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If I ever needed a definition of what it looks like to Love another - this is the best definition, "Caring for someone without expecting a return on the investment"

@Mel&Del I've been thinking about the idea of thinking being overrated. What else can you do with your mind? I'm thinking about it... Listening to music is a good alternative. Music really is magic. It requires you to do nothing but listen, and if you enjoy what you hear, that's icing on the cake! Lately, for some reason I've been thinking how 73 years ago in1951, as a Freshman at the University of Illinois, one of the favorite songs of the little black colony of students on this large campus was a song named "For All We Know." At the end of every social event, those gathered would form a circle, grasp hands, and sing this song followed by a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne". Listening to that old favorite by Nat Cole, the years fall away and I'm swept back to the innocent carefree days of my youth. I imagine. And listen. And no thoughts are necessary. For all we know...

I don't know whether to feel sorry for you or applaud your efforts! Probably both. Being a caregiver is one of the hardest jobs. Harder than raising children. .... because atleast with children you usually see progress as they age and it makes you feel proud of your work. I honestly don't know what to say besides thank you.

OMG I've missed you, the woman formerly known as Cynique @aka Contrarian A woman I used to be in a rap group with back in the early 90s now has a YouTube channel (Stephanie Danger). She asked her followers what name we would choose for our alter ego, and I decided on Contrarian. Today, I would choose "Neutral." During these last two years, I also questioned the meaning of life after my mother underwent major heart surgery and two of my three daughters had major surgeries, one after battling stage 3 cancer. I couldn't be with my daughter (thank goodness for dads) because my brother is severely disabled - and during my mom's treatment (I almost lost her twice), I had to care for him. Everyone pulled through, and by December 2023 - I concluded no one knows an effing thing. We make this bullshish up and look for followers to cosign our beliefs. The more believers we acquire, the more it becomes our collective reality. So, thank you, Contrarian, for remaining here in this dimension. I can confidently say that part of your mission is to remind us that the majority is nothing more than a bunch of weak-minded and lazy folks who chose to follow the beaten path instead of dazzling us with their Divine creativity.

Africans do not totally dislike AfroAmericans. Africans are afraid and wary of us because they have been fed a narrative that AfroAmericans are lazy, ignorant, violent, drug abusers, etc. Unfortunately, AfroAmericans have no control over the propaganda that goes out into the world about us. As I've mentioned several times here, there are quite a few Africans in my tribe. I'm a very proud AfroAmerican man in being able to show Africans our success on several levels. I tell them to f8ck what you have heard about us...watch me. I've toured my African brothers and sisters through the streets on which I grew up to where I live in the cradle of AfroAmerican affluence. Education is priceless. It is a key to shared understanding and eliminating ignorance.

@DelanoI agree. Looks like life as we know it will eventually succumb to the technology that will subsequently eliminate humans - and ultimately itself. What remains will be the "back-to-square-one" phenomena during which a huge explosion will once again occur as the "creator" keeps on trying til it turns out right. 🗯 See ya next time. Maybe.

haha I was about to put this in:)

Hello, Fellow Writers and Readers I have been away too long. I have missed you. I will return with the continuing saga of my promotion for The Culinary Art Portfolio of Josephine E. Jones. But right now, I want you to see my first published work under my pen name: Wendy Ebo Jones. Since there are at least 300 people named Wendy Jones in North America and one other writer who shares my name --after attending an Independent Book Publishers Association webinar on the subject of making sure your work stands out, (they used the term "branding," which brings up the smell of the burning flesh of enslaved people, so I don't use it)-- I decided to differentiate myself. Why Ebo? It's a family name. Here is a link to the essay, On the Bus (approx. 500 words): https://theravensperch.com/on-the-bus-by-wendy-ebo-jones/,

College tuition is going through the atmosphere. Student loan debt is ridiculous. Non-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) degrees will become less valuable especially as technology takes over jobs that do not require human hands. Folks are beginning to have the conversation that trade schools might be a better option than a 4 year degree from a college or university. STEM degrees will most likely always land a job somewhere. However, Liberal Arts and Business majors might be in trouble. Talk to young Black folks within your circle about considering a trade especially if they aren't STEM strong. Don't get it twisted....an electrician, plumber, welder, carpenter, mechanic, etc., can make just as much or more money than someone with a degree. Also, a tradesperson can still get a degree too. Especially if they plan to run a business.

Bro, I'll be lounging in this easy chair until the lights are turned out and/or I'm evicted. Despite the limited participation, there is good discussion here from all of the contributors. I find this forum to be a good mix of opinion, information, knowledge and humor too. Some music like Jazz is an acquired taste and therefore appeals to a smaller audience. McDonald's isn't the the most nutritious food but it sells because it's cheap. Same thing applies to most forms of social interaction and entertainment. Anything that requires a deeper level of thought, comprehension or expression is a heavier lift. OTOH, gossip and trash talk is usually where the goats can get it. Cheaper entertainment.

The body language of Umar and the other guy was off. They both were shaking their feet, like they were nervous or something made me a bit wary. when I was a lot younger, and you could still smoke anywhere, I would occasionally have a cigarette because it would give me a quick buzz. But now I don’t smoke at all seems like a dumb expensive habit. my mom still smokes. I brought her a pack of cigarettes the other day and they cost 15 bucks maybe more. Supposedly they text the heck out of them to discourage use. but it’s just very regressive tax. They need to ban these products as they so bad for your health. i’ve tried a variety of weed products over the years, especially after they became legal. They have had variety of effects on me from euphoria to lethargy, and no effect at all. If I could get to euphoric effect consistently, I probably would use weed more often, but I don’t so I don’t mess with the products nowadays. I drink barely regularly. I’ll have a glass of wine or two with dinner a few times a week. I’m hanging out depending on my mood I have a beer, wine or whiskey. My cocktail of choice is a Manhattan. I will occasionally have a cigar, but it is a social activity that I engage in when playing poker with the fellas and then I may only do that once a year is about the fellowship of ritual of sorts. @aka Contrarian it is always a pleasure when you post. I’m always anxious to hear what you have to say and have a special affinity for you. I’m sure if you just tag @Mel Hopkins and @Chevdove they will respond next time they are on the boards. I went away for a few days because my daughters were in town and we were hanging out. @Pioneer1 yeah I think social media was the biggest thing to impact this forum and forums in general. Like cigarettes those platforms are designed to be addictive and keep the users engaged there. People have a fixed amount of times in their lives, and social media comes at cost. Attention is a zero sum game. The more time we spend on social the less time we will spend playing outside, participating in discussion forums, reading the book, making love, etc. @frankster and @ProfD continue to make the forum interesting. If it were not for them and Pioneer, I don’t know where would be.

