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Never in my wildest dreams (and yes I have wild ones) would I think a short observation would spur such a nourishing conversation! Thank you @richardmurray, @Troy and @Kalexander2 for you evocative perspectives!

I never heard this before, but it is a brilliant observation.

Thanks Richard. Of course spam on your blog has increased since i blocked guest posts on the forum… i honestly believe someone just wants to make my life miserable. @Pioneer1 would say it is an overt act of racism.

I would like to live in this painting (the house by the river) with someone.

Thank you, Mel. You have made my day. Yes, the text next to each picture gives ingredients, process, and an anecdote that includes a quote from my mother or a story that illustrates not only her philosophy about food, but, of course, about life. From the beginning, I make it clear that it is not a cookbook or a how to book, but a book that will inspire some to create their own culinary art, others to enjoy the art when they frame the perforated large format prints on their wall, and everyone to be touched by my mother's story. It is a companion book to the first book, An Extraordinary Life: Josephine E. Jones. The talented illustrator has created an elegant cover that is a work of art, just like the contents of the book. Now if I can get the emergency loan-grant to pay the publicist, I won't have to attempt to do it myself. Thanks again.

Okay, WOW! I am going to make a notebook to keep up with this information. Thank you @Mel Hopkins I am going to break this down and digest this. OMGOSH! I can understand this.

@Chevdove Thank you for asking!!! (I'm so excited)...ACCESS = LOCATION and refers to where people are most likely to get information about something that interest them. Example - If you are interested in creole cooking - you're are likely to show up to a location that either serves creole food or teaches creole cooking. You will most likely search for creole recipes and even find a creole history club to join locally or the internet. You may even show up here AALBC to look for books on the origins of creole culture or if experts post here. You might even start your own thread about creole culture. NOTE: business owners provide what customers need so the customer can get what they want. Your interest in creole cooking means either you or loved one wants to eat it. So business owners fills the need - by selling a cookbook, opening a restaurant or inviting you to take a trip to the source. So, someone who is promoting, lets say Louisiana travel tours, will make sure they share their information at all those access points where you are likely to show up. They will be at the places where you might look for information creole cooking. It may be advertisement or even information about authentic creole cooking spot on the tour - or even the best dish and include a recipe... Now they have your attention you may even jot down their information for future reference - and remember them when you plan your trip so you can get some good food. This is how the best marketers are getting noticed in today's marketplace. EDUCATION = A MOVEMENT A lot of independent authors think they don't know their audience. My suggestion is to start of movement of one. Ask yourself, "what do I believe needs changing?" I did something similar when starting this blog. I believe Marketing = Change. Marketing is a force that shakes up the status quo. I believe independent authors are unaware they use marketing in the course of their daily living. Therefore, my mission is to help authors realize they can create change through intentional use of the marketing techniques they unwittingly use daily. I was the first person in my "marketing is a four-letter word" movement. I was the first one in the audience. I'm so passionate about this topic, I just want to spread the word to anyone who will listen. I believe, "If you don't believe in your movement or are passionate about it - no one will be." Creating a movement of one is the first step. It will help you clarify what you intend to change. Then, you will be able to identify the people who are interested in your subject matter. You'll notice there are "followers" who will agree with your mission. (note: it might not happen immediately - that's why you have to be patient and passionate.) These people are your core audience. Don't waste your time trying convert anyone who is not interested. Focus on those who are interested. -These "followers" will become your ambassadors who will bring other like-minded people to the movement. How to start a movement: Now, the best thing about being a writer is ideas and words are our movement. We just have to educate others and lead them to the goal we he hope to accomplish. If we didn't believe in changing something we wouldn't write in the first place. And the best way to help others make a change is by sharing information (Education). So when you start your movement answer "Who, what,where, when, why and how." from there you will understand what information you need to share to build your audience.

@Troy The action is here! Some of Independent authors here seem to echo the same thing "I didn't know how to market my book." Except, they do. -It appears they're not strategic in their marketing practices. I was the same way with my first novel - I knew what to do but I didn't work my plan. I like how you call it a (book marketing )"clinic" because it is! We, independent authors, already know what's wrong - we just aren't consistent with our "outpatient" care. I'm writing this out for me too. I believe this is one the best places for original content on the subject. By the way, I like that I don't even have to repost it to my profile - the software keeps track of all my postings as long as I'm signed in. Oh! I'll check out @dtpollard. @Troy OMG @hen81 is my writing "hero"! He didn't come here to play with us one-book every 20 year folks !!! 65 titles according to his last post!

You are giving a clinic now @Mel Hopkins. DT PollarUsed to posr here quiet regularly. He really was cranking the ebook several a year (or so it seemed).

@richardmurray Thank you! Happy New Year! @Troy LOL! You don't miss a chance to give facebook the boot LOL GOOD JOB!!! Facebook and anything it touches is anti-life...

