Troy

@real1 a correlation between IQ and job success and resulting higher incomes is not surprising -- any more than the correlation of coordination with success in sports. This is an asinine statement. Besides the fact that there is only one human race of people, looking at that single data point in isolation is meaningless. The second article that ranks countries by their average IQs is questionable and best. Where is the source of the data? What methodology was used to determine the country's average IQ scores? The site says Nepal's average IQ score is 42.99?! On its face that is absurd -- the would be a country of mentally retarder people with an average score about as low as you can get. That does not make sense. Find the source data that says the country of Nepal has an average IQ of 43.

that was the best line of a radiative week set. Chris came across angry and it was not humorous. I’d feel bad for the guy if he were not paid $40 Million. Chris was right, in my opinion, about Will. Slapping Chris was a punk move by Will.

what do you mean don’t reply? As in don’t respond to what you wrote about what i wrote? Why? The best way to ensure that i, or any one, does not reply is to not reply yourself. The people of Black Wall Street did try to defend themselves. From the moment Dick Rowland was arrested Black people fought back. Black service men marched to the court house and saved Rowland from a likely lynching. I lived there and learned quite a bit about the event while there. i did not say you did, but clearly you were implying that they were violent and had a culture that lasted a long time. Otherwise what point were you making?

they were not violent, in that they they not try to burn down the white community, but they used violence to defend themselves as best they could but they were out numbered and outgunned. Using violence to protect yourself against a violent adversary is expected, but going around pillaging is what thugs do. 2,000 years? Being hyperbolic to make a point. huh? If you considered the actual duration of the Roman empire you’d see it was a relative flash in the pan compared to other civilizations especially African ones.

If violence were actually a viable option for us, we would not need to use it. Violence is a primitive tactic used by dumb, short sighted thugs. All the violence in the world did not keep Black people from being freed, obtaining rights, and enjoying liberties. Violence is not what is holding us back today. We need to achieve some semblance of unity. We also have to be willing to sacrifice some time, energy, and money then rally those resources to develop strategies for our common good. Umoja is the first principal of Kwanzaa for a reason.

I did not listen to Umar, but sure images of non-dysfunctional, cis gender heterosexual Black men paired with a Black woman are marginalized by the media. What else is new? This does not mean i don’t want images of strong Black women shown, or take it as a threat. It would be nice to see more balance, but i don’t expect anyone to do it for us.

I have not seen a Creed movie yet. I heard this is the first Rocky film without Stallone. I’m go back and watch the originals then check this one out. In Philly there is a statue of Rocky, but world champ Smokin’ Joe has faded into obscurity. I was driving down Broad street in Philly and saw Joe Fraser walking down the street Given Jose` also had a son who boxed, I guess her is the original creed 🙂

The owner of Birdsong Books bookstore was kidnapped and murdered! https://www.msgrnews.com/news/body-found-cedar-creek-identified-locust-grove-business-owner What a tragic story….

Thanks Mel your words are inspiring.

What about an older man and a younger woman?

@Pioneer1, You are probably right. @ProfD, i hear you, but I’m glad you decided to share your wisdom here — thank you.

Some people want to ban TikTok:

@Pioneer1 as you get older I assume your desire for older women has changed to younger women. When you were 25 you may have lusted after the 50-year-old Sista in the video. I assume this has not continued to hold true, as that would mean you would be lusting after 80-year-old women today. I suspect you are probably now attracted to women close to or age or younger rather than older women. Is that true? I watched the first 60 seconds watching the rest of video does not interest me in the least.

LOL, no one is a cap (tooth broken in high school) and I have three veneers to match the cap and close a gap and correct my bite. Apparently, unlike Twitter, the 'Gram and Facebook, people actually use TikTok platform to discover books through "booktokers." I have never discovered a book that way, but everyone is saying that it is a great way to promote books. I think my newsletter blows anyway TikTok. Time will tell. Again, I do not mind being proven wrong. I could use a free what to promote my brand. Speaking of YouTube, has anyone noticed how shitty is it becoming. They bombard the videos with ads -- Increasingly I can't even watch videos for enjoyment anymore. I assume you can control the volumes on your device to control the volume of the videos.