I'm puzzled. Why would the acronym DEI which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion be offensive to "AfroAmericans"? Aren't those conditions that aĺl marginalized minorities have a right to expect? Similarly, when did civil rights become the exclusive domain of America's black population?? Aren't other ethnicities entitled to equality in a country that calls itself a democracy??? I venture to say that the generation of Millenials and GenZers would put these same questions to the old school brigade of black malcontents who have come to personify the "dislike-for-the-unlike" syndrome that MLK identified as being at the root of racism and bigotry. These are the ones who give credence to my claim that many Blacks, themselves, are prejudiced and are not the least concerned about "liberty and justice for all." What they really want is to make America over in their image while retaining a black form of racial supremacy. Lol And this is also why I support the idea that a certain element of "AfroAmericans" who squat in America need to get their own diversity-free. melanin-infused country where, wallowing in the sameness of their blackness and corrupted by power they can, for instance, ban and deport any evolved LBGTQ nuisances wnoho have mutated into individuals daring to be different and true to themselves. Imo, it is not necessary to embrace these misfits but, coming froma background of being oppressed and discriminated against themselves, these curmudgeons are remiss in refusing to acknowledge and honor the right of the unorthodox to peacefully exist. The world is in a state of turmoil as usual and when it comes to a polarized America, the one thing that remains constant is the tribalism that divides rather than unites, - a situation that jeopardizes the common good. Moreover, in a nation where a vast majority of Americans distrust their government, it's, ironic that these same citizens have no qualms about doing whatever they can get away with in their ruthless pursuit of the materialistic Amercan dream. As for the speculation about which U.S. presidents did what for Blacks, and when did they do it - President Franklin D. Roosevelt came into office in 1933 the same year I was born. I grew up during the Depression and from what I recall and what my parents said (and Dick Gregory later joked about,) the dire economic hardship caused by the stock market crash was nothing new to the black masses who had always struggled to survive. They were lucky to be eligible for the same benefits as whites via the New Deal but they continued to be denied equal opportunities because of America's entrenched racial prejudice.( this is what eventually precipitated the March on Washington in 1963.) FDR gave lip service to racial tolerance but coddled the South, never wanting to rock the boat when it came to Jim Crowism because he needed southern political support. His wife Eleanor was his charitable good will ambassador but had little effect on national policy aside from lending her approval to the black Tuskeegee airmen. President Harry Trumen deserves credit for desegregating the armed forces after WW2 and LBJ carried out what the assassinated JFK began by signing a massive civil rights bill Into law. Bill Clinton had good intentions but his heavy handed approach blemished his record. Reagan did nothingl to benefit Blacks. Joe Biden is a man of his times, a pragmatist who shed his past ways to become a pseudo Liberal, earning points by serving as VP under a black president and subsequently choosing a woman of color to be his running mate and placing other Blacks in key positions of authority on his staff and in his cabinet. America's 2 political parties are, what they are. The Democrats supposedly represent the common man with the "lifting others as we climb" mission statement that has perennially resonated with Blacks. Republicans are more representative of Capitalism and the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps motto. No bootstraps? Tough shit. "I got mine, now you get yours," is what right wing Conservatives sneer. And so it goes. Come November, America will show its true colors.

Close on the heels of the ads featuring gold garnished sneakers bearing the Re-elect Trump brand, is a TV commercial featuring Donald tRump hawking for the modest price of $59.00, a "patriotic" Bible guaranteed to inspire God to Bless America. Holding the leather bound holy book in his raised little pudgy hand, flanked by two gigantic American flags, a salivating Donnie gives his spiel, hardly able to keep a straight face as he anticipates a flood of orders from his faithful following. What a perfect embodiment of the dire warning political pundit, Sinclair Lewis, predicted years ago. to wit: "When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag, and carrying a bible." Elsewhere in the news, Robert Kennedy has selected a female Asian Progressive as his presidential running mate. Nobody seemed more stunned than she was in her deer-in-the-headlights TV sound byte. And NBC will have to pay out a ton of money to rescind its hiring of a 2016 election denier, January 6th defender, and former Republican National Committee head. They hired her to give more balance to their news reporting, but they got so much flack from their liberal Talking Heads who thought she'd be more at home on Fox News, that NBC execs backtracked and broke her contract. She gone. Since Fani fired her stud muffin, she's back on the case. Puffy's mansion ransacked and wrecked by a crew of Feds, looking for a weapons stash. Conspiracy rumors already circulating about the Baltimore bridge collapse being a terrorist attack. 10-4, your night owl news reporter signing off...zzzzzzzzz

Has anyone considered that Majors may actually be a predator who needs an incentive to stop? I have not followed the story other than what I've read here, but why is his actual behavior not a consideration? Maybe the Black judge was trying to protect Black women?

National Black Cheerleading Championship 2024 I've watched this entire program at least 5 times! ... It's an addiction. Every single group was insanely awesome. I've posted 4 of my favorite but again, you have to see it to believe me.... They were all incredible. This video is NOT the actual championship but preliminaries. [1] Crown Athletics won in their category. They were much more dynamic in the finals! It was crazy. The short girl with the leg brace is the captain. Towards the end, she told the group to breathe and catch their breathe. They had no break between routines. [2] William Fleming was one of my favorites but honestly, North Meck and more were just as awesome. They were in the tumbling category. [3] Chowan was another of my favorites. They were non-tumbling. [4] The Virginia Union Rah Rah--Wow! Just Wow! They won! They were non-tumbling. This the entire championship competition! IMO It's worth the time!

