Troy

Hi @Terry Wells-Jones thanks for sharing your story with us. Please share a link to your site.

Really? Regarding blacks being pro immigration. On my old block the house next to the one I owned (119st off Lenox) is being used to house migrants and the folks there are protesting this. The mayor of NYC said they are going to do everything to house the migrants and was pleading for help form the federal government. They can’t even house NYC citizens but are bending over backwards for the migrants… I’m not sure what you mean by being “pro-lgbt.” what would you have done with gays and lesbians @Pioneer1?

He was very repetitive, but has a point when it comes to the lack of desire to pay attention to Black Africa. yeah @ProfD I thought the school was opened by now. He said as much a few years ago. i saw one brother serving in the Israeli army. It would be interesting to know his story.

Media Contact: Steven Silvers | 720-402-8820 | communications@tatteredcover.com Tattered Cover initiates Chapter 11 reorganization to obtain new financing, improve inventory and strengthen operations for long-term sustainability Elects to use streamlined Small Business Reorganization provisions of Chapter 11 (Subchapter V) to expedite restructuring process while arranging up to $1 million in debtor-in-possession loan financing from existing investors and board members More books and products, consolidation of store locations among actions to position Tattered Cover for a successful holiday sales season DENVER (October 16, 2023) Bended Page, LLC, which owns and operates Tattered Cover Book Store, announced today that it has filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 Subchapter V in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado. Utilizing the streamlined small business features of Chapter 11 will allow Tattered Cover to obtain supportive financing while working quickly toward overcoming substantial financial issues that have stymied the iconic, beloved 52-year-old independent bookstore’s liquidity and ability to recover from changing market conditions exacerbated by the COVID pandemic. Once approved by the court, Tattered Cover will have access up to $1 million in debtor-in-possession financing provided by a newly created entity comprised of current company board members and investors. This new funding will be used to obtain much-needed additional inventory in time for the critical 2023 holiday consumer buying season, fulfill customer orders, upgrade technology, and to maintain operations and staff compensation during the restructuring process. Congress enacted small business provisions of Subchapter V of Chapter 11 in 2020 to provide a more cost-efficient, streamlined process for revenue-generating small businesses like Tattered Cover and promote a faster path to successful financial and operational reorganization. “The board of directors, senior management, and prospective lenders and investors agree that reorganizing with the favorable tools of Subchapter V of Chapter 11 is the most expeditious way to regain our financial footing so Tattered Cover can continue its long legacy as a favorite Colorado destination and champion the First Amendment for generations to come,” said Brad Dempsey, a Colorado native and Denver attorney who was appointed Chief Executive Officer in July. “Our objective is to put Tattered Cover on a smaller, more modern and financially sustainable platform that will ensure our ability to serve Colorado readers for many more decades,” Dempsey said. “Restructuring for long-term viability requires managers to make very difficult business decisions that affect people and business partners, and we intend to do what we can to minimize these impacts. We’re thankful for the professionalism and dedication of our management and staff in helping Tattered Cover transition to its next successful era.” Dempsey reiterated that all customer gift cards will be honored and orders will continue to be fulfilled without interruption. “Since I’ve come on as CEO, support from Tattered Cover customers, the community and business partners has been simply incredible,” he said. “We’re going to do our best to get people to continue coming into the store, as well as ordering online during this holiday season. A strong holiday season will help expedite the completion of our reorganization process.” With all actions subject to court approval, Tattered Cover will continue its operations but will begin implementing the following steps to facilitate the restructuring: Tattered Cover will close three stores from its seven current locations: Denver’s McGregor Square, Westminster and Colorado Springs. Closure of these locations is expected to begin October 23, 2023 and be completed by early November. Inventory and technology from the three closing locations will be promptly transferred to the store’s four other locations, where it will be business as usual with much improved inventory at Colfax Ave. and Union Station in Denver, Aspen Grove Shopping Center in Littleton, and the children’s store at Stanley Marketplace in Aurora. Events currently scheduled for October and November 2023 at closing locations will be rescheduled, if possible, to take place at the store’s remaining locations. All event information will be updated on TatteredCover.com. The TatteredCover.com web site will continue to operate and fulfill orders as normal. Tattered Cover’s “Friends of Tattered Cover” loyalty program and related benefits will continue without interruption, including private shopping events for members to be scheduled during the holidays. At least 27 staff positions out of Tattered Cover’s current 103 positions will be impacted by the closures. Some impacted employees may fill temporary seasonal positions at the remaining stores during the holiday season. The company is working to develop severance packages for eligible employees affected by the closures. All customer gift cards will be honored and orders will continue to be fulfilled without interruption. Debtor-in-possession financing is being provided by a new entity that currently includes current investor board members Leslie Rainbolt and Margie Gart. The company’s restructuring will be led by its senior management team of Brad Dempsey, CEO, Margie Keenan, CFO, Jeremy Patlen, COO, and Alexis Miles, Vice President of Human Resources. Previously Vice President of Buying Jeremy Patlen has officially been named Chief Operating Officer, after having informally served in that capacity since February. Tattered Cover’s Denver International Airport locations will continue operating as part of a license agreement with Hudson Bookstores. ABOUT TATTERED COVER Founded in 1971, Tattered Cover is Colorado’s largest independent bookstore. Noted literary and free speech advocate Joyce Meskis, who passed away in December 2022, became sole owner in 1973, leading the store to become an iconic, nationally-recognized Colorado destination for residents and tourists alike. The store was acquired by Len Vlahos and Kristen Gilligan in 2015, and then by Bended Page, LLC in December 2020. ###

