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Happy Birthday to Marcus Garvey Considering Marcus Garvey saw the caribbean or north america during his life as places that Black people needed to get away from, when you think of the struggles/challenges/unhappiness in Black Americans <Blacks or Negras from Canada/USA/MExico/JAmaica/HAiti/Dominican Republic/Puerto Rico/Trinidad/Colombia/Venezuela/Brazil/Chile/Argentina or any other land in the American continent> in the American Continent, was MArcus Garvey proven right about the inefficacy of Black people living side Whites? Side the best efficacy of Blacks when they live mostly around Blacks? And today happens to be MArtin Luther King Jr Day I quote MArtin Luther King Jr the third concernng voting rights legislation ""he would be greatly disappointed in the leadership in the Senate...that it's chosen so far not to get this done"" MLK the Third either is using very well constructed language or doesn't know his father. Disappointment today refers to an unfulfilled desire or want. Not, to remove from office. if MLK the third is suggesting MLK jr. will desire senators be disappointed. I 100% concur to that. MLK jr. always said in words how dysfunctional the class of elected officials are to the improvement of the populace in the U.S.A. If MLK the third is suggesting MLK jr. desired or thought the congress of the usa will act in the betterment of voting rights, Ihe doesn't know his father. MLK jr. wasn't an elected official for a simple reason. That path doesn't lead to the freedom leaded to tell the truth, to lead the people when what has to be said can't be a lie. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the battle of Hayes-Pond. https://www.lumbeetribe.com/ Happy birthday Sade Nothing can come between us- For the distant lovers The Sweetest Taboo- For the secret lovers Love is stronger than Pride - For the long time lovers <NEar my favorite Sade song, though I don't have a clear favorite> Smooth operator- For the players Is it a crime- for the mistresses or ladies of the evening out there And just so you know, Sade's early videos had an interwoven story about her and a guy if you notice:)

DC Milestone (dcuniverse.com) NEW VOICES. NEW VISIONARIES IT’S TIME TO WRITE A NEW CHAPTER IN THE SUPERHERO STORY. If stories are what shape the world we live in, then the storytellers should reflect that world. The Milestone Initiative is looking for the next generation of Black and diverse comic book creators. DC Superhero In 1993, four Black creators created Milestone Comics: a new universe of Black Super Heroes, brought to life by Black creators and other artists of color. Milestone didn’t just change the way our heroes looked. It built a pipeline for talent who had been excluded and marginalized for too long, and an ecosystem in which Black creativity could thrive. Now, with the relaunch of Milestone Comics and the creation of The Milestone Initiative, we want to honor the creators of Milestone by continuing their mission. But we can’t do it without you. DC Superhero MAKE YOUR MARK Do you have a story to tell? Do your experiences, imagination, and perspective go beyond the limits of what you see on TV, in movies, and in other media? If you live and breathe comics, and you’re an emerging Black artist or writer —or a creator from an underrepresented group —we’re looking for you to join The Milestone Initiative. The path to a sustainable creative career in this competitive industry will never be an easy one. You already know that —you’ve spent years honing your craft on your own. But with The Milestone Initiative, we hope to give you the support you need to make that hard work pay off. The next step starts here. DC Summit THE SUMMIT Participants in The Milestone Initiative will be invited to a one-week summit, hosted by WarnerMedia, DC, and Ally, where they’ll make connections, create community, and begin an immersive course to help hone creative skills and better understand the comic book industry. WHEN 02.14.22 – 02.18.22 WHERE BURBANK, CA 1. ARRIVE If you’re selected to participate in The Milestone Initiative, your journey will begin with the Milestone Summit. You’ll travel at our expense to DC’s headquarters in Burbank, to meet legendary creators, editors, and executives in the comics and entertainment industries. 2. LEARN Under the mentorship of some of the most prominent names in comics, as well as Ally’s team of financial experts, you’ll receive in-depth, substantive instruction about building a creative life and earning a living in this field. You’ll hone your creative skills, but you’ll also learn the business of the comics industry and receive advice on sustaining a long-term career. Following the Milestone Summit, you’ll go home and participate in an 8-week virtual course, where you’ll receive technical training through best-in-class cartooning and graphic art school The Kubert School. 3. CREATE It won’t be easy —throughout this multi-week course, you’ll be working as well as learning, crafting stories with your fellow participants. At the end of this journey you’ll come away with polished work that will showcase your unique talents, new knowledge, and skills and you'll have a pathway into the DC talent community if you want to pursue it. 4. IGNITE The Milestone Initiative doesn’t end with the the completion of the coursework. The team from DC will remain in contact with all participants in the months following and will work with them to find appropriate comics assignments and other work that will help them continue to grow as creators and further their careers with DC and in the comics world. HOW TO APPLY The Milestone Initiative is open to Black and other underrepresented creators who are ready to enter the comic book industry at a professional level. You’ve got the talent, you’ve put in the hours of practice, and this is the opening you’ve been waiting for. Think you have what it takes? Get ready to dive into the application. You have a story to tell. We want to hear it. PROCESS DC Milestone Now a quick reality check: we know you’re serious, and we’re serious too. So this application is going to take some time. We think it’s worth it. STEP 1: 10-20 MINUTES First, we’ll ask you for a bit of biographical information. We’ll also ask you to provide us with links to a few existing pieces of completed original work, to give us a sense of your creative voice and vision. STEP 2: 5-7 DAYS The next sections are where you should plan wisely. We’ll be asking you to put your talent and skills into action by completing a short assignment. If you’re an artist, that will mean drawing three comic pages based on a script we provide; if you’re a writer, you’ll be creating a script for an 8 page story based on a loose prompt we’ve created. STEP 3: 2-3 DAYS Finally, we want writers and artists to answer a few, short essay questions and tell us who you are as a creator. Describe your voice and your vision —what do you believe you have to offer the world? The answers won’t take long to write, but they will take some time to think about. (And artists, don’t be intimidated if writing isn’t your thing. We’re looking for substance here, not style.) Got it? Get started. You don’t have to complete everything now —our system can save your work, just make sure to click “Save Draft” at the bottom of the page so you can begin now and tackle it a piece at a time. DC Superpowered WHAT IS THE MILESTONE INITIATIVE? Superman wasn’t just the first superhero: he was an immigrant, an American, and an enduring symbol of our shared ideals. But as an explosion of comic book heroes took place over the second half of the 20th century, there was something missing. Despite an enduring Black readership, it took decades before the first Black heroes appeared, and once they did, they remained uncommon. Even the most prominent Black heroes usually appeared in stories written and illustrated by white creators. Enter Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle. With talent, vision, and tenacity, these four Black creators carved a place for themselves in an industry that didn’t always welcome or understand them. Despite their success, they were frustrated by the dearth of other Black creators in their field, and the resistance they met in trying to tell stories that reflected their own experiences and perspectives. DC story-1-480 So they founded Milestone Media —a company that placed Black superheroes at the center of the action with their Milestone comics line, and which would make an inclusive space for Black and underrepresented comic book creators to flourish and succeed. Milestone hit like a space pod crashing to Earth —and its impact has continued to this day. Now, Milestone Media, is helmed by Reginald Hudlin and Denys Cowan, and DC is relaunching Milestone Comics and reintroducing its characters to new audiences, but we understand that there’s still much more work to be done to continue the mission of Milestone’s founders. That’s why, with Ally as our partner, we’ve created The Milestone Initiative. While Milestone Media is about telling the stories of Black heroes, The Milestone Initiative is about empowering the creators who can tell those stories in ways that are resonant, real, and revolutionary. The program is part of DC’s talent development program, Next Generation DC (NGDC), and is designed to identify, educate, spotlight, and empower the next generation of Black and diverse creators in our field so that the stories of the next century are truly reflective of the world around us. Throughout American history —in the comic book industry as well as in other creative fields —Black and other underrepresented creators have been consistent innovators and visionaries despite systems that work to exclude them. Now, as comic books take center stage in popular culture, DC, WarnerMedia, and Ally want to change that with The Milestone Initiative. The Milestone Media founders started the mission. It’s time for you to pick up their mantle. DC story-2-480 READY TO MAKE YOUR MARK? SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS DC Milestone (dcuniverse.com)

Well... it is another Friday, another day to love, to Oxum, Oshun, Freya, or Venus, another day to Kizomba! SOmetimes, you just dance to have fun and we see that in Irina dancing side José N'dongala, I love how the camera moved when he tried a trick. enjoy a free read https://www.kobo.com/ebook/the-nyotenda

Hi everyone, just want to wish everyone a safe weekend coming up and a sound piece of mind in these trouble times of ours. Have a safe weekend while not letting the sour times get in your mind, by destroying you mood, instead throw on some funky toons to get you in the up and coming weekend groove.... Jaws R.

Happy Hardcore Easter

Hey did you know that I'm A Proud Alumni of Medgar Evers College Class of 1996

Title: Hovergirls physical version coming Artist: GDbee < https://gdbee.store/ > aka Prinnay Prior post https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=2490&type=status GDBee Post https://aalbc.com/tc/search/?&q=gdbee&type=core_statuses_status&quick=1&author=richardmurray&search_and_or=or&sortby=newest preorder https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hovergirls-geneva-bowers/1143848338 her social list https://gdbee.carrd.co/ FROM THE ARTIST I am SO excited to reveal the cover for the physical version of HoverGirls! It'll be hittin the shelves next summer! It's basically the webcomic completely redrawn, freshly edited, and with more story! I'm extremely proud of how it came out. The original will always be here but the new edition literally has 100 more pages of story, and 99% less typos If you love magical girls, struggling slice of life, parodies, and/or struggling slice of life magical girl parodies, you'll love HG, I promise! *It's being published by Bloomsbury in August 2024*

Sailor Medusa Birthday Treat For Princess Tranquility characters from Kuroshi-tenshi Kuroshi's Sailor Medusa loves milkshakes so I figured, a great birthday treat for Princess Tranqulity, whom the sailor protects will be a milkshake: a cup and cream like Sailor MEdusa while a cookie in its embrace is like Princess Tranquility. 3D model https://skfb.ly/oKJyp Sailor Medusa Birthday Gift by richardmurray3d on Sketchfab Colored page version https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Adopt-August-2023-Submission-979394363 Coloring page version https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Adopt-August-2023-Bw-979394208 Sailor Medusa side Princess Tranquility https://www.deviantart.com/kuroshi-tenshi/art/Kalfu-s-Moon-Her-first-friend-976229718 Contest from @arcencieldigitalart https://www.deviantart.com/arcencieldigitalart/journal/OPEN-Contest-3D-Art-in-all-it-s-Forms-974532840 I used Figuro to design https://figuro.io/Designer