And what was the Purpose...To Marginalize Criminalize Afflict/Sicken Unhinge and Destabilize etc - in short Dehumanize Basically the Criminalization of Black Culture....So as to Debase people with Black Skin or Making Black Skin synonymous with Criminality Illness Dysfunction and Disease. When it comes to Drug Abuse in the Black communities.....it is a Criminal Issue In the White Communities it is a......Public Health Issue. True...so as to Malign and Destroy any Potential for Growth Success Education and Political Activity. Great book on this subject is - Bruce Wright's Black Robes White justice. Racism and Political Expediency

Mother's Watch Your Out For Your Babies Well It's obvious that you cannot be there all of the time but this short clip reminds me of how important it is though that the true fathers are around their own babies. If you notice, the lion pulled his instincts initially. Then he looks around for the lioness first... https://youtu.be/VLc33kJE60w What power. He barely touched the cub.

When I was picking schools one of my requirements was a school with a D1 Gymnastics team. No HBCU qualified. I have NEVER seen this many female Black female collegiate gymnasts at one time -- Ever!

How exciting! Me too! I was going to post this pic but I see you already posted it! Morgan Price, a Fisk University gymnast, won the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships all-around title on April 12, 2024. West Chester University Athletics They do not have their own gym but hopefully they will soon!

Oh Yes! I forgot about the flooding in Dubai too! It also occurred on April 17 [i.e. April 16 @ 6:00 PM]. It is said that this area usually gets only about 4 or 5 inches of rain in a year on average. But in one day a huge amount of rainfall occurred recently. Oh yes, it is also interesting to note as well that this is the day, April 17, of the Biblical deluge. It was recorded to have happened some 4000 years ago! So, even though this sort of science is not highlighted in the western world, it would be good to regard the ancient script in how the moving stars also are tied to this historic date. The Star of Bethlehem came into our solar system on this very day about 2000 years ago! Interestingly too, and for weeks now, the incredible planet Jupiter is in the sky and nearby the comet Pons-Brooks. I believe that we are living in an amazing era and are experiencing some incredible phenomena! ============================================================================= Storm dumps heaviest rain ever recorded in desert nation of UAE, flooding roads and Dubai’s airport The state-run WAM news agency called the rain “a historic weather event” that surpassed “anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949.” That’s before the discovery of crude oil in this energy-rich nation then part of a British protectorate known as the Trucial States. A van passes through standing water in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 16. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell) https://apnews.com/article/uae-oman-rains-flooding-fatalities-7bf3881efbea998dfa4c1ed8d538217c 'Apocalyptic' Dubai floods shake picture-perfect city https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68844405 https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/dubai-rain

This is Cynique. As previously announced, my new user name is "aka Contrarian" so "A" is now me. I don't know why I'm still alive. But I am. Since I have nothing better to do, unless I sudndenly croak, I'll be hanging around here, injecting my contrary opinions from time to time. zzzzz

Hilarious skit. That sista crushed it.

Hi Chevdove! Glad you stopped by. Always good to hear from you!

Ever since I was a kid, I found it interesting that Black folks didn't see anything *wrong* with that sh8t. Imagine a 7-year-old boy running telling grown-ups they were stupid for trying to sell him on Santa Claus and them believing in that white man on the picture. Of course, that resulted in a few azz whuppings for me but I wasn't broken.

https://forums.projectliberty.io/t/dsnp-relationship-to-epub/386/2?u=rmprojectl Hi Richard, I’m definitely not an EPUB expert but it’s a really interesting question. One of the things DSNP is generally useful for is ensuring authenticity and immutability of content through specific file hashes. So one simple way that EPUB could intersect with DSNP is to allow an EPUB document to be an attachment to a DSNP post (broadcast or reply). In this case DSNP serves the role of ensuring the precise version of an EPUB can be reliably referenced (if you don’t care about precise versions, you can also use the link type in DSNP). Secondly, at Project Liberty one of the core principles that guide our work is that technology should enable people to participate in the economics of platforms and their content, while maintaining agency and control over their identity and creations. One way this could intersect with EPUB is in the area of digital rights management, that is, restricting access to content based on authorization. While most DRM schemes for EPUB operate in a centralized fashion today (Adobe ADEPT, am*zon, etc.), building a DRM scheme that incorporates DSNP identity for authorization could help create decentralized solutions where authors are not reliant on a third party gateway in order to control and benefit from distribution of their intellectual property. (In actuality, you probably need some combination of user identifier and device identifier, to maintain accountability in a scenario where one account is shared. I’m not proposing a specific scheme here, but there are definitely possibilities.) As far as accessing DSNP content through an EPUB, I’m not sure what this would look like. Since an EPUB is, in effect, a snapshot of a website, you could take any set of DNSP content and turn it into an EPUB (perhaps for a “daily digest” on a certain topic). There would need to be a service that did this data aggregation and transformation, but it would certainly be possible with DSNP much more easily than with “walled garden” social networks that restrict access to content and APIs. Hope this helps and perhaps gets some further ideas flowing. Best, Wes https://forums.projectliberty.io/t/dsnp-relationship-to-epub/386/3?u=rmprojectl Thank you Wes for the reply, For the first suggestion you made I saw the broadcast and Reply Broadcast - DSNP Specification for the broadcast, it seems you can have activity content types which has audio/video/image/link So i assume the link will be to an epub. then? It isn’t a physical attachment as much as a linked attachment. am I correct? For the second+third suggestion you made , you confirmed what I felt in the back of my head. That an entire service will need to be built to make this possible. You have helped me 100% I will try something and see.

The ZiG is Zimbabwe's attempt to shake of the Effects of Western Interventionist Policies consisting of Currency Manipulation and 20 yrs of Sanctions. Slave driver the table has turn....B. Marley Zimbabwe Introduces New Gold Backed Currency To Tackle Inflation

Well, you know this is how those conspiracy theories often start

https://www.faithringgold.com/ her page on aalbc https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Faith+Ringgold

I don't see a reason why they can't have 2 monetary systems. One for their domestic use and the other for foreign use. Or just conduct foreign business in gold.

