AALBC.com Newsletter

Jayne Cortez was a poet, and performance artist. Cortez authored eleven books of poetry and performed her poems with music on nine recordings. Her voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic, dynamic innovations in lyricism, and visceral sound. Cortez has presented her work and ideas at universities, museums, and festivals around the world.

She is a recipient of several awards including: Arts International, the National Endowment for the Arts, the International African Festival Award. The Langston Hughes Medal, The American Book Award, and the Thelma McAndless Distinguished Professorship Award. AALBC.com mourns the passing of our “Womanist Warrior”.

Solomon Jones is an AALBC.com bestselling author and award-winning journalist who has been featured nationally on NPR’s Morning Edition, CNN Headline News, in Essence magazine, and in a Verizon advertising campaign called Realize, which spotlighted entrepreneurs who overcame adversity to succeed.

Jones began his professional writing career in 1993, penning articles for the Philadelphia Tribune while living at the Ridge Avenue Shelter. He graduated cum laude with a journalism B.A. from Temple University in 1997, and went on to be published in Newsday, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Magazine, and the Philadelphia Weekly. Jones' latest novel The Dead Man's Wife (Minotaur Books, October 2012), is a diabolical story about marriage gone awry. This is the 3rd book in his Colletti series.

Mr. Yerby (September 5, 1916 – November 29, 1991), historical novelist, short story writer, and poet, graduated from Augusta's Paine College, received a master's degree from Fisk University and taught at Florida A&M in Tallahassee and Southern University in Baton Rouge, La. His story, Health Card, won the O. Henry Memorial Award for the best first published short story in 1944.

Yerby is best known as the first African-American writer to become a millionaire from his pen, and to have a book purchased by a Hollywood studio for a film adaptation. Yerby has published more than 30 novels, which has sold more than 55 million copies -- perhaps the highest grossing African-American authors of all time. Several including The Foxes of Harrow (1946), The Golden Hawk (1948), The Saracen Blade (1952) were turned into successful movies.

Moody is an author and entrepreneur. Her debut novel, When Rain Falls, (Kensington, March 2012) in which Tyora's character, Candance Johnson asks the question, "Why does God keep taking away the people I love?" when her best friend is brutally murdered. Ensnared by a deep-rooted bitterness, seeping her faith day by day, Candace is determined to seek justice.

Moody also owns and operates TywebbinCreations.com, a design and marketing company. For over twelve years, she has worked with authors, small business owners and non-profit organizations to develop their online presence. For free tips, how-to guides and ecourses, visit DIYwithTy.com.

But she [Michelle Obama]“patiently tolerated Larry King’s persistent questioning and subverted his attempts to depict her as an angry black woman… by emphasizing her role as mother, wife, and nurturer of the nation.” Although Michelle managed to sidestep the effort to pigeonhole her as problematical, this was not the first time the media tried to marginalize an intelligent black female in this fashion.

The history of such mistreatment from Sojourner Truth in the 19th Century to Angela Davis and Kathleen Cleaver in the 20th up to the First Lady in the 21st is the subject of Iconic, a groundbreaking book which delineates precisely how African-American women have been plagued by belittling imagery in the media for ages. This insightful opus was written by Professor Lakesia Johnson who teaches courses on race, feminism and pop culture at Grinnell College in Iowa.

‘Tis the season to make New Year’s resolutions, and a popular one is to shed a few pounds, a proposition easier said than done. For black women, losing weight is even more of a challenge, at least that’s the thesis of Karrie Marchbanks, an African-American female speaking from experience.

She says that sisters are losing the battle of the bulge because of bad eating habits further complicated by a reluctance to exercise due to a fear of sweating out their hair. Not to worry. Ms. Marchbanks, a single-mom currently residing in North Carolina, has come up with a plan to get you the body you deserve, and in just 21 days.

With end of year upon us, I thought I might share some favourite Caribbean reads. I’m limiting my list to adult fiction that I’ve read in the last couple of years, but keep in mind that just because it’s newish to me doesn’t mean it’s new-new. And just because it’s not listed doesn’t mean I didn’t like it, but really the list has to end somewhere. So, it goes without saying that this list is both severely limited and highly subjective. All disclaimers covered? Okay, here goes.

It’s impossible for me to limit my favorite films of 2012 to just 10 of the year’s 1,000 or so releases After all, it feels unfair even to compare most of them to each other, since they represent so many different genres, countries and cultures, and enjoyed such a range in budgets.