@aMhayes post a like to the site.

Yeah, celebrity gossip and dysfunction, particularly when it is of a sexual or violent nature sell every well. I just added Jada's new boo to the site. Honestly, with some apprehension. Ultimately my goal is to include every book written by or about Black people going back to Our Nig, so, as "creepy" as it may be, I have to include Worthy.

This is true and something that is well known and used by business owners. Clubs maintain lines outside, unnecessarily, to creative this illusion -- this counterintuitively increases demand. Maybe I need to figure out a ways to show popularity to drive demand. I just recently started adding my newsletter subscriber count to the end of my newsletters. But then you have to contend with the other man's colder ice conundrum 😉 Yeah, as the culture continues to drive people toward our baser nature this will become increasingly true. The New York Times success with their paywall (which I subscribe) is promising, as it demonstrated there is stil demand for content that requires a deeper dive -- which is costly to produce. I will.

KUSA-TV in Colorado reports: The Tattered Cover bookstore chain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, three years after the iconic local business was sold to an investment group, and plans to close three of its stores over the next two weeks. The bankruptcy filing on Monday said Tattered Cover owes its creditors, numbering in the hundreds, between $1 million and $10 million. The company listed its assets in the same broad range. Why do I care? Well, I always considered the Tatter Cover a great indie store. I visited two of the chains, one as recently as 2021. The stores were just a great space for book lovers. The 50+ year old chain was the target of a LOT criticism for not supporting Black Lives Matter. They were not against it, they chose to remain neutral. In the moment, I was like who cares. I though the social media mob bolstered by headline chasing media was hypercritical and unnuanced. The store was sold, apparently under pressure, to an investment group which was co-owned by a brother, Kwame Spearman who eventually became the CEO of the Tattered Cover CEO bookstore chain. At that time, I considered adding the Tattered Cover to my list of Black-Owned bookstores, which would have easily made the Tattered Civer that largest Black-owned Indie bookstore chain -- perhaps ever (based upon total square footage). The only one that came close would have been the now defunct Karibu Bookstore chain which operated out of the DMW a decade ago. The only reason I did not add the store was because it was not clear to me if it was truly Black-owned as Kwame has partners and I was pretty sure he did not own the majority of the firm. I did reach out for clarification, but no one responded. Kwame stepped down from his role as CEO, back in April, to focus on for the Denver school board. Issues of ownership aside. The closure of these stores is a loss to the community and does not bode well for bookstores in general.

I watched the trailer but did not read your detailed response as I’ve want to see the movie first. I see it is based upon Percival Everett’s novel Erasure. Looks like I really should read that first.

Today I added two books to the site: Temple Folk by Aaliyah Bilal and Worthy by Jada Pinkett Smith Both books are enjoying a great deal of notoriety right now. Worthy simply because it is about Jada and Temple Folk because it is critically acclaimed and a finalist for this year's National Book Award for Fiction. I could care less about Jada's book. The media is besides themselves all excited about the revelation that she and Will have been separated for 7 years {yawn}. My feelings have nothing to do with Jada personally, it is just my inability to comprehend our culture's fascination with celebrity gossip. Now Aaliyah's book sounds far more interesting to me. Her's is a fictionalized account of people in Nation of Islam. It sounds fascinating and not anything I'm aware that anyone has written about in this fashion. I can't imagine anyone doing it during the Nation's prime. I think Aaliyah's talk at the DC bookstore Politics and Prose is worth checking out. @Pioneer1 this might be something up your alley. For the Jada Pinkett Smith fans don't let me dissuade you from checking out her book. Here she is on the Today show with Hoda. Though this story has been all over the internet and anyone minimally interested in the Smiths will find no relations here:

