Troy

Any group of people who'd throw Native Americans off their land will sure enough drain a community of their water.

Gibran (Alidawriter), that is since 1997 Brother -- don't short me :-) Trust me, if you managed to find your way to these boards and make a post you are doing pretty good. Keeping up with all this technology, social media, and the changing landscape of media, that about 1/2 of my day -- diverting valuable time from publishing content and developing the website. Writergirl your first response really resonated with me, so very sad... I do believe the answer will come over time was we, all of humanity, evolves (as Cynique says) into something beyond the barbaric children we are today. Sure there are glimmers of hope as some individuals demonstrate higher levels of consciousness. But the handful of monsters in control exert much more influence. I suspect humanity will ultimately prevail, but the time frames will be measured in 1,000s of years.

Man after reading a couple of your posts I didn't realize who you were until now: http://aalbc.com/authors/tariqandjones.htm I see you are still at it with a vengeance! Also, make it easy for folks; always provide a link when you post info about one of your books. Though I suspect anyone who read this post all the way to the end, would take the extra effort to find you book if they liked what they read. At any rate, here is a link folks can use to get your book on Amazon: http://bit.ly/whenisayjump ________ I hear what you are saying Gibran. In fact I remember all the press, back in the 80's about the pending emergence of a "Super Predator" the psychopathic, cock diesel Black male criminal that was gonna steal your money and rape your women. I grew up in Harlem and I remember how bad the crime was. People were getting mugged left and right, Drugs were rampant, etc, etc. The people in the community wanted something to be done. So when tough drug laws came into effect a lot of people where happy, sad to say, to see some Black men go away for a while. Of course people were reacting to an immediate crisis and were unaware of the broader implications of the tactics utilized -- Who gives a crap about the longer term societal implications of locking up Black men on a massive scale when you can't walk down the street without fearing for you life. Fast forward two decades and the Black community is worse off than ever before. Sure the streets of Harlem are safer than they have been in the last 40o years, but those streets are increasing trod by wealthy white folks. While Black male unemployment here is better than 50%. Many of the brothers are not only unemployed but realistically the are unemployable -- no education, few skills, criminal records... A disastrous situation for the community.. Now what? The schools are in a shambles, Wall street has taken what little wealth we had through shitty loans, health care is a luxury, and there are no decent paying jobs for folks who did not go to college, the criminal justice system is busting at the seams with Brothers, we are losing independent Black media platforms at an alarming rate and Black leadership (including Mr. Obama), is largely ineffective -- seemingly unable to make a dent in this catastrophic trend. What is the answer?

