Sex Crimes, Congo & The United Nations

Didier Bourguet, a U.N. official from France, is pictured here in an image found on his hard drive, which was obtained by ABC News. Also on the hard drive were thousands of photos of him having sex with hundreds of young Congolese girls. (ABC News)
 

I was messing around at Lisa Samson's blog and read something that shocked the bejesus out of me. I had to stop reviewing a book to add this discovery to my blog.

You can click on the title to read ABC News Investigative report on United Nations Sex Crimes in the African Congo for more detail. But the gist of the story "includes reported rapes of young Congolese girls by U.N. troops; an Internet pedophile ring run from Congo by Didier Bourguet, a senior U.N. official from France; a colonel from South Africa accused of molesting his teenage male translators; and estimates of hundreds of underage girls having babies fathered by U.N. soldiers who have been able to simply leave their children and their crimes behind."

Right now I am so saddened by the news I can't comment. But I can tell you that although I am in america where everything seems to be safe, I fear for myself and my five year old daughter most. What kind of world have we created for our children?

Yesterday, I wanted to write a fun story about a whacky woman trying to find herself when everything is changing around her, but today I feel that God wants me to write more than fluff. With news like this, I'm starting to believe it. I find myself wanted to dig deeper, but don't know how far to go. I find myself wanting to write deeper, but afraid I'll go too far.

But those men went too far for the wrong reasons. Someone has to go too far for the right.

Writing to see what the end gon' be,
Dee

Rise of the Sistah Agent-Kimberly Matthews

Last year, I began to seek literary agent referrals. Two friends in the writing community- Christian fiction, author, Jacqueline Thomas and RAW SISTAZ Book Club President, Tee C. Royal both referred me to the same person—Kimberly T. Matthews. For me I found that coincidence very interesting and so, I had to make contact with her and she has been kind enough to grant me an interview. You can click on the title and it will redirect you to my Suite101.com Channel.

...It’s frustrating for me to ask an author to send sample chapters,
and then have the author turn around,,and ask me "what do you mean by sample chapters?"

And stick around in my suite... I have some interviews from Pam Perry, Owner of Christian PR Company, Ministry Marketing Solutions, christian fiction author, Kendra Norman Bellamy, Tia McCollor's literary agent, Sha Shana Crichton and christian small press publisher, LaMonica Smith.

I hope you enjoy!

Writing to see what the end gon’ be,

Dee

Blacksandbooks.com/Separate, but Equal

Separate, but Equal is implied, according to this comprehensive site on the black book industry. Maybe we will get to the bottom of our answer about what is Black Christian Fiction.

Target Market News and Black Issues Book Review form strategic alliance to create news and information source

(February 1, 2005) BlacksandBooks.com, a new information Web site, has been launched to target those who want authoritative business information about African-American authors, publishers and booksellers. The new venture brings together Target Market News and Black Issues Book Review magazine in a strategic alliance.

"We have long recognized the need for more trade information about African-Americans' rising profile in book publishing - not just as authors, but as publishing professionals, booksellers, agents and consumers," says Ken Smikle, founder, president and publisher of Target Market News, which is publishing BlacksandBooks.com.

"The African-American consumer market represents one of the leading growth opportunities in the publishing industry," continues Smikle. "We have seen black household spending on books grow from $258 million in 1996 to $331 million spent in 2003 [the most recent year in which data is available].

In the weeks ahead BlacksandBooks.com will be adding exclusive news stories, features and statistics related to African-Americans and book publishing. The Web site will also track the sales figures and bestselling book figures for titles by and for African-Americans.

Black Issues Book Review (BIBR) founding editor and editorial director Susan McHenry is editing BlacksandBooks.com from New York City, while she continues contributing to BIBR and its web site bibookreview.com. The the two companies will be cross-promoting their sites and collaborating on other resources.

"BlacksandBooks.com is very fortunate to have Susan McHenry as our editor," says founding publisher Smikle. "Her extensive experience will be invaluable in establishing the unique information environment that we're seeking for the site."

"The content we are launching with is just a modest example of how we intend to change the flow of information and availability of these facts," said Smikle. "We believe that we can ultimately change the paradigm of how African-Americans are viewed in the publishing business."

Target Market News, a Chicago-based news and research company that specializes in tracking African-American marketing, media and consumer behavior, owns TargetMarketNews.com.
Click here to go to BlacksandBooks.com.