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Cynique Troy can be very opionated and does sometime make pronouncements or edicts. Troy is fighting a Goliath that is almost impenetrable. I understand expending huge amounts and not being compensated properly. I don't feel itbis as all consuming though. Sometimes though Troy i believe your principles blind you and in your honest desire ti improve the world. You make statements that aren't quite square with the facts. I am referring predominantly ti our discussion on Climate Change. Mel you are quite goid with your facts. Although your percentages re Black women seem to large. And whike yiu did concede yhe point re Black women voting. It apoarently has fallen short in Troy's opinion. There's an interesting dynamic among the three of you. Which is easier ti see not being in the conversation. Cynique you see Troy as far more narrow minded then he is. He can be strongly opinionated and sometimes his argument lacks logic or reason. Troy are you missing Pioneer in this argument, cause it seems as though you're channeling him.

@Troyi know nothing about percentages and statistics about black women, but when it comes to other particulars of the social media and the recording industry, i have a problem with you stating your beliefs as facts. You declare that FaceBook made politics worse then they previously were. You assert that music companies control black style, and you have decided that blacks have no culture. Who says all these things are true? Is anecdotal evidence a factor? You just throw these assertions out there as facts because they are your gospel. Corporate America is your nemesis, and you see everything through the lens of your experience with it. You can't get past this arbitrary mind-set that has not updated itself. Currently, black musical artists have more control over their careers and images. I don't think social media does distort people's politics more than, say, newspapers did before FaceBook came along. I think black folks do still have a unique, multi-faceted culture. You are like me when it comes to this country. I attribute most black problems to America's racism. People have difficulty in trying to change my mind about this because this notion is entrenched in my psyche. There are generalizations in regard to my accusations about America, but i brush them aside. You are the same way when it comes to corporate America. I'm too old to change. But there's still a chance for you to not be so controlled by the resentment against what you have made a scapegoat - a faceless entity about whom you drone a litany of offenses that you feel you don't have to back up with source and facts. Somewhere between your conclusions and my observations is the truth.

Mel has a point with the standards. Feminist had this issue regarding pornography/erotica. Pat Califia was Lesbian Leather Dyke who wrote a book of intense sexual stories. I remember one was about a Lesbian being dominated sexually. Somrtimes with or without consent. Some feminist went after he and Suzie Sexbright. Saying it was unacceptable. They said feminism us about a woman deciding for Themselves. And there's no feeedom if the matriarchy instead if the patriarchy is deciding. Personally I am uncomfortable in projecting mt standards an opinions on others. Although I am not immune to doing so. Although some of the disagreementay be more personal or filtered through the personality than rational. Perhaps it is more frustration than emotion.

Nope, I'm a trust-fund baby. But I come from a family of women and men who have always run a business, had a side hustle and most importantly thought for themselves. I'm in the process of pulling myself up by my bootstraps right now - reinventing myself because the only constant is change. To that end, I READ and I practice EFFECTIVE THINKING most of the time... so of course, I would expect others to read and think for themselves too. So yes, I definitely believe we have our own mind and we use it to achieve our own desires. The proof is from visiting so many different countries all over the world and seeing so many types of living conditions... and the bottom-line is people do what suits them in their environment. . Russians allegedly tried their crap in other countries but guess what? It didn't work - I wonder why? Only here in America, it seems, do we have politically disengaged people. Not black women, though, every publication that keeps records on the electorate , such as American progress and Pew Research indicate that black women vote at a higher rate than any other group. So America has its true leader, black women ... those who aren't following will must likely get run over.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-how-nate-boyer-got-colin-kaepernick-to-go-from-sitting-to-kneeling/ Although this feels like an update - here's a new part to the story circulating on social media "For all those who care enough to understand: Did you know this? Aug 14, 2016- Colin Kaepernick sits for the national anthem.....and no one noticed. Aug 20th, 2016- Colin again sits, and again, no one noticed. Aug 26th, 2016- Colin sits and this time he is met with a level of vitriol unseen against an athlete. Even the future President of the United States took shots at him while on the campaign trail. Colin went on to explain his protest had NOTHING to with the military, but he felt it hard to stand for a flag that didn't treat people of color fairly. Then on on Aug 30th, 2016 Nate Boyer, a former Army Green Beret turned NFL long snapper, penned an open letter to Colin in the Army Times. In it he expressed how Colin's sitting affected him. Then a strange thing happened. Colin was able to do what most Americans to date have not... He listened. In his letter Mr. Boyer writes: "I’m not judging you for standing up for what you believe in. It’s your inalienable right. What you are doing takes a lot of courage, and I’d be lying if I said I knew what it was like to walk around in your shoes. I’ve never had to deal with prejudice because of the color of my skin, and for me to say I can relate to what you’ve gone through is as ignorant as someone who’s never been in a combat zone telling me they understand what it’s like to go to war. Even though my initial reaction to your protest was one of anger, I’m trying to listen to what you’re saying and why you’re doing it." Mr. Boyer goes on to write "There are already plenty people fighting fire with fire, and it’s just not helping anyone or anything. So I’m just going to keep listening, with an open mind. I look forward to the day you're inspired to once again stand during our national anthem. I'll be standing right there next to you." Empathy and understanding was shown by Mr. Boyer.........and Mr. Kaepernick reciprocated. Colin invited Nate to San Diego where the two had a 90 minute discussion and Nate proposed Colin kneel instead of sit. But why kneel? In a military funeral, after the flag is taken off the casket of the fallen military member, it is smartly folded 13 times and then presented to the parents, spouse or child of the fallen member by a fellow service member while KNEELING. The two decided that kneeling for the flag would symbolize his reverence for those that paid the ultimate sacrifice while still allowing Colin to peacefully protest the injustices he saw. Empathy, not zealotry under the guise of patriotism, is the only way meaningful discussion can be had. Mr. Kaepernick listened to all of you that say he disrespects the military and extended an olive branch to find a peace. When will America listen to him?"