Making money trumps (pardon the pun) serving the community everyday of the week. Johnson made it clear the "E" stood for "entertainment," not enlightenment or education. The reality is that it stood for enrichment, Johnson's personal enrichment, and that is the legacy of BET.

true @Troy Just today @Mel Hopkins the mayor to new york city, blamed trumps election or racial biases publicity in the usa on rupert murdoch or fox news. He blames someone whose role is to make money through the media for placating how white people raise themselves in their community. It is not murdoch's fault that he saw a mob and played to it, to make money, in the usa, where making money is the way to anything. Again, merit does not matter. De blasio today suggest a certain philosophical merit must come before fiscal profiteering when the fiscal profiteering is the philosophical merit. One note, when chernobyl happened the soviet russian government had soldiers pick up the waste, all those soldiers died of radiation sickness. Over 10,000 have died from the world trade center wreckage, but if we all recall, mayor guiliani let those people ,fiscally poor people or municipal workers,pick up waste just like the soviet government did the military at chernobyl... ah welll

The irony of this article dated May 7, 2018 appearing here as a post is that I believe it was inspired by awesomelyluvvie article - dated April 17, 2018 - Still, It drives home the point that unless a black woman's feelings are echoed by a woman of non-color - then those words are just another "fart in the blizzard." Further, tears of woman of non-color are assigned as the attributes of all women especially black women. And if we don't cry at the drop of a hat then we are labeled Angry black women. Or we're not women at all, or rather we're acting like "men"...because we don't act weak. When in reality women are not weak at all - but women of non-color just play men that way. Now, they've joined the me-too movement to kick men out of their offices all the while playing victim but getting the corner offices in the process. All I got to say is "well-played women of non-color; well-played.

@richardmurray: Doubt sister Hopkins meant where that's going, but i'll leave it up her to check it up!

@Mel Hopkins true:) but, what separate a baby from a program is a baby while it is created at least physically through parents, its design is special. the parents can not determine what it will be, like all the rest created from humans. @Kalexander2 yes , the one key thing that black people must state or remember is that our vote would not had changed it. The presidential election in the u.s.a. is fifty elections. whomever get the majority vote in a state gain all their electoral votes, except for two states, where the votes are divided upon the percentage. Black people do not have a majority vote in any state in the usa, and the white vote this past election voted as a block for donald trump. The black vote voted against trump, all non white votes , voted against trump side carson, but none of them separately or together did and do have the quantity to win it alone, as the white vote proved.

@richardmurray ... OMG!!! this is true of everything we create. Understanding the creator reveals the creator.. I knew this to be true of my writing ... to read me is to know my heart - (good bad or indifferent). BUT now looking from your perspective I'd say this is true of what we consume. @Kalexander2., "It's not that I have something to hide. It's that I have nothing I want you to see." ~ANON (Netflix) @Kalexander2 If I understand this premise correctly, if the state is receiving the money - then why aren't officials distributing the HUD funds based on needs - rather than using the cash to integrate communities. One challenge, however, is to make sure millionaires such as Fox News Sean Hannity don't get the HUD money and then fix up buildings in areas - and charge exorbitant amount of rent for each apartment. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/sean-hannity-under-fire-for-allegedly-using-hud-money-to-help-buy-housing-property-in-georgia/85-548596246

Remember @Kalexander2 every machine purpose stem from its creator, not itself

The esteem commentary here is encouraging and I'm especially happy to hear Black folk speak this way. All too often people tend to hide from themselves, who they are and how they feel. While I'm no great admirer of anyone putting all their cards on any table unnecessarily, I do believe anyone with something to hide exposes everything about her/his self. Machine learning, AI, data mining, analysis, etc., does indeed seek to learn in efforts to control and manipulate to gain some advantage over others; to little avail, because there is no 'human' touch (or intimacy). There may be an advantage, however, when people, government advance programs based on such intelligence; what they think they see or know, because a person's true feeling, beliefs, and principles get ignored in all the excitement of so-call innovative technics of 'social engineering,' (use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behavior of a society). Thanks guys, for giving me an additional way of seeing things.

@richardmurray , interesting perspective and one that makes a lot of sense - especially with the history of humans seeking to control each other.

I see @Mel Hopkins yes, one member in the masses at a time:) Nice line Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. For me, artificial intelligence will never be truly intelligent. Merely an illusion alluding to intelligence that serve the vanity in humans to be masters to something.

