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African American Literature Book Club

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Featured Replies

  • Author

@ProfD

21 hours ago, ProfD said:

To what other countries should the Black person born in the USA flee?

I am not giving a country I think a Black DOSer should go to alone or in a group, for themselves or actually for the village, but I can say that to each continent I know a Black DOSer from the USA who left the usa to happiness for themselves.

21 hours ago, ProfD said:

Nothing can be done to heal mental wounds. No apologies or money will ever be enough.

I argue it isn't mental wounds but spiritual wounds.

12 hours ago, richardmurray said:

@ProfD

I am not giving a country I think a Black DOSer should go to alone or in a group, for themselves or actually for the village, but I can say that to each continent I know a Black DOSer from the USA who left the usa to happiness for themselves.

Fair enough. I know far more Black folks from other countries who find happiness here in the USA than I hear from FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS ex-pats living abroad.

All of my FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS enjoy visiting other countries & working in them for periods of time but they always come back to the USA.

12 hours ago, richardmurray said:

I argue it isn't mental wounds but spiritual wounds.

Point taken. I started to list physical & spiritual as wounds too.

Bottom line is deep wounds never truly heal without some form of revenge.

Otherwise, people remain scarred for life & from one generation to the next.😎

  • Author

@ProfD

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

Fair enough. I know far more Black folks from other countries who find happiness here in the USA than I hear from FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS ex-pats living abroad.

All of my FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS enjoy visiting other countries & working in them for periods of time but they always come back to the USA.

yeah , remember, the Black DOS relationship to the european colonies or the usa or others like brasil or mexico or india isn't financial. Our forebears had their world destroyed and then their children lived under the manipulation of enemies for hundreds of years. Money can't repair that. What Black DOSers should be looking for isn't money but a home that was lost a long time ago. A positive, overwhelmingly Black home.

Black Immigrants are looking for money. The USA is great at individual profiteering. IT was from the time of the european colonies to today. Robust Communities never survive in the usa, even white ones, individuals can always do well in the usa.

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

Point taken. I started to list physical & spiritual as wounds too.

Bottom line is deep wounds never truly heal without some form of revenge.

Otherwise, people remain scarred for life & from one generation to the next.😎

And that is the battle in the modern usa. Although the following is a crude summarization,

it boils down to those, of all lphenotypes, who see the usa s empire, enslaver, white that regardless of its media appearance needs to embrace its historic truths, which is strategically wiser, at least from a historic perspective

against those who see the usa as a country that can become a binder for humanity. They want to expand what the usa started as a strategy against the soviet union into something to unite all humanity, which has never been achieved for obvious reasons, but if successful can lead to an unprecedented era of healing.

20 hours ago, richardmurray said:

Our forebears had their world destroyed and then their children lived under the manipulation of enemies for hundreds of years. Money can't repair that.

The USA with all its warts & flaws is an FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS inheritance.

We should never stop demanding reparations for the 400+ years of slave labor & atrocities committed against our forebears.

20 hours ago, richardmurray said:

What Black DOSers should be looking for isn't money but a home that was lost a long time ago. A positive, overwhelmingly Black home.

The USA is our home. It would take a great deal of time, effort & resources to trace our lineage back to pick a part of Africa & establish ties there.

Then, it wouldn’t make much sense for FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS to trade places with the Black folks who are leaving Africa for a better life in the USA.

FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS are not welcomed into other countries unless they can afford to be there i.e. show up with a 💰 bag if they plan to stay for any period of time.

20 hours ago, richardmurray said:

Black Immigrants are looking for money. The USA is great at individual profiteering.

I would not advise FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS to trade places with them.

The USA is home for 50+ million Black folks who were born & raised here over many generations.

It is neither constructive or productive for a child born to dysfunctional parents to find a better set.

That child should grow up to live the best life possible despite the environment, conditions & circumstances by which they landed on the planet.

FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS have survived & thrived here in the USA despite our history. We are a unique group of people who have done great things & who continue to influence the world.😎

  • Author

@ProfD

On 7/12/2026 at 9:15 AM, ProfD said:

The USA with all its warts & flaws is an FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS inheritance.

We should never stop demanding reparations for the 400+ years of slave labor & atrocities committed against our forebears.

maybe i miscomprehend what you mean by inheritance, but if the usa is an inheritance for Black DOSers then Brasil is also an inheritance for Black DOSers who were enslaved to that place? India is an inheritance for Black DOSers who were enslaved to that place? Aren't all the countries Black DOSers were shipped to an inheritance to Black DOSers, if the USA is an inheritance? and if not, why not?

I admit I don't see the usa as an inheritance because I know many black forebears were opposed to it. I rather think Black DOSers have to choose our ancestors we honor. THe ancestrs like James Forten or the ancestors like Colonel Tye? I think James Forten wanted black folk in the usa to see/feel/think the usa that way while in parallel, but no less valuable, colonel tye, didn't want black folk in the former european colonies to see /feel/think that way, and to my own views vice versa. James Forten definitely would oppose my position while Colonel Tye would support.

On 7/12/2026 at 9:15 AM, ProfD said:

The USA is our home. It would take a great deal of time, effort & resources to trace our lineage back to pick a part of Africa & establish ties there.

