2nd Podcast of Supreme Design Publishing

C'BS ALife builds with promotional assistant, Deniz Lopez, on using myspace as a promotional tool for Supreme Design Publishing. Insight into how it is not dead in the social networking landscape. Also insight into social networking landscape in general.

Myspace isn't dead.

Make sure your smart phone is really smart...

From the beeper, to the chunky cell phones, to the Star Trek slim jammies that we're carrying around nowadays.  Even if a person is struggling to make ends meet they've got a cell phone.  If anything cell phones are the one essential piece of technology that everyone must have.  And it isn't enough just to have 'a phone.'  You're phone has to be tricked out with text features, internet access, and if you're really balling you have a smart phone with a gang of apps.  The key thing to notice though is that no matter what the hood or barrio the cell phone represents the future that is in people's hands.

Many reporters often speak on how Original people in low income areas don't have access to technology.  While this is true on many level it doesn't point to the true tragedy.  The true issue is that many don't have technological literacy.  They have access to the technology yet don't really knowledge what to do with it beyond having a high tech toy.  I mean really, ringtones?  That's the height of 'technological literacy' that some have.  Yet Supreme Design Publishing (and by extension it's sister imprint Two Horizons Press) wants to let the people know again, you hold the future in your hands already.

For instance in many parts of Africa people are using their cell phones to conduct business and do their banking. It works as a mini computer for them.  It also is a necessity since many people live miles from banks and don't have immediate access.

So what does that have to do with us?  Ebooks.

If you have a BlackBerry check out this link which explains some of the ebook readers out there and how to use your BlackBerry as an PDF reader.

If you have an iphone or itouch check out this link which explains some of the ebook readers out there and how to use your itouch/iphone as a PDF Reader.

You have within the palm of your hands the ability to carry around a library with you.  You don't even have to have a designated ebook reader like a Kindle (though we do have a Kindle version of How to Hustle and Win available).  With a designated PDF reader on your computer or phone or with an an ebook reader on your phone you can check out the first two ebooks available from Supreme Design's sister imprint Two Horizon Press. Step into the future with us.

Black Rebellion: Eyewitness Accounts of Major Slave Revolts edited by Dr. Sujan Dass (Two Horizons Press)
A collection of historical literature documenting major slave revolts and uprisings throughout the Americas, written by contemporaries and eyewitnesses. Contains accounts of Nat Turner's Revolt, Gabriel Prosser's Rebellion, Denmark Vesey's Conspiracy, the Stono Rebellion, the Haitian Revolution, and the Maroon Wars of Jamaica and Surinam.

From Poverty to Power: The Realization of Prosperity and Peace by James Allen (Two Horizons Press)
James Allen, author of the classic As a Man Thinketh, takes readers on another journey of self discovery in this empowering text. Allen explores the power of the conscious mind in transforming the conditions of one's life and how one can harness all of their innate powers.
 

Lessons from Haiti

Haiti is on everyone's mind. The question is, "Where do we go from here?" Perhaps I can contribute my insight. In outline form, I'm going to address several salient issues related to Haiti, because now is the best time for such a discussion. The reason for this is addressed in my first point below.

1. When tragedy strikes, the FIRST thing you should do is see how you can help, and then DO SO. The moment I heard about the earthquake, I immediately thought HAARP (the govt. program that can actually affect the weather, creating hurricanes and other "natural" disasters - Google it). But I thought it would be very distasteful and disrespectful to start talking conspiracies before I even lent a hand. I gave to Yele, though I couldn't match Tiger Woods' $3 million donation, but I also promoted humanitarian efforts extensively so that the people could receive some tangible aid. Those efforts continue, but NOW the people are interested in Haiti and its history. So NOW we can talk about some of those issues, but the question remains: What are you doing about it? Most of us can't do much to rescue the people trapped in the rubble (though some of us CAN afford to catch a flight and help), but texting $5 to Yele is STILL more than you can do about HAARP! What you gonna do? Go to Alaska and kick in their door? Some of us obsess over conspiracies because we're consumed by fear, and that's the only thing we can talk about - what we're scared of.

2. Haiti has an immensely rich history. Most salient is the fact that it was the first free Black republic (since European colonialism of course), because it hosted the first and only MAJOR successful slave revolt. Sure, Nat Turner and em killed 30 folks, and Harrient Tubman freed 200 slaves, but only Toussaint and his homeys actually took over a country and kicked white folks OUT like the movie Avatar.

