One more point I feel the need to say, and then I really will stop posting to this thread {which is my choice, and not because anyone has asked me to}:

In the two years plus some months that I have been a member on Mudcat there have been no other posters who have identified themselves as African Americans and only a few other posters who have identified themselves as being Black.

If there were more Black people who posted on Mudcat, then I would consider it much less necessary for me to respond to questions or comments about African Americans or about race in general. Also, if there were more Black people posting on Mudcat I would not feel the need to initiate comments about this subject or to start threads on Black folk music or to add to the discussion that others had initiated about Black folk music.

I fully admit that I comment and start threads because I like to talk, and I like to write, and because the subjects are of interest to me, and because I like to 'hear' what others are saying, and because I like to learn from others. But even taking all of that into consideration, I believe I would post much less on Mudcat on the subject of African Americans and race if there were other African Americans and more people of color on Mudcat who would also be posting on those subjects.

Of course, if and when Mudcat gets more posters who identify themselves as African American, or Black, or people of color, I'm sure there will be times that I will disagree with some of these posters on specific issues. But still, I look forward to that time.