@richardmurray & @Troy I hadn't thought about involuntary ways we share our stories. I was thinking more about how we share moments, and events with each other. For example, I can tell a part of your story, Troy, that took place at Brooklyn Tech because it was my journey too. Or Richard, I can share a little of your writing journey as I know it from AALBC because both of us look for ways to get our words to the masses. But your responses allow my little observation to become so much more than I'd realized. Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. Humans are too fluid. We possess innate ability to connect with another human in a way that allows us to feel what the other person is feeling in that moment. This is one reason, Artificial Intelligence will never become the standard. It can never be intimate - because it doesn't understand vulnerability. Such as the intimacy of community. In a community, we allow ourselves to see others and " be seen" by them. Looking through our data and trying to figure out the human experience is as hard as looking through our excrement and understanding WHY we eat the things we do. To know WHY we eat, takes sharing a meal and feeling the nuances of the story we tell. Speaking of meal and stories, -Amistad author Michael W. Twitty, won the James Beard Foundation Award for his book - The Cooking Gene. But I digress. I happened to stumble on this early tedtalk yesterday and while the speaker rambles on, he expands on this concept when he said "emotional empathy, feeling with the other person" His talk reminded me of why it is a lot easier to turn humans into robots than it will be for Artificial Intelligence to reach the level of humanity. Humans will always have shared stories; AI, not so much.

That would pretty much be anyone with a smart phone. Even tbe senior citizen with all those plastic rewards card attached to their keyring. It is hard not to freely share your information.

I amend:) especially today:) I do not have the numbers but how many people had their informatios shared from others, given freely from others in the internet age.

@TSegal, those are some views you got there, brother! However, this mess goes a lot deeper than most people realize. For the sake of this discussion let’s say that instead of 400+ years for European White folks to get it together; they had over 1000+ years of planning. I must use caution here as all I say must be accurate, though ever so unpopular. Allegations of ‘anti-semitism’ holds must greater penalties than violations of civil rights. Here we go! Since before the Roman empire was established, Jews who separated from other European Whites were prosecuted by virtually every society on earth, they got tired and got smart. Really evil smart. More than 1000+ years developing the theory of ‘double entry (modern-day accounting); 1000+ years studying (sizing-up their enemies) habits, likes and dislikes; 1000+ years stealing (plagiarizing) ideas, philosophies, science, ways of ruling a nation, and medicine from Black Africa (there were more than 2000 Black/Muslim universities in Africa) while infiltrating the very government they were subject to. Gaining trust, even marrying into families of their taskmasters. How astute would that group be after 1000+ years trial and error, and what would they do to the people who looked down upon them? Yes, it has always been White on White crime before the phrase was invented. Never forget for one moment, or underestimate the resolve of greed and power, and how even innocent children are fair game in the name of maintaining that power and feeding that greed. NO! No sir, White folks are not hypocrites, they not fools; they have always practiced what they preach. What they preach are all lies, contrary to the theologian riddled metaphor “mixing lies with the truth.” They always lie and cause us to think it’s the truth. I’ll prove it to you, right here and now! How often do we hear Blacks (you and me) asset that we are entitled to the same rights as White folks? What are those rights, I might ask? Freedom of life liberty and pursuit of happiness. Freedom for White folks is ethnocentric related (right to marginalize anyone different from them), kill whoever they want whenever they want and; freedom to follow the hegemony, their own. SORRY, but I am not entitled to, nor want that kind of freedom. Happiness for White is living perversely. I don’t to be a pervert. Just look at the most basic insignificant ways of living in modern society today, from the substance to subsistence, from what is acceptable to what is looked down upon. What rules and social values would you ordain right and wrong? All on the one hand. On the other hand, it does cause one to think (again), and reconsider principles of theology, all of them, excluding none. You’re on the right track, brother, keep up the question asking!!

Yes Troy, afromerica is my site and we still around. We were on hiatus for awhile but came back last year. Google has filtered some sites but we started back in 2000 so the Internet has not spit us out yet.

Fear is tool that provokes are real-life response. Fight or Flight... Prolonged fear leads to mental breakdown. It's not easy to just resist because most people are approaching psychotic breaks. Most people of EVERY color. We are not just humans; we are human animals and animals all react differently when they're afraid. Some animals play dead, faint and poop when they're afraid and there are animals that make themselves bigger when they're afraid and if pushed to their limit, they will attack. This is where we are today - you can't use a weapon without expecting a weapon to be used against you. Use of fear has pushed everyone to mental instability. Danger is real and it also provokes the same response as those experiencing fear... Fight or Flight. There is another way to combat danger and its through the use of CHAOS... Clear Head Assess Observe Situation then respond. Response requires training. Those who are in imminent danger are usually not of the mindset to survive the danger... especially those who have experienced duress due to prolonged fear. So first we must learn how to respond to a situation. However I suggest first locating the fire (the danger) because fighting smoke (fear) is a waste of resources.

