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The Faces of American Power: As White As Can Be


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From the New York Times:
The Faces of American Power, Nearly as White as the Oscar Nominees
By Haeyoun Park, Josh Keller and Josh Williams, Feb 26, 2016

"We reviewed 503 of the most powerful people in American culture, government, education and business, and found that just 44 are minorities. Any list of the powerful is subjective, but the people here have an outsize influence on the nation’s rules and culture."

The article looks at the faces of the the most powerful people the Times has identified. It is interesting to see white power describe white power as white, then seemingly lament the lack of diversity.  It seems disingenuous to me; designed more to grab eyeballs rather than do the work of uncovering why this continues to be a problem... But then again the Times never actually write that this is a problem.  Of course many of the 44 so called "minorities" are not Black.

Below are the powerful faces the Times identified in the world of publishing.  The face of Jeff Bezos is conspicuously absent, but he is mug may be found under the list of "Leaders of the Largest American Companies."  In fact this list is a bit misleading in the sense that if does not reflect the true power of individuals like Bezos.  The Times go on to describe the nature of the publishing list;

"There’s no single authority for identifying the most powerful people in publishing, but we selected 20 who are among the most influential in deciding which books get published, which ones break out and what Americans read. Among those included are publishing executives who say “yes” or “no” to book proposals, and powerful agents and celebrities who influence which books become best sellers."

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"A recent survey of workers at publishing houses found that the industry remains overwhelmingly white. Nearly 90 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, and only 20 percent said strides had been made to diversity the work force."

Failing to find a single Black person the Times reflects what I'll be exposed to at Book Expo America in a few weeks.  As usual, the event will reflect the homogeneity that is American publishing (i.e. it will be a sea of white folks). 

 

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As I posted on Linkedin

Rulers need subjects. The why I would attempt to answer is why do so many black people keep them in power. I just read when Prince did an interview with InStyle he demanded it be with a black writer... They didn't have one so a newbie, Erika Kennedy, got her big break.  http://www.thefrisky.com/2009-12-03/frisky-qa-erica-kennedy-author-of-bitch-lit-novel-feminista/?utm_source=share-email&utm_medium=button

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Mel, promoted by your message on Linkedin I also added the quote to Erika's page as well.  Prince's simple requests helped more people than just Erika.  The really powerful aspect of what Prince did is that it did not cost him a cent to elevate Erika, that is real power.

And while Erica felt she was too "green" for the assignment, what she probably discovered that she was probably better suited for the job and any of the more senior white counterparts--so everyone benefited.

I was hurt to discover that Ericca killed herself in 2012.

Erica-Kennedy.jpgInsert other media

 

 

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@Troy, After you mentioned Erica Kennedy died by her own hands; it touched me in ways that I didn't expect.I tried to find anything that would explain why.   Of course, nothing can ever explain why someone takes their own life but I'm glad she made a difference while she was here. Prince, did a lot with his celebrity and his talent.  He was and is a leader by example!  I'm not a celebrity but I can make requests, such as Prince did, when it is within my power to do so.  I will too. 

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I don't mean to trivialize the historical role of White supremacy in maintaining so many Whites in power positions in society, however I must say.....

From both my experiences and observations in the United States atleast, most Black people don't seem to WANT the responsibility that comes with being in authority whether it's at a national level or just typical low level employment.


Oh don't get me wrong...we like TITLES: President, Mayor, Senator, Owner, Founder, ect....

But when it comes to doing the hard and often cold-blooded work that comes with being in serious positions of authority where you may have to fire people, piss people off, focus on coming up with new ideas, and put in extra hours of unpaid labor in order to see projects through to their completion......
Too many of our people are quick to roll their eyes and say "Fuck it" as they wave their hand off walking away.

On most of the jobs I've been on I ran into Black folks who had been there years...decades...but wasn't manager and didn't want to be manager or supervisor.
You see young White man...old White woman....come in and after a year or two they hop over the brother and make manager and instead of being angry a lot of our people are happy.


"They came at me talking about some 'do you wanna be a Manager'......
Sheeeeyit....guuuuurl I told 'em haaaail naww I need my WEEKENDS free!"



In most jobs I've been on since 16 as long as it paid more and offered more benefits....I could care less about the responsibility I've always wanted the MANAGEMENT position and I usually got it.  But I had to reconcile with the fact that most of our people simply don't want it. 
I'm sure this nonchalant attitude is A FACTOR (certainly not the only one) for why so few Blacks are in power positions in America.

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@Pioneer1, uncharacteristically you've seemed to reply with a comments that has absolutely nothing to do with the original post.  I guess you just wanted to get that off your chest.  