First act, a set of educators, i think college are helping a colleague leave but they all have an affinity to this colleague, a curiosity about his nature. I concur with Bixby, real human beings are not alarmist and in this select case, all of these are seasoned educators used to slowly thinking about something, so they wouldn't call the cops or paddy wagon immediately. Why did I not guess the black leather jacket would call someone from outside first. I thought it would be billingly's character the physics or chemistry professor. Second act, a female teacher loves him, reminds me of that twilight zone , Long Live Walter JAmeson, by the dead early Charles Beaumont, but extended. I love Crude demonstration , hilarious, I am not superman. Loving Tony Todd's acting. 27:34 first seeing the ocean 28:42 he studied with the buddha, and i loved the earlier birth of the vampire myth 29:06 the first betrayal of character, leather jacket should had considered he think of being outed. Considering he called someone he is either biding time or betraying himself. 29:38 ahh well done, he was expecting, 30:31 i wish i had been here from the beginning, I concur:) 32:16 he survived the bubonic plague, typhoid , smallpox 32:53 good point, being immortal in a cage isn't desired 33:33 black leather is wrong, common sense isn't insulted by an immortal being, common sense accepts tthe unique is plausible even if it can't not be explained. 35:19 true Tony todd, but time is also the most precious thing in existence. 35:52 exactly, the second is a human construct. an algorithmic truth, not assessed from nature. 36:27 funny moment. slow movie but for those who like to overthink and like dialog fun 37:21 is he lucky? that is the point of the story 39:41 exactly, he is outside most of humanity yet still human, a minority of one 41:46 I love that he didn't go into his past wives or children by the invasive psychiatrist 42:50 good point, the one great chaotic moment is the "immortal man" chose to even do this. I comprehend the writer's point. It is a random idea in one of many lives. But I must admit, my long lived characters wouldn't do this, unless they wish to be caught or have their cycle of lives undone. 43:07 he didn't think of these people's feelings before he told them ahhh, i disagree bixby. 43:37 the psychiatrist, white haired is trying to pull off a guilt trip, i bet he was diagnosed to die soon 44:50 ahh i knew it was a tragedy, the psychiatrist wife died yesterday I love it, permit me to be infantile by myself. 46:58 my first wedding funny charades 47:54 this movie clearly couldn't make it in theaters. 48:48 love his answer to 1292 ad 50:04 funny, about the primitive tribe in new guinea:) 51:03 the older woman is a hard core christian 51:47 no way skipping the biblical figure, and now he wants to call it a night, this is what you get when you ask those who study knowledge about a person who has lived longer than common 53:10 he is jesus hahaha! 53:24 sit down edith, i know 54:16 yes, sit down edith, lovely honesity from the biologist about his kin 54:41 tony todd, modern, that's good:) 55:29 ahh he is espousing the old belief that jesus learned buddhist ways. it makes sense historically in one way. Buddhism is older than the roman empire, and from the travelers, who were common at that time, labeled magi, who traveled freely in the roman empire because of the might of the roman empire... ok. 56:41 exactly, Tony Todd, christianity was born from the multiracial roman empire. 58:26 good point, buddha /jesus/the christian god, may not be happy 59:04 you can tell this was written on bixby's deathbed, a great mortuary story. I wonder what I will write in my last moments. 59:35 hhahaha, the psychiatrist came back:) haha soul saved:) 1:00:00 nice bridge, we don't need to reintroduce the old topics for the psychiatrist, his shame on leaving. 1:00:53 great joke, nothing unusual in the path of the psychiatrist until the day he met a caveman who thought himself jesus 1:01:46 piety is the mistake they bring to the lessons haha, he is on a roll, Bixby is enjoying himself in his last days 1:03:10 thank you biologist, people make to light the influence of drugs, no, if he is taking a drug it isn't making him go up or down be violent or peaceful, it isn't changing him at all 1:04:20 thank you tony todd, i don't blame you, stay calm and relax. 1:04:55 exactly, psychiatrist, or the modern mythologies of MLKjr or Adolf Hitler 1:07:42 Its funny , in a group called african american literary book club, do you know how many black members suggest the usa will be forever? why is that? why is it, black people who knows kemet has all other human communities by thousands of years will be bested by the usa? what are blacks in the usa afraid of?.... 1:08:20 how do you know? I don't smell it. exactly, you know when it will rain , all humans do. 1:09:20 etymology, this does happen. words matter. 1:10:25 good acting, they are all trapped by this story of their colleague 1:11:00 if edith says you aren't jesus one more time 1:11:56 edith have broken down , the psychiatrist had to shed light 1:12:49 the psychiatrist is wrong, he doesn't demand the truth, he demands the lie to keep peace 1:13:44 he is bluffing, well done, he is giving them safety 1:14:22 easy tonny todd:) he want to kill him 1:15:44 it ends safe, well done bixby, he lets the thinkers get off easy 1:16:25 exactly , the woman who lives him is right. 1:17:59 edith knows. she will leave it 1:18:14 Tony Todd, a latitude in what we call reality... anything is possible I am going to watch star trek. and yes, good move tony todd Drop me a line whenever 1:19:34 the psychiatrist found out easy psychiatrist , the break down. ahh well done, Bixby, ahh the psychiatrist was a man he knew. 1;21:45 exactly, he never saw his own child again. 1:22:34 yes, let her decide hahaha, great hook, who knows, let the viewer decide. IN CONCLUSION Ok, this movie was fun, but not for the general audience. Alittle careless of him, but that is part of John's humanity, humans even long living one's will make mistakes. I know this is an aside, but i love the credits , they are large enough to see and slow enough to follow, many movies have very uncaring or cheap credits. I say, this is a well constructed example of someone long lived revealing themselves in a paraspontaneous way. Just thoughtfulness. I didn't time index from the begining cause I was watching it side relatives , we do those things in our home, but I am glad my relatives went to watch other things as I could write more specifically and i forgot some points early on:)

Artistic Truth I have said constantly that instead of complaining about what others create, just create yourself. But this goes into the realm of the battle between commerciality side creativity in the artistic environment in the fiscal capitalistic world in modernity. While I have always adhered to what my fellow artists said below. I also comprehend the challenge. that he dismisses unfairly. The problem with many people in fiscal capitalism is not that they don't have anything to say, but they want to say something that will generate money ,and that is where the creative is subdued by the statistics of commerce. All know, even if they don't say, to create art from your soul will not provide the highest probability to make money and all artists need money in a fiscal capitalistic world to eat. Nothing is impossible but making money in art is not about the artists but the viewers/listeners/readers. The creative side is controlled by the artists. The commercial side is controlled by the entire scale of financiers : from kings with a commission to the peasant who sees something for free. Create folks but accept that what you create may not be financially profitable, no matter how many people like it.

I.S.D. cup for the I.R.C.L. Tour of Earth. I.S.D. cup for the I.R.C.L. Tour of Earth. by richardmurray3d on Sketchfab Il Sol Depth cup for the champion of the Interplanetary Recycle Craft League Tour of Earth. This is the I.S.D. cup or Il Sol Depth cup for champions of the twenty third Interplanetary Recycle Craft League Tour of Earth. Each element represents something. The base represents the Interstellar Medium, the space outside the Sun's gravitational power. The golden-esque cup looking like dust/gas is the Heliosphere, yes the sphere of the sun, created by the sun which the solar system we live in exist in. I chose the color for the effect. The greyish spirals above is an interpretation of the Heliospheric current, which is shaped like an archemides spiral but after hours and hours and some lost attempts:) I just went for spiral rings. One day I may upload the sketches. In the center is the sun and the planets from mercury to Jupiter are present at top. And yes, it can be used as a sipping cup. At the bottom is a small indentation representing the milkyway. The eye where our sun resides. Sketchfab URL: https://skfb.ly/oGJuE Still image : https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/I-S-D-cup-for-the-I-R-C-L-Tour-of-Earth-960470478 The trophy was made for @arcencieldigitalart 3D art contest https://www.deviantart.com/arcencieldigitalart/journal/Contest-3D-Art-in-all-it-s-forms-956559237 The story the trophy is for is the following https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/The-Final-Distance-Of-The-Twenty-Third-I-R-C-L-To-947551245 The story was made for the promoting positivity challenge from @rtnightmare https://www.deviantart.com/rtnightmare/journal/Promoting-Positivity-December-Challenge-937526879 It was because of @moonbeam13 I learned of the contest so consider following her folks https://www.deviantart.com/moonbeam13/status-update/ArcencielDigitalArt-is-hosting-a-new-956762859 image aided in use https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliosphere#/media/File:PIA22835-VoyagerProgram&Heliosphere-Chart-20181210.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way#/media/File:UGC_12158.jpg I used Figuro to create https://figuro.io/Designer and Sketchfab to display https://sketchfab.com/richardmurray3d