Good idea Mel!

Wow, this is incredible news @Mel Hopkins -- thanks for sharing! I have not read the article yet but will get to it. I believe this may make Sanyu the most senior Black person in Publishing! This reminds me of a conversation from 5 years about when I posted an article, published 10 years before that conversation, sharing the people behind Black books: We talked about how publishing was dominated by white people. Sanyu's promotion is a step in the right direction 🙂 This is a change that Random House did not have to make. I was not previously familiar with "All Ways Black," but I'm not active on Instagram... Though I did start Tiktoking (is that a verb?) a few minutes ago 😉

Okay, I just broke down a begin my first foray into TicTok. Everyone is telling me I need to be on the platform. So I'm starting in earnest today. I still can't image it helping, but I hope I'm proven wrong. My goal is to post a short video several times a week. I'm open to any suggestions. The video is raw, I did not bother to shave or wear anything special -- if I did it would be too much work. I figure I could invest 15 minutes a week to post a few sub-two-minute videos to the platform.

As @ProfD wrote @Pioneer1 women are built for this. As a species we are simply following our genetic predisposition to make babies desire the discomfort. Men do go to war and kill each other and I guess on some level we are genetically predisposed to doing this too, for i can’t think of any reason why we do it so often.

I agree. The brother in the video is almost certainly not a teenager.... but with the chemicals in foods today -- who knows.

Well what “Guest nigger hater” wrote was plainly racist and served no other purpose other than to incite and insult people or maybe it was just for amusement at our expense. @Pioneer1, I do think your views on race are racist (I’m not one of those people who don’t believe Blacks can be racist). But your views are a direct consequence of, and in reaction to, white racism which has plagued the planet for centuries. Unlike the white racist whose goal is to exploit and dominate, you are trying to help Black not hurt white people.

Yeah, the Nation would fall into the category of being both fiscally and socially conservative. However they also recognize that there are devils in both political parties. Their critique of the government is an appeal for many, but not enough of an appeal for most to adopt their conservative life style. Black Republicans as opposed to Black conservatives come across as unsystematic to Black people who need the most help. It is also hard for me to understand the ones who support a man like Trump.

@Chevdove don't feed the trolls 😉 I just blocked Kronzee21 Looking back over this thread, I'm not sure why I never deleted Guest nigger hater's racist post. As anyone here ever gone to a website, or social media site, and posted racist comments?

@KENNETH often this argument is simplified into a this or that scenario. There are large groups of Black people who are socially conservative. There are large numbers of Black people who are fiscally conservative. Black people can be in both of the above groups and vehemently reject the Republican party, which never made sense to me. Black people are all over the spectrum when it comes to assessing what is most responsible for our collective and individual successes and failures. If you have the three things below, you will generally succeed in this country: Ability; Drive; and Lucky You really need all three to succeed. That "trifecta" of conditions can be both elusive and fleeting. The legacy of slavery and Jim Crow has diminished our ability obtain some of the lucky breaks white folks enjoy. This of course affects our drive and even our ability. Both of my grandfathers were illiterate. I know other Black people my age whose grandfathers graduated from college. Who do you think benefited more from inherited wealth, educational opportunities, and less familial dysfunction? Who would be more inclined to claim hard work is the way to succeed? I'm one of those people who blame both the legacy of racism and our own behavior for both our individual and collective predicaments. I also believe much of our dysfunctional is a direct consequence of living in a historically white racist country.

I was in the customs line leaving Barbados several years ago and Rihanna was in the line behind me as the line snaked i got a really good look at her. She is average looking. Nothing particularly striking about her in her natural state. We look at the people on the cover of Vogue and make the mistake of assuming that is actually how the person looks in real life. Times have absolutely changed as few men in my generation, or older, would desire that positioning on the cover of a magazine. It is emasculating, but that is considered a good thing today. Let the woman led pulling the “man” along as he nurtures that baby. I’m sure the photo was crafted to stoke that sentiment. I don’t particularity care for the photo, but the baby is cute 🥰

Yep, https://blackplanet.com/Troy