Troy

@Pioneer1 would Steph Curry, Lisa, Bonet and Prince qualify for reparations in your opinion? Last night I was engaging in it typically black activity; playing Bid Whist. if you’re unfamiliar with the game, you ain’t black Seriously, one of the brothers mentioned Jack and Jill, as part of a joke, and no one else knew what Jack and Jill was — even a woman who considered herself bougie. Now, if you would’ve asked me if someone who was aged 60 or more and Bkack And never heard of Jack and Jill I would’ve said you’re crazy and here I am in a room full of black folks like this. I would be willing to bet my life that Steph Curry and Lisa, Bonet have heard of Jack and Jill. Black people come in all shapes, sizes and colors. We also come from different cultures. some play pinochle, some play spades, and others even play bridge.

I don’t know anyone near 90 active on the Internet. So I always find “@aka Contrarian” (the poster formerly known as Cynique) to be remarkable. If I can make it to 90 AND still be running the site that would be a prodigious feat. I’m in my early 60s now and in my mind’s eye I cannot imagine myself an old man. I guess that is a relative perception, as someone in their early 20s may look at me and see if an old man. Well I thank you all for creating a special place. I know it does not have the cache of social media, but it is ours.

@richardmurrayBlack Girl You are Atlas, the image is hyperlinked to the book.

Well in America they’d just be Black. Though lately they’d be bipoc or something along those lines. Blackness is more than skin color it is about culture. Of the kid was born and raised as a Black person, in the US by Black parents they’d be African American. If the kid was raised in Mongolia by Mongolian parents they’d likely be Mongolian.

Discover February’s best Black books and more in our latest newsletter. If you happen to discover a good book here let us know.

@ModestoGarr thanks for sharing the advice. I reread the entire conversation and it is hard to believe that it is almost 2 1/2 years since I initiated it. Google has actually gotten worse. I do use there dashboard there are a number of pages on my website, including the homepage that I don’t allow any Google ads to appear on. I’ve completely removed the interstitial ads (ads that appear in between page views). The net result is that Google ad revenue is way down. In an ideal world I would not have any Google ads appearing, however, I would not put it past Google to depreciate websites that do not serve their ads meaning, all things being equal, Google would rank a website serving their ads higher than a website that does not.

This is a free share to the New York Times article. By Anna Kodé Anna Kodé reported from Carter G. Woodson’s office home in Washington. Published Feb. 1, 2024Updated Feb. 6, 2024 The origins of Black History Month can be traced back nearly a hundred years to an unassuming, three-story brick rowhouse in Washington. In 1922, Carter G. Woodson, known as “the father of Black history,” bought the home at 1538 Ninth Street NW for $8,000. The home served as the headquarters for the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (which is now known as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, or A.S.A.L.H.). It was where he ran the Associated Publishers, the publishing house focused on African American culture and history at a time when many other publishers wouldn’t accept works on the topic. It’s where The Journal of Negro History and The Negro History Bulletin were based, and it’s where he initiated the first Negro History Week — the precursor to Black History Month — in 1926. Read the rest of the article.

BTW: I blocked Jeromex's posts some time ago. This post and your reactions with the supporting information pretty much exhausted Jeromex's usefulness here. All of his posts were just repeats of the same racist talking points, making him indistinguishable from a spammer. I did warn him, but I knew that would have no impact. he was not interested in dialog...

I think the brother in the video made a really good argument for the size and distribution of reparations payments. of course, the poor white people out there will fight tooth and nail to make sure this doesn’t happen. Despite all the advantages afforded white people in this nation, some still come up extremely short similarly, despite the oppression, the legacy of racism, a centuries, of slavery, there are Black people who do exceedingly well. This discrepancy will need to be reconciled. when I was a kid, I saw white boys coming to college with new cars, getting married and having lavish weddings paid for by their parents, having their parents give them a down payment on a nice house or buying it out right for them. I’ve always wondered how they were able to pull that off? When you hear about how white folks were given 160 acres of land, and how wealth has transferred through the generations. The opportunity for the generational wealth that was denied Black people is really what this is all about. They should’ve just given us those damn 40 acres and we wouldn’t be having to deal with this today. this needs to be federal legislation.

Thanks for sharing Mel.

I keep saying, if a black man does half the crap Trump did they would be locked up. This is just another example. It is not just Trump That has been treated with kid gloves, Black people have always been treated more harshly by the criminal justice system.

better than average. I’m sure Black people are disproportionally represented in the military, particularly roles that are most dangerous. The number of women growing in these roles are increasing as well but I don’t know, that’s just my guess.