Human greed, selfishness, jealousy, envy and hate lead to most of the problems between human beings. Agape love would resolve the problems affecting human beings. For various reasons, we're not overly interested in it. I understand the history of humanity and how we got to this point. Hopefully this makes my point more clear.

I wonder if there will be a forum in 20 years. For those of us who live long enough and have our marbles the time will go quickly. What happens in the next 20 years will be far more interesting than any solar eclipse.

TOGO.....is Challenging what is being called a Constitutional Coup and Extension of Term Limits by the current Legacy Ruler - Gnassingbe. Is this the Beginning of a Revolt Against France CFA Franc/UEMOA??? That would make it 5 out of 8...dominoes falling Guinea Bissau Benin and Cote d! Ivoire which is next....My guess is Guinea Bissau

@aka Contrarian, your compass will correct. I'm claiming that you will awake tomorrow feeling like your normal self. Your time isn't up.

@ProfD in the black conference on day 4, linked below, i think a sister said a similar thing about how people call writing about slavery trauma porn. Adding her position to yours, I do realize the issue is integration. I will explain. For over one hundred and fifty years, since the end of the war between the states, the majority of black leadership in the usa has sought integration to whites, those who once completely enslaved us. And in that time the black populace who at the end of the war between the states was compelled more to kill whites, nat turner's leadership, leave the usa, garvey leadership , through the efforts of said majority leadership [douglass /web dubois/booker t/ida b well/sojourner truth] the majority of the black populace in the usa embraced in varying styles or qualities or intensities , integration. But, some things can be integrated. Some things are segregatory. Legacies are one of those things. This is why the scottish people keep talking about cessation from england. The scottish people never wanted to be in england. The english government used money and the members of the scottish government/parliament [a majority of scottish leaders] to create a peaceful union against the wishes of the scottish people, that is a legacy that will always hold true, even though today most scottish people in varying ways embrace the united kingdom. The legacy of being enslaved is unique to Black DOSers. It isn't with other black people from nigeria or jamacia. It isn't with non blacks. It isn't with non black native americans. It is a legacy that can not be integrated. It is unique to black dosers. And, it is negative. So i concur to the power of time as you suggest but I do think the issue of Black DOSers wanting to integrate at all cost in a populace in the usa that is getting more and more filled with people who have no relationship to Black DOS tradition, unlike white people descended from enslavers or native americans, and don't care. It is a blackwashing, but not from miseducation as much as a desire to be happy in the integrated mix of the usa. I will rewrite myself and argue, I think many black DOSers want to be like the black folk who just come to the usa in 2024. IT isn't an antiblack desire as much as a desire not to have a legacy which if honest puts one at odds with the usa or the white people in it while less innocent as the rainbow of immigrants since the immigration act. And, black leadership in 150+ years in the usa has rarely embraced the concept of something black people have are unique and can't be integrated. In the same way, native american leadership has done similar. ... yes the prison industrial complex has grown in palin sight. @aka Contrarian yes it is very touchy. First, taking out the entertainment industry, no industry in the usa has a greater black presence than black people as legal men of arms [us military/law enforcemeent agencies of state or city] plus the incarcerated. So I am talking about the second most important industry to black people in the usa. Which has led to levels of financial wealth or financial security for black homes throughout the usa on the armed side while led to many broken homes on the incarcerated side. Second, even though the black populace owns no gun making firms in the usa , to my knowledge, and there was a time in the usa when white people called knives, nigger guns, cause black people were dissuaded by the white populace to own guns the modern black populace from the nineteen hundred and sixties to now have got access to guns and the financially weak situation of the black populace in the usa has led to street violence. I have to say one thing, white people in chicago committed levels of gun violence that black people never did and have not. PEople forget how chicago/new york/los angeles white populaces had levels of gun violence that would shock modern media if it was to happen. I know in nyc, the irish/italian mob wars. Third, no organization in humanity is evil. Humans who do good for other humans is in every organization in humanity, regardless the percentage. So with the financial relationship to the black populace in the usa, the modern design of the gun totting, the humanity in law enforcement or similar, this is touchy. Many black people have people they live with who are law enforcers/soldiers and can't accept or will not accept them being bad mouthed. And some black law enforcers deserve to be protected from negative judgement based on their own actions. It is touchy. And Aka Contrarian, people your age in our village aren't supposed to be leading, you are supposed to be watching younger generations lead and guide even younger generations to become the leaders, so that you feel secure leading up to the moment when your spirit flies . You are a member of the black race and it always matters what you think. Your role is to live as happy as you can, and if the village is strong, support you. This is how I was raised in our populace anyway. You don't need to come up with the solution, that is the job of black people from younger generations like me. I do think the problem is the crossroads black people in the usa find themselves in. What does it mean to be statian , of the usa or american? What is the goal of the black populace in the usa? These questions rarely get answered but in them is identity.

I kept up with the progress of the solar eclipse by watching a local TV channel which was originating its broadcast from Chicago's Adler Planetarium where a crowd of sky watchers had converged. This station was also keeping the viewers up to date on what was happening at locations all over the country where the eclipse was best visible, so I got to get a good view of it from the Carbondale site in downstate Illinois. The announcer there actually choked up during the "corona" moment when the sun was totally eclipsed and the huge crowd amassed there in temporary darkness broke out in cheers and applause. I, myself, felt moved as, where I was, got rather dim. A few minutes prior to that, I had gone outside and looked up at the sun through my special glasses but all I could discern in my area was a bright glare. Yet my dog seemed transfixed and unusually quiet. And I actually did feel at one with the Universe and conscious of my existence and how wondrous Life is. Now, I'm back to whatever it is I'm back to. Tomorrow is another day. Or is it? It seemed like only yesterday when I'd stood in my front yard watching the 2017 solar eclipse. When told the next one would be in 2024, I chuckled, thinking I wouldnt be around to witness it. HaHa the joke's on me!