Happily ever after is the problem, in literary terms. I will reply to your personal query but after I speak on the problem with the entire modern relationship genre. The first problem is where happily ever after came from. It came from a change in european fairy tales. Originally fairy tales were meant to refer to tales concerning the magical. A fairy traditionally is not positive or negative, in literary terms fairies is a magical label, how the magic apply to humans or the human world depend on the fairies, the humans, the various natural aspects. Most of these fairy tales were variations on pre christian stories from various places in europe that were becoming or would become heavily christian, at the zealot level. The christian clergy to their part, maintained the original christian method, making non christian things negative. This is why the word villans means criminal or peasant is low class compared to urban, where the christian church started, in modernity.Originally fairy tales had many unhappy endings. Some meant to scare, some meant to educate, others cause the story was good. But, over time, as books were being created, some writers decided to omit the unhappily ending fairy tales and only include the happy ones, or convert the unhappy ending ones into happy ending ones. This was the way in the european literary world; that coincided to the european global colonial age. The funny thing is that many of the conquered peoples native to <using commonly used geographic nameplace, not appropriate ones>: Africa/Asia/America had their own fairy tales which reflected the same style that the original european fairy tales did; but, these non european or non white fairy tales were barely transcribed or remembered or recalled through enslaved or genocidal histories. This lead up to modernity, in the united states. The U.S.A. media traditionally likes an inhuman position. From davey croket <is that the correct spelling> to the founding fathers , whether referring to real or unreal history the u.s.a. puts a happily ever after spin on all tales. When, the world wars are ended, the USA through its relatively advanced media machine, spread the happily ever after style and embedded it in films or entertainment. Artists who tried to reject this had to be independent or their work was undermined in advertising. The original scarface black and white film/comedy shows on early television/tales from the crypt comic books are all examples of media in the u.s.a. where someone was telling a story that did not end happy ever after and in each genre rules were set up to enforce a happily ever after product. From the movie ratings to comic code to prewritten shows on television. The artistic goal was blocking unhappily ever after from being experienced. Now, in modernity, the film industries technological capability has allowed an audience to see some of the most fantastic written elements absent reading or use of their imagination. The non science fiction or high fantasy fiction genre's like relationships or biographies are where books are making the most money. And, with centuries of happily ever after saturating the media in anglo led ,u.k. then u.s.a. , humanity you get to the current scenario. Now to answer your query, I believe in being happy in the now and not expecting anything tomorrow. Time is a teacher, treasure each moment you live, hope for the better tomorrow, praise the best from yesterday. Expectation is the enemy to a happy life, cause humanity live in nature, not dominate it, nature will give sad days, unhappy days, and nature is no sinner for it.

thanks @TroyImagine if we can get aalbc to grow more:) wouldn't that be great @Mel Hopkins as the online black community, this should be our goal, to make a black owned website more popular:) Ok Mel:) private message me on here, we will work something out. I will say this, the promote or social share is not present on blogs and i think is not needed. let us be honest. more and more online people, spend their time with photo viewing or tweeting but very few of them spend alot of time with in depth looking at any level. So, social promotion is good but in the end of the day, we have to come up with ways to engender them to us. many people today have filters to their social experience that grooms it.

You are correct. I do expect more from the games I play. Especially in regard to effects and ingame character physical interaction, as well as more voiceover relevant to the ingame universe at that moment in the game. At the same TIME. I dont mind watching the basic gameplay. Because I am not the one who is playing. I have lost track of how many of the advanced effects and liveaction videos of game characters I have watched over the years. Many of them becoming a favorite of mine in their respective gaming category, and specific game genre.

I remember when I saw Hialeah after waking up. The members of the raiding band cautiously behind me. She was cooking food for all. I knew few english words, my name being John; but she didn’t mind. I met her eyes and she already knew mine. We fell in love, and I joined her raiding party. We survived tons of gunfire as colonist numbers grew and grew. We even got through a pregnancy in a winter woods in the MicMaq lands now called New England. Aponi, our little treasure, skipping in the snow. Hialeah’s feet after the pregnancy always needed extra comfort. I had to make special shoes for her. Then, the colonists in 1775 finally wanted to not be english. We talked about what we should do. She reminded all of us, her people were assaulted by the colonist and had to flee. The colonists fable of being aided is their version of saying they stole from native people. Her people of the Powhatan Confederacy had to protect our food from colonists, who eventually raided across the Tsenacommacah and made it Virginia. She will never forgive the colonists, whether they call themselves english or american. And the persistence of their myth of friendship, sickens her very soul. I agreed, some others joined me and her, but most chose to go farther west. I didn’t know about my people across the great water, but I will never forgive the colonists, no matter what they call themselves either. And, we few went south. We were at the battle for Jersey. I even saw a flamboyant soldier defend against the colonists. After meeting Richard Freeman, he told me that Ethiopia is a place across the big water. Since I never heard of a place across the great water where I came from before, I called myself John Ethiopia. And then, the war got worse. My beautiful land was shot during a raid, I held our butterfly, as her mother sung her last song to her. And, in 1783, the war ended. Me plus our daughter, the last of our band, were sent to Nova Scotia. The cold was too much for the little butterfly and she died. Alone, cold, my memory of her with our little life losing color or definition in the last thoughts in my life. My spirit now gives thanks not living under the colonists, as their kingdom grew. A kingdom full of thieves. I give thanks for being eternally free from its lies, side my loving wife and child. Beyond the confines or the reach of the eagle. Thank you for reading, if you want to read more of my work read below Poetry or More https://www.kobo.com/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/richard-murray-16885e64-6c28-459e-bf5f-45c7d458ce49 AALBC https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/blog/29-richard-murray-hearth/

