Shawn’s Plans for an All About Nikki Kickstarter/Fundraiser

I’ve written a lot of blogs complaining about the negative content in African-American media. But I’d rather spend my money and my time creating a positive alternative to counter the negative images in films like Precious, The Butler, The Help, and numerous Tyler Perry movies.

I know Talk is cheap. Action what has value. And Actions speak louder than words. That’s why I’m planning to do a Kickstarter to finance the production of a 20-minute All About Nikki Pilot.

Readers have heard me say for years that one of my goals for the next five years was to create a Pilot episode for the All About Nikki TV show. The scripts have been popular all over the world with readers, and the All About Nikki screenplay books have sold consistently ever since I published them in 2011. So there’s clearly an audience for an All About Nikki sitcom.

The episode I want to produce is from All About Nikki Episode 1.01- “All About The Pilot”. This episode is available to readers who downloaded All About Nikki-The Fabulous First Season.

If I can raise enough money and produce a pilot I plan on uploading it to YouTube and Vimeo, to get feedback from viewers. If you like what you see I’ll try to raise the money to produce more episodes.

But in order to produce that pilot I need money. I don’t know how much it costs to produce a TV pilot, but I know I’m gonna need a lot of money to buy cameras, get permits, and pay people for their time. That’s right pay people. I want the production of an All About Nikki pilot to be a paying job for all involved from the actors to the production crew. Too many times a Black project is based on giving someone something for free.

And I know anything worth having is gonna cost. People who work on a project have bills to pay, and they need to eat. Their time is valuable. I want to use this project to bring jobs to the Black community and put money in the hands of brothers and sistas. One TV pilot means hundreds of jobs, and I want to get Black people working.

I’ll probably give something to all the people who kick in to the kickstarter for the pilot like a signed paperback edition of All AboutNikki-The Fabulous First Season. There’s a lot of laughs in those 13 episodes and believe once people read scripts for what they’ll be financing they’ll want to see more.

If you are a fan of Classic Black sitcoms like The The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sister, Sister, Smart Guy, That’s So Raven and True Jackson VP, jump on this All About Nikki fundraising campaign. We don’t need a network to put quality programming on for young Brothers and sisters to watch. With the Internet, it’s possible to produce reach an audience of viewers all over the world.  

Commencement Series Update: Part Three Coming Soon…I Hope Guest Blog By Lawrence Cherry

Just in case there’s anyone who’s interested in following the series of books I’m trying to write, I thought I’d let you know about how things are going right now.

Coming to Smashwords Dec 17th!

The second part of the series, School of Hard Knocks: The Re-education of Jim Reid, was just released as an e-book on Amazon this summer and will be moving to Smashwords and other sites sometime in December.  It’s a different book than Commencement, but the core values and message are the same and I hope anyone who decides to pick it up will enjoy it.  That being said, I know there are a lot more ‘open threads’ from Commencement that have to be closed and I’ve heard from my publisher that there’s at least one person who wants to know what happened to the other characters. That in and of itself is enough to encourage me to press forward with the rest of the series, but at times life throws you a curve.

I had started working on the third part of the series over the summer and have only gotten a third of the way through. Even at this stage, I realize that my draft needs a LOT of revising and editing. This is the book where we find out what happened to the other characters and while I don’t want to give away much of the story line that I have now, I will say that Jim’s return home will cause some drama for the rest of the characters. There is no way, everything will be wrapped up in this book, but the reader’s most pressing questions will be answered. I was hoping to get the novel finished completely by spring of 2014 (if the Lord allows me to live to see this date and it’s His will), but there have been some complications in my personal life that may interfere.

The workload at my job has skyrocketed 200%. Actually, make that 400% (If you work in the field of education, you’ll understand). In addition, my boss is very demanding, which is putting it nicely. I am currently putting in 12-14 hour days on my job, which is very draining, then there are all the things that I have to do to maintain my household on the weekends and it seems like I have absolutely no time for writing. (As a matter of fact, School of Hard Knocks would not have been written at all, had not the Lord intervened on my behalf to sequester me from work for a whole week, during which I did nothing but write.) I haven’t written in two months and it’s killing me. I’m reduced to blogging and just jotting down notes, here and there, but I don’t get the time to flesh them out into chapters and I’m frustrated to no end. I, too, want to see what’s going to happen with these characters. I would love to quit my job and just write, but then I have to make a living (no one makes money writing books anymore - unless you’re writing about a teenage love triangle of some sort), and there are others that depend on me, so that is not an option. I’ve been praying to the Lord to help me find the time and to give me direction on what to do. Right now I’m waiting for Him to answer.

I don’t know if all of these intrusions on my writing time are God’s way of challenging me to press on and continue, or if it’s a sign that I need to give up my writing and focus on more on allowing God to use me in the career I’ve chosen. There are times when I think it’s the latter, but ever so often I get a desire to write something and I just have to get it out there. I start feeling like Jeremiah: it’s like fire shut up in my bones. It’s like I feel I have to finish what I started.

So in any case, there is a third installment coming, although it may not come as soon as I want it to. As I said, I want to be finished by spring of the upcoming year, but given the fact that I only have about twenty chapters completed that need to be thoroughly revised (yes, it’s another long one – sorry), my goal may be a bit unrealistic. I’m starting to think the fall of 2014 may be a better estimate. ‘Why does it take so long?’ you ask. It’s because I want to give anyone who reads a quality, inspired work. I know some authors churn out book after book in rapid succession, often compromising quality for quantity. Their purpose is solely to entertain and grab some cash. I’m hoping the works that I write do a little more than that. I am hoping that God uses me to speak to people – to encourage them, convict them, strengthen them, and/or convince them to follow Him. Such work takes time and should God choose to speak through me, He can’t be rushed. Everything has to happen according to His plan.

In the meantime, I’m going to keep on believing, praying, and trusting, and if you’d like, you can pray with me about this work I’m undertaking. I definitely could use it. In any event, I’ll let you know if I get a breakthrough.

Peace.

LC

The Case for Salvation: Why living a saved life is the best life Guest Blog By Lawrence Cherry

A lot of people think being saved is all washed up. They think if you’re saved you have to live a dull and boring life. All you do is wake up, pray, eat, go to work, come home pray, eat dinner, read the Bible, pray, brush your teeth and go to sleep with the schedule changing slightly on Sundays because you go to church. There is no fun because everything is a sin. Anyone who thinks the life of a true Christian is this sterile has never read Acts of the Apostles or the Gospels. Getting saved and entering into the Christian life opens you to a world of possibilities, endless adventure, and most of all a freedom that is better than anything you could ever experience.

            First, being a Christian is totally liberating. Our culture is what is truly stifling with it’s dos and don’ts. Popular culture always tries to put people into categories or what I call ‘boxes’. There’s the pseudo counter-culture (you know those people that rebel in socially acceptable ways), the illuminati, the conservatives, the liberals, ghetto cultures, religious zealots and the like. In order to get by in life, people try to make themselves fit into one of these ‘boxes’. But upon accepting Christ, we are freed from having to live according to the standards dictated by these ‘boxes’ and are free to live according to the Word of God.  If you’re not sure what I mean by this I’ll explain.

            So many people are bound by societies unspoken rules. One example of society’s unspoken rules is that you have to have a lot of material wealth and/or recognition in order to be somebody. So many people strive for and wind up in all kinds of compromising situations because they wanted fame and/or fortune in the hopes of becoming “somebody”. If only they knew the simple truth that in Christ, it doesn’t matter how well known or esteemed you are “for that which is esteemed highly among men is an abomination before God” (Luke 16:15) or how much money or property you have, “for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth” (Luke 12: 15, and also read on to verses 16 – 21 of the same chapter). Once you realize this, you are free. You don’t have to waste your resources or your time trying to accrue meaningless things or trying to get the attention of people who really don’t matter. You don’t need the latest car, designer jeans, or fancy house. You don’t have to be the smartest, the best looking, to be the most powerful, or to have the biggest accomplishment. You realize that it’s okay just to be you because you know that God has created you in His own express image and he has a purpose for your life. For Jesus tells us
:

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Luke 12: 6-7)

            

No matter how insignificant you may think you are, you are not forgotten before God. So what if you don’t have a building or a street named in your honor? You may not have a title of renown, or a lot of money, or the best job or even a lot of family and friends. You may think that you are completely alone in some pretty troubling circumstances, but you are not. God is always with us and He has his eye on us so we don’t have to worry about the things the rest of the world has to worry about. We understand that this life is about being the best you that God has created you to be and fulfilling the plan He has for your life. It’s not a race or a competition. It’s about preparation for our eternal destiny. Everything on this planet along with the customs and governments that currently exist will all eventually perish. The only things that will matter are those things we have done for Christ. Only those who are free in Christ realize this.

