Troy

Hey I heard last night that Bill Withers was known for physcially abusing his ex wife actress Denise Nicholas. The documentary made no reference to those allegations. In fact I don;t recall any mention of Denise Nicholas. While I appreciate Whiter's music the I find the prospect of his beating his wife deeply distrubing.

I was talking to a friend of mine today (a woman), she was telling me how gay Black men have far more difficulty finding a partner than Black women... I thought that was interesting when juxtaposed with this subject. I just never thought about but the issue. She sited the natural tendency of men (even gay ones) promiscuity as a major factor preventing long term monogamous relationships. She also said gay men are under even more pressure to have great physiques...She supported her opinions on knowing and observing a lot of gay men. Maybe CBS will do an investigate report on this...

The link you provided did not work for me. Here is one from the Huffington Post

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn has been fighting for progressive causes since the 1930s, when he began organizing workers in the New York City shipyards. He later embarked on an enduring career teaching political science first at Spelman College and then at Boston University. Over the years, the celebrated firebrand wrote numerous eye-opening books advocating economic and social justice, perhaps most significantly, A People's History of the United States, an incendiary work which turns many of the prevailing myths about America on their heads. Presented from the perspectives of assorted minorities and women, it, for example, portrays leaders of slave and Indian revolts like Nat Turner, John Brown and Geronimo as heroes, and once-revered, fat cat Presidents like Washington and Jefferson as exploitative slave owners guilty of expansionist ethnic cleansing. Los Angeles Times Article

Last night I had the pleasure of watching the new Bill Withers Documentary. Afterwards Bill Withers answered questions. If you like Bill's music you like it even more as you discover more about the man. The movie reveals a lot; how Bill only he started performing professional in his 30's, how he suffered from stuttering until his late 20's, it was really quite fascinating.

The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY Presents The Tenth National Black Writers' Conference And Then We Heard the Thunder: Black Writers Reconstructing Memories and Lighting the Way Featuring Toni Morrison Nobel Prize Winning Author as Honorary Chair, Kamau Brathwaite, Amiri Baraka and many more! Thursday, March 25, 2008 - Sunday, March 28, 2010 A Message from the Center for Black Literature… Greetings Everyone: The Center for Black Literature would like to remind you that if you are planning to stay at the NY Marriott while attending the Tenth National Black Writers Conference the cut – off to make your reservation is February 25, 2010. We encourage you to make your reservations now before the block of rooms fill up! Visit the following links to get more information: Registration Information: http://www.nationalb...gistration.html Hotel & Travel Information: http://www.nationalb...org/travel.html Visit our website for Program updates! http://www.nationalb...e.org/home.html The Center for Black Literature Medgar Evers College, CUNY 1650 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11225 Phone: 718.804.8884 www.mec.cuny.edu/blacklitcenter TUNE IN every week to "Writers on Writing" with Dr. Brenda M. Greene SUNDAY's, 7:00 pm - 7:30 pm WNYE 91.5 FM

Deep. Cynique, you have an interesting mind... I had not even considered changing fonts myself. Your exploration got me playing around too.

Sad, and too common a sentiment...

Carwey you you know who this person is? Why don't you venture a guess.

This book came across my desk today. Good Fortune by Noni Carter What stuck me about this title is that Noni, the author, is only 18 years old. At first I questioned whether someone so young would have the experience or knowledge to write a compelling story on such a subject (see description below). [i know someone is saying, "Well Troy, the fact that it was published by Simon & Schuster, should be evidence to the quality].At any rate, the promotional copy described how the story is based on Noni's great-great-great-great grandmother. So I figured the family history provided at some background for a moving story -- probably worth checking out... Brutally kidnapped from her African village and shipped to America, Ayanna Bahati struggles to come to terms with her new life as a slave. Rising from the cotton fields to her master's house, Anna is threatened by the increasingly dangerous world of the plantation. Risking everything, she escapes and makes her way north to freedom and an education, but can she shed the chains of her harrowing past to live the life she has longed for?

Thumper, I avoid ALL of those facebook games like the plague. Facebook "management" has already added at least an hour to my work day (admittedly 75% of that time is goofing off). If I spent time playing games I'd never get any work done. Plus I completely ignore all "hits with pillows", "mafia war" -- all that stuff! Man I'm glad you mentioned the Ellison Book: http://aalbc.com/authors/ellison.htm I was completely unaware of it -- thanks!

She/He will have to post a few times for us to peg her/his identity. Even beyond the her voice, Kola was easy to spot because her posts never took up the full width of the screen. (I'm not sure if that will happen too) But if allforyou is a frequent poster and still true to her voice from the old board it should not be too hard. allforyou give me a head start and answer thiese 5 questions: Were you, initially a Barack Obama supporter?Where your were featured in a Carey Sunday roundup story?Do mostly agree or disagree with ABM opinions Men's feeling on fidelity?Have we ever met in the real world?Are in the the top half of the bottom half of the top 50?

