We must understand that Haitians suffer the most devastating identity crisis known to mankind, due to illiteracy. After watching a tape of Haitian fanatics going crazy over the national Brazilian team, I'm convinced that we have no patriots left in Haiti. Everything non-Haitian has a better outlook. There are no more patriots left in Haiti. You’re not a patriot, my parents aren’t patriots and most people in Haiti are not patriots. You can’t be patriotic when your goal is to escape Haiti for the next destination for a better life. Brazilians and Argentinians are better to them, because they offer better results and outcome. Psychologically, we have been doomed for a while. We are a nation with no direction. Mediocrity is acceptable and no one is willing to risk their lives to enforce change. The status quo remains. White people have managed to run Haitians out of their own country. They've taken away their hopes, only to humiliate them when they show up on American shores.
Just think about the fact that Haitians are willing to risk their lives over the deadly waters in the Caribbean sea to reach Florida, they are willing to allow themselves to be treated like animals in countries like Brazil, the Dominican republic and more, but they’re not willing to risk their lives to change Haiti. What does that tell you about the psyche of our people? Getting elected to any political office in Haiti is a quick scheme to riches. No allegiance to the country whatsoever on the part of the politicians.
Haitians have very little to be patriotic about. Since I was a child, I have seen nothing but chaos in Haiti. Through no fault of my own, I was raised out of Haiti. My parents brought me here for a better life as a young kid, because they didn’t have the fight in them to fight for a better Haiti, as most Haitians do not. There’s no dignity, pride or anything left in Haiti. Haitians are proud abroad, while their country continues to suffer the brunt of poverty in the western hemisphere. Haitian politicians ought to be shot for not giving a damn about their country, and for stealing Haitian resources and allowing foreigners to steal whatever else remains.
Please check out the link below:
http://rockmasterspromo.wordpress.com/2014/07/26/was-it-the-pope-the-messiah-or-haitis-liberators-delivered-from-heaven-a-must-read-by-jean-claude-elie/
Richard Jeanty: The Man Behind It All
Monday, July 28, 2014
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Team light skinned VS team dark skinned.
Here we are in 2014, and we're still struggling with an issue that has kept the black community divided since the white man set foot in Africa.
While embracing the fact that the black race offers so many different hues would be beneficial to our community as a group, instead, we choose to disband ourselves and continue to engage in a prejudicial battle that was created mostly through rapes and forced relationships by our former enslavers. Sometimes I wonder what it is that doesn't click for us psychologically. I understand that people should have their preferences when it comes to choosing a mate, but creating a new form of racism to breed a new subculture within the black race is detrimental to our development.
Our children should not be dealing with issues that our forefathers dealt with on the plantation. The House Negro vs the Field Negro philosophy should be abandoned. To be quite honest, the House Negro has carried all the different hues within our race, in order to advance his career politically. It's not the same house or field Negro anymore. Do the names Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain ring a bell? Some black people are born to sell their souls for their own benefit. There's simply nothing we can do about that. However, when people are forced to waste their breath discussing Zoe Zaldana's not being black enough to take on the role of Nina Simone, it just seems like we're taking two hundred steps backwards. When has Hollywood ever done a biopic using a black actor that looked remotely close to the person being portrayed? I can't recall any. Malcolm X was affectionately known as Red to his friends on the streets of Boston, because of his red hair, freckles and light complexion, but nobody complained that Denzel did a great job portraying him on the big screen. I'm not gonna go tit for tat and list every black biopic that has been filmed in Hollywood by an actor or actress who didn't fit the physical description of the legend portrayed, but I do find it sad on our part that we can't let go of that separatist state of mind among black people. It's bad enough that we have to deal with racism from white people, and prejudice from every other race. We need to use that energy to strengthen ourselves as a people, not weaken our community through division.
If light and dark skinned blacks are having issues, what would then become of the honey complected black folks? Are they gonna be lost like the mixed children who struggle with identity crisis most of their lives? Wouldn't it be stupid for a child born from two black parents to have to deal with identity issues because he or she might be light brown? I'm starting to feel stupid even writing about this bullcrap. Maybe I need to stop before I fry any more brain cells.