There are also men and women that believe that if they want someone special in their lives, they have to sleep with the person within the first three months of dating. For men, society’s definition of manhood dictates that they must sleep with a lot of women in order to be considered ‘real men’. In the case of women, many feel pressured to adhere to the ‘feminist ideal’, meaning in order to prove they are just as good as a man, they have to show that they can be sexually ‘open’ and not have emotional attachments. Many people feel cheap and unsatisfied by all the sleeping around, but do not dare express it because according to the “popular culture” this is all supposed to be ‘normal’.  The result is a lot of sexually transmitted diseases get passed around, children are born out of wedlock and are unwanted, and there is a lot of acrimony between men and women in their romantic relationships. Some people end up abusing themselves to the point to where it becomes so difficult for them to be aroused that they resort to the most depraved not to mention predatory acts. But when you are saved, you realize don’t have to live like this.

When you are saved you begin to gain a different perspective of things. You realize that you don’t have to follow the norms and standards of the popular culture. Sex isn’t everything - I don’t care what the Kinsey report or other nonsense research says. We are not sexual beings, meaning, our sexuality does not define who we are. We are spiritual beings first and foremost. If we were purely sexual beings then it would be that people would find fulfillment in sex, but I haven’t found one person yet who has.  So many people try to use sex to fulfill themselves, but after each act, they are left empty and depressed. That is because they don’t realize that the longing inside themselves is created by their need for God. When we respond to the call of God upon our hearts, we realize that only he can fulfill us and we become free to live unto Him. We realize that our bodies are sacred temples for his Spirit and as such we realize how precious we are in his sight. It is then that we hold ourselves dear and refuse to subject ourselves for some other person’s cheap entertainment. Some would argue, “Well, that doesn’t sound like freedom to me. I should have the right to have sex whenever I want.”  I’d remind them that God is not prudish. He gave people the right to have sex whenever they want: so long as it is with their spouse. I’d also remind them that God gave man the right to not have sex, without being made to feel as if something is wrong with him/her. When you are in Christ you are free to make the decision not to have sex without having to feel that you are somehow depriving yourself of something or that you’re crazy.

In addition to being free from society’s unwritten rules, you are free from the laws of society. When you have accepted Christ and you live according to his will, you most likely won’t have to worry about being in trouble with the law (i.e. so long as there are no government restrictions on religious freedoms), because those who are true Christians and have the Spirit of Christ will bear forth the fruits thereof as the Apostle Paul writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law”(Galatians 5:23) If Christ is living in you, there’s no way you could even think of doing something heinous without having his Spirit convict you and tell you that what you’re thinking is not in line with who you are called to be. If we listen to this conviction there’s no way we can go wrong in life. Like Paul implies, no one is going to call the cops on you for caring for a sick person, and there’s no law against giving money to those who need it. Things associated with selflessness are not crimes, but things associated with selfishness are. In the event that you happen to live under an unfair regime that penalizes good works, you still don’t have to worry. When God is on your side, he will be there even when people rise up against you to persecute you.

So as a Christian, you are free. What’s even better is you get to witness to others about the goodness of God and testify about the things he has done for you. You get to have a relationship with God in which you are open to him using you as he sees fit for His glory. This means your life will never be boring. You could be sitting in your apartment one moment and the next he could call you to the mission field. He could send you to another city to meet the need to someone who desperately needs the Word and a comforting friend. You might wind up opening your house and your heart to people who could end up affecting you in ways you never thought of (think of what happened when Shunemite woman opened her house to Elisha – 2 Kings, 4: 8-37, or the life of the Moses in Exodus, or the Apostle Paul in Acts of the Apostles). Being saved opens doors and expands the possibilities for you.

There are so many people that doctors told them they were going to die, but they are still here. Why? Because of God’s mercy and grace. There are so many people out there who don’t have fancy degrees who are doing better than those who do. Why? Because they trusted in God for their substance rather than man. There are so many women who could not have children, and tried the fertility treatments and in-vitro with no luck, only to have God work on their bodies and allow them to become mothers. There are so many things in this world that man can’t understand and explain, and yet these things exist. How can it be? It’s because of the power of God. Man’s world is so limited, but God is unlimited. He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. There are only two things He can’t do: lie and fail. When we walk with Christ and live in Him, and He lives in us there is no limit to how He can work for us, if we have faith to believe.

Finally when you live in Christ, you are free from the fear of death. So many people fear death in our society. Many fear because they don’t know what happens afterward. But if you are saved, you know what’s next: eternal life with the God of creation. Let’s say some ruler makes an arbitrary law that makes death a penalty for believing in Christ. You don’t fear this law or death because the true hope of your calling is not in life on this earth. We know that the earth is temporal and will pass away. As a Christian, we are yearning to be a part of that eternal kingdom that God will set up when he recreates the earth. When you live in Christ, you know that you are not really going to ‘die’. You know that instead you will pass from the earthly realm into the eternal realm where you will forever be in the presence of God. You won’t be in the presence of God for 30 years or 80 years or even 150 years. We will be with him for eternity. So, all the sufferings and pains that we go through in this life for Jesus, will most likely be forgotten. Likewise, if you end up in hell all the money, power, and pleasures you had in your brief life will be forgotten in the face of eternal torment.

            Given all this, how could one not want to live a saved life and commit themselves into the hands of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Why be bound according to the dictates of men on this earth – men who are biased, capricious, and despite their authority and intellect, are clueless about this world and what it’s all about. They have been found to be wrong so many times, it’s a wonder people keep trusting them. Put your trust in the Lord and his Son, Jesus Christ and you won’t have to worry about anything else. Peace.

LC

How the Knockout Game Knocks Black People Out of the Game of Life

There’s this new game going around called Knockout. In it groups of bored kids are going around punching random people on the street to see if they can Knock them out. Then they videotape the mayhem and post it to sites like YouTube and World Star Hip Hop.

I normally don’t advocate violence. But if any of you run into a group of punks like this they take a swing at you feel free to take a shot at them. They want to play the knockout game, you play the body bag game. See how many of these little Bitch-Made™ fools you can put in the morgue. You have a legal right to defend yourself if attacked, and in this case homicide is justified.

Maybe if enough adults played the body bag game kids would find something else to do.

I truly hate it when dumb niggers go around doing stupid shit like this. All it does is reinforce old racist stereotypes about Black people to the rest of the world. In the age of the first Black president, dumb Niggers seem to drive their own culture deeper and deeper into the sewer by participating in some of the most depraved and savage acts known to man.

The problem with most Black teenagers today is that they don’t think long-term. And because many grow up in female headed households, they don’t understand for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And when Black people act in a way that makes people of other races react, it can be detrimental to not just them, but the Black community as a whole.

What these dumb Niggers who play the Knockout game don’t know is that when groups of Black males act out like this White people start changing legal policy to deal with it. And when they change legal policies they come down HARD on Black communities.

Maybe some of these kids need to talk to their parents about 25 years ago when the Central Park five went “wilding” or when Yull Morales and his crew stabbed Brian Watkins on the E train as he was going to the U.S. Open in 1991. That’s if they talk to their parents at all. Google those cases and find out what’s going to happen to you when you get caught.

White politicians used these cases out-of-control teen violence to bring a HAMMER down on communities of color. They started charging the kids they arrested for participating in these acts of violence as adults. Want to know what that means?

A FELONY CONVICTION. 