3. Haiti's defeat of Europeans is like a black (no pun intended) stain on white folks' collective consciousness about their history. They've hated Haiti for a LONG time (since 1791 to be exact). That's where all those embargos and sanction came from. Yes, embargoes and sanctions, plus predatory lending from the IMF is why Haiti has been the so-called poorest country in the universe...not because Haitians are lazy welfare mothers or whatever Bill O'Reilly might be saying. Because anyone who knows Haitians knows there are some hard-working hustlers like you've never heard of.

4. Not only is Haiti hated, it's full of stuff white people want. Like tons of gold in the mountains (google it), other resources, and of course, land that white people once owned. And you know white folks don't play when they want some land. (See "Trail of Tears" or "Hurricane Katrina" for examples).

5. Europeans hated the Black rebels of Haiti enough for French General LeClerc to write to Napoleon during the war, saying:

"You will have to exterminate all the blacks in the mountains, women as well as men, except for children under twelve. Wipe out half the population of the lowlands, and do not leave in the colony a single black who has worn an epaulet [served in the army]"

Napoleon pulled out all the stops to defeat Toussaint and em (I say "and em" because he, like most "leaders" wasn't "alone". See "MLK" for one example). He got Toussaint's mulatto generals to betray him, sent thousands of troops, everything. Finally, Toussaint was captured.

Napoleon would later confess:

"My decision to destroy the authority of the blacks in Saint Dominque (Haiti) is not so much based on considerations of commerce and money, as on the need to block for ever the march of the blacks in the world."

Damn! Talk about puttin it all out there!

Yet - as Toussaint promised when he said “Now they have felled the trunk of the Negroes’ tree of liberty,” as he looked upon Haiti for the last time, “However, new shoots will sprout because the roots are deep and many” - Toussaint's former generals (even some who had turned against him) realized Napoleon planned to reinstate slavery (duh!), and they banded together to smash the French.

6. Speaking of how the French got smashed, we know it wasn't just the Black rebels who did them in. We also had a yellow ally: Yellow Fever. While some sources claim mysterious mystical forces in the defeat of the Europeans, Toussaint - although pious and religious in his personal life - didn't get down like that. Neither does the historical record. Toussaint was aware of the fact that Yellow Fever would strike when the Spring rains came...not when prayers summoned it up. In a letter to his general, Dessalines, he wrote:

The Governor-General [Toussaint Louverture] to General Dessalines, Commander-in-chief of the army of the West.

HEADQUARTERS GONAÏVES, Feb. 8, 1802.

There is no reason for despair, Citizen-General, if you can succeed in removing from the [French] troops that have landed the resources offered to them by Port Republican [Port-au-Prince]. Endeavor, by all the means of force and address, to set that place on fire; it is constructed entirely of wood; you have only to send into it some faithful emissaries. Are there none under your orders devoted enough for this service? Ah! my dear General, what a misfortune that there was a traitor in that city, and that your orders and mine were not put into execution.
Watch the moment when the garrison shall be weak in consequence of expeditions into the plains, and then try to surprise and carry that city, falling on it in the rear.
Do not forget, while waiting for the rainy season which will rid us of our foes, that we have no other resource than destruction and flames. Bear in mind that the soil bathed with our sweat must not furnish our enemies with the smallest aliment. Tear up the roads with shot; throw corpses and horses into all the fountains; burn and annihilate everything, in order that those who have come to reduce us to slavery may have before their eyes the image of that hell which they deserve.

Salutation and Friendship,

(Signed) TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE

Gangster!

7. The history of revolution in Haiti goes back much further than him. The first major revolt on the island was led by an African named Macandal. He went to war with the Europeans for SIX years...mostly killing them off through guerrilla warfare and poisoning (he was a highly knowledgeable herbalist). His forces took about 6,000 lives before he was capture. On January 20, 1758, Macandal was to be burned at the stake when he promised that he was immortal, and he would return and seek vengeance. And before Macandal there was the rebellion of Padrejean in 1676. This type of stuff is not a one-time event. Revolution is a PROCESS.

