Troy

This sentiment is not restricted to Black folks. It is how we Americans roll.

Absolutely. As @harry brown constantly reminds us, too many churches are led by charismatic ministers who seem more concerned with lining their pockets and laying with the congregants. This is not to say there are no churches and other organizations doing meaningful work; they don’t seem to be as powerful as they once were, and they certainly don’t influence a critical mass of people to get anything done of substance or engage in any sustained activity for the betterment of our people.

Of course not. Being a "flat earther" is than just the belief, it is the way the "flat earther's" brain works. Consider my years-long effort to convince @Pioneer1 that the social construct of race is not based in genetics. There is nothing that will change his mind; it is something he chooses to believe. The flat earther simply cannot see the flaws in their reasoning, which is obvious to others. Maybe there is a medical term for this... In any event, I'm not surprised you were unable to convince the flat earther that the planet is round... technically an oblate spheroid 😉

Over the years there have been many conversations on this forum about how Black people should pool our resources, support our businesses, and control our destiny. In the past, civil right organizations lead the charge in organizing successful boycotts and getting important legislation passed. Today these organizations are a shell of what they once were -- toothless. Social media is seen by many as the modern way to mobilize Black people. I've always lamented the fact that we hitch our wagons to platforms we do not own or control and claim it as a tool to support Black people. This was always a flawed strategy. "Black Twitter" was a recent example of this. I'd go farther and say that the entire social media universe not only does not serve Black people; it is harmful to us. In the past, any organization that has shown a sign effectively mobilizing Black people from the Universal Negro Improvement Association to The Black Panther Party even the Nation of Islam, was actively undermined by our government. Obviously, our current lack of organization is not only a consequence of direct attacks against our organizations, but several hundreds of years of violent and legalized oppression. Today are we completely rudderless as a people? Who, or what organization, could initiate a Montogomery Bus Boycott today? Are we so happy today that a boycott is completely unnecessary? Which organization could do what the NAACP Legal Defense Fund did to win Brown v. Board of Education, or are we happy that "race" can no longer be used to help reverse hundreds of years of being prevented from learning to read, while benefits to white people like legacy admissions continue? If we are happy with the way things are then cool. If we are no satisfied then, who with the power to effect change, leads the Black community in 2023?

Would Black peoples actually use such a social media site? Those stores are just that, stories. both companies had and have a tremendous amount of financial backing. @richardmurray what is or should be AALBC’s “gimmick” i appreciate you all could be giving elon and mark all of your jewels. The time you spend here is the ONLY thing that keeps this part of the site viable. Of course if more Black people posted here instead of social it would be amazing. But the value proposition inadequate. this forum is not designed to hack into your brain and manipulate your level of engagement. Now there is some content here that has some aspect of what social media offers but that is purely incidental and not by design the way it is on social.

This news completely surprised me. This is what happens when you actively avoid consuming content on social media I guess. When I connected to Twitter to check on engagement (from a tweet I send out through MailChimp), I saw a flash of a big "X" and then I noticed the same Big X on the upper left had side of my screen. I hadn't even noticed the blue bird was gone. I thought it was a bug; after a quick search, only then did I learn Twitter was killed by Musk in favor of his new social media Platform "X," https://x.com. Nothing has changed. It is probably a publicity stunt (which I'm feeding into). Well if it will get Black people to consider Black-owned platforms, then it is a good thing. But I will not be surprised to see us running around celebrating our engagement on X with "Black X."

Yeah people think everything is on Google… which of course it is not. The same goes for ChatGPT, it shells out a lot of amazing answers i often use it instead of search, but it is not perfect. I’ve been using it for several weeks several hours a day and it is amazing, but as with Google you really need to know a little something about what you are searching you also need to know how to think critically otherwise you we’ll be easily misinformed. I hear you about solutions to problems, @Pioneer1, but there are indeed some problems which are intractable without real solutions and we just do the best we can anyway… perhaps that is the real solution.

Not exactly. There are epigenetic factors as well. OK, but obviously there is little agreement as you don’t consider Malcoim X or Barack Obama to be Black while others do. These racial classifications are far from objective. As @Cynique mention there are a variety of arbitrary phenotypical characteristics that white racists have used to define different races including skull shape. still your reasoning ignores the fact that there is no test for “race” — indeed there cannot be one for all the reasons mentioned and more! You ignore the science and instead cherry pick sloppy word choice in articles to make your point. Why? Does the fact that there is no genetic basis for race just throw your world view about what it means to be Black into disarray? Blackness is about culture, shared experience — one’s ethnicity — not the shape of one’s skull or the thickness of their lips. Forget about a genetic basis for race; every conclusion you derive from that premise will be wrong. We’ve seen how destructive this reasoning has been in the hands of racists over the last few hundred years. White people put millions of other so called white people in gas chambers using this logic.

Reading your last post @Pioneer1 reminded me of an episode from the Boodocks

@ProfD at the end of the day, which presidential candidate are you voting for the Republican or the the democrat? Did you vote for Trump or Clinton. Did you vote for Obama or McCain? if you made a choice then you’d have to concede we are talking about different coins as it relates to the political parties. Still we have been abused by both — all political parties since we’ve been on these shores, but surely you appreciate there is currently, a lessor of two evils here.

