Black Lies Matter: Why Lies Matter to the Race Grievance Industry

by Taleeb Starkes, Gavin McInnes (Foreword)

In Chicago a.k.a “Chiraq,” the first ten days of 2016 yielded 120 people shot. Baltimore’s 2015 ended as its bloodiest and deadliest year — on a per-capita basis. In 2014, Detroit’s police chief called upon law-abiding citizens to take arms against its burgeoning, violent, criminal subculture. But, unfortunately, these cities aren’t anomalies. Year after year, a seemingly unshakable reality of violence plagues black communities nationwide. In fact, since 1980, blacks have routinely accounted for almost half of America’s annual homicide victims and more than half of the perpetrators — all while being a minor thirteen percent of the national populace.Yet, a particular black-based industry — which specializes in nurturing comfortable lies while burying uncomfortable truths — propagates a notion that “racism” is the foremost issue facing black Americans, and white cops are blood-thirsty enforcers. Moreover, this cunning, race-peddling entity knows it’s easier to lie to blacks than convince blacks they’ve been lied to. Thus, black “lies” are good for business while black “lives” are good for nothing... except exploitation.And presently, business is booming.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, History, Sociology, Audiobook, Race, True Crime

183 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 14, 2016

Reviews

[Alicia Fox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ostensibly, this book is a critique of the Black Lives Matter movement. In actuality, it's a rant about how violent black people are. Written by a black man, it's the sort of thing that white people read to give them a feeling of, "Oh, see? I'm not racist! This black guy thinks the same way I do!"

My understanding is that BLM is aimed at addressing the excessive use of force against black people. It was sparked by the murder of Trayvon Martin. From what I've read, BLM is simply saying, "There's something wrong here, when it's okay to use deadly force on black people because the mere fact of being black makes them appear like they must be up to something." BLM forces people to look at the killings of Trayvon Martin and Sandra Bland and ask ourselves if they'd still be alive if they were white.

A huge issue with this book is that Starkes never even gets into BLM. Instead, he commits logical fallacy after logical fallacy as he harps on the "RGI" (his term for the "Race Grievance Industry"), the Hypocritical Oath, and black-identity politics. The gist of the author's argument is that black lives don't matter to black people killing one another in the nation's cities. The fact that one thing has nothing to do with the other is lost on Starkes.

There is a lot for Starkes to legitimately criticize. That is, Democratic leaders have historically been very good at appearing concerned, and willing to toss out grant money for community programs, while actually getting nothing much done. These leaders would do more for their constituents if they'd focus on bringing jobs to their districts. But of course, this is the bigger issue. Shootings in Chicago? Hello, unemployment!

It's rather difficult to think of what I want to complain about in this book, because it's just so darn awful.

Let's see--there's the sexist crap Starkes wrote when describing BLM interrupting a Sanders speech: "Although Sen. Bernie Sanders was an active participant in the 60's civil rights movement, and his record on fighting for civil rights is longer than the weaves worn by BLM's professional disrupters, none of it mattered to their short-sighted, estrogen-driven agenda." Why is Starkes discussing the women's hair? How on earth is BLM an "estrogen-driven agenda"? What on earth is an "estrogen-driven agenda"?

Starkes also goes on a rant about recent efforts to change the grading rubric for students based on race. He cites a movement in Florida to change proficiency ratings for different groups in math (92% for Asians, 86% for whites, 80% for Hispanics, and 74% for blacks). First, what this has to do with BLM, I have no idea. But as an educator, I can say that this sort of scoring is hardly free from controversy. Proposals like this are often met with horror by people of color and many others, because they're an excuse for schools to not properly teach children of color. But Starkes somehow makes it seem as if BLM is pushing for these race-based scoring metrics in order to get black kids out of learning math. WTH?

For some reason, Starkes sees fit to bring Dr. Gosnell into the discussion. Dr. Gosnell is the d-bag abortion doctor who put women's lives at risk in his unsanitary, understaffed, nightmare clinic. To Starkes, he's another example of black people not caring about other black people's lives.

I'll stop now, before this ends up 57568709073536 words in length.

I think it's useful to read something like this now and again, to give me a feel for how conservatives think--or at least, what crap they're reading. I can appreciate a well-researched, well-argued conservative book. But this isn't one of those. This reads as if a conservative pundit were given free rein to rant for several hours, with the transcription turned into a book.