And when a young Black male gets a FELONY CONVICTION, that’s GAME OVER FOR HIS ASS.

After he gets out of jail, (if he survives the experience in 5-25 years) The entire world closes itself off to him. Because once a Black man gets a felony conviction, in AmeriKKKa you are virtually unemployable.

Black men with felony convictions can’t vote, participate in juries, nor can they receive financial aid to go to college, apply for Civil Service jobs or participate in the military. 90 percent of the private sector jobs pretty much close themselves off to you as avenues of employment.

So that Knockout game you played at 14 or 15 knocks you out of the game of life at 24 or 25.

After you get a felony conviction, all you wind up being able to do is sit in your mama’s house working bullshit low-wage jobs like fast food and old folks homes changing diapers. No one will want anything to do with your ass.

Including the homies who you were laughing with and the girls you were trying to impress.

And this station in life will be all your fault Black male. Your stupid ass is videotaping the very evidence that’ll be used to get that felony conviction on you that derails your life.

Felony convictions are money in the bank for the rich White people running prison industrial complex. And the Knockout game gives them more cheap Black labor to make money off of.

Black folks, The Knockout game knocks you out of the game of life. While you may be having fun today, I guarantee you’ll be miserable five or ten years from now.

Black People Participate in Group Economics-Support Black Owned Businesses This Holiday Season!

Some of the titles in my Catalog! Buy one of these and help a Black owned Business!

Before you spend $200 on that pair of Jordans or Timberland spice tans spend 99 cents on a Shawn James eBook.

Or take your money to another  Black-owned business and buy products there. 

Before you Spend $600 on that Xbox One or PS4 and a bunch of $60 games spend $15 on a Shawn James Paperback.

Or take your money to a Black-owned business and buy products there.

Brothers and sisters when you spend money on products from a Black-owned business you keep money in your own community. And you help Black owned businesses like my SJS DIRECT publishing imprint stay in business.

Brothers and sisters, we spend 97 percent of our money making nonblack businesses richer. How about you give some of that $1.1 trillion dollars of money you spend back to Black people in your own community this Holiday season.

Every dollar you spend with a Black merchant like myself enriches you. With the money I receive from paperback and eBook sales I can have the financial resources to continue promoting the SJS DIRECT imprint.

I can finally have the money to hire artists to re-do my covers. I can pay for online advertising. I can hire proofreaders and editors to ensure better quality control on my finished eBook and paperback scripts. I can have the money to travel and finally do larger shows like New York Comic Con and Circle of Sisters. And maybe I can publish other authors in the future. Over time I can bring money and jobs to back to the Black community. 

Group Economics is how we lift Black people out of poverty. When Black businesses like SJS DIRECT grow, I look to hire other Black people. I want to bring jobs to the Black community. Because I know when Black people spend money on other Black people it has a positive impact in the community.

Every dollar spent with a Black-owned business keeps money in the Black community. And that money is what can be used to improve the quality of life for all.

As a writer I promote Group economics in several of my Books such as The Temptation of John Haynes and The Thetas. The way I saw it If Black people read about Black people buying and selling from other Black people that consumer patter will become stamped on their minds.

And I’ve been going out of my way for over 20 years to buy Black. Almost all the Milestone and DC comics in my comic book collection were bought from a Black comic vendor. When I had money, I’d go to Black trade shows like the Circle of Sisters and the Harlem Book fair, not just to sell, but to BUY.  Group economics is not just a concept for me. It’s a way of life.

The latest book in the Isis series
From SJS DIRECT

I know the importance of Buying Black. When you Buy Black you not only help a Black business, but you help build wealth in the Black community.

Wealth that helps establish the building blocks for political power. It’s people with money who write political policy in the world. And the reason why most political policies don’t benefit Black people today is because we spend most of our money helping give nonblack people the economic power that’s used to influence politicians. Economic power buys political power.

Now I know 99 cents or $15 dollars doesn’t sound like much. But added up by the thousands among the millions of Black people in America it can have a positive impact on the Black economy. When you Buy Black products like mine, money stays in the Black community.

Group economics helps the community Black people get to the next level. Every dollar you spend with me or another Black business.

And if you help out Black businesses they’ll help you.

This holiday season I’m urging Black people to start practicing group economics and start spending Black. When you buy books from me or products from other Black businesses you not only help Black businesses, but help yourself. Give the gift that keeps on giving. Support my Black owned business and the businesses of other brothers and sistas. Every dollar you spend in the community helps to improve the quality of life for all brothers and sistas. 

Isis: All About The Goddess now Available on Kindle and Paperback!

Isis: All About TheGoddess (Kindle Edition)

Isis: All About The Goddess (Paperback) 

ISBN: 978-1492308256

Price: $9.99

Kindle Edition is 99 cents (Prime Borrows for FREE!) 

Synopsis: Action! After someone makes a threat on the life of current college student and former child star Marilyn Marie, Isis goes undercover as an art model at the Next School. While the goddess exposes herself to the student body in class, she tries to sketch out the details that will allow her to solve the mystery behind who's sending the threatening messages.

The Paperback edition also contains the bonus short: E'steem: No Good Deed.

New York State finds New and Exciting Ways to Kill an Economy

I was reading in the paper that a commission  here in New York was recommending bringing back the sales tax on clothes under $110. Not to mention putting sales taxes on mp3s and eBooks.

The commission suggested that these taxes would help out poor people and lessen the tax burden on the middle class.

To that I have one question to ask: WHAT THE FUCK?

Ladies and Gentlemen, This is the Democratic Party in action: Tax, tax, tax, then spend, spend spend on government entitlement programs. Preventing the creation of the very new jobs that allow people to pay the very taxes that fund municipal govenrments.

Let’s get this straight: Taxes will help poor people and lessen their tax burden on the middle class. What the fuck are these legislators smoking?

The last time we had sales taxes here in New York City on clothing over $110 it almost crippled most of the retail businesses here. Hasn’t anyone told this commission that New York State is still in the middle of a economic downturn? That retailers are already have gone through a SLOW back-to-school sales period and are apprehensive about going through an even SLOWER holiday season?

And hasn’t anyone told these legislators that two thirds of the United States economy is based on consumer spending? Spending that’s being stifled in New York City by apprehensive consumers afraid to spend their money because they’re living paycheck to paycheck because the rent is too damn high. Seriously, most working people in New York City sacrifice necessities like groceries just to pay their rent or their property taxes.

All a sales tax on clothing and shoes is going to do is make more working people head to the Goodwill to shop. Or worse, eBay. No sales tax on purchases there.

Consumer confidence in New York among working families is already shaky. And all any new sales taxes are going to make people more scared to spend money in an economic downturn. And it’s going to make businesses hesitant to spend money on business expansion. Today most people are living paycheck to paycheck, and all a sales tax on clothing is just going to drive them either out of state to New Jersey or to online retailers. Driving tax revenue right out of New York State.

The last thing we need is a return of the sales tax on clothing and shoes. And we definitely don’t need a sales tax on eBooks and mp3s.

The fastest way to kill an industry like indie publishing before it gets starts gaining momentum is to tax it. And Democrats love to tax business into oblivion here in New York State. In the 1980s high taxes drove lots of both old and new businesses out of New York State and turned it into a barren wasteland of dying towns filled with abandoned buildings. Corporations and small businesspeople avoided investing the state back then due to the high tax burdens and mountains of red tape.

The textbook definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing and expecting a different result. And these government policies follow the exact same failed business approaches used by Democrats in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then I believe the public was told higher taxes would help poor people too.

But all it did was drive business straight out of New York State.

It looks like a return to the bad old days with this commissions’ recommendations. This is a slippery slope Governor Andrew Cuomo doesn’t know about. One that tarnished his fathers’ political legacy. These pages from the David Paterson handbook of governing need to be scrapped and burned. There are other ways for the state to generate revenue. New Yorkers don’t need more taxes during one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression.

As a publisher of a catalog of eBooks I shudder to think what this sales tax would do to my business and the business of other indie publishers here in New York State. These are the kinds of nickel and dime taxes that turn hesitant consumers on the fence into no sales. When people see taxes added to their purchases, they think twice about spending on an eBook.