Hold up y'all! Why the heck can't someone make up a name -- for their own damn child? ALL names were made up at some point. Why can't Black women introduce new ones without being the source of ridicule? I understand that you may not like the name; but come on, just because someone does not choose a name that mimics their slave master or that meets your approval, do they really deserve all this greif? From other Black people no less... Personally, I have MUCH more of a problem with the names of people from other countries like Poland, India, or even Nigeria. Some of the names are unpronouceable a native English speaker -- forget about knowing what the name "means". There was some cat, from India, in the corporate database from my last job with 26 characters in just ONE of his names. The feeaking database I was working with could not handle the name! Do you realize we are probably more likely to encounter a name like Balasubramaniam in a US corporate environment than we would encounter as Shaniqua -- That is actually THE problem. Besides I can definitely pronouce Shaniqua with more ease.

Carey I did not read you Blog post yet. But what you are asking for Barack to project a 'tude that, I doubt very much, is in him. Brother don't anywhere near as far as he has behaving the way you describe. If he changed his style they'd have his arse out of DC faster than Bill Clinton would solicit an under age intern.

Thnaks all4you I'm glad you like the new environment. Give us a clue are you one of the top 50 posters from the old board hre is a link to that list: http://aalbc.com/top_posters_from_tc_pre_2010.html

AALBC.com will be releasing an application for the iPhone which provides book reviews from AALBC.com, the NY Time and a few other sources. Visit here http://bit.ly/7kbJ5n for a preview.

The Top 10 Things You Need to Know about On-line Advertising by Troy Johnson Advertise on sites that target your audience. Advertise on sites that have high traffic. Advertise on sites that can provide details on your advertising campaign (how many times was the ad viewed and clicked). This will enable you to compare how well your advertisement is performing relative to other sites or forms of advertising. More is always better: The more targeted people who see your advertisement, the more people who will have an opportunity to take action (fill out a form, visit a website, view a video, or buy a book). Your creative (book cover, ad banner, or video) must be visually appealing (text legible, no fuzzy images) Your landing page (where you send visitors who click you ad) should be; visually appealing, free of errors, directly related to and provide more information on the advertised product. On-line advertising (advertising in general) is not a 1 week proposition. It takes time to build a brand; and continuous advertising is required to maintain it: Coke, Apple, and IBM still buy advertising. Budget accordingly. While the ultimate goal of your advertising campaign may be to sell a book; that is not the only reason you advertise (see #7). On-line advertising does not replace promotion. Continue to promote your brand both on-line and off-line. Ultimately, your business success is a function of your ability to maximize customers AWARENESS of your product that actually satisfies that customer’s NEED. To learn more about advertising and self-pulishing in general check out Aspicomm Media's Self-Publishing Symposium 2010 Check out a short Video from the Self-Publishing Symposium 2008

This is always a popular question. Sometimes the books which I list "that I'm reading" I actually never complete. I plan to start Dolen Perkin-Valdez's Wench I'm looking forward to this one given the positive reviews. I'm currently reading, on my Kindle, Malcom Gladwell's What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures this collection of articles is not very interesting, or at least not as interesting as his books. I'll probably read a few more then bail if nothing else strikes my fancy. My Mom has read the last 4 of Vanessa Davis Griggs novels -- she loves them. She could not find the Griggs' first 3 novels in books stores (no PC at home, to purchase via AALBC.com). I had Grigg's first novel The Rose of Jericho in my library. I gave it to her. I think she read it in 5 minutes. I asked for it back she told me, "No!" -- Ma just took my book. The other two I found on Amazon through a third party.

Congrats on your book Shay!

Hey Guest, you should also post your events on our calendar http://aalbc.com/tc/index.php?/calendar/

Thanks for the kind words all. When I get a chance I'll will try to figure out a way to bump people up to the level they were at on the old board. There is still a lot more I have to learn about administering this new board myself. Yeah, Xeon, the old board was really showing it age. We actually went 8 YEARS without a significant upgrade -- that is a really long time. Think about the last time you used a piece of technology for 8 years...

CriticalThinker, the meaning of the name is whatever one associates to it. Actually I would preffer to name my daughter Shaniqua or Tawanda; over soemthing like like Elizabeth, Mary or Madison.

Yes Congrats FerociousKitty! I know how hard it is to get good representation. Here is to a speedy sale!

I attended a book launch party last night for Wench it was packed. The acclaim for the novel is universal. I'm gonna move it to the top of my list of books to read. The next one will be in Seattle on Jan 25th.

Ruth McBride Jordan, who was the subject of James McBrides’s, New York Times Best Selling Book, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, passed last week at the age of 88. As reported in this article by the New York Times.