[Ailith Twinning · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just . . .this book is so bad man.

In fairness, I gave up pretty early on because A: The author made it very, very clear the entire purpose of the book was to argue that racism does not exist in the US and blacks only ever pull the card as a defense of the indefensible. B: The author grabs a few hands of nonsense chaff of society, builds straw men from them, and marches on his merry way to burn sensibility to the ground.

Really, the counterargument to "Racism ain't real bitch!" is "look around you."There's nothing further to say.

This guy's just a dumbass, and notice how the positive critical reception is. . .I won't spoil it, just take a look. The audience is basically case and point that the book is a lie.

But yeah, sitting thru this whole thing would leave me feeling rather like sitting thru a history of Vietnam that takes seriously the idea that we're the heroes of that story. Just. .. dirty man. And ashamed of my fellow man.

EDIT: Oh, the media does suck tho. I'll give him that.

Edit 2: Just noticed, the cover is badly designed as well -- just cross out the "V", or put LIvES in different colours. Crossing out the "ive" and rewriting LIES is just tacky.

[Angela D Stokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Must Read

All black lives matter...This book shows this is not a concern for the Black Lives Matters movement! It reveals facts and demographics regarding the loss of black lives that are relevant to us all as a society. This book uncovers reverse discrimination and hate mongering among a movement and it's government supporters. State's knocks it out of the ballpark with his insight and documented facts!

[Charles Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. Contains a great deal of documentation on who, what, when, and where, which is absolutely vital to a book of this nature. The "companion" book I read at about the same time was The War on Cops. Both books (IMHO) are essential reading in order to get a better understanding of current events.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book explains the nature of "Black Lives Matter" and their agenda. It gives insight into the "Race Grievance Industry" and the damage it is causing. Taleeb Starkes does an excellent job painting a picture of what and who is killing the progress America has made in race relations up to this point in history. A must read! This book should be required reading.

[Wuttipol✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Racist people are the most ignorant people I've ever met. When White people use a black writer's voice to criticize black people, it doesn't make these White people less racist.

[Brian Avant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard facts!!!

Author does an excellent job of revealing the layers of what he terms as the 'Racial Grievance Industry' (RGI). Very interesting read. Will read again...

[SoulSurvivor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Black Lives Matter began as an undeniably legitimate movement protesting police brutality in the treatment of some African-American suspects . Over time , however , this network has become an outlet for activists and agitators to riot , loot , burn and destroy , particularly in the inner cities , where the majority of people of color live . This means that businesses will be hesitant to rebuild , many of them owned by African Americans.

Although I believe somewhat in the premise of this book , the author uses half-truths as well as unverified information to arrive at his conclusions . What reduced my rating from 3-star to 2-star was a rude and uncalled for comparison of Al Sharpton and Napoleon from 'Planet of the Apes' . This was accompanied by pictures of each , suggesting a horrible and racist common ancestry . I would not read another book by this author , or suggest that anyone reads this one .

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author explores the history and circumstances that led to the formation of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) political group and similar organizations. He presents statistics and facts about deaths in black communities and points out that the vast majority of black homicides are done by other blacks. Yet the BLM movement tends to focus on the much smaller number of shootings of blacks by police officers, many of whom are black themselves. And many of those shot were armed and shooting at police. The author also claims that BLM and similar groups use political pressure and intimidation to force cooperation from companies and individuals who are stymied by political correctness. Anyone with an open mind will get a lot out of reading this book.