Over time these are the kinds of taxes that drive new businesses like indie publishers out of business. And these nickel and dime sales taxes kills the small businesses of struggling shopping districts like Fordham Road, Third Avenue, Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. Places where I see more For Rent Signs hanging in the windows than retail outlets are these days.

The last thing New York State needs is new taxes. Right now during this economic downturn, New York’s politicians need to come up with creative ways to persuade investors to bring their businesses to the state. All a return to the sales tax on clothing and shoes and on mp3s and eBooks will do is bring is bring business to states like New Jersey and Connecticut and turn cities like New York City into the next Detroit.

YouTube is becoming the new MySpace…Intelligent Black folks let’s find another place to post our videos!

YouTube currently is by far one of the most popular video upload sites on the web. However, Black people who post videos to YouTube which feature intelligent, thought provoking content are under siege by YouTube’s community policies, and a conclave of Black people who dislike their content.

You can post all the twerk videos, rap videos, and videos depicting Black women fighting in the street like a pair of stray cats on YouTube and you won’t get flagged or deleted at all. But post a video featuring an educated intelligent Black man or woman talking about Black people taking personal responsibility for their lives, Black-on-Black relationships, Black empowerment, or Black economics,  and you’ll get flagged, your videos taken down and your channel deleted.

But you won’t get flagged by White racists. No in most cases, it’ll be by other Black people. Black people who want to stop up their ears, close their eyes on being presented with the truth. Jealous Black people who speak evil about the success of others and do nothing about the issues presented to them in the videos these intelligent YouTubers are trying to share with a larger audience of viewers.

YouTube is becoming the new MySpace. Five years ago MySpace was a place for friends. It was also a place for intelligent content by artists, writers, and political and social activists.

But as soon the site became popular, the trolls and the attention whores came there. Most of these people didn’t know how to create content, and in desperation for attention started pandering to the lowest common denominator to get hits on their pages. To that extent, they began posting their booty pictures heir lingerie pictures, their amateur gangsta rap videos and videos of cats, and fights. Scammers began posting up spam accounts and flooding people’s inboxes with spam, keeping them from connecting with friends on their social networks.

And as all this junk content began flooding MySpace, most of the regular users abandoned the site. By 2010, MySpace stopped being a place for friends. Instead it became a wasteland of garbage content. Currently, the site totes itself as a place for musicians, but most of the artists, writers, and people who created the content that made MySpace the place to be have moved on to Facebook.

Unfortunately, Google, the owner of YouTube has done nothing to stop the flood of junk accounts and Junk content. Instead of imposing standards on YouTube where people have to post videos to comment on other people’s videos, insisting on e-mail confirmation for the opening of accounts to stop spammers and trolls, and making the usernames of those who flag videos available to those who are flagged, It has insisted that YouTube users connect their accounts to Google+.

Allowing the trolls to continue on unchecked. Allowing the junk content to continue on unchecked. And allowing the flagging of intelligent Black people’s content to continue on unchecked.

Smart Black YouTubers can see the handwriting is on the wall. Ignorant Negroes have hijacked the site and are trying to turn it into World StarHip Hop 2.0. And if they insist on turning YouTube into a sewer of coonery, twerk videos and fight videos, it’s time we intelligent brothers and sisters found a venue where we can post our own videos without the threat of reprisal for posting a video a handful of people don’t agree with.

Google may own YouTube. Google may make the rules regarding YouTube. But we own our content. And we can take our content elsewhere.

Brothers and sisters, You Tube isn’t the only game in town. And there are other places we can go to present our content.

Places like Vimeo. Vimeo insists that users only confirm their accounts with e-mail addresses before they can comment on a video. They don’t ask for phone numbers like YouTube. Plus, they’re pretty lenient on content since it’s a site a lot of indie filmmakers and artists like to use it to post their projects. I’ve seen all sorts of content here from stripteases, to art nudes, to hard hitting documentaries on Vimeo.

Places like Dailymotion. Dailymotion also insists that users confirm their accounts with only e-mail addresses. They also don’t ask for phone numbers like YouTube does or ask for you to have a Google+account. It’s also pretty fair on content.

Places like Generation-X.net. Gen-X has a little difficulty with its interface, but it’s another place where Black people can post content without the threat of censorship. Many former YouTubers like Sargent Willie Pete and SoulNBlack currently post there.

Places like Ustream. Sure you have to pay for this one, but the content here is uncensored.

Or you can host your own videos on your own site. Here, no one can tell you that your content is inappropriate except for your webhost. It may cost more in the short run to host your own site, but in the long-term you’ll have control over your content.

And it’s content that drives the traffic of a site. It’s content that makes a site popular. And I’m sure that once all the intelligent Black people take their content elsewhere YouTube will decline in popularity. Because people come to the internet for information, not entertainment. There’s only so many twerk videos, wanna-be rappers, and Black female on Black female fight videos people are willing to stomach before they get boring and repetitive. Maybe when YouTube sees its traffic declining it’ll finally do something substantive about the trolls, attention whores and spammers who are ruining the YouTube experience.

Intelligent brothers and sisters, YouTube isn’t the only place to post your videos. There are alternatives to YouTube available for you to broadcast yourself on. Use one of those websites and you’ll find that your subscribers will follow you there. Better yet, you’ll discover a whole new audience of viewers eager to discover your content.

Black people need to understand the concept of Economic Triage

Black folks who have achieved economic success want to help other brothers and sistas out. Unfortunately, they wind up wasting valuable resources and precious time on people who can’t be helped.

Black people who have established themselves will spend thousands of dollars and countless hours trying to help friends and relatives who squander the opportunity in most cases. We spend our money and our time trying to help out never do well brothers, or hoodrat sistas without vetting them properly. For every Pookie, Skillet, Hambone, Shantisha and Janesha who blows a job opportunity, business connection, or a business opportunity that’s Shawn James, Lawrence Cherry, or JM McSwain with a solid business plan or business skills who can’t get their foot in the door.

That keeps other professional Black people from expanding their business in the Black community. Moreover, it keeps Black people from building wealth that can be passed on from one generation to the next.

The way I see it, Black people need to establish standards for sharing their professional and business connections with other Black people. And one of the most effective standards a brotha or sista can establish for themselves is the concept of Triage.

Triage is a medical concept where people’s needs are based on the severity of their condition. Black people need to establish their needs to help other Black people based on the severity of their condition as well. Applying the Triage model to business brothers and sistas need to assess:

• Those who are likely to live, regardless of what help they receive; (established brothers, established sistas Black middle class, Black executives, Black business owners)

• Those who are likely to die, regardless of what help they receive; (thugs, hoodrats, baby mamas, ex-cons, gang bangers, Manginas, Simps, Women who believe in feminism, entertainers celebrities)

• Those for whom immediate help might make a positive difference in outcome. (students about to graduate, college graduates, individuals in skilled trade programs, owners of business start-ups,)

The Triage model will allow resources to going to the brothers and sistas who need it most. Ideally, this would help the brothers and sisters in school, the skill trades and owners of small business start-ups will receive most of the resources from the Black community. Over time, this investment in our best and brightest Black people would pay off in the form of jobs, and a strong Black economy.

The Triage model would be much better than what Black people are doing right now. Currently, Black folks will spend all their money and their time trying to help save those most likely to die regardless of what care or support they receive. Worse, they neglect those people who immediate help can have a positive outcome on like the recent college graduates, people trying to learn a skill trade, and business owners starting up a company until their mental, physical and economic health deteriorates and becomes almost as dire as those who are dying and cannot be saved. Leading to two walking dead individuals trolling in the community instead of just one!

What Black people don’t understand is that if they supported the people who immediate help would have a positive impact on they’d go on to lead healthy lives. They’d go on to get jobs and build businesses and go on to hire other Black people. And when their businesses thrive, they’d be able to build wealth that can establish a tax base and political power within the Black community.