I am Vanessa Guillen My thoughts are after the transcript Metrofocus video https://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2023/01/metrofocus-january-3-2023-08ecys/ Full Documentary https://www.univision.com/especiales/noticias/2022/i-am-vanessa-guillen DESCRIPTION In April 2020, U.S. Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén was murdered after reporting her assault that took place at Fort Hood in Texas. In late November 2022, Cecily Aguilar, the only person charged in connection with Vanessa’s murder, pled guilty to four counts, including accessory to murder after the fact, and now faces up to 30 years in prison. While this decision is a victory for Vanessa’s family, the problem of sexual harassment and assault, as well as retaliation for those reporting these crimes, remains a major issue in our armed forces. A documentary, available to stream on Univision.com called #IamVanessaGuillen, covers the issue of sexual violence in our military and tells Vanessa’s story, including how her situation inspired countless others to share their own stories of abuse and push for change in the military. Joining us to discuss the film are producer and director Andrea Patiño Contreras; and Karina López, a military sexual assault survivor. TRANSCRIPT TONIGHT, A MAJOR UPDATE ON THE MURDER OF VANESSA GUILLEN, THE ARMY SOLDIER WHOSE DEATH INSPIRED THOUSANDS TO SHARE THEIR STORY OF THE SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE MILITARY. WE REVISIT, THE CASE, THE DOCUMENTARY TELLING THE STORY. 'METROFOCUS' STARTS RIGHT NOW. ♪ > THIS IS 'METROFOCUS,' WITH RAFAEL PI ROMAN, JACK FORD, AND JENNA FLANAGAN. > 'METROFOCUS' IS MADE POSSIBLE BY -- SUE AND EDGAR WACHENHEIM III, THE PETER G. PETERSON AND JOAN GANZ COONEY FUND, BERNARD AND DENISE SCHWARTZ, BARBARA HOPE ZUCKERBERG, THE AMBROSE MONELL FOUNDATION. AND BY -- > GOOD EVENING, AND WELCOME TO 'METROFOCUS.' I'M JENNA FLANAGAN. JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO WE BROUGHT TO YOU POWERFUL STORY OF VANESSA GUILLEN, THE U.S. ARMY SOLDIER MURDERED AFTER REPORTING THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT SHE ENDURED AT FT. HOOD IN TEXAS. HER DEATH INSPIRED COUNTLESS OTHERS TO SHARE THEIR STORY OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND PUSH FOR CHANGE IN THE MILITARY. PROSECUTORS SAY GUILLEN'S KILLER TOOK HIS OWN LIFE BEFORE HE COULD BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE. ONLY ONE PERSON, THE KILLER'S GIRLFRIEND, WAS CHARGED WITH A CRIME IN THIS CASE E CECILY AGUILAR. SHE ADMITTED TO HELPING DISPOSE OF GUILLEN'S BODY. SHE FACES UP TO 30 YEARS IN PRISON. WHILE THIS IS A VICTORY FOR VANESSA'S FAMILY, THE PROBLEM OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND ASSAULT AS WELL AS RETALIATION FOR THOSE REPORTING THESE CRIMES REMAINS A MAJOR PROBLEM AND ISSUE IN OUR ARMED FORCES. THE DOCUMENTARY ' #I AM VANESSA GUILLEN' EXAMINES THESE ISSUES AND IS STREAMING ON UNIVISION.COM. HERE'S A QUICK LOOK FOLLOWED BY MY INTERVIEW WITH THE FILM'S DIRECTOR AND ONE THOSE IN THE FILM. IT WAS A VERY NERVOUS VOICE. SHE SAID SOMETHING HAPPENED AND NO ONE WAS BELIEVING HER. SHE DID NOT KNOW, AND SHE WAS CON CON CON CONTEMPLATING HURTING HERSELF. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL SAFE. I DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING. A PART OF ME DIED BECAUSE SOMEBODY DECIDED TO DO THIS TO ME, AND NOBODY WANTED TO LISTEN. I REPORTED IT AND I FOUGHT AND I'VE GONE THROUGH THE TRAUMA AND THE RETALIATION THAT I FACED AND NOW YOU HAVE A MISSING SOLDIER THAT WAS HARASSED. I WROTE MY STORY AND PUT MY PICTURE BESIDES VANESSA BECAUSE I WAS VANESSA. I AM VANESSA. I AM VANESSA GUILLEN IS A HASHTAG GOING VIRAL HIGHLIGHTING SEXUAL ASSAULT AND HARASMENT WITHIN THE MILITARY. AT FT. HOOD, A SOLDIER GONE MISSING. THEY CREATED AN ENVIRONMENT THAT CONTRIBUTED TO SEXUAL ASSAULT, EVEN MURDER. THE ENVIRONMENT AT FT. HOOD WAS PERMISSIVE. WE'RE JUST LIKE ANY ORGANIZATION. WE'RE ALL ABOUT MAKING OURSELF BETTER. BECAUSE THE MESSAGE AND CULTURE IN THE MILITARY HAS BEEN CLEAR -- SHUT UP, SUCK IT UP, AND DON'T ROCK THE BOAT. IN THE CIVILIAN WORLD, PROSECUTORS MAKE THE DECISION TO PROSECUTE, AND THE MILITARY NONLAWYER COMMANDERS MAKE THAT DECISION. 90% OF SEX OFFENDER IN THE MILITARY WILL NEVER BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. AFTER 246 YEART TIME FOR CONGRESS TO GIVE THE MEN AND WOMEN SERVING OUR NATION A JUSTICE SYSTEM WORTHY OF SACRIFICES. YOU MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, YOU NEED TO PASS THIS LEGISLATION. JUSTICE! WHEN DO WE WANT IT? NOW! I REALLY FEEL LIKE WE'RE ON THE VERGE OF SUCCESS. WE'RE GOING TO REFORM THIS SYSTEM AND WE'RE GOING TO GET TO A BETTER PLACE. THE WOMEN VETERANS YOU ENCOUNTER HAVE THE ABILITY TO ADAPT AND OVERCOME BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT. BUT HERE'S THE THING -- YOU'VE CREATED A WOMAN WHO IS UNSTOPPABLE. JOINING ME NOW TO DISCUSS THIS POWERFUL NEW DOCUMENTARY IS THE FILM'S DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER, ANDREA CONTRAERAS, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE KARINA LOPEZ, A SURVEVETERAN AND SURVI THE SEXUAL ASSAULT. SHE'S THE CREATOR OF THE VIRAL HASHTAG #I AM VANESSA GUILLEN, WHICH INSPIRED THE FILM'S TITLE. LADIES, THANK YOU TO P 'METROFOCUS.' THANK YOU FOR HAVING US. ABSOLUTELY. I WANT TO START BY ASKING ANDREA, YOU, THE QUESTION I ASK ALL DIRECTORS, AND THAT WAS WHAT MOTIVATED TO YOU CREATE THIS DOCUMENTARY. WHAT WAS, YOU FELT, THE NARRATIVE THAT WAS NOT ALREADY OUT THERE? SO, DURING 2020, OUR TEAM AT UNIVISION HAD BEEN COVERING THE DISAPPEARANCE AND MURDER OF VANESSA GUILLEN, WHO WENT MISSING AT THE FT. HOOD BASE IN APRIL OF 2020, AND LATER HER BODY WAS FOUND. DURING THAT REPORTING, THE FALLING ONES, WE HEARD FROM A COUPLE OF CASES, KARINA INCLUDED. SHE REACHED OUT TO US TELLING US HER STORY, AND AT THAT POINT IN THE FALL OF 2020, WE HEARD FROM HER, AND IN DECEMBER OF 2020, I DECIDED TO FLY DOWN TO MEET HER. AND ONCE WE MET, I KNEW RIGHT AWAY THAT WE -- THERE WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT STORY TO BE TOLD. I WAS VERY STRUCK BY KARINA'S -- I TELL HER THIS ALL THE TIME -- BY HER INCREDIBLE ABILITY TO ARTICULATE HER FEELINGS AND REALLY EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THAT WAS THROUGH AND KIND OF VERY COMPLEX -- YOU KNOW, IT'S A VERY TRAGIC SITUATION, BUT ALSO HAS REALLY DEEP AND GRAVE CONSEQUENCES FOR MENTAL HEALTH, YOU KNOW, AND KARINA, THE WAY SHE ARTICULATED THAT TO ME STRUCK ME. SO I CAME BACK FROM THAT TRIP AND KNEW THERE WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT STORY TO TELL, NOT JUST ABOUT SEXUAL VIOLENCE AND THE LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY, BUT ALSO THE HUGE IMPACT AND LACK OF JUSTICE HAS ON SURVIVES. THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO TELL THIS STORY. FRONT AND SENTER THE STORY OF SUR SURVIVES. KARINA IS THE MAIN BUT THERE'S ALSO OTHERS. AND ALSO TELL THE STORY OF THE LEGISLATIVE CHANGES THAT TOOK PLACE BECAUSE OF VANESSA'S CASE. IN PART BECAUSE OF KARINA'S HASHTAG, MANY CAME FORWARD. MANY CHANGES TOOK PLACE. THERE'S SO MUCH MORE TO DO, BUT SOME THINGS HAPPENED THAT WERE PRISS UNPRECEDENTED. KARINA, I WANT TO BRING YOU IN AND GET YOUR TAKE ON WHAT WAS ABOUT ABOUT VANESSA'S STORY THAT RESONATED AND MADE IT CLEAR NOW IS THE TIME TO SPEAK UP? I THINK WHEN I ORIGINALLY HEARD ABOUT HER CASE ALL I HAD KNOWN IS SHE WAS MISSING AND THE DAYS KEPT GOING WHERE YOU WOULD SEE HER FACE AND YOU WOULDN'T -- THERE WASN'T REALLY AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHY SHE WAS MISSING. WHEN I TWRAEACTUALLY LOOKED UP STORY, SO MANY THINGS DIDN'T MAKE SENSE. I WAS LIKE, THERE HAS TO BE MORE COVERAGE. A COUPLE DAYS INTO IT I REALIZED I DIDN'T LOOK AT THE SPANISH SECTION OF THE NEWS AND MAYBE I'LL FIND SOMETHING THERE, AND THAT'S WHEN I -- WHEN I HEARD HER MOM SAY THAT SHE WAS SEXUALLY HARASSED AND NOW SHE'S MISSING AND SHE WANTS ANSWERS. AND TO ME IT FELT LIKE A TON OF BRICKS JUST FELL ON TOP OF ME BECAUSE THIS WASN'T BEING SAID, YOU KNOW, IN THE ENGLISH MEDIA. AND IT JUST MADE ME SO ANGRY. I REMEMBER JUST SO MANY EMOTIONS, AND I STARTED, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT EVERYBODY. I STARTED TRYING TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE THAT COULD LISTEN AND COULD UNDERSTAND THAT THIS -- YOU KNOW, WHAT HAPPENED TO HER WAS NOT AN INDIVIDUAL THING. IT HAPPENED ALL OF THE TIME AND, YOU KNOW, MORE SPECIFICALLY, MY CASE AND HOW I HAD JUST LEFT AND I WAS FORCED OUT OF MY CAREER BECAUSE I WAS SPEAKING UP ON THIS, AND IT HAD GONE SO BAD AND CHAOTIC THAT, YOU KNOW, CONGRESS HAD TO GET INVOLVED IN MY CASE. SO IT WAS ONE OF THOSE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, I WAS ANGRY, I WAS SENDING, YOU KNOW, THE FAMILY -- MORE SPECIFICALLY THE SISTERS, YOU KNOW, MY STORE, AND IT JUST, YOU KNOW, WASN'T REACHING THEM, WHICH I UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHY. THERE