8. Finally, Toussaint was just like us. In fact, he had it better than most of us. He wasn't even involved in the fighting to begin with. Because he was well-provided for by his overseer, he commented:

“We went to labor in the fields, my wife and I, hand in hand. Scarcely were we conscious of the fatigues of the day. Heaven always blessed our toil. Not only we swam in abundance, but we had the pleasure of giving food to blacks who needed it.”

In fact, Toussaint, like many other revolutionaries, could be considered middle-class (given the context). Like Steve Biko, Frantz Fanon, and Che Guevara, he was a doctor before he became a rebel leader! As he wrote to Biassou, one of the generals of a rebellion then being led by Dutty Boukman:

Grande Riviere

This October 15, 1791

My very dear friend:

In keeping with the request I just made of the Spanish and daily awaiting the thing I asked for, I beg of you to wait until we are in a better state before going on to what you have the kindness to write me about. I have too much of a wish to go, but in all the habitations I would like to have crowbars in order to have the rocks of the mountains of Haut du Cap fall to prevent them [the slaveowner’s forces] from approaching us for I think they have no other means without exposing their people to a slaughter. I ask that you make sure with the spy you have sent to have him clearly explain where the powder works are in Haut du Cap so we can succeed in taking the powder works. Thus my friend you can see if I took precautions in this affair you can tell this toBouqueman [Boukman]. As for Jean Francois he can still go in a carriage with his ladies, but he hasn’t done me the honor of writing to me for several days. I am very surprised by this. If you need tafia I will send you some when you'd like, but try to use it sparingly. They must not be given this so they won’t be disturbed. Send me a few barrows for I need them to transport wood to put up the cabins at the tannery for my people.

I ask you to assure your mother and sister of my humble respect.

I have the honor, my dear friend, of being your very humble, obedient servant.

To M. Biassou, brigadier of the King’s Army at Grand Boucan

[signed]
General Doctor

Toussaint wasn't suffering in the fields, but his people were. He knew right from wrong. And he decided to give his life, and all within his power to make things right. So what's your excuse?

Supreme Understanding

How we do what we do.

Cooperative Economics, Socialism, Communal Finances, call it what you will.  It's just the reverse of some old Scrooge McDuck figure at the top keeping all the wealth for himself.  We at Supreme Design Publishing actually advocate that we can all bake this pie, cook this pie, and slice it nicely so that everyone can get their piece of it.  What a notion.

In America most things are set up on a corrupted capitalistic model where there is a small circle of people getting rich off of the labor of the poor.  Record labels are one of the key examples out there. 

Now don't get it twisted.  We're a business and we're going to make a profit.  Yet we have a set of values and ethics that allows us to be successful while at the same time improving the lot of those who are partners with Supreme Design Publishing and all of those connected with us at any level.  We refuse to move with the current business paradigm that is out there.  So we have decided to create our own.  In the spirit of transparency I want to put it out there how we do some of what we do.

*On all levels we move with Original People.  Everyone on the staff, our brokers, our printers (both in India and China), our graphic artists, our editors, our promoters, etc.   Also by being our own selves with Original People we allow them to also be their own selves.  Down to international business representatives feeling comfortable enough with us to use their names in their own languages vs some English alternate name that they think they need to use in order to do business with people in the United States.

*We have an internal investment/profit sharing structure where everyone on staff has the opportunity to be involved in the production of every product out of Supreme Design Publishing.  This allows a return in proportion to a person's investment. No one is making money without labor.  Yet everyone who labors is making money.  Our format is so ill that it allows all (contributors, editors, promoters, etc) to be on equal footing in terms of profit sharing.

*We're working to fully actualize this communal/collective economics on all level.  Realizing that we don't want to be affiliated with 'rich slave makers of the poor' on any level we have started to integrate using open source programming in our business.  Utilizing Open Source programs like Open Office or Open Source operating systems like Ubuntu allows us to not become dependent on monopolies like MicroSoft which have questionable practices.  Open Source allows for us to be invovled in a worldwide community whose goal is collective improvement of technology.

And this is just a little of how we do what we do.

PodOmatic | Podcast - ALife Allah's Podcast - Introduction to Supreme Design

Supreme Understanding and C'BS Alife introduce yall to Supreme Design Publishing...First topic: Changing the Game (Corporation vs Corruption).

PodOmatic | Podcast - ALife Allah's Podcast - Introduction to Supreme Design

Lie to the Kids...They're Dying Anyway, Right?