Great news and wishing you continued healing. I'm sure you already know that a cane can be a cool accessory. Especially when the cane complements the outfit and keeps you standing upright. Unselfish fans will realize da Bears did Justin a huge favor especially if they weren't going to build an offense around him. I was rooting for Head Coach Dawn Staley and the lady Gsmecocks to win it all. They completed an undefeated season. Of course, Caitlin Clark will end up making more money than any other female playing basketball. I hope not. I'm betting the solar eclipse will come and go like Y2K. We'll be here when you come back on Tuesday.

Mel I took a puff when I was a teen - and never took another puff. Sounds about right. Just from our limited interactions I figured you weren't a weed smoker...lol. Honestly, except for a few people who have posted on this site in the past...nobody on here seems like typical weed smokers to me. You can't always tell on the internet, but offline I usually can EASILY tell those who smoke weed from those who don't. Not only that..... I can nail it down to whether they smoke weed that's home grown naturally or they like smoking the shit they get from the dispensaries....lol. Extremely accurate. I've always been able to naturally leave this dimension Can you Lucid Dream?

Lol...for some reason, I figured you'd be one of the last people on here seemingly promoting the effects of ingesting Marijuana. While I don't disagree with what you wrote, it should be understood that much of the weed on the streets of America today and most of the weed sold in the dispensaries around the nation is NOT real or natural Marijuana. It is either fake OR has been genetically altered with the THC levels enhanced to dangerous levels. This shit most people are smoking out here is making many of them psychotic.