Oscar Predictions 2012 Who Will Win, Who Deserves to Win, Who Was Snubbed by Kam Williams On May 16, 1929, the first Academy Awards were staged in Hollywood at the Hotel Roosevelt. Wings, a silent film, won the Oscar for Best Picture that night, a feat which would never be repeated, given the impending innovations in sound technology that ushered in the age of the talkies. But, as they say, wait long enough, and everything comes back into style, and such is the case with The Artist, a nostalgic throwback that’s the prohibitive favorite to prevail at this year’s ceremony. Who’d a thunk that a black & white, silent flick from France would eclipse powerhouse productions by the likes of Spielberg and Scorcese. However, the movie will meet some tough competition in the Best Actor category, where I’m picking popular George Clooney to eke out a victory over virtual unknown Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist’s pantomiming protagonist. I also see perennial-nominee Meryl Streep (17 times) squeaking by The Help’s equally-deserving Viola Davis for Best Actress, more for her 29-year drought than for her spot-on impersonation of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Best Supporting Actor is difficult to handicap, too, since four of the entrants, Nick Nolte, Christopher Plummer, Max von Sydow and Kenneth Branagh, have each enjoyed multiple Oscar nominations, but never won. My gut tells me that Plummer gets the proverbial “body of work” vote. As far as Best Supporting Actress, Octavia Spencer will triumph, since nonpareil comic performances like Melissa McCarthy’s in Bridesmaids continue to be underappreciated by the Academy. Besides peering into my crystal ball to forecast the winners, I have also indicated below which nominees in the major categories are actually the most deserving. And because so many great performances are invariably snubbed by the Academy, I also point out who has been overlooked entirely. Overall, look for The Artist to garner five or six Oscars which, while not exactly a sweep, will still be better than next-best Hugo’s trio of statuettes in technical categories. The 84th Academy Awards will air live on ABC on Sunday, February 26th at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, and will be hosted by Billy Crystal. Best Picture Will Win: The Artist Deserves to Win: The Artist Overlooked: Bridesmaids Best Director Will Win: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) Deserves to Win: Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) Overlooked: David Fincher (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) Best Actor Will Win: George Clooney (The Descendants) Deserves to Win: Jean Dujardin (The Artist) Overlooked: Ryan Gosling (Drive) Best Actress Will Win: Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) Deserves to Win: Viola Davis (The Help) Overlooked: Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) Best Supporting Actor Will Win: Christopher Plummer (Beginners) Deserves to Win: Max von Sydow (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) Overlooked: Albert Brooks (Drive) Best Supporting Actress Will Win: Octavia Spencer (The Help) Deserves to Win: Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) Overlooked: Carey Mulligan (Drive) Best Original Screenplay: Will Win: Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) Deserves to Win: Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo (Bridesmaids) Overlooked: Lars von Trier (Melancholia) Best Adapted Screenplay: Will Win: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (The Descendants) Deserves to Win: Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin (Moneyball) Overlooked: Tate Tatlor and Kathryn Stockett (The Help) Predictions for Secondary Categories Animated Feature: Rango Art Direction: Hugo Foreign Language Film: A Separation Cinematography: The Tree of Life Costume Design: The Artist Documentary Feature: Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Film Editing: The Artist Makeup: The Iron Lady Original Score: The Artist Original Song: “Man or Muppet” (The Muppets) Sound Editing: Hugo Sound Mixing: Hugo Visual Effects: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Writegirl, maybe you should be rightgirl. I could at least tolerate the comparison if the alternative we was holding up offered us something better.

Cynique, I'm not sure of particulars of Bobby and Whitney's relationship, but I do know that, "birds of a feather..."

Tansoba, those are really beautiful sentiments. How do you propose that we, as a society (or at least black folks), make this happen? For example when you say, "I believe sisters should get a commitment before sex.", what does that mean? Should sisters wait for marriage, an engagement (including a ring), a verbal expression of committment -- what?

Alidawriter thanks for thanking the time to share your thoughts here and sparking a discussion. I see this is your 3rd post but this is the first one I've seen and I just wanted to welcome you to the discussion baords. This might sound odd coming from the guy who founded AALBC.com, but we must consider that fact that for the vast majority of history man was not publishing books, indeed for most of recorded history most people were lilterate. As as a result, I'm very careful in the power I associate to books. Indeed one could make a strong arguement that some cultures, that never saw a book, were superior to our own, where we literacy is high and books are plentiful. As a book seller I'll highlight the highbrow literary books as well as urban literarture. The most interesting people read widely. I encourage this, try to do it myself, and I hope this is reflected in the website's content. Two years ago at the National Black Writers Conference I hosted writers like Maaze Mengiste, Victory Lavalle, and Dolan Perkins Valdez. This year I'm hosting K'wan and Wahida Clarke. While many would hold one group of writers superior to, or more entertaining, than the other; I believe we have room for -- indeed should -- have both. The problem we have is that as we continue to lose platforms and the "black voice" on-line and elsewhere is controlled by large corporations; the literary legacy will reflect what appeals to the masses. This is our most pressing issue and it is occurring rapidly right before our eyes... Cynique funny you should mention music, I can't think of a more perfect example. As I witnesses Black radio for example coalsce into the Power 99's and the KISS FM's across the country. The same few artists were heard, regional differences diappeared quality of the music suffered greatly. The world of books is ever worse...