WAS PROBABLY SO MANY MESSAGES COMING IN THERE IN BOXES AND TO THEM. AND YOU KNOW, I -- I WAS LIKE, OKAY, I'M GOING TO PUT IT ON FACEBOOK, AND I'M GOING TO COME FORWARD AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT'S OUT THERE. YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THIS ISN'T -- YOU KNOW, MANY PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND -- ESPECIALLY CIVILIANS DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU CAN'T COME FORWARD, AND YOU THINK THAT WHEN SOMETHING TRAUMATIC HAPPENS LIKE THAT THAT YOU'RE SAFE IF YOU GO TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE. HOWEVER, THAT'S REALLY NOT THE CASE. YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE RIGHT PEOPLE, AND THOSE RIGHT PEOPLE, THOSE DOORS ARE SHUT ON THEM TO PROTECT YOU. AND THE RETALIATION THAT COMES IS -- IS -- IS HORRIFYING SO, YOU MIGHT AS WELL JUST STAY QUIET AND JUST ENDURE EVERYTHING IN SILENCE. YOU KNOW, IT'S -- IT'S A VERY SCARY THING TO GO THROUGH, AND I THINK PEOPLE NEEDED TO UNDERSTAND THAT AND SEE THAT MORE SPECIFICALLY THROUGH MY STORY, BECAUSE I CAME FORWARD AND I HAD MOMENTS WHERE, SHOULD I HAVE COME FORWARD? MAYBE I WOULD STILL HAVE MY CAREER IF I DIDN'T, AND I WOULD JUST GET MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES BEHIND THE SCENES, BEHIND, YOU KNOW -- BEHIND EVERYONE'S BACK AND JUST TOOK CARE OF IT THAT WAY. YOU KNOW, WHO KNOWS? ANDREA, I WANT TO GO BACK TO YOU, BECAUSE WE DID SHOW OF COURSE A CLIP FROM THE FILM, AND WE ALWAYS DEFINITELY WANT PEOPLE TO WATCH THE FULL DOCUMENTARY, BUT CAN YOU TELL US, JUST FILL IN FOR PEOPLE WHO MIGHT NOT BE AWARE OF VANESSA'S STORY, WHO WAS SHE, AND WHAT DO WE NOW KNOW HAPPENED TO HER? YEAH, SO VANESSA WAS A LATINA SOLDIER. SHE WAS STATIONED AT FT. HOOD IN TEXAS. SHE STARTED, AND SHE WAS VERY EXCITED TO JOIN THE MILITARY. HER FAMILY SAYS SHE WAS JUST VERY PROUD TO SERVE. HER FAMILY IS AN IMMIGRANT FAMILY. THEY'RE MEXICANS, OF MEXICAN DES DESCENT, AND I THINK SHE SAW THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE HER COUNTRY AND WAS JUST VERY PROUD. AT SOME POINT, VANESSA CAME HOME AND HER MOM NOTICED SHE WAS A LITTLE OFF, WASN'T SLEEPING, JUST SEEMED REALLY OFF TO HER, AND WHEN SHE ASKED HER WHAT WAS HAPPENING, VANESSA WOULDN'T TELL HER. EVENTUALLY SHE TOLD HER SHE WAS BEING SEXUALLY HARASSED BY A SARGENT, BUT SHE DIDN'T WANT TO REPORT IT BECAUSE SHE WAS AFRAID OF RETALIATION. FAST FORWARD A FEW MONTHS, AND VANESSA GOES MISSING IN APRIL OF 2020. INITIALLY -- YOU KNOW, THE FAMILY KNEW RIGHT AWAY THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THAT, BECAUSE THEY WERE A VERY TIGHT KNIT FAMILY AND NOT HEARING FROM VANESSA WAS JUST REALLY OFF TO THEM. THEY WENT TO THE BASE. THEY WERE NOT GETTING A LOT OF ANSWERS. THEY WERE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF KEPT -- PUSHED AWAY IN SOME WAYS. BUT THEY WERE VERY, VERY PERSISTENT. THEY WERE JUST DEMANDING ANSWERS. AND EVENTUALLY, HER BODY WAS FOUND, AND WE KNOW THAT SHE WAS MURDERED BY SOMEONE IN HER UNIT. WE KNOW THAT HE WASN'T THE PERSON THAT WAS HARASSING HER NECESSARILY, BUT THERE'S STILL A LOT OF ANSWERS THAT NEED TO BE -- TO BE CLEARED OUT, AND THE FAMILY'S STILL WAITING FOR A LOT OF ANSWERS. AND THROUGHOUT THAT SEARCH, YOU KNOW, WITH KARINA'S HASHTAG WHEN VANESSA WAS STILL MISSING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE CAME FORWARD WITH THEIR OWN STORY OF HARASMENT AS WELL. KARINA, I WANT TO GO BACK AND GET YOU TO EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT FOR SO MANY OF US WHO ARE CIVILIAN, WHAT IS THAT MILITARY CULTURE LIKE THAT PUSHES, MAYBE COERCES, MAYBE EVEN DEMANDS THAT WOMEN WHO ARE SERVING REMAIN QUIET ON AN ISSUE LIKE THIS? THAT'S THE QUESTION I GET FROM A LOT OF PEOPLE, AND I THINK -- I DON'T THINK THAT THERE'S A REALLY GOOD ANSWER TO IT. I THINK, FOR EXAMPLE, BEFORE I JOINED MY FAMILY SAT DOWN AND TALKED TO ME ABOUT WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE A WOMAN AND WORK IN A MALE FILLED INDUSTRY, AND THEN ME AS A MINORITY AS A WOMAN, ESPECIALLY BEING 19 YEARS OLD, BECAUSE I WAS 19 AT THE TIME. AND THEY WENT THROUGH, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT THINGS THAT COULD BE ISSUES. YOU KNOW, THEY TOLD ME THAT I WAS VERY NAIVE, I WAS VERY YOUNG, AND YOU KNOW, THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE I WAS SET UP FOR SUCCESS WITH KNOWING THINGS LIKE THIS. I REMEMBER MY FAMILY SHOWED ME THE LIVEINA JOHNSON CASE AND I REMEMBER THINKING, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE STILL FIGHTING FOR THIS. BUT THAT WAS THE ONLY CASE I REMEMBERED. BUT THE STATISTICS OF THAT HAPPENING TO ME WERE PRETTY LOW. HER FAMILY IS STILL FIGHTING FOR ANSWERS. THEY'RE GOING TO GET THOSE ANSWERS. I WAS VERY I WAS VERY NAIVE, VERY -- I HAD A LOT OF TRUST IN THE SYSTEM. I WAS LIKE, I'M GOING TO DO THIS. I'M GOING THE GO SERVE MY COUNTRY. I'M SUPEREXCITED ABOUT IT. THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES. I'M NERVOUS. AND YOU KNOW, I REMEMBER BEING IN BASE, GOING THROUGH I.T., GOING THROUGH THE MILITARY PROCESS. I REMEMBER JUST HOW MANY FEMALES PULLED ME ASIDE AND GAVE ME ADVICE OR TOLD ME TO STAY AWAY FROM A SPECIFIC PERSON OR, YOU KNOW, JUST SOMETHING THAT KIND OF -- THEY WERE DOING THE BEST THEY COULD TO GIVE ME ADVICE, BUT, YOU KNOW, TO A 19-YEAR-OLD, A 20-YEAR-OLD, YOU'RE JUST LIKE, THAT'S SO WEIRD THAT THAT PERSON HAD TO COME AND TELL ME AND GIVE ME THAT ADVICE IN THE FIRST PLACE. I REMEMBER HAVING THIS REALLY, YOU KNOW, BEING SEXUALLY HARASSED IN ONE SPECIFIC INCIDENT IN KOREA, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I FELT LIKE I WAS, YOU KNOW, SUFFOCATING AND I WAS BLOCKED INTO A KITCHEN. AND I REMEMBER GOING TO AN NCO, A FEMALE NCO AND I TOLD HER HOW I FELT BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS FEELING. AND SHE TOLD ME -- SHE GAVE ME ADVICE AND SHE WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW -- SHE WAS BACKING ME UP THE FULL TIME AND TOLD ME HOW TO HANDLE SITUATIONS LIKE THAT, AND SHE MADE ME CONFRONT HIM AND TELL HIM THAT WAS UNACCEPTABLE AND JUST STAND UP FOR MYSELF. SO WHEN THIS HAPPENED ON FT. HOOD AND I THOUGHT THAT I COULD DO EXACTLY THAT, THAT I WAS SHOWN HOW TO DO IT AND I WOULD GET HELP IN MY SITUATION, AND I WAS INSTEAD REDIRECTED AND GUIDED TO NOT GET THAT HELP AND INSTEAD TO JUST STAY QUIET ABOUT THAT BECAUSE THE BASE DIDN'T -- THE UNIT DIDN'T NEED EYES ON -- OR EXTRA ATTENTION ON THE UNIT. I KIND OF FELT ASHAMED. I FELT LIKE I COULDN'T STAND UP FOR MYSELF. I HAD ALWAYS BEEN THAT 19-YEAR-OLD THAT WAS LIKE, IF THIS EVER HAPPENS I'M GOING TO STAND UP FOR MYSELF, I'M GOING TO FIGHT BACK. NO ONE'S GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT. THAT STARTED THAT INNER WAR WITH MYSELF WHERE I DIDN'T -- I FAILED MYSELF, BECAUSE HERE I WAS, YOU KNOW, LETTING THEM WIN AND INTIMIDATE ME AND KEEP ME SILENT, AND I FELT UNSAFE, AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO -- MY FAMILY MEMBERS WERE THE ONES WHO TOLD ME ALL OF THIS, SO THEN I FELT COMPLETELY SHATTERED, BECAUSE THAT 19-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO WAS TELLING THEM, I WILL STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR MYSELF AND I'LL DO WHAT'S RIGHT, AND, YOU KNOW, THEY'LL HAVE TO HELP ME. NOW IT'S THE OPPOSITE. SO WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS LIKE THAT, YOU GET -- IT'S THE SUBJECT THAT'S EXTREMELY HEAVY. SO EVEN IF YOU DO TELL THE RIGHT PEOPLE, THEY DON'T KNOW REALLY HOW TO APPROACH THE SITUATION AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT IF YOU GO TO THE WRONG PEOPLE, THE WRONG PEOPLE DON'T WANT TO YOU ACKNOWLEDGE IT AT ALL. IT'S YOUR FAULT AND THAT'S IT. EVEN WHEN I STARTED RECEIVING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, I HAD BEEN TOLD IT WAS MY FAULT. YOU START REALLY BATTLING YOURSELF, AND I THINK ULTIMATELY THAT'S HOW THEY KIND OF WIN, BECAUSE THEY TARGET -- THEY MAKE YOU QUESTION YOURSELF. YOU'RE NOT QUESTIONING THEM. IF YOU'RE QUESTIONING THEM YOU'RE LIKE, NO, I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ME, AND THAT'S WRONG. BUT ONCE YOU HEAR IT ENOUGH AND YOU'RE IN THAT FRAGILE STATE OF MAYBE THIS WASN'T -- YOU KNOW, MAYBE THIS WASN'T THEIR FAULT. MAYBE THIS WAS MY FAULT. WHAT DID I DO WRONG? YOU'RE RETRACKING AND GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS OF, OKAY, IT HAPPENED HERE, BUT WHAT DID I DO THAT LED ME TO BE PUT INTO THE SITUATION? WELL, IT'S SOUNDING A LITTLE BIT LIKE PERHAPS ISSUES OF HIERARCHY AND CHAIN OF COMMAND ARE ALSO COMING INTO PLAY WITH YOU AS A 19-YEAR-OLD RECRUIT. FOR THE NONSERVING CIVILIAN AUDIENCE, JUST VERY QUICKLY CAN YOU JUST LET EVERYBODY KNOW, SO THEY FULLY UNDERSTAND, WHAT EXACT LY IS AN NCO? THE NCO IS BASICALLY THE -- THEY'RE KNOWN AS THE BACKBONE OF THE ARMY, OR THE MILITARY IN GENERAL. THEY HAVE SERVED FOR SOME TIME. THEY'VE GONE THROUGH THE BASIC LEADERSHIP SCHOOLS, AND THEY HAVE THAT RANK. SO THEY'RE THE ONES THAT ARE PUT IN CHARGE OF