A Personal Statement from Dr. Sujan Dass, also known as Supreme Understanding:

All around us, Black children are dying. Some are dying quick, brutal deaths at the hands of criminals and abusive relatives. But many others are dying the slow, painful deaths we would associate with those afflicted by a terminal illness. If you think this is some sort of poetic exaggeration, think carefully. A young man who doesn't expect to live to see 21 isn't really living life anymore. He's simply living to die. And like anyone diagnosed with a terminal illnesses, he's likely to see little point in pursuing productivity for what little time he does have. After all, for what?

Black youth are surrounded by images of poverty and despair, while being bombarded by ideas of their own inability and inferiority. The majority of Black youth who are born into poverty are more aware of these facts than any author who has written about them. They did not need Jonathan Kozol to tell them they were a bastard generation, scraping for leftovers. Everywhere they look, they see adults struggling for self-determination, and failing miserably. They are raised in households where adults have little time available to raise their children, often because these adults are busy humiliating themselves for a minimum wage, or because the adults never fully matured into adulthood themselves. So Black youth born into poverty spend a great deal of time watching television. As a result, they witness the mythical utopias of the "good life" where whites live well simply by being themselves, while Blacks become prosperous only by personifying the most negative stereotypes…or playing ball.

Our youth have little hope for the future. Sure, they may mouth empty promises of becoming firefighters and astronauts in grade school, but by middle school they are fully disenchanted and dejected. They now shrug their shoulders when asked, and when prodded, it becomes clear that they have very few realistic plans for the future. It makes sense, how can this young person offer enthusiastic optimism for the future when he knows that very little opportunity exists for his dreams to become reality? We fault our Black students for not planning better for the future. Perhaps we should fault ourselves more, for not creating a society where they can feel that they actually have a future in the first place.

The old adage is that School + Hard Word = Success. This is believed by the majority of people who are academically successful. Unfortunately, academic success doesn’t readily translate into success in life. When Black youth witness their older friends and relatives - many of whom are high school graduates - still struggling to make ends meet, they begin to realize that the old formula was something of a falsehood. This begins occurring as early as the third grade, when Black boys begin disconnecting from the school and making their own rules. It is between third and fourth grade that Black boys begin seriously falling behind their peers academically. It is between third and fourth grade that Black boys begin increasingly accumulating disciplinary infractions and being sentenced as juveniles. It is between third and fourth grade that these Black boys begin realizing that they've been lied to.

Regardless of the inspirational slogans plastered across school walls, there is no easy road to success for Black people. The few who become successful are the exception to the rule, not the rule itself. They are the minority who were able to navigate the complex dichotomies of being Black and poor in urban America, and somehow making it somewhere else…far, far away, of course. Black youth don't need Howard Zinn to figure this out. They can tell that freedom, justice, and equality - although benign ideals - are rarely realized in this society. The scales are weighted in the favor of the people who already have the power, privilege, and prestige, and all evidence suggest that little can be done to change that fact. In fact, the gap between the haves and have-nots is wider in America than in many third-world nations. Our young Black boys are acutely aware of this fact, even more so than their female counterparts. Without knowing the statistics, no Black boy would be surprised to hear that one out of three Black males will end up in juvenile detention or boot camp, before progressing to adult prison, probation, or parole. They won't be surprised because they can see it all around them. They don't need a scholar or statistician to convince them. And they aren't prepared to sit back idly, conform, and take whatever hell life has to offer them, in the vain hopes that one day things will improve. Our testosterone-laden boys are filled full of rage and frustration - some of them silent, some of them vocal, but all of them angry.

They are angry with the status quo, for allowing these wretched conditions to exist. They are angry with white people, for creating these conditions, and then pointing fingers of blame. They are angry with poverty, for making the drug trade seem more promising than an honest living. They are angry with the schools, for teaching an obsolete curriculum full of false promises and useless information. And they are angry with us, for not doing anything about any of it.
Our youth are angry enough with their present life to have lost an interest in prolonging this pain into old age. Our youth are living to die. So they see no point in delaying their needs for instant gratification. They are not concerned with our religions and value systems, many of which have seen us little benefit. They see more wisdom in being raised by an older teenager with money than a poverty-stricken parent with problems of their own. They are motivated by sensory thrill and material gain. Why not? They have little else to look forward to.