Check out AALBC.com's Latest eNewsletter -- full of information on Books and Film! http://aalbc.com/current.htm Let me know what you think I can always use more constructive criticism -- thanks

I visited the Charleston a couple months ago and checked out the Slave Market and the AME church -- doing these things is not just from Black History Month anymore.

By the way did anyone notice Facebook was down a few minutes today? Facebook lists the risks that could significantly harm its business. If we fail to retain existing users or add new users, or if our users decrease their level of engagement with Facebook, our revenue, financial results, and business may be significantly harmed; We generate a substantial majority of our revenue from advertising. The loss of advertisers, or reduction in spending by advertisers with facebook, could seriously harm our business; Growth in use of facebook through our mobile products, where we do not currently display ads, as a substitute for use on personal computers may negatively affect our revenue and financial results; Facebook user growth and engagement on mobile devices depend upon effective operation with mobile operating systems, networks, and standards that we do not control. ; We may not be successful in our efforts to grow and further monetize the facebook Platform; Our business is highly competitive, and competition presents an ongoing threat to the success of our business; Improper access or disclosure of our users' information could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business; Our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations regarding privacy, data protection, and other matters. May of these laws and regulation are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could harm our business; Our CEO has control over key decision making as a result of his control of a majority of our voting stock; The loss of Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl K. Sandberg, or other key personnel could harm our business; We anticipate that we will expand substantial funds in connection with tax withholding and remittance obligations related to the initial settlement of our restricted stock units (RSUs) approximately six months following our initial public offering; The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile or may decline, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the initial public offering price; and Substantial blocks of our total outstanding shares may be sold into the market as "lock-up" periods end, as further described in "Shares Eligible for Future Sale." If there are substantial sales of shares of our common stock, the price of our Class A common stock could decline. For anyone that hardcore here is Facebooks S-1 filing in its entirety: http://aalbc.it/facebooks1

I used to ignore everything Boitumelo wrote, now I really appreciate the contributions :-)

"Girl I wish I WOULD make my kids say some shit like that! They ain't SLAVES!" ​That is the statement of someone who was not likely raised in a manner to respect their elders or even authority for that mater. Now we are several generations deep into this and have no cultural memory of a time when things were different. Since most folks don't read there is no prospect for knowledge transfer.

Boitumelo is somewhat of an enigma. As far as I know Writegirl Boitumelo does not reply to posts. I don't read the poet's board very much, but Cary once pointed out that there was something poetic about one of Boitumelo's contributions so I decided to check out this one out. I thought the piece was worth reading but I also know the all-caps-text-dense-single-paragraph-post that is Boitumelo's style would probably cause folks to ignore the writing altogether. So I decided to reformat the piece (so any formatting problems were caused by me).

Trust me, the police don't want to go out on these calls either. Add mental illness into the mix you have a whole new class of problem. Writegirl, the problem is even worse when you consider the fact that police are stationed in many of our inner city schools. So and infraction that might have warranted a suspension in the past now results in a criminal record, creating a steady supply of Black boys to feed the insatiable prison industrial complex. No I also recognize that a lot of young men are simply of of control and parents, and schools have lost control. I'm not convinced that the parents or the schools are to blame. Our society has allowed a whole class of behaviors to slowly but surely disappear. The least of which is respect for elders. Children have not problem talking to their parents like they are grown. I can't remember the last time I heard a child address a man as "Sir" or a woman as "Ma'am". I see kids curse their parents out -- in public. Even on the upper east side of Manhattan is not uncommon to see a little girl call their mother "bitch" without an repercussions. Unless we reign things in this will only continue to get worse...

Thank you ALL.for making this a fun place to visit! I do know the A Chapter a Month site is working through all its kinks. Hopefully when they relaunch things will be much better. In the meantime i hope you enjoy Cynique's story as much as I did.

