Troy

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…

Happy belated Birthday Cynique!

Chris your reaction to the current situation, which I've seen coming over the last 20 years, is... well, interesting. Part of the problem Chris is that the schools are not teaching vocational skills either. You'll always need plummers, carpenters, car mechanics, cooks, etc, but even those skills, increasingly, require skills historically provided by a good secondary education. For a number of complicated reasons men, in general, and Black men in particular are not fairing well in the pubic school system.

It is too late for Whites to wrest back complete control of this country, which is what is really meant by “White Citizenship”. Those days are slipping away, and we can't go back. As the economies of countries in Africa, and Asia continue to grow and strengthen, the influence of white people will wane, not just here but globally. <BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"><BR style="mso-special-character: line-break"> This is a direct consequence of a global economy. Labor and goods are allowed to move freely (essentially) across borders in search of increasingly higher revenues. It is white folks own fault. They want free or cheap labor then complain about the very people providing it, when those very same people predictably, begin to assert their own rights. You can’t have it both ways. I'm actually marveling at how Mexicans have come into East Harlem, have established businesses and are continuing to grown in influence and power -- they are not just bussing tables anymore -- that whole story diminishes their accomplishments, and arguably their humanity. I have not been following the Tea baggers very much, but I assume they, like a lot of people, are frustrated with being taxed to smithereens without realizing a commensurate benefit. And like most of us they are really not sure who to blame, but that is not gonna stop them from finding and rally around a scapegoat; whether it be Obama, Bi-partisan politics, religion, race, immigration, fill in the blank…

I noticed Junot Diaz [http://aalbc.com/authors/junot_diaz.htm] on the list the sample quote used used by the critic to demonstrate Junot's mediocrity is: I actually like that line. Though truth, be told I read about a 1/3 of the book. It did not interest me sufficiently to complete it.

Get paid for selling your own book and track how frequently your link is being clicked! http://runt.it/join_amazon Attention all authors! Here is something you must do: Sign up of as an Amazon Associate. Far too often I see author post links here, and elsewhere, for other to purchase their book from Amazon, and they are not an Amazon Associate – that is simply leaving money on the table. When I post an advertisement for an author or publisher on AALBC.com; if they provide me a link to Amazon without an affiliate code, I use AALBC.com affiliate code – someone needs to get that commission. That is not the only benefit, check out the article.

Hey Thumper, Chris Abani: http://aalbc.com/authors/chris_abani.htm another home run for akashic huh?

Yeah, this was interesting. Chris, I thought you hated NPR.

Chris, Obama will absolutely make it out of office alive. I'm sure the prospect of martyring Obama is more abhorrent – even to the most racist among us -- than letting the man finish two more years. Can you imagine all of the streets, highways, schools, government buildings, airports that will be renamed “Barack Obama This" and "Barack Obama That” for a slain Obama. A BO national monument to rival that of Lincoln or Jefferson, maybe even a Barack Obama national holiday! Obama will finish his term and be beaten by any half way decent Republican candidate in 2012.

OK Chris, I thought you were talking about 'Judgment Day" after the 2nd coming of Christ. While you were not referring to this, many in your age group are... In any case, the education system here in the US is not a complete loss. Until I start seeing foreign students staying local and our best American students going abroad, I have to assume our higher educational systems are still world class(for those willing to fork over the cash). I'd also have to assume the same for our private, parochial schools, and public school in affluent communities. I bet, for the majority of the middle class, (the majority of people), the educational system is doing just fine. Now the system for our inner city youth it is a dismal failure, but to say American educations, as a whole, are defective is an exaggeration -- particularly when you compare the resulting standard of living of this system's beneficiaries.