Therefore, as per usual, this critic’s annual list features 100 entries in order to honor as many of the best offerings as possible. Be sure to also check outKam's Blacktrospective -- the Best in Black Film for 2012

Here are a list of free tools I regularly use to manage AALBC.com. I consider them invaluable and part of the reason I’ve been able to keep the website not just viable, but growing and improving for over 15 years.

Of course I utilize countless other applications, tools, widgets, and more to make AALBC.com go. However, these are 7 tools, which are absolutely free, that I’m sure will help improve your website, and make it a cool place to visit.

Since Troy Johnson started the African American Literature Book Club (aalbc.com) in 1998, much has changed in African-American publishing and the way books are promoted and sold.

Johnson launched aalbc.com, a popular online literary portal serving black interest books and authors, as an experiment. He was looking to learn how to make money online and set the goal for aalbc.com as one that would expose readers to good books and authors. Visit PW to read the entire article.

Over the years we’ve published hundreds of interviews with celebrities. Each one is usually asked, what is now known as the bookworm Troy Johnson Question, “What was the last book you’ve read?”

The question can be quite revealing about the person being interviewed and the books given are usually worth checking out. Actually two of the books mentioned, The Alchemist (read the actress Tamala Jones) and Standing at the Scratch Line (read by Tyler Perry) are my personal favorites. Learn which books gospel singer Yolanda Adams, singer/songwriter Ne-Yo, and other celebrities have read recently.

Hollywood has promoted a set of stereotypes when it comes to the depictions of black-white race relations during slavery, with classics like The Birth of the Nation (1915) and Gone with the Wind (1939) setting the tone. Consequently, most movies have by-and-large suggested that it was a benign institution under which docile African-Americans were well-treated by kindly masters, at least as long as they remained submissive and knew their place.

Leave it to Quentin Tarantino to put a fresh spin on the genre, much as he did in the World War II flick Inglourious Basterds (2009). With Django Unchained, the iconoclast writer/director again rattles the cinematic cage by virtue of an irreverent adventure that audaciously turns the conventional thinking on its head.

Also check out our interviews with Quentin Tarantino and Jamie Foxx as they talk about Django Unchained.

Soon after Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving tied the knot in Washington, DC on June 2, 1958, they decided to move back to their tiny hometown of Central Point, Virginia to settle down and start a family. The groom, a bricklayer by trade, even purchased a plot of land where he promised to build his bride a house.

However, Virginia was one of 24 states where interracial marriage was still illegal because of racist laws designed to rob minorities of their dignity and to keep them in a lower social and economic status. Since Richard was white and Mildred was a mix of black and Native-American, it was just a matter of time before the local sheriff would catch wind of their illicit liaison and crack down on the felons like a ton of bricks.

Science fiction author, Valjeanne Jeffers, is a graduate of Spelman College, North Carolina Central University and is a member of the Carolina African American Writer's Collective.

Derrick Ferguson: Tell us about the Immortal series.

Valjeanne Jeffers: Each novel has time-travel, sorcery and shape shifting woven into the plot. The books are set on the alternate planet Tundra, a world without racism, sexism, poverty or crime. This is the setting of Immortal in the year 3075.

The Authors N Focus, is "A Site for New and Established Writers to Shine!" Charles and Chandra are the hosts and co-producers of the show which spotlights emerging or established authors, publishers, poets on their recent books or projects.

You may watch videos of the interviews on their TV Show PagePictured (l to r) are hosts Chandra Adams, Charles Chatmon & Cherie Johnson, during their interview with Cherie (their 1st guest).

Cash 4 Books makes selling your used books very easy. A free iPhone ap scans your book's barcode and tell you exactly how much they are willing to pay you. Shipping is free you print the mailing label and apply it to the box.

Use bonus code "BLOGGER3" Sell a minimum of 3 books for an extra $5 bucks on your order good of all of 2012 (I know it is the last day for the coupon, sorry).

Author Bernice McFadden loves her AALBC.com mug. McFadden is the authors of several award winning novels. Her latest novel, Gathering of Waters (Akashic Books) was selected as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2012 by the New York Times, and The Washington Post named it one of the 50 Best Books of 2012!

This is perhaps the most frequently asked question I get. Learn 8 ways to get you book on AALBC.com (5 of them are free!)

Our next eNewsletter will be published in late January 2013. Look out for our popular annual bestsellers lists and more.

Until then, happy New Year from AALBC.com!

Peace & Love,
Troy Johnson
President, AALBC.com, LLC