I watched the local news yesterday and when I look at the photo all I can see is a forest fire consuming me and all of my belongings or that river over flowing it's banks an washing everything I own away... More seriously; I guess were are in the midst of autumnal equinox. Here in Florida that is usually heralded by a drop in the humidly, the end of the afternoon thunderstorm, and the arrival love bugs. Since the tree leaves don't change color and die here it is like the springtime. @rosa "...with someone" is the important part. That experience would be goo alone, but great with someone.

I love your cute graphic:) will share:)

@Troy@Mel Hopkins@Cynique maybe AALBC community can do something together ? Wild idea throw, a panel on black owned websites? thoughts @Sarah Gordon Weathersby @sabine ziya@Maame Dede maybe shesolidarity panel on womens empowerment in comics? @rosa@Uniquelymade7 @Lauretha Ward@Neftali Rivera Jr@Jasonnicholson05@M'Bwebe@Tyr1Jax@zetkabawn FIYAHCON is a virtual convention centering the perspectives and celebrating the contributions of BIPOC in speculative fiction. Put in your email to get updates! Hop around the website and see all the features we have coming your way. Get involved! We're looking forward to bringing this to SFF BIPOC fam https://theconvention.fiyahlitmag.com/ ACTIVITIEs The Meloscriptorium- add a spotify song, good idea to get your name in the list- add a song Chef’s Tables- host recipes from your kitchen, discuss food as a vital element of world building- host a show The Tea House- a place for small gatherings Panels + Presentations - for panels to discuss topics- suggest one Office Hours- one on one meetings, suggest you be a host Workshops- 1 to 2 hosts doing an interactive learning session - host one https://theconvention.fiyahlitmag.com/features/ GET INVOLVES Volunteer Submit an idea to program OR place yourself for consideration Host an office hour Add to the MELOSCRIPTORIUM - https://theconvention.fiyahlitmag.com/get-involved/

@Chevdove YAAAY!!! More to come!

I don't have a Valentine's album per se, but I do have a collection on apple music called "bittersweet soul." I like soul music which I've recently learned is secular version of gospel music. I kind of knew that though. "This must be heaven" performed by Brainstorm and written by Lamont Johnson is less romance and more like a love song to THE ALL.

@Mel Hopkins, I watched the video and read the article -- an interesting story. So much talent went into the GPS project over a period of decades. Today our best and brightest go to Facebook and Goldman Sachs; what a waste of talent, but I digress... I like your advise because, you wrote, "Marketing doesn't dictate WHAT an author should write. It's just that the author should have a group in mind when they do." An author has to, otherwise they won't sell many books because they won't know who the audience is or how to reach them. Don't believe your family will buy your book in droves -- many will want the "hook up" Of course many writers only write books demanded by the market, and that is perfectly fine. Publishers often want to publish specific types of books because they have a particular aesthetic, sensiblity, mission, or are simply chasing percieved consumer demand. They then look for wrters to fit the bill. Strife between writers and publishers arise when there is disagreement between what an author writes and perceived consumer demand. The impacts everthing from cover design, the book's title, and the editing process. Somtimes the publisher is right, but they often get it wrong -- especially when it comes to Black books. Which is why we need more culturally Black publishers, editors, and booksellers.