Day 3 SUMMIT KEYNOTE A Conversation with the 2024 National Black Writers Conference Honorees Friday, March 22 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm Honorees 1-> Paul Coates [ https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=W.+Paul+Coates ] • Percival Everett [ https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Percival+Everett ] 2->Peniel Joseph [ https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Peniel+E.+Joseph ] • 3->Bernice McFadden [ https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Bernice+L.+McFadden , https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Geneva+Holliday ] M-> Moderator: Gloria J. Browne-Marshall [ https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Gloria+J.+Browne-Marshall ] Emcee: Wallace L. Ford, II M Question # Answer My thoughts M-> What writers you carry with you? 3-> Alice Walker then Toni Morrison 2-> CLR James Black Jacobins. Gwendolyn Brooks, Sonia Sanchez, James Baldwin. Baldwin's ability to talk about history shaped him. I carry Zora Neale Hurston with me. The black storytellers or griots or jaliyahs from ancestral times to know that carried the stories of anansi to high john. I carry the lyricists who made the negro spirituals to the pop music at the end of the 1900s. M-> What inspired you to do obscure? 1->Obscure connects the more well known. Malcolm X, Baldwin, but he followed Richard Wright more. He grew up with Richard Wright. Haki R. Madhubuti. Drusilla Dunjee Houston [ https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Drusilla+Dunjee+Houston] wrote a book in 1926 [[the wonderful ethiopians]]. She was just 26. Her book informed him on what it means to tell your own story. She was a witness to the attack of the black populace of Tulsa by the white populace of Tulsa. He said she said, she was happy she didn't have a son cause on that day she would had sent him to die. Doctor Ben. Amy Jacques Garvey, it was she who recorded all of Marcus Garvey's stuff . When we read Garvey we are reading her. One thing I notice is when you write against audience expectations it doesn't lead to the path of money as a writer. Even if people praise a work, its uncommon setting styles or character definitions tend to push the potent commercial crowd away, for the identities common in the potent commercial space. M-> You say the first reconstruction was the exodus from the south and the second reconstruction is the 1960s but what was brought back from 1877 to 1960s to now? 2-> He goes against the commonly attributed timeline suggested for reconstruction. Two main factors come in. Dignity , which is god given. He thinks of IDa B Wells as exemplary of this. Citizenship- external form of dignity. From eighteen hundred and fifty four to eighteen hundred and sixty eight was the first reconstruction. From nineteen hundred and thirties to the nineteen hundred and seventies is the second reconstruction. From Barack Obama's presidency to now is the third reconstruction. From first to second to third the duality of dignity side citizenship is battled over or redefined. In the third reconstruction, we all count or no one counts. For him, the locus of Black art is with Lorraine Hansberry. We are in it together. For me, Slavery ,the enslavement of Black people by whites took several forms, each legally weaker than the prior, but none less potent or influential than the other, especially on black people. The first form, which was global, was direct white european imperialism, black people no matter where they were indigenous to: africa/asia/america [[as in continental usa from modern day canada to argentina]] were enslaved to whites living in the region of earth they lived in for the most part, barring rare exceptions. Siddi or Negrito in Asia, the city states along the coast of west africa as tributary states aiding in enslavement for arms which kept them protected from larger military entities like the hausa caliphate, who through the islam route enslaved as well. Black indigenous people, meaning indigenous people in the american continent who are phenotypically fitting the label black. The second form in the usa, mirrored by the creation of governments after the end of direct white european rule in various places outside of europe, is blacks in the USA enslaved to whites in the usa. This form's key point is that governments were started with enslavement of blacks as a pillar of identity. You see this in south africa , australia, India, Brasil. or many others. This pillar was about generational wealth for white people, regardless of european ancestry. This is why you see mestizos or blancos in latin america who from the strictest anglo american view are not white statians, benefit from being white in the usa, no different than other white people. The third form in the usa I will call the thirteenth amendment. In this form, slavery no longer is completely allowable or legal as in the prior two forms in the usa. In this form, slavery is allowable once incarcerated under the law. So in this form, even though black people were legally enslaveable before at the desire of whites, the negative manipulation of black homes or populaces becomes the norm as an automatic strategy for the thirteenth amendment simply states that to continue the enslavement of blacks in the usa you have to legally bind the actions, regardless of legal quality. Slavery in the third phase is no longer a natural right for whites to impose on blacks, while slavery can be an aspect of a legally bound condition whites through the government impose on blacks. This is why violence was so expansive. The thirteenth amendment didn't change the heritage of white people, it simply forced white people to change from a culture of public pride as enslavers to the non white which made the black to non black relationship simple into public liars about all abuses to the non white using statistics or laws as the cover, which turned the relationship of black to non black complex. A complex relationship the black populace has never been able to handle internally well. The fourth form is what I call the 1960s. This form is about deleting enslavement in the federal government of the usa, while allowing states or cities all controlled by whites to expand abuses to black people in states or cities. The third form isn't dead but mutated so that within the federal government alone in the usa, multiphenotypical peaceful coexistence can grow or become . This leads to more black elected officials. A huge growing presence of blacks in the usa military. Which can be deemed by peaceful integrationist as a positive, while in the cities or states, you have the white flight alongside urban plight which was cities supported by states, moving all wealth to where white people displaced themselves while placing black people in financially destitute city environments, void farmland or land ownership capabilities as well as local governments with enough whites to deny black governmental control or dominance, thus maintaining the urban plight. The fifth form is The End of the Old USA empire. The enslavement of blacks to whites went from under the british empire to under the declaration of independence to a province of illegality to planned obsolescence in the federal administrative apparatus to residual functions through the usa's administrations or organizations. I argue reconstruction, meaning to build again for black DOSers can never happen in the usa cause the rebuilding to an enslaved people requires two things the usa can not give, physical freedom from the usa plus a commonly accepted idea from black people in the usa on what they want their future to be as a group or what they want reconstruction to lead to. M->To your book Sugar, it deals with an underclass of women, can you speak about that? 3-> She wrote Sugar 25 years ago and she was thinking about her family and wanted to know them more. She sneaked about and listened to their stories as a kid. We carry twelve generations of Deoxy ribo nucleic acid in our body. She wants to make ancestors proud. M->You decide who will be published. What books do you think? 1->He was looking for his wife all night and glad he found her in the crowd. ... He wants to know more about the three reconstructions from Peniel Joseph's book. He wants to know about the periods. Publishing for him is a way to resist. He doesn't have the luxury of thinking commercially. He has a different approach than Simon and Schuster. The first book he published predated the New Negro in time. He is focused today on black cookbooks which need to be republished. He has the responsibility to decide impact and right now it is obscure cookbooks From Black newspapers to Black publishers to Black owned websites, Black owned avenues of information emission have always existed. But the problem is they never had the kind of financial support needed to be expansive in the black populace of writers or other artists. M-> What do you carry from cookbooks? 1->The way black people made good out of things that are no good . His father knew how to cook waste products . He will love to know where his father got that from. How do you build the nutrition when they say you are lower than dirt. Like Chitlins, which is the gut of the pig. Many people in modern humanity speak of recycling and yet, the ability to reuse waste is mostly in the Black Statian heritage which is disconnected from the methods or ways implemented by white statian firms who control the plans on recycling. M->Geneva Holiday is a pseudonym for Bernice McFadden. Why was she created and what does she carry? 3-> It took her ten years to sell her first novel , Sugar. Publishers were saying their was no audience for her work in 1998. She decided she would write a chick flick. From nineteen hundred and ninety nine to two thousand and three or two thousand and four she will write a different type of writing. She didn't want to confuse audience , not all who read Mcfadden love Holiday or vice verse. Holiday carries sexual liberation. M->The Stokely Carmichael definitive book you wrote? 2-> He met Kwame Toure at college before Toure's cancer. Toure asked him, what are you doing for our people's liberation. In his dissertation he thought to Toure. He thinks Kwame Toure doesn't get the credit he deserves. After MLK jr + Malcolm , Toure is the leader. Toure lives in Africa and critiques USA imperialism everywhere. HE devoted ten years to write the biography and media turned the biography into the MLK/X show. As a teacher he knows students who know MLK/Malcolm/Ida B Wells /Fannie Lou Hamer but not Stokely. Well, I argue this is an internal black statian issue. Stokely showed he had garveyism in him, and was a segregationist. These two elements, leaving non black countries for black countries, or living in a Black country or a Black space in a non Black country was and is against many black adults in the usa in the mid to late nineteen hundred or still today. Many Black people parents or guardians in the usa speak to their children adopting the usa, embracing the usa or the whites in it. Kwame Toure was vocal in not doing that except under beneficial circumstances for black people. M-> What do you want your work to carry to readers , want readers to carry forth? 