[Cav · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great short read. Author Taleeb Starkes lays out a thorough dismantling of what he coins the "Race Grievance Industry", or "RGI".
Starkes says:
"...Race Grievance Industry — an industry whose only product is victimhood... and it’s manufactured without pause.
The Race Grievance Industry’s sole purpose is to profit from racial strife under the guise of pursuing racial peace. Its modus operandi is rooted in a lie that refuses to die: blacks are permanent victims of racism and no amount of effort will overcome it. The lie is rinsed and repeated in different ways, but the message remains unchanged — America is a racist labyrinth specifically designed to stifle black advancement."
As the title of the book implies, "Black Lies Matter" takes on the BLM movement, and slams their hypocrisy, as well as their absence in the areas where their activism is most needed; in black neighbourhoods where black people are killing other black people.
The book provides the crime stats of many of the worst crime-plagued areas of inner-city America; Baltimore, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago and others. Starkes calls what is going on in these places "urban terrorism", and I would tend to agree. These communities and the cultures within them that engender these epidemic levels of violence are among the most dysfunctional in the entire country, and no one really wants to address this.
Starkes points the finger at Liberal social and governmental policies as being responsible for this, which I would also mostly agree with.
This book takes a serious look into the dysfunction in black America, and as such - is sure to garner extremely flammable emotional reactions. You can see many of them posted here.
Author Taleeb Starkes wrote the book in a very easy, engaging manner that will make it accessible to almost anyone. His easy writing style and testicular fortitude with producing a book like this are to be commended. As such, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in this highly-inflammatory topic.
5 stars.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well researched on the numbers and offers another view of what they mean. While it might or might not be popular, it is an important look at just how many why black lives matter, regardless of how they are taken. Regardless of where you stand politically, of course, Black lives matter, there is no doubt in that. The book presents facts that cannot be denied... I think both sides have to take action to stop it. This means accountability on both sides.

5 stars

Happy Reading!

[Phyllis Starks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening!

Great, well documented book. It has sharpened my focus on how the black criminals are the main problem in the predominately black community and, indeed how they have wrecked havoc in all communities.

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Black Lives Matter is more than the obvious plea or demand for racial justice. It has become an excuse for blacks and Social Justice Warriors to employ violence and hatred, and to insist on special privilege. Who benefits? In the short term, some racists and politicians. In the long term, no one. BLM ignores the enormous problem of black-on-black violence. Why? Don't all black lives matter?

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could give this book 5 billion stars. Taleeb Starkes writes things exactly as they are and is unapologetic about it. Too bad Don Lemon doesn't ever ask Starkes to be on his show. Instead we have Charles Blow and other people propagating the racial myths that Starkes has expertly but yet so easily exposed. Too bad the mainstream, left wing, liberal media never wants to hear from someone like Taleeb Starkes. Likely because they can't call him a racist or a hater. Great book that everyone should read. Can't wait to read more books by Starkes.

[CARISSA E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and eye opening. I would recommend this book....

[Grant · Rating 1 out of 5]

The irony of the title of this book is off the charts. Just google Taleebs story’s and you’ll find most are just daily wire nonsense. Also, having Gavin write the foreword, lol.

[Jordan Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every veil secretly desires to be lifted, except the veil of hypocrisy– Richard Garnett

If you believe, as I do, that BLM is a terroir organization, masquerading under a shameful deceit as a civil rights group, then Black Lies Matter is the book for you.

Taleeb Starkes will no doubt be branded an Uncle Tom and a traitor to his race since he doesn’t subscribe to the lies that are spewed forth by proponents of social justice and “change” but it’s pretty damn obvious he doesn’t care. He doesn’t pussyfoot around the issues, claiming:

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is its militant wing and the general-purpose mob. This wholly-owned subsidiary of the Race Grievance Industry attempts to present itself as a simple grassroots movement spawned from injustice when in actuality, it’s an AstroTurf movement spawned to create racial agitation/division, civil unrest, and lawlessness — while pushing a Marxist, anti-police agenda under the guise of “black issues”

Starkes does everything possible to destroy the BLM narrative and succeeds at every turn, using facts, logic and just plain old common sense to tear the #blacklivesmatter movement a new one.

Some examples of his sheer witticism and take-no-prisoners quotes include:

- #BlackLivesMatterWhenTakenByWhites. I’m guessing that this phrase is too long and, more importantly, too honest for tee-shirts, so BLM settled for the first three words.

- BLMers will hit soft targets or low hanging fruit, places that have no influence or even played a part in the “oppression.” Interestingly, BLMers never attempt to disrupt the flow of anything in the black community that would potentially stop black-on-black homicides.

- BLM’s affirmation that “All Black Lives Matter” absolutely exemplifies the Hypocritical Oath. Clearly, its “All Black Lives Matter” motto doesn’t apply to the black lives turned into anti-matter by black thugs — which explains why BLM’s favorite black people to rally for are the “qualified”.