Established brothers and sisters have to understand that they must invest in the brothers and sisters who are doing something with their lives and not the dying or the walking dead. Pookie, Skillet and Hambone are going to DIE regardless of how much money and time is invested in them. And Janesha and Shantisha are going on to DIE producing more bastard babies by more baby daddies regardless of how much money and time is poured into them. So any investment in them is a waste of valuable money and even more precious TIME. The government and the Black community have spent over 40 years investing trillions of dollars in the walking dead. And what has it gotten us?

Two more generations of zombies worse than the first.

All of this investment in the walking dead is why the Black community continues to remain in poverty 60 years after the Civil Rights movement. No amount of resources invested in a Thug, a Mangina, a Hood Rat or a Baby mama is going to turn them into a hardworking entrepreneur or a middle class taxpayer.

Black people who are functional and living need to come to the understanding that many who walk among us are the living dead! And the dead cannot be saved! The dying cannot be saved! As much as we love these friends and family we cannot help them!

Thugs, hoodrats, single mothers dope boys, and gang bangers are all among the living DEAD! Black people of means need to leave these living dead to die! They are going to the graveyard! Any sort of help and support only leads to the quickening of your own demise! Because when you become infected with their sickness, you too become as apathetic, indifferent and lazy as they are!

If the Black community is to survive, we have to start focus on investing our limited resources on the living. Every dollar we spend helping out a kid who is about to graduate from high school, college or a trade is money invested in our future. Every dollar we spend on a Black-owned business start-up is a dollar invested in our community’s economic future. When we put our resources into those who help will have an immediate help will make a positive difference, we show that we value our best and brightest people and will do everything in our power to take them to the next level.

Shawn’s thoughts on YouTuber David Carroll

I’m a regular listener to David Carroll on YouTube and A few days ago a commenter of my blog called him a White Supremacist when I used one of his quotes in a blog about the silence of Black women.

Time to deconstruct this argument.

A White Supremacist is someone who believes that White People are superior and Blacks are inferior. They are all about Whites being in authority and other races being subjugated under their authority.

Now I’ve watched all of Mr. Carroll’s videos and he never promotes White Supremacy. What he promotes is Black responsibility. If anything Mr. Carroll holds a mirror to the face of Negroes and holds them accountable for their current dysfunctional and sorry state.

All a person has to do is apply logic and see they cannot refute his arguments about the pathetic condition of the Afro-American Negro. I can personally say in doing all my research on Black culture and Black history over the last 25 years for my novels and screenplays all the points he makes can be documented with facts from numerous sources from Black publications and statistics.

And I can say from living in the Black community over the last 40 years David Carroll is absolutely right. The ongoing legacy of slavery has absolutely nothing to do with the sad state of affairs in the Black community today. From my lessons in a Minority studies class at Taft High school in 1991 and my own twenty-five plus years of research I can tell you that once slavery ended, the Black family was intact and functional. Even during the terrorism that transpired during the Jim Crow period, There was a mother and a father in the home.

It wasn’t until White feminists came to the Black community in the late 1960’s preaching their Lesbian propaganda to Black women and they took it for a religion. It was feminism that led the rise of the Welfare state and the single parent female headed household that led to the current condition of the modern day Afro-American Negro.

This current state of the Afro-American Negro has been the norm for only the last 40 years. And I’ll say most of it has NOTHING to do with White Supremacy. Seriously, how is it after trillions of dollars spent on government programs over the last 40 years to HELP the Negro get to the next level, how is it he is still in poverty with his hat in hand?

How is it after trillions of dollars spent on schools and financial aid for college is the Negro still at the BOTTOM academically with a 75 percent dropout rate that gets higher with each passing year? How is it after 40 years the literacy rate among African-Americans continues to DECLINE?

Why is it after trillions of FEDERAL dollars spent on grants such as the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and Third Avenue Empowerment Zone here in New York does the Negro own NO BUSINESES in his own communities such as Harlem and the South Bronx?

Why is it that the Negro is getting WORSE instead of getting better with each passing generation?

Seriously, when do we hold this Negro accountable for his own condition?

All the tools for building wealth have been presented to the modern day Afro-American Negro since 1975 and in 2013 he is in a WORSE condition than the newly freed slaves. I believe if the slaves were given the exact same tools as the Afro-American Negro, I guarantee the Black community would have a thriving middle class, a political seat at the table and a rock solid tax base better than Black Wall Street.

But the Afro-American Negro is too busy being a VICTIM and wallowing in self-pity to see the tools in front of him. He keeps waiting for someone to see the extra salty tears in his eyes, feel sorry for him and do things FOR HIM instead of getting up off his dead ass and doing it for HIMSELF.

It’s this victim mindset that prevented the Negro from growing his and her community and collecting some of that $1.1 trillion dollars flowing through it as wealth these past 40 years. While the Negro spends his time crying, whining and pointing his fingers at the White Man blaming him for his sorry state, the White Liberal and his non black friends pretend to be ashamed of the bad behavior of “Evil” conservatives who demand he take responsibility for his actions and toss him a few crumbs in the form of a government program.

And while the Negro is eagerly eating those crumbs from those government programs, The White Liberal and his friends use the very tools in the Black community the Negro cannot see to capitalize on that $1.1. trillion dollars in Black spending power for themselves.

I dare to go further than Mr. Carroll and say this co-dependency on the White Liberal is what keeps the Negro from actualizing his potential and achieving economic and political power in America. For as long as he has the White Liberal to blame for his pathetic condition, He can shame him into giving him some scraps on the table in the form of a government program instead of getting up off his dead ass to buy his own cake or better yet learning the recipe for to making his own cake and selling it to the masses of Negroes in his own community.

This co-dependency on the White Liberal is why gentrification is happening in Black neighborhoods. This is why Koreans control the Black hair care market. It’s why Lebanese and Arabs run all the grocery stores, Hispanics run the supermarkets, and Dominicans run the barber shops in Black neighborhoods. This is why corporate chain stores can come into Black neighborhoods and build successful businesses.

All while the Negro remains in a perpetual state of poverty. Giving his money to the very people who “oppress” him. Hoping wishing and praying for a job from a White Liberal after he graduates a government training program given to him by White Liberals.

Not understanding that if he just stopped spending his money there and gave it to Black merchants he’d be richer for the experience.

The Negro in his victimized mindset REFUSES to see the tools in front of him because he has NO VISION and IMAGINATION. Like a SLAVE he only sees, WHAT IS, not WHAT COULD BE. He does what he’s TOLD because he has no critical thinking skills or reasoning skills. He can’t break down facts, or put things together in a sequence. He is a blind, dumb consumer without the creativity to think of producing anything of value.

If David Carroll is a White Supremacist for thinking that way then I guess they can call me the same thing. I’ve written on many of the exact same points in my blogs.

And I learned all about these same points at STRIVE 13 years ago. And before that watching Tony Brown’s Journal on PBS in the 1990’s. He too, presented similar arguments to Negroes on his program which focused on Black empowerment and Black personal responsibility.

Like Booker T. Washington, Claude Brown, Tony Brown, Dr. Claude Anderson, and myself, David Carroll insists that Black people stop looking to the government and start looking to SELF for their sustenance. They all insist that Black people start taking responsibility for themselves. And they demand that we Black people start investing in their own communities FIRST. The tools for building a the Black community into an economic and political powerhouse are right here in the Black community. We just have to have the vision to see them and use them.

I’m glad to see Mr. Carroll holding a mirror to the face of the Afro-American Negro showing him the horrible truth about himself. And I hope he continues to do so. Because if the Negro doesn’t like what they see about themselves, then maybe they’ll make an effort to finally change what’s reflected in front of him.

How to get the money to start a business

A lot of people want to start a business. And they wonder where do they get the money? The Bank? Family? Friends?

The truth is you don’t need a loan from the bank to start a business. You don’t even need to borrow money from family and friends. The money to start your business is right in your pocket. With a little sacrifice, anyone can have the money to start their business of their dreams.

These sacrifices include:

Not buying lunch. Lunch eats away at people’s money. A meal at a restaurant can cost anywhere from $5 to $20 a day. Over a week that’s $50-$100 a person can have towards building the capital towards starting their business. Brown bag lunches may seem cheap, but every dollar you save will pay off when you start your business.

