James Reynolds, Jr., Co-Founder, Chrmn & CEO, Loop Capital Markets LLC; John W. Rogers, Jr. Chrmn & CEO, Ariel Investments LLC;NY SenatorCharles Schumer (D);Maceo K. Sloan Chrmn, CEO & CIO, NCM Capital& California Congresswoman Maxine Waters(D). To register, visit: www.wallstreetproject2013.org or call (646) 569-5889.

Pioneer would this subject be explained by your theory of Black "breeding" during our period of enslavement and our supposed genetic predisposition to higher levels of testosterone?

OK Pioneer we can regress or progress ad infinitum on that last point. You believe in some presumably infinitely powerful, "intelligent" being is pulling all the strings (just for kicks I guess). I do not believe that explanation is required to explain the universe. Neither belief excludes the possibility of mental telepathy.

Pioneer OK now I KNOW you are playing with me with that breeding statement. You know, you really had me going . But just in case you are serious you can not breed anything into a human in 200 years -- Maybe 200,000 years. Using Averages does not help the argument as the underlying assumption is not true.. ------------------------------- I'm not sure contracts would help Group Families very much. They don't seem to be helping traditional marriages.

By the way, eBook sales were 69% of all books sold! The shift from buying paper books to eBook has been so rapid that it is staggering.

Again, I disagree. Even the decision to drop an egg could have been predetermined in the same manner that we have the ability to predetermine the egg will break when it hits the hard floor. from 5 feet in the air.

Pioneer I can't argue with your reasoning: You believe that the amount of melanin in one's skin is directly proportional to his sexual potency, sexual desire and higher levels of testosterone. While I believe, on it's face, that belief is absurd. ------------------------------------- I've seen the GROUP FAMILIES concept played out in a few scenarios. It is cool for sharing responsibilities like cooking, cleaning -- even educating the children. Things can get a little sticky if the adults start sleeping around with each other, the older children, etc, etc... YOu have to have the right mindset, one I believe is exceedingly rare in our culture.

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Congrats man!

A 1986 interview with Pulitzer Prize winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks. Brooks is interviewed by the 26 year old poet E. Ethelbert Miller.

Welcome to the board Doc! And thanks so much for your support on the social media end!

A Free Writing Workshop – An All Day Event - Saturday February 23rd 8:30am to 4:00pm The Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing at Chicago State University is holding a Master’s Class workshop on fiction writing. Limited seating so RSVP by Monday February 18th (773) 995 - 3286 Instructor: Tony Lindsay: Tony Lindsay is the author of seven novels; One Dead Preacher, Street Possession, Chasin’ It, Urban Affair, One Dead Lawyer, More Boy than Girl, One Dead Doctor and two short story collections titled Pieces of the Hole and Fat from Papa’s Head. He has published book critiques and reviews for Black Issue’s Book Review. He was a contributor to the anthologies Don't Hate the Game and Lucious. He has also contributed to the on-line encyclopedia Identity.com, and Mosiac.com. He has been published by to the African American literary web-site ‘Timbooktu.com’, as well as the young adult magazine Cicada. He writes bimonthly articles for Conversations magazine, and he writes non-fiction book reviews for Hartman Publishing’s N’DIGO Magapaper. Lindsay has a MFA in Creative Writing from Chicago State University, Bachelors in Psychology from the University of Illinois – Chicago. He teaches at Chicago State University, South Suburban College, and Westwood College. Place: Chicago State University 9501 South King Dr. Douglas Hall Room 210-A, Chicago, IL 60628. Date: Saturday February 23rd Time: 8:30 to 4:00pm Required materials: Spiral notebook and pen Breakfast and Lunch: is sponsored by The Gwendolyn Brooks Center for Black Literature and Creative Writing at Chicago State University RSVP by Monday February 18th (773) 995 - 3286

Cynique, I don't think the family unit, as it is currently defined, will change anytime soon either -- save incorporating same sex marriage into the mix. But your comment "Maybe children should be raised by the State" seems to be happening, at least on some level, as parent abdicate their responsibilities for rearing their children to anyone who will take them. Today school kids are given breakfast and lunch, at a minimum. With early morning drop off and after schools programs it is not unusual for a kid to spend 10 or more hours under the supervision of a school. Kids spend most of their waking day at school, or associated program, than their parents spend at work. Consider the cry by many education experts like Jonathan Kozol who are calling for universal, compulsory, education for children starting at age 2. Others who want a longer school day and school year. Despite what the so called experts say, any teacher will tell you the quality of child's family environment is crucial to the success of the kid's education. Of course, it is more politically correct to blame everything thing else but the f-cked up households these kids live in, for being a major factor for the poor graduation rates, in places like Harlem. Without strong families we can't have strong communities. So while politicians, teachers and union sit around bullshitting about improving test scores, our kids are not being educated. Meanwhile the simple families don't know enough to advocate for their own children, seemingly unaware of what is happening -- perhaps because they are several generation deep in the same crap and no no other way. We used to have PTA's; no one talks about those much any more. Families matter. Making them stronger does not seem to be on anyone's radar. It is in the interest of large corporation for families to be week, prison, drugs (depression, "learning disorders") and now schools are growth industries.