Check out an article about the performance at Dominion of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contacts: Ben Wrobel, NAACP Communications 202.463.2940, 1012 bwrobel@naacpnet.org Jennifer Price-Keith, The Lippin Group 323/965-1990 jprice@lippingroup.com Gary Mednick, NBC Entertainment Publicity 818/777-3021 gary.mednick@nbcuni.com RADIO ONE/TV ONE FOUNDER & CHAIRPERSON CATHY HUGHES TO RECEIVE NAACP CHAIRMAN’S AWARD AT 43rd NAACP IMAGE AWARDS Broadcast airs February 17th on NBC (Los Angeles, CA) – TV One Founder and President Cathy Hughes will receive the NAACP Chairman’s Award during the 43rd NAACP Image Awards, broadcast live on Friday, February 17th (8:00-10:00 PM EST) on NBC. The Chairman’s Award, chosen by NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock, is bestowed in recognition of special achievement and distinguished public service. Past honorees include U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, Tyler Perry, Former Vice President Al Gore and Dr. Wangari Muta Maathai, Aretha Franklin, Bono, then-Senator Barack Obama, The Dave Matthews Band, Danny Glover, and Aaron McGruder. “I am thrilled to offer Cathy Hughes the NAACP Chairman’s Award,” stated Chairman Brock. “This recognition is long overdue for her accomplishments as a trailblazer in the media industry. As the founder of Radio One and TV One, an advocate for small business entrepreneurship, and philanthropist, Cathy Hughes reminds us that collectively and as individuals, we can make a difference. Her presence at the Image Awards continues the NAACP’s quest to celebrate and uplift individuals who model principles of hard work, perseverance and community empowerment.” “This is the most humbling honor to ever be bestowed on me,” stated Ms. Hughes. “Those who have received the Chairman’s Award in the past are counted among the very best that America has ever produced, and I am honored and very humbled to be included in their ranks.” In 1979, Hughes founded the communications company Radio One and built it into a major media institution with over 70 stations in 16 major markets. When the company went public in 1998, Hughes became the first and only African-American female to head a publicly traded corporation. Today, Radio One is the largest black-owned media corporation in the nation with a platform that includes TV One, Interactive One, Music One and Reach Media, the home of the Tom Joyner Morning show. In January 2004, Radio One launched TV One, a national cable and satellite television network which is the "lifestyle and entertainment network for African-American adults." TV One is currently available in over 58 million homes. Before founding Radio One, Hughes served as President and General Manager of WHUR-FM in Washington, DC, where she rejuvenated the station’s struggling sales revenue and created the, still immensely popular, Quiet Storm format, which has become the most successful format in urban radio history. After that, she served as Vice President and General Manager of DC’s WYCB Radio. The NAACP Image Awards is the premiere multicultural awards show. It celebrates the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film and also honors individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors. Event sponsors include UAW/Chrysler, AARP, FedEx, Hyundai , Wells Fargo, Ford Motor Company, Walgreens, Bank of America, AT&T, American Airlines, and General Motors. Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors. For more information on the NAACP Image Awards, please visit www.naacpimageawards.net.

Red Ibis of course Black Planet ranking is higher than Black Enterprise. Black Planet is scandal, celeberity, social and sex. Black enterprise is about Black Business. Essence, should be doing better, particularly given the site's ownership, but who know what resources they are allocated. Radio One is a publically traded company: ROIAK on the NASDAQ The majority of shares are held by insititutions. A significanrt part of the management team is Black. I seem to recall reading somewhere that they qualify as a minority owned business, but I'm not sure i that still applies. In any event, without having more information or taking the time to really dig. I'd have to put them into the "Black Owned" side. Publicaly traded companies are really a different animal, you really can restrict ownership to just Black folks Based upon Alexa Rankings, so far, Black Planet is the most popular "Black owned" website. What are is the largest independent, Blacked owned, websites? When I get back to Huria Search I'll be able to make that detrminination.