Not eating fast food. Fast food costs anywhere from $5 for lunch to $25-$30 a day for dinner for a family of four. Just dropping one fast food meal a week can go a long way towards getting the money for a business start-up.

Not smoking. Smoking costs $10 for a pack of cigarettes to $1 for a loosie. A person who smokes is burning up the capital they could have towards a business start up fund.

Not drinking. People who drink pour all their money down the drain. Beers cost $10 at a bar and a 6-pack of beer costs anywhere from $12 to $15. Premium beers cost even more. All the money spent on alcohol can be used for that business start up fund.

Not going to the club. Clubs are just a way of taking money and throwing it in the garbage. Cover charges, Dr drinks you buy cost a whole lot of money that could be better spent in a business.

Not going to the movies. Movies cost $14 for a movie ticket. If you have a little patience, you can wait for these movies to come to DVD, and use that money to add to your start-up fund.

Get rid of your cell phone. Getting rid of a cell phone gives you anywhere from $360 to $1200 towards building your business. Those data plans eat up dollars you could use towards getting yourself to the next level.

Not buying expensive shoes and clothes. You may look fly in the$200 Air Jordans, $200 Lebrons, carrying the Gucci purses and Coach belts, but all that money could be invested in a business that makes you money instead of taking it.  

Not using appliances. Some electric appliances are energy HOGS. And these pigs eat up your money leading up to high electric bills. Items like High watt stereos, and LCD and Plasma TVs and even lamps can add up to $100 a month to an electric bill in a home. All of that money is cash you can use to put towards business expenses.

Not driving. Depending on where you live, you can save thousands towards starting your own business by using mass transit. The maintenance on a car along with the insurance and gas money can eat up thousands of dollars a year. If you need to drive, get a car when you start your business. Then you can deduct it and the maintenance and other expenses on your taxes.

Not dating. I haven’t had a girlfriend in years. Why? I wanted to get a business off the ground. And dating costs a huge amount of money. The money a guy spends taking a woman out or a woman spends taking a man out is money they could have towards building the capital to start the business that gets them to the next level. Besides, when you own a business, you attract higher quality people to you. People want to go somewhere with people who are going somewhere!

To get the capital to start my publishing imprint, SJS DIRECT, I sacrificed a lot of my creature comforts. When I worked back in 2008, I didn’t buy lunch. I didn’t buy breakfast. I kept my purchases of fast food to a minimum, and I found movies on TV to watch and I saved money like crazy.

All the dollars I sacrificed back then enabled me to have enough money to turn all the manuscripts I wrote since 2003 into published paperbacks and eBooks and promote them to the public.

It takes money to make money. And every dollar you spend on something like an expensive cup of coffee or a trip to the movies is a dollar you could use towards starting your own business. Sure that stuff is a nice short-term treat, but the greatest reward is having your own business and controlling your own career path. 

The SILENCE of Black Women

On a daily basis some of the most degrading, misogynistic and racist images of Black women are presented in the media. But oddly in the face of all these images presenting Black women in a negative light, there has been an eerie silence from the “Strong Black Sistas” of the Black community.

The Pornographic Website Ghetto Gaggers depicts Black women being humiliated, and degraded by White men. On this site women are called Nigger by White men while being slapped in the face, forced to choke on penises and sit in their own urine. Some of the sex scenes are so violent they’re borderline rape.

But not a PEEP is heard out of Black women.

The video site World Star Hip Hop presents videos of Black women fighting in the street, fighting in fast food places, and shaking their butts on camera in twerk videos. And some videos have presented Black women having sex on camera!

But not a PEEP is heard out of Black women.

Black celebrities like Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, and Rihanna behave like porn stars promoting the Jezebel stereotype as the standard for little Black girls to follow.

But not a PEEP is heard out of Black women.

Reality shows like Basketball wives, Love & Hip Hop, Teen Mom, and Real Housewives of Atlanta show Black women as loud, ignorant, foul mouthed and violent litter cable TV. Syndicated Talk shows like Maury, Jeremy Kyle, and Bill Cunningham have turned fat, loud mouthed ignorant Black women fighting over cheating spouses and baby mama drama into a niche market on television.

But not a PEEP is heard out of Black women.

Numerous YouTube Videos and music videos feature scantily clad Black women depicted as from their backsides in twerking videos.

But not a PEEP is heard from Black women.

Film producers Like Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry produce movies that present the Black woman as a victim and a joke.

But there’s not a PEEP heard out of Black women in protest. Instead, sistas have made these men millionaires at the expense of their own dignity and self-respect.

Women like Halle Berry, Mo’ Nique and Octavia Spencer are praised for choosing to star in roles that present the Black woman as a Mammy and a Jezebel, putting a TARNISH on the image of Black women.

But there’s not a PEEP out of Black women in protest. Instead, they praise these women and laud them as pillars of the community.

TV shows like Scandal feature a Black woman settling for less by being a side piece to the President of the United States.

But not a PEEP out of Black women. In fact, Sistas support this program and look forward to it. Many a Black woman clears her schedule to watch another Black woman degraded onscreen.

I find it odd I’ve heard more from Black men about the degradation of Black women in the media than I have from Black women these days. In fact I find it disturbing. Don’t Black women care about their image? Don’t they love themselves? Don’t they care about the numerous negative messages this media is presenting about women who look like them to their daughters?

Or are they comfortable being presented as a mammy and a jezebel to the world? A complete and utter laughingstock among all women.

The last time I actually heard Black women protesting about the degradation of Black women was when rapper Nelly swiped a credit card in a woman’s butt cheeks. And that was close to ten years ago.

But these days Black women are quiet as church mice as some of the most degrading, misogynistic and racist images of Black women are presented in the media.

I wonder where is the outrage from our numerous “Strong” Black female leaders? Where are those Black feminists who fight so valiantly against misogyny and the oppression of Black men when White Supremacists present them as mammies and Whores?

Seriously, Where is bell hooks? Where is Angela Davis? Where is Alice Walker? Where is Maya Angelou? Where is Oprah Winfrey? Where is Michelle Obama? Where is Queen Latifah? Where are the women of the NAACP? Where are the women of the Nation Of Islam? Where are the Black sororities like AKA? Where are the strong independent Black women who have all these high-powered high paying jobs?

To quote YouTuber David Carroll: Silent as a rat pissin’ on cotton.

I’d think all those strong independent sistas would be out in FORCE to protest their own degradation by the White Supremacist AmeriKKKan media. I think they’d be the ones speaking out about all the repackaging of the Jezebel and mammy stereotypes in all the media these days. According to these organizations, the Black woman is a leader and supposed to be a “goddess” and a “queen” that is to be respected.

But by her silence she shows she just follows the status quo.
What queen would be proud of being presented as a White Man’s Whore? How respectable does a Black woman make other Black women look when all she’s showing the world is her backside? And how much character does it show when older Black women don’t take the time to correct those younger women?

Worse, what does it say when those prominent Black women who see this degradation transpiring and they remain silent? And what does it say when Black women like Shondra Rhimes produce degrading content like Scandal?

Outside of a few bloggers like La Reyna and Sharazad Ali, I haven’t heard a thing from most Black women. For the most part it’s been Black men speaking out against all these degrading images of Black women.

Unfortunately, when these decent caring brothas and these responsible sistas make efforts to protect the image of Black womanhood, a small faction of Black women and their Mangina and Simp supporters come out to silence them. Either by flagging their videos on YouTube and having their channels deleted, or, making ad-hominem attacks against them, or by flooding the comments sections of their blogs and articles so others cannot feel comfortable express their opinions. Censorship of the worst kind.

All while the numerous masses of Black women remain silent about how their image is being maligned in the media.

To me, the silence of Black women in the face of all these negative images makes a powerful statement: That it’s okay to degrade and humiliate Black women. That Black women themselves are comfortable with the degradation of themselves and other Black women. Them saying nothing is them saying YES to their own degradation.