Julia Wanjeri asked me to clarify what I meant using the following prose I say this is an opportunity to redesign womens world cup qual. as well as confed. title journey in #CAf agree? I say change to mirror the conmebol mens system. agree? https://twitter.com/jwanjeri/status/1200745066173812738 My Clarification- I admit beforehand I was purposefully vague In the beautiful game, flag play has many qualification systems to the world cup of confederation cup play. The cup of nations, the euros, the gold cup, the various world cup qualifiers. Of all the confederation cup tournaments or world cup qualifiers in the men's or women's game, which is the most fair or opportune? It is the conmebol men's world cup qualifiers. Currently, as of this writing, the CAF women's cup of nations has a problem finding a host to the tournament. As I alluded, this is an opportunity to overhaul the world cup qualification format as well as the CAF women's cup of nations format. How? The process I suggest is a repeat for the cup of nations as well as the world cup qualifiers. CAF has five sub confederations. Each sub confederation can become a round robin table like in the men's conmebol world cup qualifier. In two calendar years each table will have a champion, one for the south/east/west/central/north, and the champions will play in a five team round robin with each other, ending in a ranked table. The variance between the cup of nations and the world cup will be that for the cup of nations the team atop the champions table will be champions of CAF. While for the world cup qualifiers, currently the top three teams in the champions table will make it into the world cup. I know FIFA wants to advance the number of teams which may mean CAF may get five slots and possibly more slots in the future. If five slots, then all five champions make it into the world cup. If less than five slots, then the top "number currently three" get in, if more than five then the top slots determine the order of the remainders. So, for example, if the champions table ends, from first to fifth: west/central/south/east/north. Then slots six to ten are the second placed teams from the same sub confederation: 2nd place west/central/south/east/north this adds value to where the teams place. in the championship table in the world cup qualification. Now, what does my proposed system solve? First, it ends the need of a host. In my view, some countries not wanting to host demands a system where no one is asked to host. If hosting the caf women's cup of nations had value throughout CAF then a host would never be in doubt. Second, while more important, my system makes the caf womens cup of nations or world cup qualifiers harder flag team test than anything in the men's or women's game in FIFA. In four years', time each women's flag team in CAF has two long marathons, that will test their players/coaches/fans/organization. The best teams get two long marathons and at least one shorter marathon at most two shorter marathon that will be an undeniable proof that they are worthy champions OR the best preparation to enter the world cup. Third, this will reduce costs for all the lower ranked teams. Lower ranked teams may take many iterations before they ever reach a champions table. Thus, their matches will be regional, no long-distance travel. That saves money. No more worries about complicated traveling arrangements or fees, as every match is in a round robin setting. ... I do not have the power or influence to demand or implement my suggestion instantaneously. But this is a moment for all fans to women's soccer in CAF to consider a new system, one that not only deletes a hindrance no longer, but one that improves the opportunity aside the challenge in the caf region in the women's game beyond all other women's systems in other confederations. It's time for Africa.

That is interesting. Deviant Art requires creating an account to comment. Too bS they stopped allowing embedding

@Mel Hopkins not you think , you know or,at least, you are 100% correct . And, yes, I am not suggesting,100%, that making money must have criminality but I am telling that 99.9% does, not in alway straight but it does. Excellent example: Robert Johnson sold something worth more than any price long term and sold it for fiscal profit, and was glorified from like minded folk, black or non- black, after doing it. Many hip hop artists did likewise, betraying their youth or their home life for the imagined gangster rapper imagery, that white owned corporations preferred over social critiques or artistic mobilizers. The problem is simple, define morals. Morals are not set in stone. Second, more importantly, function. Said black folk are looking to reject or deny function to remain in some ruleset, morals, while making money. At the least, that does not serve the function of making money to the best ability or serving a communities needs.

yes @Mel Hopkins I have nothing against Justine or fiyah magazine but. a black writer, suggesting that a white writer is not warranting the fandom or the support cause the content in work from said white writer or perception to the value in said work is negative, is no other than what white media do to black artists all the time. I don't want white people to change. I want black people to be free from white physical assault. White people writing books or making movies or producing paintings where they depict their interpretation to black people as negative or positive is not a physical assault, it is emotional, pride based, but not physical. Some in the black community seem to want whites to speak well to blacks and I oppose that position. Donald Trump speaking ill to the central park five was negative, was ill, but the central park five suffered cause the assailed white woman who lied and the NYPD who interrogated, Trump is not the one who led to the pain the central park five went through. Birth of a nation, the original, is a vile movie to Black people, but that film was not hanging black people or incarcerating black people falsely, or financially entrapping black people through tricks, all supported through government initatives or actors, in 1915. That was city councils, mayors of cities, state legislators, state governors, federal representatives, federal senators, the president, white owned private enterprise. are the cause. The napir of american race relations, what I call the burning of southern black folk, was the fault of the us federal military leaving the south, which oddly enough they would had to return 100 year later, not the confederate flag, or statues or books written from whites.

Yes, this is a very old aphorism. I've read one about fishing poles to fisherwomen/men. But do we still find value in tools today? Also, do you think wealthy people are “careful”? Let's unpack this sage advice using the top 25 wealthiest people in the world. (1) Jeff Bezos–sells tools, provides a virtual and real location for tools and storage for information. (2) Bill Gates – makes and sells tools (3) Warren Buffet buys companies that sell tools, transportation and shelter & tools protection (4) Bernard Arnault sells luxury tools and goods (5) Mark Zuckerberg’s product is people and sells their attention Mark Zuckerberg provides the tools, but his company, Facebook’s product is people and he sells their attention. Allegedly, he doesn't even sell personal information, he sells access to those who’d like to get in front of specific eyes. In this case, is attention the shovel/fishing pole? I'm not sure. Also, MZ allows those who want access to determine the value of those eyes. Although this tends to be my blind spot, most of these people on the list "sell shovels/fishing poles", some sell "fish” but there are a few gold-miners /fisherwomen/men here too. But all those businesses have one thing in common – they earn and require currency. Now bitcoin is cryptocurrency, and its value is in the exchange. I don’t know if the goal is to get rich quick from using bitcoin but rather allowing those who use it, determine its value. It’s practically an egalitarian currency that’s in use nearly worldwide. So, I guess the key to predict who will profit from the proverbial gold rush is the one provides the platform for trading. Currently, heavily regulated financial institutions are the ones who profit. But now we have the Winklevoss Twins who were awarded a patent for ETP (exchange-traded products (ETPs) using cryptocurrencies) –(See Vanguard ETF) Then on a smaller scale we have Anari Sengbe's website OWO where gaming and purchasing products at a discount using cryptocurrency gives the platform its value. We still have bitcoin miners (With Bitcoin, miners use special software to solve math problems and are issued a certain number of bitcoins in exchange) AND cryptocurrency platforms just might be the new “shovels or fishing poles" in this digital economy. Edit: to change but to AND. According to Anari Sengbe in this talk, the internet of things (IoT) allows the devices to mine bitcoins for others and earn a fee for the transaction. In short your refrigerator, thermostat or any device in your home can become a virtual "Check Cashing Place" except its mining bitcoins or any other cryptocurrencies. I don't think the Black community can afford to be ignorant of cryptocurrencies. We're already 10 years behind.