writegirl, would you believe I've recieved a death threat for running this site? I posted it on these board few years ago. Death threats, unfortunately, the come with the job (as President). Ronald Regan knew what he signed up for when he took the oath of office. I agree with you people want Obama to fail miserably. But how pathetic would Obama be if he lost his cool over Miz Ann getting her panties in a tangle? Cynique, Obama being used by Wall Street and the Republicans wanting him out are very much compatible. To the truly rich and powerful parties are incidential. Party affiliations are what poor people fight over while they are being fleeced, but the rich. You know Wall Street plays both sides of the fence, right?. They don't really care who wins; they can manipulate Obama can be as easily as Gingrinch. Cynique, the symbolism you speak of is what you choose to ascribe to the situation. Miz Ann's reaction is merely a reflection of our current state -- not the cause of it. We need to remedy the more profound problems of the nation. Chasing after every fool who flies off the handle or assigning more value them than they are worth it is a waste of time. Put this in the same category as "beer-gate". Obama can not afford to give Miz Ann and any attention. He has far more serious shit to deal with.

Cynique money and power is that the core of Republican opposition to Obama. Racism is a useful tool in their arsenal, but lets be clear: this is all about power. Republicans would be and have been against all democratic Presidents. Obama has the disadvantage of being susceptible to the race issue. We can go back and forth all day with me giving you an example of a President being dissed more than Obama and you can others can give me examples of why that was not as bad as what this white lady did or what some dumb congressman did by yelling you lie. Kennedy had his head blown off. I think that is far worse than Obama will ever encounter, because Obama will never do anything signification enough to disrupt the current balance of power. The Governor from the state of Arizona got mad at Obama and acted out - so what. Do you think Obama handled it properly? Should he have punched her in the face? Or should he have handled it the way any gentleman who is disrespected by a woman? Polarizing?! At the end of the day. The behavior of the woman in no way diminished the love and respect Obama supporters have for him. Maybe her behavior even strengthened their resolve. Again, the Arizona state governor's behavior only hurt herself and her constituents. It in no way changed the balance of Obama supporters or detractors.

Cynique, Luther looks like a Cory Booker (Mayor of Newark often compared to Obama) that spent a little too much time in 'hood. At the end of the day, Obama was elected president. I think that speaks more for the country than some malcontented ignoramuses who don't give the office the respect it warrants because a man who is 1/2 Black holds the office. I think anyone who believes any no other president was disrespected is simply forgetful or too biased to see the truth. Writegirl some presidents were shot, another had a shoe thrown at him. My God, what would Black people do if some white person threw a shoe at Obama?! The issue of some old white lady wagging her finger in the president's face has already taken up too much press and reflects poorly on her not on Obama.

No Kola I was not aware of an organized effort. As you can see from my commentary I had issues with the film before it opened as well. The issues are related. I felt a little alone leveling any criticism against the film. Everything I heard has been rah, rah, rah. But funny you should mention it. Today I posted a review of the film Extremely Loud (1 star - http://aalbc.com/rev...emely_loud.html). In reaction to the review a sister wrote: I wrote in reaction: Then you start really thinking about it and it gets scary. At the end of the day independent Black voice willing to say something negative about Red Tails are too disjointed and obscure to have a real impact on the masses. When I saw the movie yesterday ($6, 10:30 AM matinee in the heart of Harlem) it was with a crowd of mostly Black people. The two sisters who sat behind me seemed to love the movie -- that is what I gathered from their continuous conversation. I over heard one teenager say it was the best movie he ever saw. I was gonna turn around and say something but then I thought all the movies he would remember were released after 2000. He probably do not even know who Spike Lee is. I don't think there was even a photograph of a Black women in the Red Tails.

I saw the flick yesterday. It was a sufficiently entertaining film. As long as you did not look at it as a lesson in history (unless you were a student of propaganda), were able to suspend disbelief, and were not bothered by shallow characters, plot and dialog -- it was all good. Indeed this flick was no different that many actions flicks. Kola, when you say part of "the Black women Boycotting the film" are you talking about an organized effort? I'd be interested in learning about a group of Black women not interested in seeing Nate Parker, Terrence Howard or David Oyelowo.