Well, the reality is that today most people, certainly those under 40, tell me that AALBC HAS to be on social media. So the Brother may have actually believed what he was telling me. TicTok is often cited as one of those platforms. I tried TikTok for a couple of months hot minute and the number of views my videos got was decent, but the problem still remains. TikTok's goal is to boost engagement on their platform and that is how success is measured. I measure success by how many people come to AALBC.com as a result of my activities on the platform. TikTok did not result move the needle when it came to new visitors. Maybe I did not give it enough time, maybe I did not do it correctly... I dunno. I trying to figure all that out for the website I have no time trying to figure that out on TicTok. The reality is that I will get 10K people to open an email this week -- many more will visit this discussion forum alone through organic search. By any measure that is excellent, but no one cares unless it is happening on a social platform. If a few celebrities decided to post here from time to time I can't even imagine what it would do for the website 🙂

Thanks @Pioneer1 Years ago I attended a conference hosted by Black Enterprise who was touting the benefits of Twitter for Black Entrepreneurs. Being an entrepreneur I asked one of the panelists (not an entrepreneur) how can a platform we don’t own actually benefit Black people? The Brother who has subsequently risen to a senior position within Black Enterprise said he “rejected” my premise then went on to explain the benefits of Twitter. The brother did not get it. I would have explained if he asked, I saw Twitter, social media in general, as a threat to anyone running a content site on the web. Twitter was the sponsor so I understood the response. what I did not see was social’s exploitation of people’s narcissism, the need to gain and keep our attention at all costs — even too the point of hacking into our brains. twitter’s demise was delayed by President Trumps activity. Elon musk’s activity was the nail in the coffin. X well almost certainly never be profitable. Good riddance.

Twitter or X locked me out of my account a couple of weeks ago. I have not been able to access it since. I can't even look at my own twitter page. I've asked them to fix it several times, but I guess they are too understaffed to deal with me. I have now given up. Twitter and it’s so called "Black Twitter" are dead to me. It is only a matter of time before the platforms completely implodes. I predicted this a few years ago.

I was not aware of the eclipse—thanks @Chevdove! l also see there will be a total eclipse on my birthday in 2024 🙂

It looks like all of them — even psycho and the exorcist.

Where do you find this stuff?

Well there was an agenda crafted, and I’ve shared it here before: The Covenant with Black America. It was an evolving document written and published by Black people which is probably why Obama never showed it any public consideration. There are some people who believe doing what is best for say Amazon or Google is what is best for all of us and by extension, Black people. We have been convinced these companies are great and can do no wrong. However the reality is that they have destroyed diversity, creativity, and independence on the web — especially as it relates to a Black people. This analogy extends to America as a whole.

@Pioneer1 I would have guessed the good professor was here longer too. I guess fondness breeds familiarity. A few claim they do, but no one really remembers their past lives. So for all practical purposes death is death. But to your point maybe we are so murderous now because we believe our victims will be going to heaven 😉

I just like the arc of the story. I'm not suggesting any of it is actually true @Pioneer1, though it is interesting to ponder the idea. If everyone believed it to be true maybe we would behave like it and the world would be a better place.

Never. But you did not need to string the brother up to make the point. The real stroke of genius was the absurdity in what they do in real life is just as absurd as the playground scene.

@nels I've probably actually read more books by Sowell than you have. Was there a specific issue from this book that you would like to discuss?

In this case that is a good thing 🙂

We can't have a meaningful conversation if you ignore my questions and make false accusations.

@Maurice I embedded the videos for you. I’m very familiar with both songs but never saw the videos. The one by of Gil Scott was nostalgic for me, because it showed the neighborhood I grew up in during the period I grew up into it. this image, from the video, shows the video from my window. I was a bit higher almost parallel to the train tracks. That is Park Ave in East Harlem. The same park Avenue where very wealthy New Yorkers live, only the train is underground there. The train was so loud and the windows so poorly insulated you could here your self think when the train was going by. @Croocked T any of MJ’s videos are classics, Earth Song was on another level

This page is really just a landing page for the newsletter sent on October 5, 2023. The eBook version of our first published novel Running to Fall is only available from Amazon. If folks are interested, I'll elaborate.