"Determining is a willful act, it doesn't just happen at random." I don't believe anything is random, even if it appears to be to us as such. "If something is predetermined it had to be PLANNED from an intelligent Source." If I drop and egg the outcome is predetermined. It requires no planning from and intelligent source. Everything else that occurs is an extension of that analogy. Del I'm not sure I understood everything you wrote, but I agree that "...it doesn't necessarily follow that predestination requires a purpose or an intelligence." Perhaps the very conditions that gave rise to our existence also gave rise to our self-awareness, as opposed to the other way around.

"MY point that Black men on average have a stronger sexual desire for more women". Pioneer I have no idea what to say to you. This was the same twisted justification racists used to lynch Black men who were viewed as genetically unable to control themselves when it came to white women. "We all know that the term "Black" in America stands for people of African descent regardless of the amount of African ancestry they hold." Pioneer can't you see why this is illogical?! If Barack Obama (Black by American standards) has a higher testosterone level than another person who Americans may consider White; what does that mean? The so called white person could actually have more Black ancestry than Obama, but they are "passing" as so many Blacks have done and are doing. "Do you see promoting Black male sexuality and masculinity as offensive and stereotypical?" Yes. Pioneer do you realize how racist you sound? I thought I was racist, but you got me beat me by a long shot. But I understand...

This is the 1st of a three part series on Race. Last night I screened this film with a "racially" mixed, but mostly Black group of about 25 people. During the discussion I decided to state that the government should get out of the business of tracking race. None of the Black people who reacted agreed with me. Of course I'm not surprised I knew the statement is tantamount to saying Obama is not a great president. Anywho, there was a white woman who agreed with me completely. Afterwards she approached me an explained some of the work she is doing to fight racism. She understood that institutionalized racism exists because the government continues to hold onto it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCR7vSD2Ohw What was most remarkable is that after watching this film there was at least one person who still used the language of race to explain differences in people that the film so clearly renounced as an "illusion".

Ok I know you all are out there I can tell by the traffic and an some of you have even created accounts, but have not used them. Let us know what you are thinking about.

Pioneer something I don;t think you really read all the information on the links you provide on more than one occasion the information supported my point. The 2nd link did not reveal anything, so will can ignore it. The 1st link was more interesting at least posting some of the methodology. But consider this how did they decide that these people were "black" (or white), by looking at them? Is Tiger Woods or Barack Obama Black for the purpose of this study? Cynique I was wondering what you thought about the idea of changing our culture's formula for family from one man and one woman who make a life long commitment through marriage to stay together and share in the responsibly of raising any kids they make? This model seems fine to me, but the culture does not seem to support is at all....

Since this page has attracted so much attending from search I figure I'll look into the subject and provide more information: I have to admit I was previously unaware of this show. It apparently launched this past September. As a conflict-resolution expert, Trisha Goddard will help everyday people and their families navigate the tough issues they are struggling to overcome. Her show will cover topics important to women everywhere with a unique approach--straight talk with a no-excuses mentality. On each episode, Trisha uses honesty and common sense to teach people how to move forward and push through life’s obstacles. This text is from the fan page.

Cynique, was that divine inspiration or simply the only thing you could have written given the circumstance and your genetics? I saw a video of a woman engaged in activity in which she clearly had "no problem with a smorsgasbord of men" somehow moving in that direction as a society does not seem optimal, but hey whatever floats your boat. So while it may be true women are just a desirous of having multiple partners as men (which is likely since the men have to be screwing someone); are you suggesting that a society in which men can have many wives and women can have many husbands would be a better setup? I'm not sure that women are more sensitive and more responsible with their children. This may have been true in the past, but increasingly children of unwed partners often end up being shuttled back and forth like ping pong balls between parents, raised by grandparents, foster parents or the criminal justice system. Talk any grade school teacher in a poor Black community...