It is for this reason that the middle class's attempts to improve Black culture by chastising Black youth have been unsuccessful. The attempts to change our young men's lives by forcing them to pull up their pants and attend school daily have been misguided at best. We have failed to hear our boys crying in silences while screaming in defiance. We have missed their accuracy of their perception, which in many cases, has been a clearer vision than our own. We have ignored the proverb that "great wisdom will come out of the mouths of babies," and have instead leaned to our own understandings. Perhaps we are wrong. Perhaps the answer is not more school, more manners, and more sitting still in your seat and listening to teacher.

Perhaps our children are watching us being destroyed, and they refuse to be destroyed in the same way. Perhaps our children are watching us destroy ourselves, and they have lost respect for us as a result. It is quite obvious that a change must occur among Black youth. But who is responsible for creating the society where such changes will prove to be rewarding? Perhaps we, too, must change.

Supreme Design Publishing - Reinventing the World

What is Supreme Design Publishing?

Supreme Understanding here. I won't be the only one posting at this blog (we actually have a staff now!), but, knowing me, I'll probably still be all over this blog. So, at times, this blog may become semi-autobiographical, comical, or downright controversial. The remaining 15% of the posts will be comprised of the straight dope on what's happening at Supreme Design Publishing. I thought I'd start things off with a brief missive on what our company is all about, for those who don't know.

About Our Company
Founded in 2006, Supreme Design Publishing is an independent press dedicated to the urban community. Our titles cover all areas of the urban experience – from music to politics – but present the information in a way that “hits home” with readers, as well as non-readers. Our authors are expected to offer life-changing information in plain English, using mainstream urban culture as reference points. We take complex concepts, such as self-actualization and socialist economics, and make them easy and accessible.

Our Vision
Our company motto is “Reinventing the World.” Our vision at Supreme Design Publishing is to empower the powerless, give voice to the voiceless, and engender widespread social change through the education of common people.

Our Mission
Since our inception, our mission at Supreme Design Publishing has been tri-fold:
1) To create a viable means for economic development among people of color that doesn't involve exploitation or profiteering.
2) To increase awareness of the Five Percent, particularly the relevance of their pedagogy in developing effective solutions to modern-day problems.
3) To improve the lives of the millions of people who are not being sufficiently aided by nonprofit organizations, government agencies, schools, and other failed measures.

Our History
For two years after its inception in 2006, Supreme Design Publishing, and its founder, Supreme Understanding, yours truly, struggled to generate profits. With my credit wrecked by the recent real estate crash in Atlanta, I found it impossible to secure a small business loan. Eventually, using start-up funds borrowed from friends and a credit card advance, I was able to finance the printing of 3,000 copies of his first book. How to Hustle and Win in the Summer of 2008. In less than six months, all 3,000 copies had sold, and Supreme Design Publishing’s first release had become an instant bestseller in urban communities across the country. Needless to say, this was a rare accomplishment for a book of its kind. By the next year, the book was in its 3rd printing.
As a result of this flagship book, thousands of lives have been positively impacted, many of whom were previously "non-readers." The spread of How to Hustle and Win, like all of the books that would follow, was mainly the work of the hundreds of dedicated young supporters throughout the country who saw our vision. They sold and promoted our books, and in turn we provided them at discounts so significant that our vendors and retailers made more money off our books than us. And that was part of the plan. It's not about the money. It's about the message. When we released Knowledge of Self, we committed to a retail price of an unbeatable $9.95. That's unheard of for a 256 page book! What's also unheard of is that we employed only people of color in the writing, design, production, and shipping processes that produced the book. This is a feat few companies can boast. But as our motto suggests, we are serious about the business of reinventing the world. And this idea permeates even into the very nature of our business model. Unlike other publishing companies that pay their authors a pitiful 10% royalty on earnings, we employ a profit-sharing model based on socialist economics. Our corporate ladder is not a ladder, but a web of shared responsibility. Even our profit margins are dictated by weighing the needs of the people against our need for revenue. The people always win. This is why we set our retail prices lower than any other books of comparable length, depth, and quality. This is also why, even at our low prices, our books are still available at steep discounts to anyone interested in sharing in our revenue stream. In the end, Supreme Design Publishing exists for the benefit of the people…and as long as the people continue to support our vision, we will continue to produce great literature. It is our vision that this great literature, in turn, will produce the change we want to see in the world.