And probably my ultimate favorite:

Darmequaye Cohill, a drug-dealing urban terrorist, whose first name characteristically reads like a handful of random letters grabbed from a Scrabble pouch, fired forty-one shots at the wrong house in a dispute with another drug-dealing urban terrorist. Even so, the armchair activists’ vitriol remains reserved for Milwaukee’s Finest.

Proof, which is something so called BLM leaders don’t even bother with, is, as they say, in the pudding and Starkes uses every opportunity to show that the reason Baltimore and Chicago are torn apart by violence isn’t because of racism, but because of black on black crime. The reason many blacks can’t succeed in life is because of lower standards and a refusal to better themselves. Why do blacks continue to die from cops? Because they bring it upon themselves by subscribing to the ridiculous race card myth.

There are so many facts and so much unarguable data presented in Black Lies Matter that I could spend all day writing this review. Instead, I’m just gonna suggest that if your sick of this ridiculous movement being pushed on us, tired of the outright lies and BLM’s form of excusable racism for SJW’s sake, read this book.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book hit it on the head. Alicia Fox, you are clearly not educated on BLM movement, they advocate for a total change of government, they advocate violence and have been caught trying to set up police by having members instigate the police in an attempt to incite a violent reaction. BLM is a terror organization, plain and simple. When you have people that account for 12 percent of your population and 50 percent of your violent crime, the problem does not ie with the police, it lies with your culture.
Blacks claim they are oppressed, yet, blacks make more on welfare than some hard working people do in their full time jobs. Whenever the bullshit of the blm movement is called out, it is racism, now, Alicia says this book is for white people to feel better. Bullshit, this book tells the truth, I have watched documentaries on Trayvon and others. Do you know that blacks target whites for violent crime almost 888,966,788% more than blacks who die in police custody. Do not give me your excuses, Black Families where the man stays, raises and has a good relationship with their family are every bit as achieving financially and have the same respect for police. Black Men simply knock people up and do not have the will to raise families, they do not want to be burdened. Truth is simple, but what do blacks do when they want to find excuses, they blame whitey. The backlash has started, people are sick of this shit, a couple protects their property and are charged with a crime, a couple in California was charged with a hate crime when blm painted their street with a blm mural and they painted over it the original color of the street, complete and utter bullshit. We in 75 years we have gone from the greatest generation, those who stood up to Hitler and Japan, to the dumbest, weakest and laziest generation of millennials. Now, the millennials are taking up the cause of something they see happen once or twice a year, a black man killed by cops, yet, the timing of the videos make it look so much worse than what it is, however, George Floyd was flat out murder, no excuse for that, yet, no comments on the thousands of whites targeted by blacks each year. Also, -I have yet to see a cop shoot or kill any person who was not involved in the process of crime or resisting arrest, so the simple fucking answer is do not break the law and you will not have a problem with the police. Yet, when you say that, people send pictures of Christ on the Cross saying should he of not resisted or obeyed the law? ----Christ was preaching love of all, not love of just some, big difference, blm wants their lives to count more. You see, blacks and whites have had the same birth rates, yet, because whites are killed much more often then blacks, black population is going up while white going down, think about that Alicia Fox. The racists pricks are BLM.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been sceptical about the whole Black Lives Matter movement, and through this book, I found out that it is a part of Race Grievance Industry (RGI). What is that? Well, it is an entity which sought to profit from victimization of blacks, turning thugs and hoods into some sort of martyrs in the hand of (mostly white) cops, all the while ignoring the same abuses thrown by the black upon themselves, which strangely seldom appears in mainstream media. It is because its sheer numbers, I don’t know. A short, informative reading.

[Derrick Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accurate portrayal of the RGI

Thank you to the author for going against political correctness by bringing the detrimental THO movement to life. This message needs to spread.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I do agree that there are some very real issues with the overall aim of the Black Lives Matter movement and the realities they are perfectly willing to ignore in favor of pushing a particular agenda...the overall tone of this can easily ruffle the feathers a bit.

What I had trouble with in getting through it, however, was more of an editorial thing -- it just got WAY too repetitive! Like every section, he copy/pasted the same stuff and then quickly substituted numbers or names. Seriously, THAT repetitive. The pattern was relentless, and I ended up skimming through a TON of stuff to find where the real meat of the issue he was discussing was. All that he needed to do was document the cases he found relevant as basic bullet points, not put in unnecessary filler over and over and OVER again. It would have made his point better, I think, and not bored the reader with redundancies.