Have you considered that people of all so called "races" are the same way?  For example I would not want to be president of the united states.  However, I would like to be the man that pulls his strings.

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Troy

I understand a busy man like you probably had a long day, and need a way to relax but...PUT THE CHRONIC DOWN BRO...LOL!!!

It's all good my brother.
Thanx for making me read that OP about 7 or 8 times trying to figure out where I may have went wrong.....lol

Edit how you see fit.

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  • 9 months later...

I'm planning to follow up on this article.  Book Issues Book Review published this article 10 years before the NY Times article referenced above, which essentially failed to recognize Black folks.  As far as I know nothing like this has been published since.  There is no reason to believe that a related article will be published anytime soon--we simply no longer have the platforms.

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The names mentioned in the article are shown below.  I plan to do a "where are they now" follow up to this article.  If I had the resources, I would introduce the professionals who have come to the forefront since this article was published 10 years ago. (If anyone has an update on any of the professionals below email me or reply to this post)

  • Malaika Adero – Senior Editor, Atria Books/Simon & Schuster
  • Kwame Alexander – Blackwords, Inc. Publisher, Poet, Playwright, Author and commentator
  • T. B. Boyd, III – President and CEO of the R. H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
  • Marie Brown – Literary Agent
  • Curtis Bunn – Founder National Book Club Conference
  • Jessica Care Moore-Poole – Publisher of Moore Black Press
  • Kassahun Checole – Publisher and Book Distributor, Africa World Press
  • Faith Childs – Literary Agent
  • Faye Childs – Founder Blackboard African American Bestsellers
  • Paul Coates – Publisher of Black Classics Press
  • Wil and Niani Colom – Wil publisher Genesis Press, Niani formed the African American Pavilion at BookExpo of America
  • Dawn Davis – VP and Editorial Director of Amistad/HarperCollins
  • Marlyn Ducksworth – Sr VP and Executive Director of PR at Penguin Putnam
  • Linda Gill  – General Manager of African American Literature at Harlequin Enterprises
  • Marita Golden – Founder of the Hurston-Wright Foundation and Awards
  • Rockelle Henderson – Associate Publisher Amistad HarperCollins
  • L. Peggy Hicks – Founder and owner of TriCom Publicity Inc
  • Janet Hill – VP and Executive Editor at Doubleday
  • Cheryl and Wade Hudson – Publishers of Just Us Books
  • Andrew Jackson – President Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA)
  • Troy Johnson – Web master and Founder of African American Literature Book Club (AALBC.com)
  • Hoke S. Glover III aka Bro Yao and Simba Sana – Owners Karibu Books
  • Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati – Founder of The Literary
  • Carol Mackey – Editor for Black Expressions Book Club
  • Naomi Long Madgett – Founder Lotus Press
  • Haki Madhubuti – Founder and owner of Third World Press (TWP)
  • Erroll McDonald  – VP Executive Editor at Pantheon/Random House
  • Nrichelieu Dennis and Nyema Tubman – Owners Nubian Heritage
  • Linda M. Peavy – Acting Publisher Judson Press
  • Brenda Piper and Carol Rogers – Owners of C&B Books
  • Gwen and Willie Richardson – Founders CushCity.com
  • Emma Rodgers – Co-owner Black Images Book Bazaar
  • Max Rodriguez – Founder QBR: The Black Book Review
  • Tony and Yvonne Rose – Founders and Owners Amber Communications Group
  • Vivan Stephens  – Founder of Romance Writers of America and Women Writers of Color
  • Denise Stinson – Publisher and Founder of Walk Worthy Press
  • Vickie M. Stringer – Founder and Publisher of Triple Crown Publications (TCP)
  • Hargis Thomas – Director of Sales and Marketing at Oxford University Press Religious Publishing
  • Clara Villarosa – Coordinator African American Booksellers Conference programs at BookExpo
  • Kelvin Watson – Associate Director of Corporate and Educational Sales at Borders
  • Sybil Wilkes – News Anchor of The Tom Joyner Morning Show
  • Oprah Winfrey – Television Talk Show Host
  • Zane – Author and Publisher Strebor Books
  • Janell Walden Agyeman – Agent Marie Brown Associates
  • Audra Barrett – Literary Agent
  • Manie Barron – Agent The Menza-Barron Agency (R.I.P.)
  • Regina Brooks – Agent Serendipity
  • Marlene Connor – Literary Agent
  • Sha-Shana N.L. Crichton – President of Crichton and Associates Inc
  • Mondella S. Jones – Agent Mondella Jones Literary Agency
  • Lawrence Jordan – Literary Agent
  • John McGregor – Literary Agent
  • Tanya McKinnon – Agent Mary Evans Inc
  • Tracy Sherrod – Literary Agent
  • Mavis Allen – Associate Sr Editor Harlequin
  • Stacey Barney – Editor Kensington
  • Rakia Clark – Assistant Editor Viking/Penguin
  • Cherise Davis – Sr Editor Touchstone/Fireside/Simon & Schuster
  • Anita Diggs – Sr Editor Thunder's Mouth Press
  • Clarence Haynes – Associate Editor Harlem Moon/Doubleday/Random House
  • Glenda Howard – Sr Editor Arabesque/Harlequin
  • Jennifer Hunt – Sr Editor Little Brown and Co/Warner Young Readers
  • Chris Jackson  – Sr Editor Crown/Random House
  • Selena James – Editor Pocketbooks/Simon & Schuster
  • Demetria Lucas – Acquiring Associate Editor Kimani Press/Harlequin
  • Kelli Martin – Sr Editor Jump at the Sun/Hyperion/Disney Young Readers
  • Melanie Okadigwe – Book Club Manager for TrollCarnival, Scholastic Inc
  • Jaira Placide – Editor Jump at the Sun/Hyperion/Disney Young Readers
  • Monique Patterson – Editor Harlequin/Arabesque
  • Evette Porter – Editor Harlequin/Arabesque
  • Stacey Powell – Sr Editor Hatherleigh
  • Bridgette Smith  – Editor Pocketbooks/Simon & Schuster
  • Karen Thomas – Editorial Director Dafina/Kensington
  • Tynisha Thompson – Editorial Assistant BookSpan
  • Carl Weber – Publisher Urban Books
  • Teri Woods – Publisher Teri Woods Publishing
  • Earl Cox – Owner Earl Cox and Associates / Publisher WritersandPoets.com and Books That Click
  • Tanisha Christie – Publicist Warner Books
  • Linda Duggins – Sr Publicist Warner Books
  • Christine Saunders  – Public Relations Manager Harlequin
  • Sanyu Dillon – Director of Marketing Random House
  • Cheryl Rozier – Advertising Director Warner
  • Brigitte Smith – Publishing Manager Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster
  • Learie Cunnngham – CEO Culture Plus Distributors
  • Eric Gift  – President A&B Distributors
  • Rosie Milligan – CEO Milligan Books
  • Bro Nati Kamau-Nattaki – Owner African World Books
  • David Reeves – Owner Sellers Books
  • Bob Romanow – Owner Inner City Book Distributions
  • Luther Warner – Manager Lushena Book Distributors
  • Patrik Henry Bass – Book Editor Essence Magazine
  • Calvin Reid – Sr News Editor Publishers Weekly