THE LOWER ENLISTED SOLDIERS SOME BASICALLY THEY ARE A FORM OF LEADERSHIP. THEY ARE SOMEONE YOU REPORT TO AND HELP YOU -- OKAY, AND DOES THAT STAND FOR SOMETHING? I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE LIKE, OH, THAT'S WHAT NCO IS. YES, NONCOMMISSIONED OFFICER. MY SECOND QUESTION IS ALSO -- YOU DO KEEP GOING BACK TO YOUR AGE, AND ONE THING I THINK EVERYONE CAN RELATE TO IS BEING A 19-YEAR-OLD AND THINK YOU UNDERSTAND BUT NOT FULLY UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD YOU'RE STEPPING INTO. HOW LONG AFTER YOU GOT TO FT. HOOD DID YOUR ASSAULT HAPPEN? AND I KNOW THAT YOU SORT OF TOUCHED ON IT, BUT AS MUCH AS YOU CAN SHARE, CAN YOU SHARE WITH US WHAT HAPPENED? YES. SO I JOINED WHEN I WAS 19, JUST TO CLARIFY, AND I HAD SEEN, YOU KNOW, JUST THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT FROM 19, 20, YOU KNOW, THOSE AGES. WHEN I WENT TO FT. HOOD I WAS 21 ALREADY, AND I HAD ARRIVED LATE JULY. SO I WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS OF -- THEY CALL IT -- IT'S BASICALLY FOR CIVILIAN TERMS ONBOARDING WHEN YOU FIRST GET THERE, THEY HAVE TO IN-PROCESS YOU. AND I REMEMBER SENDING MY MOM A TEXT MESSAGE, RIGHT, THAT FIRST DAY, AND I REMEMBER TELLING HER I FELT LIKE A PIECE OF MEAT. I REMEMBER TEXTING HER AND TELLING HER I WAS CRYING, BECAUSE SHE WAS LIKE, MAYBE YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE IT. I WAS LIKE, I DIDN'T WANT TO GO TO TEXAS, BUT WHATEVER. I'M SO FAR AWAY FROM HOME. I WANTED TO GO TO FT. BRAGG AND BE CLOSER TO MY FAMILY AFTER BEING AWAY FROM THEM FOR A YEAR. I'M YOUNG. I WANT TO BE CLOSE TO MY FAMILY. THAT FIRST DAY WAS FRUSTRATING FOR ME. I FELT LIKE EVERY TIME I ASKED A QUESTION THEY WERE SETTING ME UP FOR FAILURE. THEY THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY FUNNY THAT I WAS ASKING THESE QUESTIQUE QUESTIONS SO I WOULDN'T BREAK ANY RULES BECAUSE THEY WERE GIVING ME THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE ANSWER. IT WAS LIKE YOU WERE BACKED AGAINST A WALL AND I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO BELIEVE OR DIDN'T. THAT WAS EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING. ON TOP OF THAT IT WAS THE COMMENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT THEY WOULD MAKE. THAT WAS BEFORE I GOT TO MY UNIT. I WAS SEXUAL ASSAULTED IN SEPTEMBER, SO I HAD BEEN THERE TECHNICALLY ONE FULL MONTH AND A COUPLE WEEKS. BUT ALSO WITH THAT, TOO, YOU KNOW, ONE THING I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE IS, WE GROW UP WITH OUR PARENTS TELLING US DON'T TALK TO SPRAI STRANGERS, DON'T GET IN THE CAR WITH STRANGERS, BUT IN THE MILITARY, YOU DO WHAT YOU'RE TOLD, SO THERE WERE A LOT OF TIMES THAT I WAS IN A CAR WITH A STRANGER, BECAUSE I -- YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO PICK ME UP DIDN'T SHOW UP, SO THEY SENT SOMEONE ELSE. SO TECHNICALLY I'M GETTING IN THIS CAR ON A BASE WHERE I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE ANYTHING IS OR WHO ANYONE IS AND THEY'RE DRIVING ME AND IT'S LIKE, OH, I NEVER MET THIS PERSON IN MY LIFE. SO IT KIND OF GOES INTO THAT KIND OF SITUATION WHERE IT'S LIKE, WE'RE TOLD OUR WHOLE ENTIRE LIVES NOT TO GET INTO CARS WITH STRANGERS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, BUT THEN THAT'S WHAT WE DO IN THE MILITARY. AND BEING THAT YOUNG AND STILL, YOU KNOW, DOING WHAT YOU'RE TOLD, YOU THINK THAT WHAT YOU'RE BEING TOLD IS LAW AND YOU HAVE TO DO IT. SO THERE'S A LOT OF INTIMIDATION THAT COMES INTO WHEN YOU'RE TELLING YOUNGER SOLDIERS, HEY, YOU HAVE TO DO THIS OR YOU HAVE TO BE HERE AND IN A LOT OF CASES AND A LOT OF STORIES, THAT, ESPECIALLY FROM THE SURVIVES THAT CAME FORWARD WITH THE HASHTAG, THEY'LL TELL YOU, I WAS DOING WHAT THEY TOLD ME TO DO BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT'S WHAT WAS EXPECTED FROM ME. THERE'S A LOT THAT GOES INTO BEING YOUNG. I HAVE HAD SURVIVES TELL ME THAT THEY WERE 25, 26 EVEN, AND STILL, IT'S THAT -- IT'S JUST WHEN YOU COME INTO THE MILITARY, EVERYTHING IS COMPLETELY BRAND NEW BECAUSE IT'S NOT THE CIVILIAN WORLD. IT IS ABOUT AGING BUT IT'S THAT INTIMIDATION FACTOR WHERE YOU HAVE SOMEBODY SUPERIOR TO YOU OR TELLING YOU OR GIVING YOU AN ORDER THAT IF YOU DON'T FOLLOW THAT ORDER YOU COULD GET IN TROUBLE. IT'S ALSO, I DON'T WANT TO MAKE THIS PERSON UPSET, BECAUSE THIS PERSON LEGIT HOLDS ALL OF THE POWER FOR MY CAREER. MY CAREER PROGRESSION AND MY REPUTATION AS WELL. BECAUSE IF I DON'T DO THIS, THEN THAT PERSON'S GOING TO GO AND TELL EVERYONE THAT I'M A BAD SOLDIER AND I DON'T LISTEN AND I'M DISRESPECTFUL. IN MY CASE, YOU SEE THAT WHERE IT'S LIKE, EVERY TIME I WOULD COME ALL OF A SUDDEN SOMETHING WOULD COME OVER MY HEAD AND SAY, YOU WANT TO GO TO I.G.? HERE'S THIS. WE'RE GOING TO SAY YOU DID THIS. IT'S LIKE, WAIT A MINUTE, WHY ARE YOU BRINGING THIS UP AT THIS EXACT MOMENT WHEN I'M TRYING TO GET HELP? IT SILENCES YOU AGAIN AND YOU JUST KEEP GOING ON WITH YOUR LIFE, UNABLE TO LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE MIRROR AND REALIZE, YOU'RE JUST STUCK. WELL, ANDREA, I WANT TO BRING YOU BACK IN. WE ONLY HAVE ABOUT A MINUTE LEFT, BUT YOU DID MENTION ABOUT SOME OF THE LEGISLATIVE CHANGES THAT WERE BEGINNING TO TAKE PLACE. CAN YOU JUST LET US KNOW WHAT IS POTENTIALLY ON THE TABLE TO HAPPEN TO ADDRESS SOME OF THESE ISSUES? YEAH. THE BIGGEST CHANGE THAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR -- ONE OF THE MAIN ISSUES IN THE MILITARY, GOING BACK TO KARINA'S STORY IS THAT BASICALLY THE MILITARY -- YOU KNOW, LIKE, CHECKS THEMSELVES. YOU HAVE -- IF YOUR CASE IS IN THE CHAIN OF COMMAND, IT'S YOUR COMMANDER WHO DECIDES WHETHER THE CASE OF ASSAULT OR HA HARASSMENT IS PROSECUTED. CHAIN OF COMMAND IS NONLAWYERS SO IT'S NOT AN UNBIASSED BROSS. FOR DECADES ACTIVISTS HAD BEEN WANTING TO TAKE THOSE CASES OUT OF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND TO A BODY THAT WOULD REGULATE, AND THAT WAS ACHIEVED LAST YEAR FOR THE FIRST TIME, AND IT'S A HUGE CHANGE. IT'S GOING TO TAKE A FEW YEARS FOR IT TO BE IMPLEMENTED. BUT THERE ARE OTHER THINGS THAT STILL NEED TO CHANGE. FOR INSTANCE, THOSE -- THE CASES THAT WE'RE TAKING OUT OF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND WERE SEXUAL ASSAULT BE AND MURDER AND OTHER REALLY GRAVE ASSAULTS. BUT FOR INSTANCE SEXUAL HARASSMENT WAS NOT TAKEN OUT OF THE CHAIN OF COMMAND, AND THAT IS VERY CONTRADICTORY BECAUSE SEXUAL HARASSMENT IS A HIGH INDICATOR OF SEXUAL ASSAULT, RIGHT? SO IF THE COMMANDERS ARE STILL HANDLING THOSE CASES THEN IT KIND OF FEELS LIKE A BIT OF A CONTRADICTION. LIKE, PEOPLE ARE NOT GOING TO FEEL COMFORTABLE. THAT'S A HUGE CHANGE. I THINK CULTURE NEEDS TO CHANGE AS WELL, AND THAT'S OBVIOUSLY GOING TO TAKE MANY, MANY YEARS. OKAY. IMPORTANT STEPS. I DON'T MEAN TO CUT YOU OFF, BUT WE HAVE RUN OUT OF TIME. I WANT TO THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. THE FILM IS ' #I AM VANESSA GUILLEN'. YOU CAN STREAM IT ON UNIVISION.COM. AND OF COURSE I WANT TO THANK THE FILM'S PRODUCER AND DIRECTOR, ANDREA. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. AND OF COURSE KARINA, ALSO, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US, AND THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR STORY. SO THANK YOU BOTH. THANKS FOR HAVING US. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. AND ANDREA. > 'METROFOCUS' IS MADE POSSIBLE BY -- SUE AND EDGAR WACHENHEIM III, THE PETER G. PETERSON AND JOAN GANZ COONEY FUND, BERNARD AND DENISE SCHWARTZ, BARBARA HOPE ZUCKERBERG, THE AMBROSE MONELL FOUNDATION. MY THOUGHTS I recall years ago a village voice article about women in the NYPD with tons of accusations. The woman in the metrofocus video said she was 18 and naive, but when I was 12 I knew the military or nypd were not organizations for a black person to be in. Maybe I simply had honest parents but it bothers me that the woman abused was told by relatives the environment of the military was abusive to women and she thought the military would be this mythological knights of the round table place. I am not trying to suggest women should be abused by men in any environment . But, in all earnest, women who join organizations that should be commonly known as abusive to women, are fools to me. It is the same with Blacks, male or female. I don't have the desire to give lenience to a person, in my opinion, who should know better. Women, stop joining the military, that is the answer. I have always called feces of bull on Black people who feel joining organizations that are clearly anti black is the best way to change them. I have always felt that is a stupid thing to do and has no proof of being a historically valid strategy. The NYPD is still anti black, the military, anti black, the federal government anti black. Am I wrong? If you want to change an organization , the best thing to do is to not try to change it and make a new one with a similar purpose that you control so you can start it with the cultural principles you want. It is that simple.