Stephanie Baskek wrote, 05/04/2018: "When there’s a gold rush on, the thing to do is not to dig. Instead, sell shovels to all the suckers who think they’ll get rich digging for gold. This is one of the lessons that investigative reporter Corey Pein learned when he moved to San Francisco at the height of the Silicon Valley start-up boom. In his analogy, the gold rush is the tech boom, and the suckers are all the start-up wannabes who flock to the Bay Area for a slice of the venture-capital pie. And all of us, the consumers, who fell for the excitement of the gig economy and the lure of a free social network that promised to never sell our data? We’re suckers, too." Cryptocurrencies are the modern-day 'Gold Rush,' this could be gold mine for Blacks with a few dollars to invest, but leveraging the benefits is going to take some 'creative' financial/economic smarts. CAREFUL!

@Mel Hopkins our pleasure... I bet one of the wild dreams has an opening line... it all begins with honey:)

@Mel Hopkins: Distribution of HUD funds go the developers, builders, and the banks; planners and local housing commissioners who determine community needs decide who get those monies. It's the slop-sided policies and plutocrats who decide community integration; and richer friends in 'lower' places, the louder their voice. HUD, an offshoot from FHA still stand for White community advancement; helped by Black community leaders. Sean Hannity is just another 'bidder' whose RFP procurement application holds greater weight. A better solution would be for more Black developers and builders influencing the community to stand-up to local housing commissioners and demand fair bidding and selection practices. But with RFP contracts going to the most popular, wealthier developers and builders which Black business (usually) depend on as sub-contractors; good luck with that! Your valid concern is one which has been in debate for at least several decades now. @Richard Murray: AND THERE IT IS, in a nutshell. Everywhere we turn the cards are stacked againsgt the Black community. And if the 'popular majority vote' fail, then there's the 'electorial college' to put the slack in favor of White advancement. Though for selection of the president, the electorial college promote policies of the majority, which States recognize.

For kobo Authors This week we’re announcing our upcoming takeover of the Reedsy short story contest! Who is Reedsy? Reedsy is an online marketplace of professional editors, marketers, and cover designers who are available to guide you through every stage of the publishing process. Reedsy handpicks these professionals for their incredible work experience in the publishing industry. As well, Reedsy offers beautiful and easy collaboration tools to help you co-author your next book. As a Kobo Writing Life author, you are entitled to a $20 credit when you sign up for Reedsy. To get started, visit the link below: https://reedsy.com/a/kobo What is the Reedsy Short Story contest? Every Friday, Reedsy kicks off a weekly short story contest by sending out a newsletter that includes five themed writing prompts. Subscribers have one week to submit a short story based on one of the prompts. One winner will receive $50 and publications on Reedsy’s blog. For our takeover, we’re also adding in an extra prize: a 60 minute one-on-one consultation with the Kobo Writing Life team! How do I enter? Head to http://www.reedsy.com/writing to subscribe and you’ll receive a newsletter with our theme and our five writing prompts. To enter, submit a short story based on one of the prompts by April 27th. Don’t forget to read the contest rules. We can’t wait to read your stories!

Black owned creative outlets I apologize for posting these late cause creativity require time, but if any of you have work, please apply. I sadfully will not be able to apply to the fiyah in time so my work to that I will probably submit in the email listing once finished. https://www.fiyahlitmag.com/submissions/ Issue 7 Theme: Music | Accepting submissions April 1, 2018 – April 30, 2018 Black contributions to musical genres are unmatched. Music is the language of the soul, and for this issue we’re looking for stories where music plays a central role. Maybe the devil really does hand out talent at the crossroads, or maybe that lounge singer isn’t quite what she seems. Send us all of your stories featuring music as magic, music as catalyst, or whatever your devious little hearts come up with. Share your favorite stories on Twitter with #FiyahLit Nubianpoets.com is proud to have Latorial Faison who has been featured along with Iyanla Vanzant, Danny Glover, and Dr. Cornel West in the 2003 NAACP Image Award winning book Keeping the Faith: Stories of Love, Courage, Healing, and Hope from the Black Community as this year’s contest judge. https://madmimi.com/p/79b2db

