Troy

I looked at some of the comments; most seem to be coming from Black people. I wonder if these are real accounts created to stoke controversy. I know there are a lot of fake accounts on Twitter and elsewhere on social media -- no reason this can't be true for YouTube. But are fake account also generating fake video views? It is possible... but seems unlikely as it would be hard to believe that the GOP are that crafty. Plus, they would have to use this technique at scale to have an impact. I've so much BS on the web I'm admittedly jaded.

That makes sense @ProfD. So, on some level, I've fed into the GOP's agenda 😞

This is a 50 sec clip from an hour-long interview from with Dr. Claud Anderson and The Breakfast Club, that I uploaded to YouTube in January of 2020. I'm sharing it here, because it has been watched 33K times -- virtually all of those view have been within that past 30 days -- more than 1,000 views a day! There is always a reason for when something goes low-key viral. I don't know what it is, but if you have any theories please share.

@Delano I missed your question from two years ago. Yes, that was Morrison, West, and Sanchez. They were at an event hosted by the Center for Black Literature in Brooklyn 🙂 @Croocked T thanks for sharing your experience. I was never smart enough to get social to work for me -- maybe I never spent enough. I've spent even less on Google advertising. I really on organic traffic, sadly Google controls that too... The problem with the social media advertising for a site like mine is that I'm selling inexpensive low margin products, books. Still people may discover a book here, but turn around and buy it at Amazon. The other problem is once you stop adverting all that traffic you've paid for disappears. I'm working on a website upgrade that I hope will convert more people when they do visit the site and drive more traffic. The advertising situation has not gotten any better. Fortunately, I have ability to sell ads directly. I'm still always at Google's mercy when it comes to traffic as they control my organic traffic with their search engine. At the end of the day I have to rely on people -- they are the only grace.

It is really hard to craft a good short story. I though this one was fascinating.

@Niccolo Machiavelli I had to think about your question: As @Pioneer1 mentioned other groups have them, of course. A prominent leader of Chinese people is Xi Jinping. You can of course look to heads of State of Arab and Spanish countries for their respective leaders. You can also look to the captains of industry in those countries for more examples. The ADOS or Foundational Black does not have this. We have no country we can point to. Even when we had a Black head of state here in America he made it crystal clear that he was not the president of black people. All of the true leaders, not the ones white folks propped up for us, but the true leaders, and organizations, were systematically eliminated or marginalized. We are desperate for leadership because as group we need it and there is a void. Many of us work very hard, but we do so independently, without the benefit of cohesive, collective Black support. We need the “white co-sign” to do anything at scale. @ProfD references this when he talks about being on code. We can’t be on code, because the best and brightest of us are trying to get the white co-sign—a perfectly rational goal if you want to make it in America. Between our individual pursuit of the white co-sign and the ongoing assault against meaningful Black leadership, the best we can hope for is a Brother Al or a Kanye West, these are the folks invited to the White House to speak for Black Americans right?

@Pioneer1 yes, no graphic violence. When they tied the guy up to the swing I thought that was brilliant!

Same here 🙂 when that old lady cut loose with “nigger” out the gate I was fully engaged. It was as if Aunt Bee from the Andy Griffith Show got to speak the way she would if she really was from a small town outside of Raliegh. NC in the 1950s. Back to your idea. You also need a critical mass of people participating to keep it going. At least 10 or more cause people will not make every movie and will fall off… You’d have to do some recruiting. once people see it is fun more we’ll join.

Sure I can set up a forum for that. But that can be set up in a zoom (or similar platform) and someone can share their screen from a streaming service and talk about it in the chat windows of the platform. If the film is streaming for free on YouTube this will probably not be a technical issue, could be one with their tend if service. I dunno. Or we can just agree on the film and watch it on our own time and talk about it on the forum. This will make it far easier. I prefer this method not curse it is easier, but I don’t wanna be commenting on a film while I trying to watch it.

we spend too much time doing the entertaining. But that is the easiest way to get rich in this raciest country, so I get it. I saw ice cube on Sesame Street the other day. He like ice t, snoop, Dre, etc are mainstream now… if Tupac and Biggie lived long enough they would be too.

i thought it was a good film

I’m about 3/4 of the wsy through the film and am enjoying it. I’m have more respect for Shatner’s acting ability. some other guy Nicollo or something disparaged Sharpton in another conversation. Another questioned the relevance of the concept of a black leader. Both were valid comments. i never said anything about the effectiveness of Sharpton leadership or the strength of it. I was just indicating of all the people out there he is the only one trying with a platform who has mainstream media’s attention. Is he MLK or Malcom X? heck no. my main point is that the black community is essentially leaderless. Not the NAACP or the Black church’s various factions speak for black people. maybe that leadership is impossible. maybe it is unnecessary. I’m any event it is absent. however Al Sharpton is about as close as you can get. How about Oprah? 🙂

@Niccolo Machiavelli, Leader of the black community. Do you need directions? 😉

Okay @nels substantiate your statement: tell me what black Americans are doing to make you say they are following Jay Z and ending you at the bottom as a result. … because he purchased an overpriced house? So what? If you had not posted it here I would not have known about it. none of my friends are discussing it. You seem to be the only one who cares.

Oh Brother here we go again.... I seen fat Al and skinny Al. His body's change dispels this myth of being "big boned." He was just fat and lost a lot of weight. His bones did not change.

You will see an improvement over the original. The numerology will interest @Delano I believe.

