Arsenal Pulp Press sends contract I reject it and mail it back the Cheap $50 dollar contract Expresspost

Well around noon today I received two copies of the gay anthology “Seminal” and a contract from Arsenal Pulp Press. And sure enough the contract had a lot of ludicrious and very unprofessional clauses. First, I thank god that I bought the Writer’s Union of Canada’s book on Anthology Contracts and Rates. Arsenal Pulp Press unprofessionalism to dupe me to accept $50 dollars for my poem is bullshit. Arsenal Pulp Press also wanted to have my poem republished in later editions. I DECLINED. I rejected it because its a matter of prinicple. I made sure of course that I photocopied the whack contract. And I mailed the two copies of Seminal, the horrible contract unsigned Expresspost. I refused the contract because I know Arsenal Pulp Press are unprofessional. Its really insincere that they feel they can dupe me out of my rightful compensation. I never signed the contract there is NO AGREEMENT. According to the Writer’s Union of Canada’s guidelines I can ask the publisher between $500 to $2000 dollars. And that’s exactly what I did. I cannot believe Arsenal Pulp Press.  It is really deleterious what they are doing. And I have to say to all those other writers that may be reading this post. I strongly suggest go to WWW.WRITERSUNION.CA  and please read about your RIGHTS. DO NOT accept ANYTHING FROM A PUBLISHER THAT YOU FEEL IS WRONG OR UNJUST. And that’s exactly what I did. I even sent back the two books expresspost because I am disgusted with Arsenal Pulp Press. My conscience is clear I am glad I was able to compose my letter to Arsenal Pulp Press and let them know they are unfair, cheap and wrong. As I wrote in my letter let me be blunt $50 dollars for my poem is cheap and then they want me to grant them additonal rights to publish my work in future publications absolutely not!!

The Writer’s Union of Canada Anthology Rates and Contracts

I am really shocked at how quickly I received my copy of the Writer’s Union of Canada’s booklet I mailed out the cheque on Thursday and got the book on Monday morning!  Anyone that wants to know about your rights with the Canadian publishing industry should really buy this booklet.  The booklet I bought was the  “Antholgogy Rates and Contracts. Well as I expected Arsenal Pulp Press are certified bottom feeders. According to the Writer’s Union of Canada booklet no writer should be offered $50 dollars per poem. Arsenal Pulp Press are classic cheap and tacky publishers. I am trying to do my best to rise above the negativity but its hard.

Its really hard because I’ve been though this shit before with TSAR. As far as I am concerned people will try to rip a writer off anyway they can. The thing is I have been trying to be more cognizant of my rights. I never signed anything with Arsenal Pulp Press. I had no idea that they would be this deleterious!  

 I  think this is the hardest part of the business of writing. The thing is I am glad I bought the book because I learning so much. I will say this anyone that is interested in writing please go to the Writer’s Union of Canada’s website knowledge is power and you have the right to know your rights. The Writer’s Union of Canada website is WWW.WRITERSUNION.CA I also want to point out the booklet that I bought was a fair price only nine dollars but the  information in it is simply incredible. Here is the thing though I NEVER was sent a contract by Arsenal Pulp Press. I will NEVER EVER send my work to an anthology again. Arsenal Pulp Press has NOT sent me a contract and they better not be sending some cheap cheque of a mere $50 dollars because that’s highway robbery and total bullshit! I doubt very much Arsenal Pulp Press offered a mere $50 dollars per poem to white gay writers RM Vaughn and Sky Gilbert. 

And see this is the reason why I don’t bother with the white gay community. I am being damn serious. I don’t got time for their games and their bullshit! Billeh Nickerson is full of shit when he told me that he did not have the time to send out all contracts to the writers.  I am sure Nickerson had the time to send contracts to the white gays that’s for sure.Why the fuck would Nickerson take on the job of being co editor of an anthology if he can’t even do the fucking job right? The anthology was published in April 2007 its not June 2007. I have spoken to another writer whose poem is in the anthology and he’s not happy either about it and neither am I.

French Open women’s final zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Women’s tennis is more boring then ever. Justine Henin destroyed Ana Ivanovic so quickly it was all zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.  The WTA desperately needs the Williams Sisters back on top. Serena has fulfilled her part but Venus continues to languish in the background. Sport needs exciting personalities and right now the WTA has just Serena but she can’t do it all alone. Serena’s rival Justine Henin is about as exciting as burnt toast. Henin is very talented but she’s also comes across as very unfriendly like Maria Sharapova the ice queen of the WTA.  The grand slam finals for women’s tennis for the last couple of years have been very boring and very one sided affairs. I clicked off the match once I realized the final was going to be one way traffic.