Again, the lack of platforms is why the names of these professionals are not more widely known or celebrated. Even the platforms that remain are seemingly more focused on celebrity than they are wth anything concerning Black books. Recall this article, "Negro in Literature Today," by John A. Williams which appeared in Ebony magazine in 1963.  If there is any hope of articles like the ones in Ebony or Black Issues Book Review ever being written again it will have to come from platform interested feeding a people and not solely interested in making money.

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Sheryl platforms like Facebook, Goolge+, and Twitter are simply incapable of producing this content; (1) the platform are not designed to hold long form content, and most importantly; (2) These platforms do not create content.  They don’t employ journalist, writers, editors, researchers, artists, photographers, or fact checkers--you have to twist their arms to remove fake news. Celebrities and their troll's get the lion's share of the coverage because they generate the most traffic.

The combination of the two the Celebrity and troll into a single individual the "trollebrity," like the current president, are a gold mine for these sites.  Trump has been a boon for Twitter.

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1 hour ago, Guest Sheryl said:

The new platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google are not producing any breakthrough Agents.

Because those platforms are NOT AALBC.com   I never understood why we would expect to find our breakthroughs outside of our community.  I only need to look in my own backyard, literally, to find a remedy for menstrual cramps.  (Dead nettle grows in my backyard :P)  In fact, I spend my time posting here and looking for ways to make this website of record - so that we can produce breakthrough... My next step is asking for a AALBC press pass  so I could bring enterprising content... maybe others can do the same? Just a suggestion.

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@Troy Darius James filmaker and author.

Samuel Delaney one of my favorite authors. He is genius writer. And he is probably accesible plus he is a good persontp ask about publishing. He is an openly Gay professor at U Mass. Wrote the sci fi classic Dahlgren  and has a pice in the antholgy of Avant Pop Fiction.

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