3-> She didn't know in the Book of Harlan black people were in death camps in germany. She didn't know that and wonder why no one else around her knew. So learn and pass on knowledge. 2-> The older he gets the more he comprehends Black folk have a lot of empathy. Ida B Wells for example had a deep profound love for Black people. He recalls a press conference where Malcolm was asked , what is his credentials, and Malcolm responds, his sincerity. To often we buy into denigration like the Moynihan report. It happens in churches as well . Good black people become mesmerized. Black Lives Matter was by three black women, showed what happened to Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, George Floyd , Breonna Taylor. To give dignity and by honoring them we honor ourselves. M-> Maybe if we talk more about our joy, it may help the young people. Brooks, you chose the black panthers for your skills then you chose The Black Panther Party to place into Howard. What do you want writers/researcher to carry out of the Black Party archive? 1-> He realized coming out of the Black Panther party, Black folk talk too much. The rhetoric is no critique-able which helped carry that small movement, the black panthers for self defense. But, overall Black people talk too much and do too little otherwise. He wants a researcher to come with what Black Classic Press is, a catalog of resistance. Prescence African [[ https://www.presenceafricaine.com/ ]] eh thought of as drum and spear. Presence African go itself from the Harlem Renaissance. Black Classic Press has documented that resistance. He listened to earlier speakers and no one used the term white supremacy. Stop talking about book bans, it is a system of white supremacy. Black people are attacked all over the world. In Black Classic Press it is only the Black presence in the USA but everywhere on Earth is a black presence and that global or holistic approach is the best way to battle white supremacy. Being nonviolent in a populace of people who want to be violent, have every reason to be violent, while guided by a more powerful populace beyond or a part of a populace within to be nonviolent tends to lead to a very talkative nature. Speaking against tends to become more potent or influential while other non violent actions repeatedly yield negative results. I will never forget a black woman who owns a house in texas, that her bloodline has owned since a time period nearest the end of the war between the states , telling how her great grand mother as head of her clan told two grand cousins who sought violent actions against whites to go to chicago. Now, people may say this saved their lives. But it also taught lessons and made problems. Two black people who wanted to use violence against non blacks who are attacking the home of their clan, are not being supported by their clan but told they have to leave to a white city devoid of black potency. What should the cousins think? Should they want to be active? why? They wanted to be active in texas and just to ensure stay alive were taken from a better place of black empowerment to a worse place of black empowerment by their own clan. I think Black people in the USA , especially DOSers make too little of what the path of nonviolence does to black people who are engaged. Question and Answer session Q->Question # or M->Answer My Thoughts Q->Malcolm X was asked about what he thought about the noble peace prize, what was his answer? 2->Malcolm X said if he was the general of an army he would not accept a peace prize in a time of war. But he was asked the question alot, and asked it variantly. Malcolm always comprehended that being nonviolent living aside those who are violent to you is a dysfunction on the part of the nonviolent. Cause the violent can attack the nonviolent naturally. While the nonviolent can be abused naturally. PEace isn't always a positive. Q-> At his children's school they don't have a library but a tech center. How can we carry this knowledge to a generation that may not be reading it, how to build a bridge that can keep ? 3-> Everything begins at home. If I am reading a book the child will. You can't depend on outside influencers to guide what we want M->We don't need a license. We have to take young people to the library. We can do things going back to midnight schools post war between the states and why would we expect schools run by the government in the usa to do that. 3-> He learned as a parent , that time or ability to not rely on school systems is a luxury. M-> One of her books is banned in florida and sometimes you have to go online to get some resources 2-> We introduce them to literature where they are at. He shows his students videos. What we do wrong sometimes is criticize young people for their way so the comparison is unfair between generations. This is not 1923. We have to meet them where their at. The home is correct but it must be said, over one hundred and fifty years since the end of the war between the states, it is telling that the Black populace in the usa doesn't have in any city or town in the entire usa a publicly funded organization to maintain black heritage/history/culture absent in that city robustly enough to demand all embrace it at some level who live in said city. Q-> How do you get out of Weeds of research ? What about a process? 3-> I probably shouldn't answer. She hears the challenge all the time. She doesn't struggle. The characters make it form. 2-> I struggled and I continue to struggle. In the last few years, he has been in the groove of writing every day . Chester himes said: "fighters fight and writers write". He stopped writing when he felt inspired. He learned from Amiri Baraka. Baraka is one of the most important artist that lived. Baraka said Max Roach said: "you have to put in the time". The great artist comprehend it is a labor, not a ditch digging but it is a labor. he teach students we are all a writer. You narrate your life every single day. The only thing preventing unleashing their literature is themselves. You are all brilliant writers as a memoirist and it is your story. So you need to think about the labor. It doesn't mean abandon your family, but if you do i t everyday you will have a manuscript after three hundred and sixty five days , and then you revise it. That is writing. Q-> I read the Sugar series. You go into graphic detail about abuse of black women. How did you tend to yourself writing that and what can I tell students who think it is trauma porn. 3-> When she has to reread she feel the emotion but when creating she doesn't . She inherited it from her mother. She regrets the term trauma porn is used. Slavery was not manufactured. Many young black people see the enslaved as slaves and that has to change. Many black people call our forebears slaves when they were enslaved. Free people whose freedom was taken from them. M-> I am doing a book, a history of activism, due in a week. She tells students if it becomes to much, walk around the block, watch something silly. She can compartmentalize. Remember, we are not being harmed, separate from this and gain from the courage of those survivors. Give the heroic experience from those who survived the respect it deserves. So have researchers not put themselves in peoples shoes but put their story and the responsibility of telling their story because the people they are writing made it where the modern can be. This goes back to one of the negative results of the nonviolent path the black populace in the usa has brewed for over one hundred and fifty years. When Black peoples homes generation after generation speak ill to violence, speak ill to anger, speak none to enslavement, speak none to white abuse, generation after generation supposedly to spare black children the deadly truth to their blood relationship to the country they live in, you allow for the growth of an anti violent culture, which is against black people themselves bringing up the truth, cause the truth is not mostly positive or pretty for black people in the usa. It may be unfortunate, but that is the truth. Q-> White liberals seem to eradicate the militant aspect of some leaders? 1-> The history isn't attacked because of militancy but a counter narrative against one whites have made. unless you tell your story the way whites want, your story is attacked, unless you tell it their way. It is not coincidental that wherever you see black people you see a white narrative, it has nothing to do with the variation of black people or how radical or not a black person is. We have to comprehend we are under assault from those who want to enslave all who are not them. A system of white supremacy, no matter what you, non white, are talking about. I don't know if Blacks, or nonwhites, or anyone we can unify around opposing the system of white supremacy. And, today white supremacy isn't the Klan coming down the road. 2-> When you tell stories of Ida B Wells or Stokely or other Black leaders people would delete elements from them. Malcolm was talking about Congo in the 1950s and 1960s. Pedagogical or university organizations would save what Malcolm said but would cut out Congo. Ida B Wells plsu Malcolm X remind us of this. Students ask me, what did Malcolm accomplish. They comprehend MLK jr and I answer, MAlcolm turned negroes into blacks. Toni Morrison was a champion of this. When Toni Morrison replied to Charlie Rose who asked , where are the white people, and she replied, it isn't about you. I concur the larger issue is the non black oppressing the black. The complication is that modernity was reached with the less simple relationship of over one hundred and fifty years ago of non black enslaver, black enslaved. So you have interminglings of black side non black that are internally complicated and flexible enough to serve various actions. Q-> How to bridge generations? 3-> Have conversations with elders 2-> Share stories. Young people need to attack the redemption version of the usa and support the multiracial. Oral histories are more important than written histories. Maga got an oral story on January 6th , and emit that story through voting or violence. We must share our oral history with elders. Financial literacy , equitability. Black wealthy haven't helped the community back enough but doing that is not enough. Black people in the 1860s could had been president. Black people in the past could had been president. M-> A lot of young black people today have white friends. But that white friend don't have to like any other black people. The Tom Test . Do you pass it? Ten or fifteen years go before the black youth with white friends realize white powers negative affect in their lives , wasting years. I do think specificity may help also. Find the black people young to old who are similar minded.