*What is the best fictionalized account referring the annihilation native american peoples suffered that led to the birth and modern united states of america?* Between 1776 and 1887, the United States seized over 1.5 billion acres from America's indigenous people by treaty and executive order. Explore how in this interactive map of every Native American land cession during that period. To watch the United States expand across the continent: click the icon in the top right, then See Video; Or use the tool at the bottom of the map to manipulate time and watch how things changed year to year. Click on any area of the map to see who ceded the land and when. Popup boxes contain links to treaty text. Find your home or a different address using the 'Find Places' search at the top of the map. Use the "Find Nations" tool at the bottom of the map to find all cessions by the Cherokee,the Sioux, or others.<br> Use the tool to switch the basemap to the source maps; nineteenth-century maps of land cessions. Use the tool to manipulate layer visibility Interactive map http://usg.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=eb6ca76e008543a89349ff2517db47e6 The annual Shinnecock Pow-Wow, Long Island Alison Toon

History is a great teacher when channeled through truth. Most potent is when a history can be truthfully known from an infancy. I remember when no Internet existed. I remember the early years when only a fortunate few had access, and later when it blossomed and later when it matured and to now, when it is mutating, into something. In the end of the day, the problem in the Internet is ever present in the miniature Facebook. Looking back, three thing did not occurred that needed to occurred. The first thing I will mention, based on mere typing chance not value or temporal occurrence in my mind ,Bill Clinton placed the lines that connected the early web and standardized the internet protocol addressing system through the IANA Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Bill CLinton made one key error, that he had the power to change. He made the addressing a free for all, a fiscal capitalistic venture that served only those who had money. To be blunt, every single person on earth can have their own ip address. Why does it matter? The entire addressing system to the internet is where all the power reside. Most people never realize that accessing the internet can not occur if a map does not exist from you to wherever you address. These maps are controlled by the united states federal government; others who warrant through necessity or power have smaller segments from the maps, either governments or firms. But these maps you have to pay to be added into, and this is how firms control the internet. For example, someone like myself does not have an ip address, time warner does, they have many in a block and they use them to connect to the ip address centers. When I get online like most I am using an ip address from my internet service provider. Thus, when we talk about facebook or any online site owning identities, the firms you connect to the internet with from the mobile phone provider to whomever at your home owns your identity. Your credit card information, your name, your address, sent through their network which is how you connect to the internet. Not your own system through your own ip address. If everyone had their own ip address, the system through which people access the internet can be importantly other. Where people can choose to connect to each other through less steps, in a more secure fashion. To be blunt, if you are reading this post, then many firms have your personal data already. Facebook only is a target, like madoff with the banks, cause they are a less potent abuser. The heaviest abusers are too big to fail. The next thing I will mention is lawyers side bankers. Many people know but few comprehend the negative relationship internet firms have to banks or lawyers. To say it simply, banks/lawyers took over every single internet firm at some point, but not in ownership, in administration. Microsoft/Apple/Facebook/Twitter all have many bankers from when they needed money and had none or lawyers from when they needed legal aid and had none. Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs did not control every aspect to their firms and definitely did not have control over the daily operation; this matters cause when AOL started they basically piggybacked off phone networks, which was the earliest abuse. Firms have benefited from the first thing I mentioned and the people who run them, will not go against it cause they lose money or power absent it. The last thing I will mention is computer scientist o engineers. When I was in college I weekly had a speech on inefficiency in the entire electromechanical sphere. From computers to the Internet, I said everything was wrong to my fellow students. But, the truth is we were all complicit in the problem. Do you know what separates engineers? It is not mentality or wisdom, it is financing. Show me an engineer in history who created vastly and I will show you financing in some form or another. The reality is, the larger quantity of engineers in the electromechanical world never came together and made alternatives. From browsers to operating systems, some tried to create public alternatives, free for all; all those things are now for profit, in one way or another. The security people want through the Internet or in their home systems will require an entire overhaul to the basic structure of the Internet or the computing systems that connect to it; outside a complete overhaul, only a viable alternative will suffice. Sadly, an alternative today will require more work than ever before, but that is the true solution. The modern global electron based computing system is based on providing information about yourself to use at its core. The only way you can connect to the internet is to have an ip address which requires government agencies to know who you are or use another who has to know who you are. Photographer: Alan Grinberg LINK Lightning on the Pacific Ocean Caption: I waited 10 years to take this photo.

I say, "may" because of the time I spent with her from during her trial involving the San Quintin Six (United National Community to Free Angela Davis and Political Prisoners), her disposition of Black professionals and politics. Yes, she is very insightful.

I'll check it out...