@nels Your shade is misdirected. Jay-Z is a product of America. Most of Jay's wealth comes from white people, not "needy black youth" -- they don't have any money to spend. Why this activity interests people beyond a certain stage of development and age and always puzzled me. Gossip is for bored people without lives of their own, so they cast shade, judge, and hate on others -- a sad, pathetic form of amusement. Social media has exploited this base behavior for massive profits brining everyone's inner yenta to the fore. 😃

AALBC is publishing a refreshed version of The Savion Sequence! Yeah @Cynique, it only took me 11 years to get myself together and actually begin publishing books. In the past year I've pubbed three (two new and revised version of this one).

Kassahun Checole Has Been Named Winner of PEN Eritrea’s Freedom of Expression Award 2023! Publisher Kassahun Checole, the founder of the world-known Africa World Press and the Red Sea Press, has been named the winner of PEN Eritrea’s Freedom of Expression Award 2023. This year’s Awards Committee comprised Habtom Weldeyowhaness, Yirgalem Fisseha and Yonatan Tsighe (Dr), received a long list of contestants, and after an in-depth examination of the conditions, the judges selected Kassahun Checole as the winner of the Award. Kassahun’s colossal contribution to Eritrean and African literature requires another volume to give it full justice. Kassahun’s publishing activities, which he began in 1983, have enabled the voices of the subaltern to be heard. He produced books and magazines that inspired and continue to inspire many young, would-be African writers. Kassahun has published over 3,500 titles by thousands of authors in some 20 languages on various themes—African history, indigenous religions, and literature and art. He was one of the organisers of the January 2000 “African Languages and Literatures” conference held in Asmara, rightly named “Against All Odds”. He was also one of those who toiled for the political liberation of post-independence Eritrea— the G-13, a group of Eritrean academics and professionals— signatories of the “Berlin Manifesto”, in which they stated their grave concerns about the overall deteriorating situations and demanded genuine reforms in Eritrea. The Berlin Manifesto was a forerunner of the G-15, a group in Eritrea that opposed the policy of President Isaias Afewerki, his postponing of elections and his failure to implement the constitution. Kassahun has produced thousands of literature and hundreds of books – used as textbooks in various educational settings, in addition to his outstanding services in documentation for educational and research purposes. He has published books by many prominent Eritrean writers such as Abeba Tesfagiorgis, Alemseghed Tesfay, Ghirmai Negash, Bereket Habteslasie, Rev. Ezra Ghebremedhin and many others. Nobel laureates East Timorese José Ramos-Horta and the South African bishop Desmond Tutu, Kenyan writer Ngugi Wa Thiong’, Noam Chomsky, Sonia Sanchez as well as Basil Davidson are among the hundreds of international authors and laureates their works published by Kassahun. He is a strong supporter and activist of the Pan-African movement. Award committee chair Yonatan Tsighe said: “Checole’s efforts and achievements in documenting and researching indigenous knowledge of Eritrea is phenomenal. The Award committee members are honoured to present him with this Award on behalf of all member writers and journalists.” Poetess and journalist Yirgalem Fisseha commented: “Kassahun has devoted his prime and old age to publishing literary works, and his unremitting efforts and productivity stand exemplary to all lovers of literature and art”. The PEN Eritrea Freedom of Expression Award was established in 2019 by PEN Eritrea in Exile to recognise an individual, a group, or an institution with outstanding merits for advancing literature and freedom of expression in an Eritrean context. The Award is announced every year on September 18th to signify the date of the assault on freedom of expression and to champion the courageous journalists, writers and government critics languishing in inhumane conditions in Eritrean prisons since September 2001. The award winner receives a certificate of recognition, a medal and $1,000. Accordingly, the 2023 PEN Eritrea Awards Committee has unanimously decided that the world-class publisher Kassahun Checole will be the winner of the 2023 PEN Eritrea Awards for his contributions to printing and freedom of expression. Kassahun said, “I feel honoured because the award places me within the circle of those Eritreans who have paid and continue to pay a heavy price for acting on their patriotic duty to stand for democracy and freedom in our beloved country and Africa as a whole.” A graduate with distinction from SUNY Binghamton in Sociology and Political Economy, Mr. Checole has taught at Rutgers University and El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City. He was one of the founders of the first graduate program in African Studies in Latin America. Kassahun will receive the Award at a ceremony hosted by PEN Eritrea on October 8th in Antwerp-Belgium, alongside its annual meeting, which will be held from October 7th to 8th. The event will be live on fb@PENEritrea Former winners of the PEN Eritrea Freedom of Expression Award are Abrar Osman (2022), Ghirmai Negash (2021), Saleh Gadi Johar (2020), Yirgalem Fisseha (2019)

I’m confident there is other intelligent life somewhere else out there. I’m not so sure about these mummies. though, what is Neil Tyson’s take in this?

45 is a leader too. White folks have no shortage of leaders, some are even doing what is in the best interest of their communities, but in most cases, as with Trump, doing what is in his own best. interest. Yes, a leader, much more so than Obama is today.

I'll have the last word here @nels and anyone else: This forum is strictly for sharing, acknowledging, and celebrating Black excellence. If you want to cast shade or question what is going on here, do it in one of the many other forums on the site where that is tolerated.

why? Well you left off half of my sentence: "One would think Obama would have assumed the leadership role, but I'm not surprised he hasn't..." What I was trying to imply is that he could not have assumed the "leadership" role for the reasons you mentioned and too many others for me to get into. Bottom line is that he could not have if he wanted to. Again, whether you like it or not Reverend Al is it.

From the first video Franks shared

Oh I could have gotten you one @Mel Hopkins if I knew. Maybe I still can...