Thanks very much, Richard! I appreciate the support. Davida

Thank you so much, Troy. I apologize for not responding sooner. It was incredible of you to post my other books as well. I've been swamped with putting together a June book tour and I haven't checked back here in several weeks. I appreciate the support and positive feedback. Davida

It's fascinating how our preferences change as we grow older, isn't it? Musicals, especially those on film, might not have been your thing when you were younger, and that's totally understandable. It's all about personal taste! Have you had a chance to see what movies are out right now? Perhaps there's a gripping drama or another genre that aligns more with your current interests. Variety is the spice of life when it comes to choosing what to watch!

@aka Contrarian, excellent weekly news wrap. As a correspondent, I'll add... Former POTUS Orange Julius (POJ) had his $464 million bond reduced to $175 million. NY AG Letitia James is still holding on to it as a win. Meanwhile, POJ's Truth Social hits stock market valued at $3.6 billion. IOW, there was reason to reduce the bond above. As mentioned above, POJ puts sprinkles on his fortune cake hawking a Bible. Also resurfaced is the infamous picture of him standing in front of a church during the Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of George Floyd's murder. Robert Kennedy Jr. doesn't stand a chance of being elected POTUS. Due to a condition that affects his speaking voice, if RFK Jr. leader, his public addresses would be a painful listen. CNN caught up with Fani Willis at an event in Atlanta. She was looking good and defiantly said the train is still coming in the case against POJ. Puffy aka Diddy is definitely in a tub of hot water as the Feds hink he's involved in sex trafficking. It makes no sense to me that a billionaire would pick that as a side hustle. These raids coincide with other allegations against the music mogul. He's been skating on thin ice for decades. The Baltimore bridge collapse was an unfortunate catastrophe. It happened about 40 minutes driving from my hood.

oh thank you @Troy I wanted day 3 and 4 typed up by now, but I am racing against the clock for a contest. but by this end of week i hope ot have all four days in for reading leisure:) thanks for the link. I will add it to my early dos literature group. You look like you can be in the whispers back then:) cool I didn't realize lawrence fishburne was a member of the whispers:)

Yeah, the black excellence forum can use a little more love. Even the sister who helped generate the idea rarely contributes.

Aunt Lute Books, of San Francisco, CA is thrilled to announce the release of Kathya Alexander’s debut novel, Keep A’Livin’ which will be available April 2, 2024. Thank you for taking the time to read a bit more about the book and its inspiring author. My hope is that after reviewing the content you will be as excited as we are about this upcoming piece and will be inspired to review the book on your platform. Keep A’Livin’ is a distinctive novel written in verse which follows the coming of age story of the young protagonist, Mandy, a girl growing up in Arkansas in the 1960s amid the turbulence of the Civil Rights Movement. The reader accompanies Mandy as she comes to realize the complicated nuances of her social status, learns about her current social and political climate, and contemplates the role faith and God plays in American race relations and fights for social justice. When asked about intentions of her book, Alexander writes: I want to make people aware of all those ordinary men and women who worked at the local level to make the Civil Rights Movement a success… I want Keep A’Livin’ to honor and acknowledge the local people, the grassroots activists that are often neglected in the history of that era. Keep A’Livin’ is a commentary on what it means to be young, Black, a woman, a daughter, a sister, a student, and queer in the American south at a time of social and political uncertainty. With a focus on historical dialect and the spoken word throughout, the novel is a testament to the Civil Rights Movement’s fundamental reliance on oral tradition, elevating the voices of community, collaborating with others, and finding space to listen. The verse and dialectical form of this novel allows for a channel of speech that harnesses this essence of the Civil Rights Movement itself. This intimate style gives more character to the history than mere recordings or clippings of descriptions of key events ever could. It is in the conversation between characters, the interweaving of fable, tradition, religion, and storytelling that we can come away from this book with a deeper understanding of the Civil Rights Movement and ultimately what makes the political, personal and vice versa. At Aunt Lute Books, we are beyond excited to publish this truly craftful novel, and hope you are as well after reading. More information about Keep A’Livin’ and Kathya Alexander can be found on our website. The advanced reader copy is also available for review. Please let me know if you are interested in reviewing this book and I will gladly send over a copy for you to take a look at.

My brotherly advice would be to start working on your goals immediately. Tomorrow isn't promised to anyone. It's better to live life to the fullest now. Get busy living today because dying is inevitable.

@aka Contrarian i dunno what your day to day life is like, but i find you inspirational. i think it is your sharpness of mind, wit, and intellect. You probably can’t see it, but I bet others do. I’m sure your husband did I’m @ing @Mel Hopkins and @Chevdove so that they see your message. if you have Netflix check out This is Us. I think it is an interesting series. It won’t be boring. I’ve been watching it, almost exclusively, for a couple of months now.

@ProfD& Troy: I thought it would be great to live a long life and reach 90. But, suddenly, I'm not impressed over having achieved this goal. Others in this category thank the Lord and aspire to reach 100 and are eager to tell what they attribute their longevity to. Me, I'm fighting boredom and depression. I really feel as though I've over stayed my time here and am trapped in a state of limbo I've lost interest in a lot of things and what others find interesting and exciting I find mundane. I spent a lot of time pondering about life after death and whether there is one. I've been told this all might be hormonal. And, of course, I'm very pessimistic about the upcoming presidential election and the future of the USA. Hopefully you both will be able to handle old age better than me. I'm certainly not an inspiration. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. N c Hi Chevdove and Mel. Glad to see you're still "holding down the fort."

I don’t know anyone near 90 active on the Internet. So I always find “@aka Contrarian” (the poster formerly known as Cynique) to be remarkable. If I can make it to 90 AND still be running the site that would be a prodigious feat. I’m in my early 60s now and in my mind’s eye I cannot imagine myself an old man. I guess that is a relative perception, as someone in their early 20s may look at me and see if an old man. Well I thank you all for creating a special place. I know it does not have the cache of social media, but it is ours.