@Mel Hopkins in the future you can always call Nubian books they carry DVDs like this.

More than 25k people attending a service… please.

last warning.

Yes the American system is certainly a big part of the problem. As for a fix, I'm completely stumped. I thin making Google pay a fair share of taxes and the government taking that money a helping people.

He is great in everything he does. Omne of the best actors of his generation.

I could not help but think of Mushmouth from the Cosby Kids, as I was looking at this "Brother."

This is beyond a shame. The “pastor’s” body language said more then the first ladies admission of his guilt. maybe I’m out of touch and @harry brown is right…

The technology in and of itself is great. In the hands of Google, I’m not a fan. Google has single-handedly destroyed the web. They started out with the terrific search engine, then turned it a tool that undermines the entire rest of the World Wide Web. The search engine has been completely perverted. They’ve allowed advertisers to completely dominate the search engine results , page often leading people to shitty websites. But when you’re introduce these AI, I can see Google very easily just using AI to answer peoples questions rather than sending people to websites. That may seem good, but in order to train their AI they have to scrape the All the information provided by websites, books, and other content creators, without compensation, of course. As this continues, the rest of the web is undermined and users stay locked into Google. This is not good. This is even worse than Amazon, being the only place people buy things online. For the time being Google will remain dominant, and the potential of the web will be stunted for another generation.

Big, illustrated and written by Vashti Harrison, is the 2024 Caldecott Medal Winner. Harrison is the first Black woman to win the award! This a "big" deal I remember the first time I saw this book; It was on display at the Bus Boys and Poets near U Street in Washington DC. I was struck by how beautiful the book is, and disappointed that I only learned about this book at white-owned bookstore, a month or two after publication. This is one of the reasons Black people are under the impression that there are not very many good books for Black children being published. Publishers are not hitting all the right places when it comes to promotion... but that is another conversation. At any rate congrats to Vashti for a great book!

Ok @Jeromex, please stop your unsubstantiated, ad hominem statements about Black people. You sound like a broken record, and it is grating on my nerves. I try to provide an open forum, but you, apparently intentionally, are undermining this. @ProfD Celebrity "platforms" are provided by major corporations., who have no interest recognizing, uplifting, or encouraging the Black folks putting the work. Case in point is the activist Viola Plummer.

I learned of Plummer's passing (January 15, 2023) through an email sent to me today which included the following article published in Our Time Press. This is an important article. Plummer's passing did not get national coverage, but she deserved it. A Google search shows coverage by Indie Black-owned publications -- which we have to support (subscribe to one). If you are from the New York City area, you will be familiar (or should be) with many of the names mentioned. These are the people on the front lines fighting for us, not just locally, but globally. Mainstream media will completely ignore our true warriors in favor of rants of dysfunction Black celebrities--giving them outsized influence distorting how we, as a people are viewed and even how we view ourselves. Largely unsung they fight on. Like another Brooklyn warrior, Shirley Chisholm, Plummer was "unbought and unbossed." May she rest in peace. by Nayaba Arinde (a friend of Sister Plummer, is editor-at-large for Our Time Press.) On the day after the January 15th death of Viola Plummer, friends and family gathered at her Sista’s Place jazz and community venue in Bed-Stuy, to commune, reminisce, and share food prepared by Attorney Esmeralda Simmons and others. Tears were held, but barely. Toasts were made to bless her journey, as her favorite song The Commodores ‘Heroes’ played in the background. “Viola Plummer was the last of the five original core founders of the December 12th Movement: Sonny Abubadika Carson, Coltrane Chimurenga, Elombe Brath, and Father Lucas, they are all gone now,” activist Omowale Clay told Our Time Press. A snowstorm swept through New York City on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 15th, 2024, as news broke of the passing of activist Viola Plummer, 86, co-founder of the Bed Stuy, Brooklyn-based civil and human rights organization, The December 12th Movement…. Read the rest at Our Time Press

Black Lives Matter leaders did not get "billions" but I'm sure they did quite well for themselves financially. But we don't know the details of their financials so should refrain from being too critical on the account. In general, one way effective leaders are neutralized is with money. A fine or lavish lifestyle is a strong deterrent from doing the work. Dr. King was on the front lines and was murdered as a result. I prefer our leaders to be enriched rather than lynched. Maybe some of them will take the money they have made and use it constructively for the betterment of our people. There are others doing the work, without the celebrity, but our system does not elevate these folks and we don't own enough conscious media to spread the word. @harry brown you and I know all preachers don't extract wealth from the community solely to enrich themselves or sleep with anything moving in the pews. I suspect your impression of Black preachers is personal. Maybe one day you will share.