@Troy I never miss your point. I refute it. Now unless you provide the data to refute my assertion about black women is wrong then it stands. The data is available, I suggest you get to work. In the meantime, If you look at your own words, you've attempted to decide how the black community should look but fail to recognize that is your personal standard. You don't get to define black culture, no one does. And if for some reason that power was bestowed upon you, black culture isn't a monolith. We're not uniformed and never have been - we're a mosaic and that's always been our strength. However, for one who assails against corporate america for dressing emcees, you "doth protest too much, methinks" . You've decided that corporate america is dressing emcees and then trotting them out on stage to represent black america. First of all when was black america ever defined by its entertainers. Maybe other groups tried to copy, steal and most definitely mutilate our talents but black people have never defined our culture by our entertainers... Well not until you, that is. But the rest of us are entertained by entertainers in their costumes. By your own admission you stated you don't know much about the music business. From your words, I can tell you know even less about stylists and the people who hire them. It is rarely the record labels. Still at the crux of your argument, is this offensive habit you have of denying women their agency. Now I understand why. You prefer to decide how women dress but since you're powerless -you place the blame on corporate america, in an effort to usurp their imagined power. Still, even if you were able to accomplish that feat... your next obstacle would be black women. Since African American women now head more than 1.5 million businesses throughout the U.S with over $42 billion in sales and $ 7.7 billion in payroll - 2015 U.S. Census Survey of Business owners - it's clear black women are deciding their own fate - and that includes how they dress themselves.

@Troy Here's another view. In the record business, there are still different genres for people with different tastes in music. It's not all Rap. Grammys and AMA and Soul Train and MTV awards present awards in many different categories And black female artist are not all Nikki Minaj skanks. Many are quite elegant. If you could bring yourself to watch any of the music award shows, you would see the wide variety of styles black entertainers are rockin. Nowadays established artists produce their own music and are even given their own labels by their parent companies. I say all of this to say that black performers create their own looks and the record companies trust them to do this, as long as they bring in the money. The culture is alive and well, still hip and still imitated by others.

What about all of the voter manipulation before FaceBook even came on the scene when people were influenced and manipulated by the empty campaign promises of devious candidates who either appeared in person at rallies or bought ad time on radio, print space in newspapers, and commercials on TV? What's naïve is to think that politics has ever been anything but a corrupt exercise in lies and deceptions and bribes and ignorance. Victory was always influenced by an electorate who voted their pocketbooks, or were rabidly partisan, and even those who voted against someone because of how they looked, not to mention what race or religion a candidate was. Plus, scandals have also been a staple in politics. If FaceBook were to disappear, tomorrow, there would be no drastic change in the shady political arena. It's no secret that FaceBook is all about giving people what they want, an idea whose time came, - one that filled a void that was already there waiting to captivate people who willingly patronized it. Not so much because they are duped but because are bored with their mundane lives. If visionaries were ingenious enough to come up with this innovative concept, and capitalize on its popularity, then that is the reward they reap in a competitive, capitalistic society that is a haven for monopolies. Every product is designed to appeal to the needs of its customers. My question is, if this is wrong, what would make it right? And it's not like millions of people aren't FaceBook fans, and millions of others spend limited time there.

Oh now I see, this was personal. @Troy you let those memes get to you... Those memes didn't faze me anymore than campaign attack ads do on the radio - or tv.... It's just media and campaigning. I've been following Hillary since the late 80s... if you or anyone isn't aware of candidates' background and that's your first introduction then of course those memes might work - but we can't blame social media for our own ignorance. On the very same internet, anyone can query and research the background of the candidate, sponsored legislation and just about anything . Privacy is a thing of the past for you, me but especially anyone running for office. It's on us to compile information on those we chose to elect. Again facebook isn't the problem - we are. No one deserves absolution for ignorance. If members of the electorate, especially the middle class, get turned off for something as simple as casting a vote - then we all suffer - but those too lazy to cast a ballot are responsible for the disaster that we have today. Sorry facebook is not blame. Lazy ass people are.

Nique show it like Pinterest Pique Their interest. Laying down the bars Didn't know you could rap. Shorty needs to cut the crap. Mudfoot can't reach the stars.

So much for bending the knee...

You don't need a question. It will still be informative.