Black Home Movies Sir Solomon Jones’ Home Movies, 1925-1926 The Sir Solomon Jones home films are a dynamic showcase of Black living. His movies are some of the earliest accessible intracommunity chronicles of Black life. Solomon Jones displays the intimacy of hairdressing, football games, and Turkey Day in this silent survey. URL https://blackfilmarchive.com/Sir-Solomon-Jones-Home-Movies-1925-1926 URL https://beineckelibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1058/collection_resources/35014 Wedding Reception What does tenderness look like? In this short home movie, Thomas F. Freeman records the pomp and circumstance of the union of two hearts. URL https://blackfilmarchive.com/Wedding-Reception URL https://texasarchive.org/2011_00779

Here is the application https://www.carverbank.com/assets/files/sH4xAGTG To Apply use the following link https://www.carverbank.com/Competition The following is the application in images

Transcript or Video https://www.c-span.org/video/?522349-3/author-discussion-race-relations-black-literature

Title: One day a nigger one day a nigger caught in his hand a little star no bigger than not to understand "i'll never let you go until you've made me white" so she did and now stars shine at night author: e e cummings Book: XAIPE page 24 Title: (tonight (tonight in nigger street the snow is perfectly falling, the noiselessly snow is sexually fingering the uttery asleep houses) The brite snow likes niggers. it dozes prettily on unsafe reefs and dangerous stairs. It kisses a trillion times beautifully the sagging unlighted filth, within - which black bodies clutch and cuddle (i dreamed God took away the world, when the niggers were asleep and threw it into Hell and the white and the brown and the yellow people all turned suddenly black but God looked down and the niggers were laughing at Him. And He laughed Himself and told the snow "I want you to go down into nigger street, and put that fire out because I have called off The Last Day.") ONE Bif - -fing street-lamp and I are watching, in the perfect noiselessly air which is falling, with kissing bright sexual fingers fingering the utterly asleep street the brite snow likes niggers author: e e cummings in correspondence between scofield thayer side himself https://www.theawl.com/2011/05/a-lost-e-e-cummings-poem-discovered/

Happy 22nd birthday Deviantart

May your spirit fly high Nichelle Nichols Uhura LINK Uhura tuning Vulcan lute LINK Uhura singing beyond Antares LINK Bill Russell's spirit flew as well, the most honest Black basketball in media ever on coaching LINK on Black Youth LINK I PAraphrase Bill russell, use the link above to verify or read the whole"You have guys who have been pampered for 10-15 years. So you can't say this is an example. Or this is an average guy. Most athletes, my self included, are self centered. Maybe psychologically that is why we plays sports, but it is not normal. ... If i am going to go into Harlem, and go to a play ground and say to kids, if you work hard you can do the same thing I did, that would be a lie. That would be unfair to myself and unfair to the kids. I can say to the kids, do your best and fight it everyday. But to say I am an example of the greatness of the country, that is not true. If I am going to be honest to myself, I am an exception and have treated as an exception for years and years. The problem is I am only treated as an exception in certain areas. "

The Wild Seeds Writers Retreat for Writers of Color (formerly the North Country Institute & Retreat for Writers of Color), is a collaboration with the Center for Black Literature, the English Department at SUNY, Plattsburgh, and the Paden Institute and Retreat for Writers. It provides a writing community where established and emerging writers of color can focus on the craft of writing and create cross-cultural conversations around the literature created by writers of the African diaspora. Writing fellows have an opportunity to draw upon their experiences as writers in a racialized society; to become knowledgeable about the issues facing other writers of color; and to study with a professional in the genres of fiction, memoir, and poetry. Recognizing that the Writers Retreat should not be limited to a specific geographical region, the Center renamed the Retreat in honor of Octavia E. Butler, a speculative fiction writer known globally for blending science fiction with African American spiritualism. Butler's writing crossed many boundaries and represented varying diverse voices. The Goal The Retreat strives to provide writers of color with an opportunity to meet other writers; to workshop their writing among peers; and to engage with published writers about concerns and issues related to writing and publishing. Through its writing workshops leaders, the Retreat provides the public with an opportunity to become knowledgeable about the range and diversity of the work produced by writers of color. A Look Back The first Writers' Retreat, held in 2004, was highly successful and featured the internationally acclaimed poet Sonia Sanchez, author Tony Medina, and writer Indira Ganesan. Subsequent faculty workshop leaders have been nonfiction writer Patrice Gaines; poets Martin Espada, E. Ethelbert Miller, Aracelis Girmay, and Patricia Spears Jones; and writers Jeffery Renard Allen, Marita Golden, Victor LaValle, and Bernice McFadden, among many others. Typically, the Retreat alternates between the Valcour Educational and Conference Center in Plattsburgh, New York, and the campus of Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, New York. Venues are subject to change. NEW LOCATION for SUMMER 2022 The new location for the Retreat will be determined soon. It will be a scenic location Upstate New York as in previous years. As of early April 2022, the summer retreat will no longer be held at SUNY, New Paltz (The State University of New York, New Paltz) as previously announced. Previous Poetry, Fiction, and Playwriting Workshop Leaders Jeffery Renard Allen Mo Beasley Martin Espada Patrice Gaines Indira Ganesan Aracelis Girmay Marita Golden Tonya Cherie Hegamin Donna Hill Major Jackson Sandra Jackson-Opoku Patricia Spears Jones Victor LaValle E. Ethelbert Miller Bernice McFadden Shaun Neblett Greg Pardlo Willie Perdomo Ernesto Quiñonez Sonia Sanchez Ravi Shankar PLEASE NOTE: Applications < https://centerforblackliterature.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/WSWR_AppSummer2022_REVISED11April.pdf > are available now. The deadline to apply is Monday, May 16, 2022. The cost of the Retreat is $600 and there is a one-time non-refundable $25 application fee. Scholarships are made available only when sponsorship gifts permit and are not necessarily applicable for each Retreat. Please direct inquiries to Director of Literary Programs Clarence V. Reynolds at reynolds@centerforblackliterature.org

HAppy Valentines Day!! Enjoy the calligraphy or poetry Title: The Last FLail Author/Artist: Richard Murray Colored version https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Valentine-s-Day-2022-Color-gif-906988319 Black and White- if you color it , do tell https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Valentine-s-Day-2022-BW-906988146 Audio version- if you like to listen, not just read https://www.kobo.com/audiobook/the-last-flail

Mel Hopkins < https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/18-mel-hopkins/ > said on the post < https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/8495-what-do-you-want-out-of-life/ > Mel Hopkins said: To know what purpose the human species serves. It appears every other species are caretakers of this planet - and accomplishes their role in the ecosystem. I'd like to know the human's purpose. Click and drag to move MY REPLY the purpose of the human species in relation to earth is like all other children of earth, to live on earth. The great problem with humans is the idea that earth can be killed by humans, it can't. If all the nuclear bombs went off and tons of pollution was made, the earth will not die. Many children of earth will die, but not the earth. The earth, like any lifeform, will heal itself. IT will take the earth a while but it will eventually.

