I never had much use for Kanye West or his music. (Even his "George Bush doesn't care about black people" moment in the aftermath of Katrina quickly revealed itself to be not much more than a marketing gimmick.)

But here's the thing: for me, as a conservative black guy and an old-school Race Man in the tradition of Douglass and DuBois, the moment Kanye West became absolutely dead to me was when he spoke disdainfully about books and reading. That was a moment when I thought he did as much damage as one person could do to the cause of Us Getting It Together.

Stanley Crouch often points out that historically, the one thing every stratum of black society could agree on —from doctors and lawyers, to working-class joes, to the criminal underclass—was "you youngbloods need to hit those books". Sixty years ago, the dealers and hustlers hanging around black barbershops in neighborhoods like South Central LA (where Crouch grew up) were as fulla shit as their modern counterparts—but almost to a man, they would tell young black boys to make sure they studied, to get as much as possible out of whatever was on offer at the public school and the public library.

Now here we have a kind of modern-day wannabe hustler—a studiously ill-mannered mediocrity whose mom dressed him nice and sent him to a decent school—telling the legions of black youths who (unfortunately) look up to him, that in his learned opinion, reading isn't all that important. That was the moment he betrayed the heritage of black achievement that allowed him to have a middle-class upbringing. That was the moment he truly sold out.

What I noticed then was that the (supposedly well-read) Professional Black Media Class was deafeningly silent on this betrayal—thereby demonstrating its total uselessness. What I notice now is that this same class of people is up in arms because Kanye West wore a MAGA hat and spoke positively about President Trump. Trump is another person who I don't have much use for, but one benefit of reading ought to be a sense of goddamned proportion.

I am an American and I love my country, broken though its politics are (the Democratic Party has forgotten the working class, and the Republican Party has forgotten conservatism). But I would rather go a decade without political parties—or a century without elections—than a single day without books.

That is, as long as I don't have to read anything about Kanye Fucking West.

-Carbon Mike

James, Alex here from Myth of the 20th Century

Not sure what your thoughts on Greg Cochran are (Lynn reads him) but I thought you should see this post if you hadn't already:

Nothing particularly new here, but it's a great synthesis of a picture of that early Bronze age expansion that's become impossible to deny now that some genetic results are in. Seemed up your ally.

I would also add that yours and Lynn's podcast has reached new heights. You were talking about Mycenae in the latest one released which was fun to listen to. I've been on a Mycenaean kick of late, the whole bronze age is just a really compelling.

Best,

-Alex

Jordan Peterson | The Most Terrifying IQ Statistic

-JL

"These horrible people do everything"

- Jordan Peterson on Price's Law

-JL

know I mentioned Peyton Quinn when we last spoke, and you seemed curious as to how he was doing, so below is a (non-combat) Video. It's about 5 minutes long:

-Gina C.

Hello James,

Your two books “Fighting Edge” and “Logic of Steel” resonated with my colleagues and I a good 10-15 years ago. We started a karate club in 1965 as a route to improving our street fighting (we did quite a bit of bouncing then).

The Club continues to this day, although distinguishing between the traditional Okinawan karate that we continue to practice, and unarmed combat. Different animals, as you well know.

I bought 6 of each and circulated them amongst our senior members as required reading on discovering them. I wrote to you through Paladin Press sometime around 2008 I think with a view to meeting with you. I was still working in San Diego at that time. I didn’t receive a response, so assumed Paladin hadn’t passed the letter on.

back in Australia now.

You can find us at theballaratkarateclub.com.au if you’d like to take a look. Would like to hear more.

Best regards,

James, link should read

ballaratkarateclub.com.au

There are a few “wannabe” web sites that have adopted similar names - we have a great reputation in our community which others would like to hijack... nothing new there I guess!

Best regards,

Barry

Can men worship a savior unless they know what it is to be a savior?

The feminization and subsequent failure of the church in the west, source of the quote above:

Polish bikers getting a blessing:

://mobile.twitter.com/polanddaily/status/984199330503553024&ved=2ahUKEwjquqedwc7aAhVMZKwKHdN8BzkQFjAUegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw0ItVYQRA3nd9Neh9Q4UQfi

-Lynn

Unarmed British Bobbette raped while trying to arrest a rapist:

You can't make this stuff up.

Shep

Nice view.

-Anonymous

It looks like you are one step closer to no cars. Baltimore is in on the list for the updated Amazon Prime. That means same day deliveries, Whole Foods delivery, and restaurant delivery (sounds like Uber Eats).

Congrats!

-Jamie

This is a joke James, but sad how true it is.

Be safe.

Big Ron

On wrestling

Rural Wyoming was toughest state, Star Valley, Afton Wyoming had the best teams.

Brock won 3 titles, state champ freshman 118lb second place 125, sophomore, state champ 140, junior, state champ 160 senior.

Rural schools dominate with top wrestlers. 2a 3a beating 4a 5a city teams.

One of my best days as a father, Brock trashed the team captain of and state champ of Colorado, Grand Junction 12 to 2, he made sport of Brock during the weigh ins, never seen him so determined to win.

125 lb class, he was just a sophomore, the other kid was a senior, over confident and ready for a fall!

-Ishmael

If you haven't seen this already i think you know what this is

-Teutonic Fist

Sucker punch: small town boxing in rural America is going mainstream - but who benefits?

The America That Awaits

A View of the World that is Coming to Us

Unreported World El Salvador The Child Assassins

Mugabe's reign of terror | Unreported World