Black women have the power to shut down all of this misogyny and degradation of Black women in American media in an instant. As the one who controls the purse strings in the Black community, she could refuse to spend her $1.1. trillion dollars until companies started producing more positive images of African-American women in the media.

But instead she does nothing but go along to get along.

All it takes is for good Black women to say and do nothing for the White Supremacist producers of these degrading images to win. I’m urging all you good sistas out there who have remained silent to start speaking out against these misogynistic and racist depictions of Black women. Because when you’re silent you allow others to speak for you. And when you allow those people to speak for you, they take your power away.

Black woman you’re better than this! Take your dignity and self-respect back! Take control of your image and stop letting others speak for you!

The Misadventures Of Captain-Save-A-Hoe Chapter 2

The Origins of Captain-Save-A-Hoe

How did Captain-Save-A-Hoe get his incredible powers? Was he rocketed from a faraway planet as a baby? Did he get bit by a radioactive spider? Did he get caught in the fallout of a gamma bomb? Or did he volunteer for an experiment when he was in the military?

Nah, he just grew up in a dysfunctional household.

The first way a man becomes a Captain-Save-A-Hoe is by growing up in a household raised by a single mother. In this home they’ve seen their mothers being mistreated and abused by their fathers or other men she’s involved herself with. As he grows to adulthood, he vows to protect his woman in ways that he couldn’t protect his mother.

The second way a Captain Save-A-Hoe get his powers is living in a home with a deeply troubled parent or parents. In this case his parents could be drug abusers or alcoholics. Or they could be bipolar, schizophrenic, or mentally ill. Many of these men have grown up protecting their siblings from the abuses of these deeply troubled parents or they grew up trying to protect their mother or from the abuses of their fathers, stepdads, or boyfriends who had mental illnesses or addiction. As they grow up they vow to become a “perfect” person. And when they pursue relationships with women, they look for someone who is deeply troubled to “fix” and make into the “perfect” mate.

The third way a Captain-Save-A-Hoe acquires his dysfunctional abilities is by having strict, demanding parents. Usually these strict parents make incredibly unrealistic demands on their sons. And as these boys grow up, they become men with incredibly unrealistic expectations of women. They’re often looking for a partner they can shape into the ideal mate. Someone already broken down that they believe can built up into the perfect partner.

And finally, the fourth way a Captain-Save-A-Hoe is made is by having a relationship early in his childhood with a troubled girl during his adolescence. Instead of learning from his experiences and moving on, keeps picking the same types of women to involve himself with in the hopes that he’ll “fix” the mistakes he made in the past with that first girlfriend with this new girlfriend.

Most Captain-Save-A-Hoes think that they’re good men doing the right thing. They think they have the best interests of the women they involve themselves with at heart. But they have no idea that how their life paradigm takes their lives in the wrong direction.

As they head down the road of life trying to “fix” broken women like single mothers, strippers, runaways, and prostitutes Captain Save-A-Hoe’s life often winds up falling apart. In his quest to make a troubled woman’s life better he often puts his job, health, and even his life at risk. In a lot of cases, a poor hero winds up losing everything as they become overwhelmed by her numerous problems and emotional baggage.

And instead of realizing these troubled women have problems he can’t “fix” on his own, many of these men try to do more of the exact same things they did before with the exact same woman in the hopes of getting a different result.

The rest of the world calls that insanity. But these men call it love.

Most Captain-Save-A-Hoes don’t understand that the pattern of behavior they learned growing up was dysfunctional. And the dysfunctional way they were socialized to relate to people when they were younger is why they gravitate to all those troubled and dysfunctional women. Like attracts like, and the person who is the most troubled is the man with the cape on, not the women he’s involved with.

Buy The Misadventures of Captain-Save-A-Hoe on Kindle today! 

Shawn explains the Birth of Jesus To Baby Mamas

There’s a single mother who comes to this blog talking about how Jesus was an illegitimate birth to justify single motherhood. As a Christian I’m going to take the time to use this as a teachable moment about Jesus.

As a spirit Jesus was actually with God since the beginning of Time.  This is clearly mentioned in numerous Psalms, Proverbs and other Old Testament books of the Bible. He came into the world to do the work of God paying for all the sins of Man past, present, and future and redeeming all the souls of the world.

Jesus Christ was NOT an illegitimate birth.  His birth was a Divine conception by the Holy Spirit. Mary was a virgin not touched by her husband Joseph. The reason why He chose Mary for Jesus birth was for two reasons:

1) Because Joseph was a Patriarchal descendant of David, King of Israel. This is to fulfill God’s Word as prophesized in numerous books in the Bible.

2) The Holy Spirit used Mary as a vessel for the birth of Jesus because she was a Virgin. Jesus was the only human being on earth to be born without Sin. The Holy Spirit conceived his body inside of Mary. And the Holy Spirit is completely sinless and absolutely pure.

Mary was a vessel The Holy Spirit used to so Jesus could be born into the world as a blood human being to do God’s Work on Earth.

Joseph actually wanted to divorce his wife once he found out she was pregnant with Jesus but was told not to by God. Mary had NOT committed any sin during the conception of Jesus. Again, Jesus’ birth was a Divine conception by The Holy Spirit. So there was no sin.

God is Jesus’ Father. And Jesus and God are One.

Jesus was a legitimate birth of a Divine conception. However many of the women who are single mothers today have committed the sin of fornication. What is Fornication? Fornication is sexual intercourse outside of marriage.

And fornication is one of the sins Jesus expressly speaks of in books in the New Testament as a sin that comes out of the inside the heart of a man.

Fornication has been a sin since the Old Testament. According to the Mosiac Law, men and women who committed fornication were forced to marry one another.

In fact, here in the United States fornication was actually a crime in some states up until the late 1960’s. Before that time, having sex outside of marriage was considered shameful and brought dishonor on both men and women. Men who had sex outside of marriage were considered “weak” for having no self-control and self-discipline and women who had sex outside of marriage were considered “loose” and not fit for marriage.

Moreover, men and women having children out of wedlock before the mid 1960’s was considered a shameful and embarrassing thing for both a man and a woman.  Most in society would have nothing to do with either a woman or a man who had bastard kids outside of wedlock. Men who had bastard kids were actually considered bums and losers before the mid 1960’s.

Which is why there were so many forced and “shotgun” weddings until the late 1960’s. People did not want their children to grow up in families where their parents had lost face in the eyes of the public.

Unfortunately, in today’s perverted and debaucherous society we are taught from birth that fornication is not a sin. That sex outside of marriage is perfectly fine.

However, God never meant for men and women to have sex outside of marriage. In his word He clearly states that when a man and a woman get married he leaves his father and mother and the two become one flesh, cleaving to one another.

The two becoming one was a clear statement about men and women coming together sexually. And cleaving to each other meant that they would care for each other within their own household.

God intends for families to consist of a mother and a father. But in today’s world of Baby Mamas and Baby Daddies, The false gods of Madison Avenue and Hollywood tell us that men and women can have their on households without each other. That separate is equal.

 And now some of these lost and confused souls are trying to justify the births of their illegitimate children by using Jesus as an example. This is a lie from the Pit of Hell created by The Devil himself. Blasphemy.

The birth of Jesus was not a conception of fornication like the births of children from may single mothers. God did not bring Jesus in the world to keep a man, or to try to turn a jumpoff situation into a committed relationship. Creating a body through Divine conception through the Holy Spirit, God sent Jesus into the world to pay for the sins of all mankind and to redeem the souls of the world. The Divine conception of Jesus clearly shows the awesome power of God. No man on Earth can claim physical lineage Jesus because He is the Son of God.

The conception of Jesus was without sin. However, the conception of illegitimate children by single mothers is sinful because it comes through fornication. Single mothers need to understand that Fornication is a willful act committed by men and women that is a sin against God. Fornication is a sin that destroys the lives of men and women. It leaves men and women spiritually disconnected and emotionally lost. It prevents people from forming that close intimate connection with their husband or wife because there’s always a part of them connected to someone else. God made our bodies to be temples of the Holy Spirit, not to be used as toilet bowls. Do what Paul says in the Corintihans and Flee Fornication! 

