BuckMulligan - as I was using the word "shame"="unfortunate"="sad"-Nydcat's loss.

And I don't agree that your supposition that "if they don't stay & participate, it's because they're not interested." is the only valid conclusion that exists.

As to your comment about my knowing other folks "of color" *,
yes, it's true that I do :o))

and I'm sure I'm not the only one here who does.

*your definition of this term is correct

While I've not "canvassed" people of color about joining Mudcat, I have suggested to folks I know [and folks who visited my website] to have a look/see here. Among the reasons why some people of color don't post on Mudcat, I've heard that part of it is the lack of access to home computers, and part of it is the unfamiliarity with the format [clicking on a 'thread' title to pull up a discussion you might be interested in]. And part of it is the since that this website is White people talking about "White music" ...

As to that view that this forum doesn't have topics that speak to us [us meaning 'African Americans'], I've responded that anyone including Guests can start new threads, but some people like to start threads, and others don't.

As you can see, now I don't mind starting new threads

;o}

but the first time I came to Mudcat-at the suggestion of a member who had visited my website-I saw the title listings and didn't see any topics that I recognized. I left this website and didn't return for two years. By then I had become more accustomed to using the Internet. I lurked here from time to time within a two month period, and finally got up my nerve to post to a discussion about the song 'kumbayah'. As a result of that post, some members posted on that thread encouraging me to join and I did so.

One of the lessons I got from that experience is that sometimes encouragement from veteran members will tip the decision as to whether a new poster [and others lurking] will join or not...