January 2014


www.hamptonroadsmessenger.com


Technology, Falling Literacy Writing End to African American-Owned Bookstores


Harmful FROM PAGE 4 BY FREDERICK LOWE The number of African-Amer-


ican-owned bookstores has dropped significantly since the late 1970s and 1980s due to a variety of factors, including corporate control of the Internet, waning literacy and fiscal mismanagement.


In the 1970s and 1980s, more than


1,000 black-owned bookstores were in business in the United States. Now only slightly more than 100, possibly 116 to 117, if that many, remain open, according to Troy Johnson, founder of the African American Literature Book Club (AALBC.com), which is based in New York.


“I would hope that I am wrong,”


Johnson told The NorthStar News & Analysis. Johnson added that many of the black-owned bookstores may be not be true book stores, but are gift shops that also sell books. Others may be white-owned bookstores that have a large inventory of books that target African-American readers.


Founded in 1960, Marcus Books


is the nation’s oldest, independent, black bookstore, but the San Francisco store was on the verge of being closed by the owners of the building where it is housed.


Earlier this month, Marcus’ owners


reached an agreement to purchase the building for $2.6 million. Marcus’ owners, Karen and Greg Johnson, have until the end of February to raise the funds and close the deal, according to local news reports. The current owner purchased the building in a bankruptcy sale. Marcus Books operates a second store in Oakland, Calif.


In 2012, Johnson posted on


his blog, titled “The Death of the Black-owned Independent Bookstore," that 141-black-owned bookstores across the nation had closed since the late 1990s.


Retirement Savings FROM PAGE 10


and enhance benefits for vulnerable populations.”


The NIRS report comes on the


heels of a recent paper titled, “Social Security Is Especially Important to Minorities” by economist Paul Van de Water of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.


Van de Water’s analysis is a


response to a narrower study by the Urban Institute concluding that African Americans and Hispanics as a group each pay more in Social Security taxes in a given year than they receive in benefits.


But Van de Water counters that


although the share of payroll tax contributions from black and Latino


Johnson operates the website,


HURIA Search. HURIA, which means freedom in Swahili, lists the nation’s black-owned bookstores. On September 23, 2013, Johnson wrote in an e-mail message that corporate control of the web, the economy and waning literacy are killing black-owned bookstores.


Corporate control of the web


includes Amazon.com, which can use the web against independent black-owned bookstores by beating them on book variety, volume and price.


“The challenges are greater


than any time I’ve seen in almost 20 years I’ve been doing business on the web,” Johnson wrote. He noted that the number of Google inquiries for African-American books and African- American authors has declined from 2004 to 2013.


Google also noted that interest


in African-American literature has declined and that younger people tend to read much less than the older generation.


The failure of Black Issues Book


Review, which went out of business in 2007, also contributed to the decline in black-owned bookstores.


Angela P. Dodson, executive


editor of Black Issues Book Review from 2003 to 2007, said because the publication no longer exists, black readers don’t know to go into a bookstore and ask for books written by black authors.


“The books are not getting any


publicity,” Dodson said. Johnson noted that books by E.


Lynn Harris, author of “Invisible Life” and Terry McMillan, author of “Waiting to Exhale,” boosted the growth of black-owned, independent bookstores. "The books fueled the industry and there was a greater demand for black books,” Johnson said.


workers in a single year may exceed their share of benefits, “this doesn’t change the fact that African Americans and Hispanics will typically receive above-average returns on their contributions over their lifetimes.”


Van de Water adds, “Low earners


are also more likely to become eligible for Social Security disability benefits.” Many more black, Latino and Asian workers tap Social Security disability benefits prior to retirement than whites.


Among seniors, he went on, Social


Security represents 90 percent or more of income for 35 percent of whites, 42 percent of Asian Americans, 49 percent of blacks and 55 percent of Hispanics.


“The fact remains that Social


Security is particularly important for minorities,” Van de Water states.


to decline as well. For the first time, the percentage of students in all three grades combined who say they smoked in the past month is below 10 percent (9.6 percent) compared to 16.7 percent 10 years ago and 24.7 percent in 1993. Daily smoking of cigarettes is now at 8.5 percent for 12th-graders, 4.4 percent for 10th-graders, and 1.8 percent for eighth-graders. However, 21.4 percent of seniors report smoking tobacco with a hookah in the past year, more than 3 percent above the rate teens reported in 2012 (18.3 percent).


“While cigarette use among


youth continues to decline, such progress is threatened by use of other tobacco products such as hookahs,” said Howard K. Koh, M.D., M.P.H., assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We must remain vigilant in protecting kids against both old and new agents that promote addiction.”


The use of alcohol by teens


continues its steady decline. For 12th-graders, alcohol use peaked in 1997, with more than half (52.7 percent) reporting drinking alcohol in the past month. Only 39.2 percent of seniors reported past month use this year. An indicator of binge drinking (defined in the survey as five or more drinks in a row at least once in the past two weeks) stayed the same as last year for eighth-graders (5.1 percent) but dropped considerably for 10th-graders (to 13.7 percent from 15.6 percent in 2012.) The 2013 binge drinking rate for 12th-graders is 22.1 percent.


In 2012, the survey added


questions about where students get marijuana. Looking at the last two years combined, 34 percent of mar- ijuana-using 12th-graders living in states with medical marijuana laws say that one of the ways they obtain the drug is through someone else’s medical marijuana prescription. In addition, more than 6 percent say they get it with their own prescription. The team of investigators who conduct the survey will continue to explore the link between state laws and marijuana’s accessibility to teens.


Overall, 41,675 students from 389


public and private schools participated in this year's Monitoring the Future survey. Since 1975, the survey has measured drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes in 12th–graders nationwide. Eighth- and 10th-graders were added to the survey in 1991. Survey participants generally report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past year, and past month. Questions are also asked about daily cigarette and marijuana use. NIDA has provided funding for the survey since its inception by a team of investigators at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, led by Dr. Lloyd Johnston. MTF is funded under grant number DA001411. Additional information on the MTF Survey, as well as comments from Dr. Volkow,


The Hampton Roads Messenger 11


Percentage who think regular marijuana use is harmful


can be found at www.drugabuse.gov/ drugpages/MTF.html.


MTF is one of three major surveys


sponsored by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services that provide data on substance use among youth. The others are the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The MTF website is: www.monitoringth- efuture.org External Web Site Policy. Follow Monitoring the Future 2013 news on Twitter at @NIDANews, or join the conversation by using: #MTF2013. Additional survey results can be found at www.hhs.gov/news External Web Site Policy or www. whitehouse.gov/ondcp External Web Site Policy. Information on all of the surveyed drugs can be found on NIDA's website: www.drugabuse.gov.


The National Survey on Drug Use


and Health, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is the primary source of statistical information on substance use in the U.S. population 12 years of age and older. More information is available at: www.samhsa.gov/ data/NSDUH.aspx External Web Site Policy.


The Youth Risk Behavior Survey,


part of HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, is a school–based survey that collects data from students in grades nine–12. The survey includes questions on a wide variety of health–related risk behaviors, including substance abuse. More information is available at www. cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/index.htm External Web Site Policy.


The National Institute on Drug


Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at www.drugabuse. gov, which is now compatible with your smartphone, iPad or tablet. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA’s DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@ nida.nih.gov. Online ordering is available at drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA’s media guide can be found at drugabuse.gov/mediaguide, and its new easy-to-read website can be found at www.easyread.drugabuse.gov.


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