Then, it wouldn’t make much sense for FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS to trade places with the Black folks who are leaving Africa for a better life in the USA.

FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS are not welcomed into other countries unless they can afford to be there i.e. show up with a 💰 bag if they plan to stay for any period of time.

All I can say to open is, I accept with no difficulty or challenge a black person saying the usa is the home of Black DOSers , I also don't have any difficulty or challenge with a black person who says the usa isn't. Black DOSers have a unique relationship to the usa, that to be blunt, isn't as simple or convenient as everyone else who immigrated to these lands on their own volition whether illegal or not plus the native american who is a first peoples.

I have said the followign before, but I view my lineage in africa as continental.. Many Black DOSers talk about an individual tracing to a specific land, which is applicable for individuals in the black dos populace. BUT< if you consider the Black DOS populace in the usa as a group, not individuals, then yu realize the whole continent of Africa is the lineage. do you comprehend? DOSers trace their lineage to all over the continent. In the show "finding your roots" alone, black DOSers guest have shown tracing from senegal to madagascar so... it is the whole continent, at least to me.

Trade places interesting choice of words. I don't see how a person leaving for financial betterment, which is not the only factor in life, can trade with a person leaving for a true home. These are two things that ae not equal.

On 7/12/2026 at 9:15 AM, ProfD said:

I would not advise FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS to trade places with them.

The USA is home for 50+ million Black folks who were born & raised here over many generations.

It is neither constructive or productive for a child born to dysfunctional parents to find a better set.

That child should grow up to live the best life possible despite the environment, conditions & circumstances by which they landed on the planet.

FBA/AfroAmerican/ADOS have survived & thrived here in the USA despite our history. We are a unique group of people who have done great things & who continue to influence the world.😎

Again, I don't see how a trade can occur when it is two different goals, it isn't the same. the financial poor Black people in various lands of africa have the home but are missing the money. the majority of Black DOSers don't have the home or the money.

It is interesting how you view the actions of a group of people through an individual scenario. a child in a dysfunctional home within one lifetime is how you view tens of millions of people in a country that has been dysfunctional for centuries . Very statian you are, very statian

Well , let's be blunt, no country on earth has a pro immigration stance. BRexit occured because whites in england didn't want whties from eastern europe. Brexit wasn't about london. So your correct that Black DOSers aren't being welcomes but no country welcomes immigrants. Saudi Arabia doesn't welcome Indians or Pakistanis. The only difference between the usa and every other government in humanity, isn't teh stance on immigration, all are anti immigrant. But the usa has a legal framework and a financial industry based on immigration that gives it a different tone.

How do you define a thriving individual? how do you define a thriving people? as I have said in this very forum, if i gain a billion dollars tomorrow, some may argue, i have thrived in the usa. But, that doesn't mean the black populace in new york city has thrived. So how do you determine a peoples thriving? Is it defined through collective action or merely the presence of individuals in the group individually thriving?

33 minutes ago, richardmurray said:

maybe i miscomprehend what you mean by inheritance...

The USA was built on chattel slavery. 400+ years of free labor performed by Black slaves.

33 minutes ago, richardmurray said:

but if the usa is an inheritance for Black DOSers then Brasil is also an inheritance for Black DOSers who were enslaved to that place? India is an inheritance for Black DOSers who were enslaved to that place? Aren't all the countries Black DOSers were shipped to an inheritance to Black DOSers, if the USA is an inheritance? and if not, why not?

That's up to Black folks in those countries to pursue.

Do Black folks have a legacy of building the economy of those countries over 400+ years?

33 minutes ago, richardmurray said:

I have said the followign before, but I view my lineage in africa as continental.. Many Black DOSers talk about an individual tracing to a specific land, which is applicable for individuals in the black dos populace. BUT< if you consider the Black DOS populace in the usa as a group, not individuals, then yu realize the whole continent of Africa is the lineage. do you comprehend?

Right. I would slightly curious to see if FBA/AfroAmericans/ADOS can show up anywhere in Africa & be allowed to claim it as their homeland.

33 minutes ago, richardmurray said:

Trade places interesting choice of words. I don't see how a person leaving for financial betterment, which is not the only factor in life, can trade with a person leaving for a true home.

Finance seems to be a necessity in most countries one chooses to call home on this planet.

33 minutes ago, richardmurray said:

It is interesting how you view the actions of a group of people through an individual scenario. a child in a dysfunctional home within one lifetime is how you view tens of millions of people in a country that has been dysfunctional for centuries . Very statian you are, very statian

Multiply the children born out of dysfunctional circumstances by millions.

33 minutes ago, richardmurray said:

How do you define a thriving individual? how do you define a thriving people? as I have said in this very forum, if i gain a billion dollars tomorrow, some may argue, i have thrived in the usa. But, that doesn't mean the black populace in new york city has thrived. So how do you determine a peoples thriving? Is it defined through collective action or merely the presence of individuals in the group individually thriving.

Thriving as an individual &/or a collective having the ability, capacity, will, desire, etc., to make a better life than the environment & conditions under which one was born would have allowed.😎

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