@Pioneer1 i would not be so hard on people who don’t buy a new car every 5 years. the average car on the road today is a hoopty, as the average car is more than 12 years old. The average price of a new car today is twice what it was in 1970. Houses are also much more experience. Today everyone in the average home has to work for a halfway decent lifestyle (adequate shelter, clothing, food and a free amenities like a cell phone or going to the movies) 50 years ago a single highschool educated man could afford to provide for an entire family. “failure” would not be an accurate description, as the company is profitable and given the business environment, earning $1B could be considered a success. But i get Wall Street wants to see an increase in profits year over year, but the context matters. Even if the company loses money — even for a decade or more does not make it a failure, consider Amazon. …. So i agree with @Pioneer1 on this one 😮

No, we shouldn’t, but people do it all the time. Ignoring complexity makes the world easier to understand, but harder to navigate because of the simplistic reasoning. you keep saying that, but it flys completely in the face of what we know about genetics. Did you read that article i shared? this would be copying the flawed tactic of the racist. Why continue this? Clearly it is not a good idea.

BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A WHITE RACIST SOCIETY, not a Black racist one. There is no societal advantage for a so called white person passing for Black. Is this news to you?

because race is not solely function of the capacity to produce melanin. I’m sure sure even pioneer would are with that. Yes because i went to know if they are Black in your book. Are they? You done this before @Pioneer1 the passages quoted are not providing a scientific basis for race. However you will notice that the word ethnicity is joined with the word race. Ethnicity is more accurate but people are so used to using race they put race in there. here is an article that might help. Try teasing reading it it helps explain the point i was trying to make in great detail: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/ i don’t expect you to change your mind @Pioneer1 (you never do), but it may help clarify things for others with open minds.

If a tree falls in the forest…

Of course! What is holding you up? We’ve been at this for more than a decade. So Kamala Harris and Malcolm X are not Black, according to @Pioneer1 as they both pass the brown bag test. Malcolm even have red hair putting him firmly in the white race, right Pioneer? what you are saying is based upon what your eyes tell you, not what our genes say. Genetically we are essentially identical. There is no test for race. For this reason.

Of course. History tells us this. Please provide a link to one such study. please provide a source that says “race” Is a scientific category or fact. Wait, so works Rock Newman qualify for reparations? @Pioneer1 Is Barack Obama Black? Is he an AfroAmerican?

Thanks for sharing your upcoming titles here @Lee and Low Books I'll reach out if there is interest in reviewing your upcoming titles.

@richardmurray If a Black couple has an albino child would they be "Black" or white? All normal humans produce melanin, so then we would be forced to looking at the degree of one's melanin production (as you've defined it) to determine racial categories. Does Melanin production change over time? Can people be white at birth become Black in adulthood. How does melanin production change based upon environment. If a white person in the northern hemisphere moved close to the equator, can they slip into Blackness? I don't know the science of genetics of melanin production, but I'm pretty confident like most human characteristics that there is not a single gene that defines this and that There probably epigenic factors as well. Do you really want to go down this road with @Pioneer1 😉 Now that you mention it, it would be more accurate to describe humanity as "Black" rather that dividing us into to the completely arbitrarily-subjective racist defined colors like Black, white, red, and yellow. Absolutely (race is factually an arbitrary construct BTW). How then do we end racism? Surely, it can't be by perpetuating the concept of race?

The fact she got away with it, running a NAACP chapter, ought to tell you how arbitrary race is... Then there is Walter White; "I am a Negro. My skin is white, my eyes are blue, my hair is blond. The traits of my race are nowhere visible upon me."

@ProfD, lets see what @Pioneer1 has to say about it 😉

So you are saying that things are pretty bad in NYC and that this is not being discussed in the media? That is easy. Moving is expensive. If you live in the PJ's housing is pretty cheap. So while everything thing else is expensive you gotta find another apartment in another city. where the rent goes up every year. The cheaper places often require an automobile. Many new yorkers don't own a car and cannot drive. There are many other reasons. Then there is matter of employment... I moved to Tampa, FL to save money, but things have gotten a lot more expensive in the last few years. I also moved to Tulsa OK. Sure both are cheaper than NYC, but it is not "cheap." Again, the cheapest places require a car and the wages are not as high. American cities are expensive. The "rent is too damn high."

How do you come to learn of this story @Pioneer1? I looked the call letters are from a station in Charlotte, NC Again, just because you say they are not Black is a matter of your opinion. Dude, all of these designations are completely arbitrary (there is no genetic test for Black). If someone you define as white wants to identify as Black there is really nothing you can do about it. @Pioneer1 (anyone) Is Rock Newman Black?

Ok @Delano I give up. I wrote that I did the search and you wrote. I'm sorry you feel that way.

Glad you enjoyed it. It was a pleasant surprise to me too. I also watched a interview with the filmmakers the main pimps in the film was murdered before the flick wrapped. They had to pay the Panthers off. It was amazing the a film of it's type of was made and a miracle it was finished.