I didn’t think Serbian teen Ana Ivanovic was going to beat world no.1 Justine Henin in the French Open women’s final. However, I did think she could of at least won a set. However, Ivanovic let nerves overwhelm her and she imploded. Henin won the match 6-1 6-2. Henin won the entire event in straight sets in only 65 minutes. However, I felt empty after the match. Henin became only the  second woman in the modern Open era after Monica Seles to have won the French Open three years in a row. Henin is simply a boring person with no personality and no it isn’t because of the language barrier. Ivanovic I hope she develops and becomes a champion she has a very easy going kind of personality and women’s tennis needs new stars.   The WTA needs Indian tennis star Sania Mirza to get her ranking up. I am so sick and tired of these zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz finals.

“Shades Of Blackface” published in New Zealand Herald today

My article “Shades Of Blackface” was published in the New Zealand Herald today.  I am pleased the article got published because I believe it is a very important piece. I hope people in New Zealand were able to read the article on the internet and in print. I pitched the article to North American publications and of course they all flat rejected the article. I wondered why? And now I don’t even have to wonder. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are the ” golden” white couple of Hollywood. The hypocrisy and silence of the North American media on this very important issue is not surprising.  White Hollywood doesn’t give a crap if talented black actors don’t get quality work. 

  

 link:http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10444455&pnum=0

Canadian TV Ignores Young Black Canadian Men nothing new of course

   I was watching Global national news just a few minutes ago  and I noticed something well maybe I already knew but now I’m going to talk about it. Where are the young black male anchors? I can turn on CNN and  see TJ Holmes and  Don Lemon.  I can turn on Buffalo news and see black anchors and its nice to see. Its not strange or bizarre to go on the web and read articles by black journalists from the United States. Now of course the racial diversity in the USA newsroom isn’t as great as it should be. However, the USA newsrooms are a hell lot more racially diverse then Canada. CNN still has their weekend ghetto where they lump the majority of their anchors of colour on the weekends. Anyhow at least I can see people that look like me on American news.

 I would never become a broadcast journalist because I don’t like how TV news works.  I like print media I feel I have more freedom when I write my articles then being under the gun of some TV producer that focuses more on image then substance. I wouldn’t last very long on Canadian TV because I am just too damn controversial.

     One thing I am really irritated by is the lack of black Canadian male anchors on the news. The black Canadian males we are the most feared men in all of Canada. The Canadian news networks do a great job of writing about the issue of “race and crime” and of course young black men we are always the link. However, has anyone ever questioned if what the media is reporting is an actual real representation of what is taking place in Canadian society?

 Of course in the media they never discuss what takes place in those pitch meetings where all the editors sit down and decide what stories they want to broadcast and why they want to broadcast them. TV producers and editors at the Canadian TV networks have their own racial prejudices and biases. Of course, you’ll never see that reported on the six O’ clock news. Young black men we have been demonized in Canada for decades and the people that run Canadian TV certainly aren’t very interested in having positive images of young black men on Canadian TV.

        The only so called positive images of young black men in Canada relates to entertainment such as pro athletes or rappers. I mean how many more news articles are there going to be about black NHL players. I never cared for hockey and I still don’t. I always found hockey to be so offensive and I can’t stand some of those hockey commentators.

I think  there is more to young black men then just  being  rappers and NBA basketball stars.  I don’t want to sound like a prude but what’s the big deal about this Lebron James character? I mean yes he’s a young black male in the NBA finals and he’s considered the “new Michael Jordan.” I mean I just cringe when I see the media focus so much on this young basketball player. Sure Lebron James is idolized because he fits perfectly into the stereotypical role of the black male athlete.  Is that all there is?

 Where are the positive cultural productions of black manhood? Where are the articles about the black male writers, doctors, scientists, teachers, parents? The one positive thing is that there are black media publications that do focus on the positive social contributions of young black men.

  And yet even reading Toronto black publications such as “Share” or “Pride” I even cringe even more. I mean no offense I don’t need to be patronized by some old black goat that’s over 60 with his big Masters and Doctorate degrees telling young black people we need to work “harder.” I also find it very frustrating that the Toronto black media is so patriarchal.