A question was asked: What do you want out of life? https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/8495-what-do-you-want-out-of-life/ My reply To the individual, Knowing what you want is like knowing oneself, sometimes it doesn't happen in seventy years. Somestimes it happened when one is five years old. To the group,the similar atemporal occurence is true. A group may not find its self in hundreds of years. A group may find itself in a minute. But groups have added elements in knowing what y'all want. Unlike an individual a group doesn't have the luxury of singular trust, a group must have faith in its unique parts to survive whatever it wants. It also doesn't have the simplicity of individual philosophy. An individual can say, I believe but a group rarely has a philosophical cohesion throughout its body. Whether an individual or group, knowing what one wants is like knowing self, it is not determined by school age or determined by some lifestyle algorithm, it is unknown when it will happen. I think a deeper question than knowing what one wants is knowing how to wait till you know. Many individuals or groups in their quest to know, don't act with patience or act with rigid philosophy or viewpoints. Before you know what one wants, one has to live not knowing what one wants. Every baby lives said life. All babies want is happiness of life and they have an open mind continually searching for who they are until they know. How many individuals or groups are open minded?

Brooklyn’s Lost Black City Of Weeksville: A Hidden Gem Of Pre-Civil War Black Excellence Tucked away deep inside the history of one of New York City’s most famous boroughs is the extraordinary story of a little town called ‘Weeksville’. Bilal G. Morris Written By Bilal G. Morris Posted January 17, 2022 Many of our stories of Black Excellence are buried beneath the sands of time, never to truly be uncovered. But history leaves breadcrumbs, and if you follow them, you’re bound to find an amazing story. Tucked away deep inside the history of one of New York City’s most famous boroughs is the extraordinary story of a little town called ‘Weeksville’. When we think of slavery we don’t usually think of New York, but the state didn’t end the practice until 1827. In 1801, Kings County, which today is known as the borough of Brooklyn, was still primarily under Dutch rule. More than one-quarter of the inhabitants were Black slaves. Nearly 60% of households in Kings County were slave owners. Slavery in Brooklyn was vastly different than the plantation-style slavery adopted by southern whites. It was more ingrained into the northern culture and economy. Families usually owned a smaller number of slaves and the slaves usually lived in the same house as their owners. Families who did not own slaves would regularly rent them from their neighbors. Although slavery was on its way out in New York, it was a way of life for thousands of Blacks who called Brooklyn their home. By 1820 there were just 518 slaves in New York City and a thriving free Black population of over 10,000. But in Kings County, there were 879 slaves, almost the same amount as free Blacks in the county. During The Panic of 1837 wealthy white landowners began liquidating their holdings in fear of losing money on their assets and properties. Smart and savvy free Black men saw this as an opportunity and began to buy plots of land from wealthy whites who would sell. In 1837 The Abolitionist and Black community leader Henry C. Thompson purchased 32 lots from wealthy Brooklynite John Lefferts. The Lefferts family estate was comprised of most of what is now known as Bedford Stuyvesant and Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. A year later, Thompson would begin to sell the lots to free Blacks in Brooklyn, selling two of the lots to James Weeks a longshoreman with a vision of a self-sufficient Black community hidden within the slopes and valleys of Bedford Hills, secluded from the rest of Brooklyn. The seclusion would not only keep the town’s residents safe from the white and dangerous world around them but would also grant them the freedoms to build a self-sufficient community with education at the forefront. By The 1850s Weeksville was home to more than 550 free Black People. It was the second-largest free Black community in Antebellum America. The town had one of the highest property and business ownership rates for any Black community in the country. Weeksville was steeped in Black American history. The town’s school, Colored School No. 2, would eventually become PS 68, which after the Civil War would become the first integrated school in America. Weeksville was also home to the nation’s first Black newspaper the ‘Freedman’s Torchlight. Susan Smith McKinney Steward, the first Black female doctor in the state of New York was a resident of Weeksville. Her sister, Sarah Smith Tompkins Garnet was Brooklyn’s first female school principal. Sarah Smith would also found the Equal Suffrage League of Brooklyn, the first suffrage organization for Black women in the nation’s history. Along with economic prosperity, Weeksville also brought political opportunities for Blacks who had been strategically kept out of the process. In 1821 there was a $250 property requirement for Black men to vote. Establishing land in Weeksville gave Black men the opportunity to vote in elections they hadn’t been privy to in the past. The community thrived and continued to grow throughout the 19th century, but Brooklyn was growing and would soon swallow Weeksville whole. By the 1880s, Weeksville was secluded no more and the Eastern Parkway was built leaving residents not much choice but to leave. By the 20th century, the town was nothing more than a memory. But history has its breadcrumbs and if you take the time to follow them you can create a way to keep that history alive forever. In 1968, Pratt researchers found remnants of the lost city while flying over Brooklyn in an airplane. They located four homes on Hunterfly Road, which were the only homes left from the original town of Weeksville. In 1970, the Hunterfly Road Houses were designated New York City Landmarks and in 1971, all four houses were added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2005 The Weeksville Heritage Center was created, which offers tours of the homes, as well as public programs and exhibits to learn more about the history of Weeksville. Thankfully, what was left of this pioneering small town will be preserved so that future generations can see that Black Excellence is sprinkled all over American history. MY THOUGHTS Black people whose forebears were enslaved in the American continent <canada to argentina> have a challenge in finding positive little towns where black people were happy but the reason why is against the theme of the article. the reason why shows how many black people were enslaved. The question is simple, do those black people whose forebears were enslaved focus on the majority of black people who were miserable/in pain , or do they focus on the one percent of the population of blacks who lived happy with a level of freedom whill ninety nine percent of black people were in living hell? Another interesting thing in media, when black people compose articles, why can't we say whites. The article writer used the word families, as if families could had been black/white/ or other. WHite families loaned Enslaved blacks. The aphenotypical linguistic or literary choices from black people in usa based media explains a lot. Black American, Black being a phenotypical range, American being of the American continent <canada to argentina> , history is part indegenous/part enslaved/part european invader/part modern global economy immigrant But for the most part the history of Black people in the white europan imperial age of the american continent is negative. That negativity shouldn't yield happiness in the hearts or minds of black people. The only solution to lessening that negativity isn't a battle of philosophy or opinions, it is collective results, successful group actions, and the absence of successful collective results or group actions is the source of the continuance of anger/hatred/bitterness in the black american village. So , what have you created with other black people most recently? ARTICLE https://newsone.com/4277359/weeksville-black-town-brooklyn/

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Cynique When it came to the Covid vaccine, the Government sure missed an opportunity to corral black people into the fold. As it is, a sizable number of black anti-vaxxers have become strange bedfellows with the Retrumpicans. These 2 factions of the conspiracy theory community are now united by a common foe: the ubiquitous "they", a deep state government out to control the population by making them dependent on the output of Big Pharma. What could Big Brother have done to motivate these pesky black resistors, so sure of their omniscience? All Bruh had to do was announce that the vaccine would only be available to white people because their numbers were dwindling due to abortions cutting their birth rate. White skeptics would've jumped at the chance to break ranks and join the others in discriminate against those black malcontents always bitching and whining. As for the bitchers and whiners... Once a "whites only" decree was issued, black America would have exploded than a gender reveal rocket! Blue skies would've turned gray. Everywhere, all over the country black mobs would've taken to the streets; protestors protesting, demonstrators demonstrating, looters looting, black lives matter mattering. Voices yelling "We Want The Shot!" would've been bellowing as sign carriers dodged bullets from drive-by shooters. "Down With Racism" chants would've added to the clamor. Calls to impeach Biden would've been resounding throughout the halls of Congress! Chaos would've reigned. Then, under pressure from black voters, the Government would've rescinded this restriction, scoring a victory for equality. Black resentment would've simmered down and all would've ended up well. (Except the relatively small number of those ending up sick.) Later, in a secret location, the cabal of evil men running the show would be giving each other high-5s, congratulating themselves on the success of their plot to save the country from itself. Fast forward. Minister Louis Farrakhan or Scientist Neil DeGrasse Tyson? Take your choice. Incidentally, my arm feels fine.