It's time for us to wake up and unite, in order to deal with the real issues that impact our community daily. Stop the madness already!
While embracing the fact that the black race offers so many different hues would be beneficial to our community as a group, instead, we choose to disband ourselves and continue to engage in a prejudicial battle that was created mostly through rapes and forced relationships by our former enslavers. Sometimes I wonder what it is that doesn't click for us psychologically. I understand that people should have their preferences when it comes to choosing a mate, but creating a new form of racism to breed a new subculture within the black race is detrimental to our development.
Our children should not be dealing with issues that our forefathers dealt with on the plantation. The House Negro vs the Field Negro philosophy should be abandoned. To be quite honest, the House Negro has carried all the different hues within our race, in order to advance his career politically. It's not the same house or field Negro anymore. Do the names Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain ring a bell? Some black people are born to sell their souls for their own benefit. There's simply nothing we can do about that. However, when people are forced to waste their breath discussing Zoe Zaldana's not being black enough to take on the role of Nina Simone, it just seems like we're taking two hundred steps backwards. When has Hollywood ever done a biopic using a black actor that looked remotely close to the person being portrayed? I can't recall any. Malcolm X was affectionately known as Red to his friends on the streets of Boston, because of his red hair, freckles and light complexion, but nobody complained that Denzel did a great job portraying him on the big screen. I'm not gonna go tit for tat and list every black biopic that has been filmed in Hollywood by an actor or actress who didn't fit the physical description of the legend portrayed, but I do find it sad on our part that we can't let go of that separatist state of mind among black people. It's bad enough that we have to deal with racism from white people, and prejudice from every other race. We need to use that energy to strengthen ourselves as a people, not weaken our community through division.
If light and dark skinned blacks are having issues, what would then become of the honey complected black folks? Are they gonna be lost like the mixed children who struggle with identity crisis most of their lives? Wouldn't it be stupid for a child born from two black parents to have to deal with identity issues because he or she might be light brown? I'm starting to feel stupid even writing about this bullcrap. Maybe I need to stop before I fry any more brain cells.
It's time for us to wake up and unite, in order to deal with the real issues that impact our community daily. Stop the madness already!
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Death Of the Black Publishing Industry, Book Distributors and Bookstores.
The excitement of hitting the road with a few authors to tour the country, while visiting America's quaint African-American bookstores has become nostalgic. No longer Am I able to reach out to some of the more tolerable author friends of mine, to ask them about the possibility of a road trip while earning some money as writers. The weekends were the most exciting. There were so many events to plan for, and so many cities to visit. Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Jackson, Miami, Boston, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Baltimore, Newark, St. Louis, Richmond and so many other cities welcomed us with open arms. As authors, we shared our personal experiences with each other on the road, because it was viable to the growth of our literary community. It seemed like the second coming of the Harlem Renaissance, but everything must come to an end at some point, right? Many of the doors of opportunity started to close. Black bookstores are no longer a staple in our community. One by one, we saw the doors closed as each dedicated book retailer was forced to develop a new economic plan for survival sake.
Most of the black distributors have been served the same fate as well. No longer can I pull up my truck and unload dozens of cases of books at a store, while my car is illegally parked on the sidewalk somewhere in Brooklyn, Baltimore, Chicago or Philly. Those days of bringing a lookout with me to keep from getting a parking ticket are over. No more will I have to worry about carrying my infant daughter into a book distribution center, and set her down by the desk of a polite secretary, while I conduct business. Those exciting days expired. Those people have had the pleasure to witness the writer, hustler, publisher, businessman and father that I had become. In the beginning, I thought those relationships would last a lifetime. I'd become acquainted professionally and personally with some of those people in the literary industry. Some of them are still good friends, while financial hardship forced others to become my enemy. Nonetheless, I treasure those moments that we shared together, doing business as black people, trying to create our own niche in a world dominated by white writers, publishers and distributors.