     TV news is all about the gloss and the image and not really about the news. The so called Canadian news is talking about Conrad Black. As if the common citizen gives a crap about Conrad Black?  If you turn on the Canadian TV networks now of course most of the anchors are white. However, the white male anchors so many of them are over the age of 50 yet the female anchors of course most of them are young, slim and pretty.

 I never see any black anchors on Global news. Sure, I know Nathan Downer, and Terese Sears are black reporters for Global yet they are never at the anchor desk. Usually whenever I watch Global there is always a very attractive young white woman that is a blonde or sometimes if Global wants to get diverse they will hire a young slim attractive Asian woman. Yet I have seen a black woman anchor on Global news. And I have never seen an Asian male reporter on Global news either at the anchor desk. I know Gus Kim works at Global he’s the only Asian male reporter I can think of that works there.

CITY TV is the only Canadian news network I can think of that really depicts the true racial diversity of Toronto. I have seen many anchors that are black and Asian on CITY TV. Over on CBC they used to have a young black male anchor a few years back for the CBC news I forget his name at the moment.  I know that CBC has one prominent black male reporter Ron Charles. I think that’s it Ron Charles is the only black reporter on TV o CBC news.  On CTV I have never seen a black male anchor on that network but they do have two black women anchors though. CTV is basically a whiteout. Oops take that back they got Marcy Ien and Andrea Case. Although it is positive that CTV has two black women anchors. Why don’t they have any men of colour as anchors? And why no black men?

The issue here is it isn’t just about the racial demographics of the Canadian news media that I question. I also question the ethics behind what the Canadian broadcast media decides is news.

   Black lesbian feminist Dionne Brand wrote in her  groundbreaking book 1994’s  “Bread Out of Stone” a chapter titled “Whose Gaze, and Who Speaks for Whom.” I remember reading this chapter  about how  we black people are viewed in Canada. I think about the social constructions of race, class, and gender, when I watch the news. People have to realize certain TV networks have their own biases of course. I also ponder about what the Canadian news media reports. The networks need to obtain viewers and they need to focus on racial triggers that gain more press. The recent shooting at a Toronto high school is a perfect example of this.

Canadian radio isn’t much better. I used to listen to CFRB 1010 I clicked CFRB off its just too damn racist for my taste. I moved on to AM 640 and I clicked that off as well. I don’t need to listen to some white male bigot complaining about immigrants, the Liberal government, women, feminists, gays. I noticed that the so called Toronto radio shock jocks just complain about marginalized groups and they do this to hype their white audience into a frenzy. I think Canadian talk radio such a racist myopic state it really is just a bunch of negative energy I have no use for.

 I have to turn to the USA media to find positive repsentations of blackness. I am so glad there is the internet I can click on WBAI radio in New York City or listen to Harlem Radio or Los Angeles or Houston. I can listen to black people on the internet radio discuss issues that are important to us.

Poem “Dear Langston Hughes” published in Gay Anthology “Seminal” But Wasn’t Consulted That The Poem Was Published!

Today is June 3rd 2007 and I had an interesting week. I found out on Thursday my poem “Dear Langston Hughes” was published in the first Canadian gay male anthology “Seminal” by Arsenal Pulp Press. However, the “Seminal” Anthology was published in April 2007. Why wasn’t I notified that my poem “Dear Langston Hughes” was published? I had to find out on Thursday that the poem was indeed published. I also HAVE NOT receive the required contract that would allow Arsenal Pulp Press to publish the poem. I also have not received the required compensation either. Billeh Nickerson the co editor of Seminal sends me an e-mail saying they can offer me $50 dollars for the poem to be published in an anthology.

I don’t think I have ever been more insulted in my entire life. Nickerson and Arsenal Pulp Press have absolutely no respect for me as a person and as an artist. Arsenal Pulp Press has money. Arsenal Pulp Press is a successful publishing company. However, they think because I am black they can disrespect me as a person and treat me as though I am inferior to a white person.

I am sure the editors of Seminal will be making a nice royalty. I think $50 dollars for a poem is absolutely very cheap and very unfair. I think if an artist completes work the artist should be compensated fairly. I just don’t believe Arsenal Pulp Press was very fair at all!

Now this will definitely be the last anthology that my work will appear in. I just don’t like the fact I wasn’t consulted by Aresnal Pulp Press and that I had to find out that my work had already been published in the gay anthology without my knowledge. I think Arsenal Pulp Press is really unprofessional.

I don’t like being patronized and I feel Nickerson and Barton think they can get away with this BS.