[TheQueensBooksII · Rating 5 out of 5]

Candace Owens highlights policy and effects in her book Blackout; Diamond and Silk trace their story as working women awakening to the detrimental effects of Democrat/liberal policies on Blacks and how they became Trump/conservative advocates in their flagship book Uprising. In Black Lies Matter, Starkes presents actual, factual vignettes from life exposing the hypocrisy of the BLMInc. movement. He has even reduced the "Race Grievance Industry" to its appropriate acronym, RGI. From "race hustler" Al Sharpton to the many, many Black-on-Black murders committed almost daily in our cities across the country that get no notice, Starkes really makes it hard for anyone to continue to buy into the culture lies of systemic racism, race-baiting, etc. that is going on right now. I'm really grateful to these fellow Americans for bravely speaking out.

[Mark Lickliter · Rating 5 out of 5]

BLM is an evil movement based upon lies. Starkes exposes their hypocrisy. Read his book!

[Reshma · Rating 5 out of 5]

You gotta read this book!

I am absolutely stunned at the information passed through this book. The author is statistical and analytic. The author pulls at your heartstrings. The black on black crimes and the tiny babies murdered to the crazy black doctors to harassing black police officers to mothers trying to keep kids safe to school children being bombarded by a shower of bullets and the list goes on. BLM and RGI are utterly psychopath nut jobs. The liberals in each community allow this kind of madness to supersede the law is beyond imagination. You have to read this book and see it from the author's viewpoint. You won't be disappointed. The photographs will take you on a journey from various aspects of what is going on today. Bring tissues.

[D.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for those of us trying to understand both sides of the recent events that culminated in so much destruction and violence around the world. The majority of the book consists of examples accompanied by some brief background info and verifiable facts accompanied by sources. The author’s use of irony coupled with the background info give humanity to what would otherwise be faceless statistics.

[Darrin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried reading this book but couldn’t tolerate it. While the author does raise some valid points, the book reads like a teenage rant. It’s immaturely done. Having recently read Shelby Steele and John McWhorter I just can’t. There are better books on these issues and only so much time.

[Pat O'Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

EVERYONE MUST READ THIS BOOK.
There are reasons why our country is in turmoil that few (especially from a black perspective) are willing to discuss. Taleeb has my upmost respect for his courage to shine light on the real reasons why only certain black lives matter.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

An intellectually challenged author challenging a rather complex and not at all uniform movement. Sure, some (most?) are hypocrites, and still that says nothing about the value of statements.

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I haven’t done many written reviews this year, but I had to relay my experience reading this book.
Riding on the train to work reading this book, a young lady felt the need to tell me off just for having the book. Although I wanted to send her off to her safe space, I instead ask if she had read the book. She told me in on uncertain terms, ‘No, I would never even look at something so overtly racist’. I then asked if she knew anything about the author or the book. To her credit did read the name of the author when I gave her a closer look at the book. It went so downhill form there. I will not repeat the name she called the author as well as myself. I gave her what I hoped was my best disappointed look and when back to reading. Thankfully, she just walked way.
Now, let me tell you about the book. When anyone writes about one point of view, do your own fact checking. Just because it is in writing doesn’t make it true. When looking up the ‘bigger’ stats it only takes a slight change in the raw data request to give a completely different result. However, no matter what side of the fence, or even if you straddle the fence, there is no denying the individual children/babies the author talks about. No matter how these innocents left this earth they deserve so much more from EVERYONE.
Again, not getting into the politics of the book, it was well written. The only thing that really bothered me, was the authors continuous repetitive sentence. It was meant to be a mic drop after each story but after the third time it just loses it power. It could have easily been restructured to keep its theme and it power.
If you are thinking about reading this but with the resent BLM publicity, attacking them is like grabbing for the low hanging fruit. Two things. This book was published in 2016. Second, the author does talk about BLM, the organization, it is but a relatively small part of the book.
Do I recommend this book? Yep, it will make you feel something.

[Stefanie Lozinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fully agree with the author and I appreciate that he wrote this. It was overall good, I think I would have enjoyed it more had I not already been pretty aware of what he presents (though he really pointed out the individual stories , which I appreciated. Real human lives at are stake). Well worth a read if you’re skeptical of the current race narrative and haven’t already done a lot of deep diving!