Tech Talk Talks about Black inventors

Had a chance to listen to Tuesday's Tech Talk with Tyrone Thompson and JM McSwain and they had a great conversation about Black inventors. I really want all my readers to give this show a listen because they go in depth about some great Black inventors everyone needs to know about. Click the link and give it a listen:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/talkrealsolutions/2013/11/06/talk-real-solutions


Tech Talk has been knocking it out of the park providing brothers and sisters with knowledge about Black inventors and the IT field. This is a great show and more brothers and sisters need to start listening to this program. We need to support positive programs like this!


Thursday's show will be talking about cell phone apps. Don't miss it! 

Black Male Homosexuals in Denial-The Disturbing New Trend in Down Low Men

There’s a disturbing new trend among young Black males these days. These Black males are running around having gay encounters and saying that they’re still heterosexual. Worse, These Black males have the warped idea in their mind that if they participate in homosexual acts but aren’t attracted to the man they’re having sex with, they aren’t gay.

That’s a LIE. These males are GAY.

Here’s the deal:

If you are a man and you look at a man and see him as sexually attractive, you are a homosexual.

If you are a man and you touch another man’s genitals, you are homosexual.

If you are a man and you like letting another man touch your genitals you are a homosexual.

If you are a man and you give a man a handjob you are a homosexual. And if you are a man who receives the handjob and you reciprocate by giving the other male a handjob, you are a homosexual.

If you are a man and you put another man’s penis in your mouth to sexually stimulate another man to orgasm, you are a homosexual.

If you are a man and you let another man put his tongue in your anus you are a homosexual man.

If you are a man and you put your tongue in another man’s anus you are a homosexual.

If you are a man and you let a man who is NOT A PROCTOLOGIST put a finger in your rectum you are a homosexual.

If you are a man and you allow another man to put his penis into your anus you are a homosexual. If you put your penis into the rectum of another man, you are homosexual.

Now I know why these boys sag their pants. Now I know why they walk around with their butt cheeks hanging out for the world to show. It’s not swag, It’s a signal to other homosexual men that their booty holes are available. Maybe even to provide easy access to another man in a corner somewhere.

Seriously, I don’t know what is wrong with these Black boys today. It’s clear they’re not having a strong positive male influence in their communities. All these single parent female headed households have clearly had a negative impact on Black males over the last twenty years.

When a male thinks participating in a sex act with another male is not homosexual, he’s clearly lost and confused as to what his identity is as a man. All of this gender confusion has Black boys thinking they can participate in homosexual acts and still be heterosexual.

I have to wonder if any of these boys ever read a damn biology book? Or if they studied human sexuality in school?

Then again, this is the generation where many think babies come out of their backs. That’s how fucked up things are among Black folks. No one is teaching these children about their bodies or about sexuality, due to the shame many Black females have about their own bodies and the fact that there’s no Real Black Man in the household to teach these Black boys what they need to know about how their bodies are changing as they grow up to become men.

There’s a desperate need for Real Black Men to return to the Black community. Right now, Men are acting like women and women are acting like men. It’s clear the feminist controlled Black Matriarchy has FAILED in their quest to raise a boy to manhood, and these dysfunctional sistas and their Pimp pastor, and Mangina supporters in the corrupted Black church and Black leadership need to be relieved of their positions as authority figures in the Black community. Only a father can teach boy to be be a man, and only Real Black Men can lead the Black community out of the confused state its in.

The Frustrations of Being a Publisher of Positive Black Fiction

I’ve been running a publishing company out of my bedroom for the past ten going on eleven years. And it’s been a challenge. But the hardest part about being a Black businessman isn’t writing stories. It isn’t publishing books. It isn’t promoting books. And it isn’t even selling books. It’s trying to rally support from the Black community.


The Black community is one of the hardest to sell on reading. I can get White and foreign customers excited about my books before I can get Black people excited about them. I can sell books to Whites and foreigners before I can sell them to Black people. And I got into the publishing business to reach my brothers and sisters.


I've learned the one thing Black people hate to do is READ. That’s what makes it so hard for me to reach readers.


Listening to the stories of other Black businesspeople, I’m learning that the two biggest hurdles we encounter from African-American customers are resistance and apathy. When African-American customers are presented with a product that forces them to think and makes them to do work like books, they resist them.


And when they’re presented with books that present a different set of experiences than most African-Americans encounter like life in the ghetto they become apathetic. That’s what I believe makes people walk past the books I present to them.


I believe Black people tune out anything that forces them to think. That makes them have to work. African-Americans are so emotionally damaged they’ve become comfortable with substandard. And because they’re so comfortable with substandard they don’t want to think about anything that isn’t related to their experiences.


This is why nothing changes for the condition of Black people. This is why it’s so easy for Black folks to pick up a street lit book or an erotica book than one of the books I publish. I keep trying to get Black people to get out of the box, but the way the Black book market is going these days it’s like Black folks just want to stay in it.


The way I see it, Black folks today are scared. They’re afraid to re-define what Black is. So they embrace the most racist and degrading stereotypes about Black people.


Because they’re afraid to explore anything else. Black people fear different more than White Supremacy. Black people fear change more than White Supremacy.


Why? Because they’ll have to take responsibility for themselves and stand on their own two feet.


This is why the street lit and erotica sell. This is why ghetto culture and coon culture is making its triumphant comeback in the Black community. Black folks want anything that reinforces the White Liberal narrative that depicts them as a victim in society.


That’s what makes selling positive Black fiction like mine a hard sell to the Black community.


Trying to overcome the challenge of Black apathy and Black resistance has been the most frustrating thing I’ve had to deal with these past five years. It’s made me angry at times. It’s made me want to quit and close up shop.


Dealing with the Black masses is discouraging, aggravating and frustrating. If it’s not the apathy and resistance I get from Negro masses, it’s the entitled masses of Negroes who complain after being given a freebie. People too damn lazy to read a synopsis. To read a sample. And when they read the books and don’t get the usual bullshit street lit erotica they leave stupid 1 and 2-star reviews because the story wasn’t what they expected, the usual ghetto ass coon shit.


Dealing with these Black masses over the past five years I can finally understand why many Black businessmen give up and go on to serve White and foreign customers. A Black publisher like myself can get respect and cooperation from any other race, but can’t reach his own people. All a publisher like me gets from Black folks is grief.


The same people who will call me a sellout or an Uncle Tom if I go out and write books for those White and foreign customers. Even though I spent over to a DECADE trying to reach them Then complain that no one is producing positive books about Black people.


Even though I spent over a DECADE trying to reach them..


Yet these same Negro Masses who ignore me and my work will go out of their way to reach out to a street lit book or erotica book that depicts Black people in a negative light and praise it.


Sometimes, I feel like there’s no way to win with these Black masses. Black folks talks about change, but when you present this Negro with something different, and something positive they become afraid and run away from it.


The way I see it the Black masses in their co-dependent minds wants live in a box called the ghetto and
wants to continue playing the victim. They believe there’s power in pointing the finger at White people instead of taking the time to examine self. They don’t want to think, and that’s reflective in the art and literature that reinforce his position as the victim. From what I see I’m not producing what these Black masses want.


And I refuse to give them the raw sewage we call Black entertainment. These days they want their Precious, their Monster’s Balls, their brainless Tyler Perry Movies and Their Butler movies. They want their Minstrel reality shows like the Preachers of LA, Love & Hip Hop, and Basketball wives. They want their Street lit, and their borderline pornographic erotica at the bookstore. They want to continue living in a cultural swamp.


I keep trying to reach Black readers with positive and intelligent content, but it feels like it’s an impossible task trying to unplug the Black masses from the Matrix. Seriously I feel like I’m running against a brick wall. There’s a whole world out there for Black people to experience in art and literature, but it’s like the Negro masses want to stay in a psychological ghetto. Mentally, Black folks are like slaves.


I really enjoy writing. And I really enjoy publishing books. And I’m coming to the sad but horrible realization I may be forced to walk away from the Black community like many other Black businesspeople have had to do in order to make a living. Some people call it crossing over, but I’m realizing it’s the only way to move forward.