I remember when I finally received word that my company, RJ Publications, would be accepted by a major distributor. I was overcome with joy and excitement. No longer would I be restricted to just the Mom and pop bookstores, I thought. Borders, Barnes and Noble and Books A Million seemed like my gateway to financial freedom. My publishing company was flourishing. I could afford to pay new authors and offer competitive contracts like the traditional publishing companies. It felt great being able to make the dreams of many people from my community come true. The dedication was at an all time high, and the future was steps away from the shining sun. I could feel the burns of the bright future and the heat that was going to be bestowed upon me under the spotlight, and I was ready, ready to take on the world. Here comes the next mogul, I thought. I was gonna be the P Diddy of black literature. And then, all of a sudden it came to a halt. Amazon decided to stake their claim in the publishing game by introducing the Kindle. First was the burial of Borders, and next came all the independent bookstores that supported my business before the big companies came calling. I feel a bit of gratitude to those independent bookstores, because they helped me establish my name in the game. However, it was hard to make end's meet when consignment was the name of the game. It was difficult and humbling to walk into a bookstore to find that all my books have been sold, but the owner couldn't cut me a check owed to me.
We ignored many things that were going wrong with the industry, and at the end, we have to suffer the consequences. Some of us became complacent, while others embraced the new change that was to come. At the end of the day, I can only say that I'm still a writer, and the ride has yet to end.
Please check out all my books on amazon and my website at www.rjpublications.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=richard%20jeanty&sprefix=Richard+Jea%2Cstripbooks%2C397
Most of the black distributors have been served the same fate as well. No longer can I pull up my truck and unload dozens of cases of books at a store, while my car is illegally parked on the sidewalk somewhere in Brooklyn, Baltimore, Chicago or Philly. Those days of bringing a lookout with me to keep from getting a parking ticket are over. No more will I have to worry about carrying my infant daughter into a book distribution center, and set her down by the desk of a polite secretary, while I conduct business. Those exciting days expired. Those people have had the pleasure to witness the writer, hustler, publisher, businessman and father that I had become. In the beginning, I thought those relationships would last a lifetime. I'd become acquainted professionally and personally with some of those people in the literary industry. Some of them are still good friends, while financial hardship forced others to become my enemy. Nonetheless, I treasure those moments that we shared together, doing business as black people, trying to create our own niche in a world dominated by white writers, publishers and distributors.
I remember when I finally received word that my company, RJ Publications, would be accepted by a major distributor. I was overcome with joy and excitement. No longer would I be restricted to just the Mom and pop bookstores, I thought. Borders, Barnes and Noble and Books A Million seemed like my gateway to financial freedom. My publishing company was flourishing. I could afford to pay new authors and offer competitive contracts like the traditional publishing companies. It felt great being able to make the dreams of many people from my community come true. The dedication was at an all time high, and the future was steps away from the shining sun. I could feel the burns of the bright future and the heat that was going to be bestowed upon me under the spotlight, and I was ready, ready to take on the world. Here comes the next mogul, I thought. I was gonna be the P Diddy of black literature. And then, all of a sudden it came to a halt. Amazon decided to stake their claim in the publishing game by introducing the Kindle. First was the burial of Borders, and next came all the independent bookstores that supported my business before the big companies came calling. I feel a bit of gratitude to those independent bookstores, because they helped me establish my name in the game. However, it was hard to make end's meet when consignment was the name of the game. It was difficult and humbling to walk into a bookstore to find that all my books have been sold, but the owner couldn't cut me a check owed to me.
We ignored many things that were going wrong with the industry, and at the end, we have to suffer the consequences. Some of us became complacent, while others embraced the new change that was to come. At the end of the day, I can only say that I'm still a writer, and the ride has yet to end.
Please check out all my books on amazon and my website at www.rjpublications.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=richard%20jeanty&sprefix=Richard+Jea%2Cstripbooks%2C397
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