Afro Latinx children's books are still too rare. These four authors are trying to change that Written by CNN Style Staff A vivid homage to the graffitied streets of the Boogie Down Bronx and an interstellar quest for the perfect natural hair style are part of a new wave of picture books celebrating Afro Latinx culture and characters, in an industry where these stories are still few and far between. "I want to show kids of diverse backgrounds that they can go on fantastical adventures, too," said New York-based illustrator and toy designer Yesenia Moises, author of "Stella's Stellar Hair." She noted that in children's media, stories featuring protagonists of color are often about overcoming struggle, or are "hyper-focused" on identity and race. "I want to step away from that for a moment to be able to show that ... their worlds can be vibrant and full of color." Having grown up without picture books that reflected their own experiences, the Latinx authors and illustrators featured below are crafting and sharing those stories themselves, with colorful vivid imagery, prose and verse. Here, four authors speak about their storytelling philosophies, and why kids need to see themselves in the pages of the stories they read. Eric Velasquez Eric Velasquez is an Afro Puerto Rican illustrator, author and educator. He has illustrated more than 30 books and has authored four, including "Octopus Stew," about a boy named Ramsey who must save his grandmother from the gargantuan octopus she's cooking. "Octopus Stew" was inspired by the tall tales of Velasquez's father. Credit: Eric Velasquez/Courtesy of Holiday House Publishing My family comes from a strong oral storytelling tradition; we would gather together to share and listen after nights of dinner and music, and so it was something that I wanted to be part of. My book "Octopus Stew'' is essentially a tribute to that oral tradition. Whenever my dad would come over and cook for my friends and me, he would inevitably say, "Did Eric tell you about the day I rescued him and his grandma from the giant octopus?" Every single one of my friends knows that story because of him, and over the years, it just grew like a tall tale. Grandmothers are central to many of my stories. I can trace my own career back to the summers I spent sketching in my grandmother's living room in Spanish Harlem, surrounded by music. In "Grandma's Records," Velasquez recalls the memories from his own childhood that made him understand that 'heroes' aren't just White. Credit: Eric Velasquez/Bloomsbury Children's Books Those summers inspired my book "Grandma's Records," and also taught me the importance of having heroes who look like us. I remember marveling at the musicians who would visit when I was young, including Rafael Cortijo, the prime architect of Puerto Rican salsa. When he came by, my grandmother told me only to refer to him as "maestro." "That man is a genius," she said, "and he deserves to be treated with respect." In school, when we learned that Beethoven was a musical genius, I remember thinking, "I know a genius too! He loves rice with beans and roast pork, and he even entertains us with music after dinner." I didn't feel there was a disconnect between the concept of "genius" and what I saw around me. But over time, I realized other kids struggled to do the same; at art school, when they pictured "heroes" they would never draw men or women of color. That's when I started to realize how important representation is. When you grow up with examples of diverse heroes, it affects your imagination. You start to believe that you can be part of this creative world, and I think that's very important. Yesenia Moises Yesenia Moises is an Afro Dominican toy designer and illustrator. She is the author of "Stella's Stellar Hair," a book about a young Black girl with natural hair who travels the solar system in search of hairstyles. "Stella's Stella Hair" is about owning your natural hair, inspired by Moises' own hair journey. Credit: Yesenia Moises When it comes to my hair, I spent most of my life trying to fit the mold of Eurocentric beauty standards by chemically relaxing my hair. Growing up, my mom, a fair-skinned Latina woman with the loose waves a lot of people aim for -- not at all like mine -- would always comment on how thick or unruly it is, or how it tangles itself. It was only after I started letting my hair grow out in its full, natural glory that I grew to love it, but even then I realized that many kids today are still made to feel bad about their hair. So I created "Stella's Stellar Hair" to celebrate the variety and creativity of Black hair across the African diaspora. Stella is aided on her intergalatic quest by cosmic aunties, who each have a hairstyle for her. Credit: Yesenia Moises The whole concept of having aunties from the different planets came from one Black hair trade show I attended, which was full of older Black women with amazing natural hairstyles that showed their personalities. And I'd never seen that before. I was so used to making sure that my hair was as flat as possible, but here were all these older women who were just proud of the hair that grew out of their scalp. It really inspired me to show just how versatile and beautiful Black hair can be. I think it's really important for young readers to feel seen more than anything else. As a dark-skinned Afro Latina, it wasn't until 2018, when I saw Miles Morales become Spider-Man in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," that I saw someone with my background represented in the media I watch. I really loved how the director made a choice to exclude English subtitles for the conversations Miles had with his mother. When you add subtitles, it makes the experience feel foreign; but in their household, it was natural -- just like it is in mine. That really floored me. Margarita Engle Margarita Engle is a poet and author whose works celebrate her Cuban heritage. Her book "Drum Dream Girl," illustrated by Rafael López, is inspired by the true story of a young Chinese Afro Cuban girl who became a drummer for Cuba's first all-female jazz band. "Drum Dream Girl," written by Engle and illustrated by Rafael López, tells the journey of a girl in Cuba who pursues her love of drums. Credit: Margarita Engle/Clarion Books I was born and raised in Los Angeles, but developed a deep attachment to Cuba, where my mother is from. We would go back in the summers to visit the extended family, but we were cut off from them because of travel restrictions after the missile crisis. When I was finally able to go back as an adult in 1991, I found that I wanted to write about the experience. I know that, all of a sudden, we're not supposed to hyphenate things anymore in our writing. But I felt like I lived on that hyphen, and the compound word "Cuban-American." It was a bridge and an abyss at the same time; by the time I was a teenager, it felt like it was easier for a US citizen to walk on the moon than to visit relatives in Cuba. Music is a recurring theme in my books. My picture book "Drum Dream Girl" is based on the life of Chinese Afro Cuban girl Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, who played the drums in Cuba when it was forbidden to girls. The story is a real tale of perserverence in a dreamlike setting. Credit: Margarita Engle/Clarion Books I read the memoirs of her older sister and there were these amazing photographs of this all-girl band -- the first of its kind. In the 1930s, most of the jazz bands had been men, and here was one made up entirely of sisters. And the youngest was a 10-year-old girl who wanted to play the drums. Even today, in certain cultural traditions that come from West African religion, women in Cuba have to fight for the right to play certain types of drums. But in Millo's case, for entertainment, she really opened that door. The band became very successful, and everybody loved her drumming, so, after a while, many other women drummers followed. I was inspired by her courage and her perseverance. When I talk to children about that book, I ask the boys, 'How would you feel if society said you couldn't drive monster trucks, or only girls could motorcycle race?' And all the boys immediately give up their right to be the only one to do something. They instinctively understand that this isn't fair. Charles Esperanza Charles Esperanza is an Afro Puerto Rican illustrator and author whose new book, "Boogie Boogie Y'all," published this summer. The book is a brightly colored depiction of his home borough of the Bronx, as well as a tribute to graffiti. "Boogie Boogie, Y'all" celebrates the Bronx as a colorful cultural hub. Credit: CG Esperanza I'm interested in telling stories and taking something about our culture -- as a Black and Latino person, and as a Bronx resident -- and de-stigmatizing it. What inspired "Boogie Boogie, Y'all" was an awesome graffiti piece outside of the community center where I teach. I took a photo of it to show to my students; it turns out none of them has seen it before. I said, "Y'all don't really look around and take in all of the awesome things that are on the street." I've asked my students what they've heard about graffiti and a lot of the answers were recycled from decades ago: It's gang symbols; it's vandalism. I wanted to give them another perspective about it; I pay homage to a lot of contemporary street artists in the book like "Gully" and "Modus," who can be seen all over the Bronx and the rest of New York City. They've seen the book and have expressed excitement about it. Esperanza wrote and illustrated the book after a conversation with his students about noticing what's in front of the them on the streets of their home borough. Credit: CG Esperanza I think kids need to be able to see themselves in the books that they read, and they need to be able to see themselves in the art they look at. As a teacher, I notice many of my Black and Brown students create White characters. Instead of preaching to them that they should use people of color, I show them examples of amazing Black characters, created by artists like Yesenia Moises, LeSean Thomas or Geneva Bowers to inspire them. I get a lot of inspiration just walking around the Bronx, and I definitely wanted to capture that. I love the borough for its grittiness and personality. We are known for our cultural contributions through hip-hop, but we have so much more in food, fashion, art and music that's waiting to be shared with the world. All of our communities -- old and new -- are adding their vibrant tag to the wall that is the Bronx. When I was first trying to get into the business. I heard some really wild things about why publishers wouldn't have a Black child as the protagonist. I remember one editor told me that for picture books, they would rather have an animal like a panda or something as a main character, because every kid could relate to that. I was blown away, realizing that the underrepresentation was intentional this whole time. So I'm glad that we have so many artists now that are coming in and knocking down the door and doing awesome things. Each author's personal statement was edited for length and clarity by a member of the CNN Style team. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/afro-latinx-childrens-books-hyphenated/index.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit Hub Daily: August 27%2C 2021&utm_term=lithub_master_list Jess Bergman/August 11, 2021 The Uncomfortable Rise of the Instagram Novel Beth Morgan’s “A Touch of Jen” is the latest work to reckon with a social media–fueled obsession. https://newrepublic.com/article/163238/uncomfortable-rise-instagram-novel-touch-jen-beth-morgan?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit Hub Daily: August 13, 2021&utm_term=lithub_master_list A sudden price change for Amanda Gorman’s book shocked booksellers. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/87229-gorman-book-s-price-hike-startles-booksellers.html Writers notes: the record label remixing novels into music https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/27/writers-notes-the-record-labels-remixing-novels-into-music-bibliotapes REFERRAL- New Environmental Canon, An LGBT+ Picture Book, and Women in Horror: This Week in Book News https://kobowritinglife.com/2021/08/27/new-environmental-canon-an-lgbt-picture-book-and-women-in-horror-this-week-in-book-news/

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Sunday Business Sermon: Negotiation (Ask for More) Jane has been negotiating contracts as an editor and freelancer for 15 years. She shares easy-to-apply tips and questions for your next negotiation, plus explains the basics of how book and magazine contracts work.

Against Mythologizing the Practice of Writing from Amber Sparks I suppose I started writing because it was the easiest way to dump out my imagination and play with it. There were few costs and no barriers to entry, no special tools or equipment or collaborators needed. When I was little and bored, all I needed was a pencil and paper to sketch out an escape plan, another world in all its intricacies and details that I could fly to when I needed it. I could create the friends I lacked in real life on the page. I could pour all my negative feelings into some truly gnarly villains. It was easy, free, and completely satisfying, whether I was writing for five minutes or five hours. I had this easy, casual relationship with writing up through college, largely because I didn’t think of myself as a writer. I was an actor and a musician with a bunch of retail jobs; writing was something I just did for fun, not something I was. So nothing was attached to it, no identity, no expectations, no fanciness. I wrote in the car on vacations, in the breakroom at work, in my notebooks during classes. I wrote and wrote and wrote. But at some point after I started submitting and publishing stories in my late twenties, and met writers, read blogs, did workshops - I started to notice those expectations creeping in, a slow set of mythologies that started to grow in and around my writing practice. For the first time, I started thinking about writing as a deliberate practice, and not just as an almost automatic action. I think this happens to just about every writer at some point between writing for fun and writing for serious. I don’t mean the practice of editing your writing and looking at it with a critical eye - that most likely started when you were young, and obviously if you studied writing or edited a magazine or became a teacher, the practice of critically examining your own work deepened, which is a good thing. No, I’m talking about that other thing - the mythologies around what it means to be A WRITER, to practice and perform the act of writing itself. For example! Every few months, another of those “what my writing day is like” interviews with some famous writer starts circulating on social media, and it usually goes like this: “10 am, emerge lazily from my beautiful French country bedroom wearing a flowing robe that smells slightly of the sea; 11am, sharpen fourteen Blackwing pencils by hand while watching the foxes outside my window feed their young; noon, harvest the day’s honey from my hive of bees while thinking slightly about the characters in my next novel; 2pm, write my ass off; 5pm, drink a glass of port on the veranda while listening to the gentle saw sound of the cicadas and thinking about the impossibilities of life” etc etc. People unusually share these interviews with a screenshot and a comment reflecting wistfulness or jealousy or aspiration or all three. “ME SOMEDAY” or “THE DREAM,” they proclaim, harmlessly enough, while not realizing that these interviews are being woven into their own internal writing mythologies. A real writer lives in the country! Sharpens fresh pencils! Wakes at 10! Keeps bees! And these notions about what a writer is or should be, and what kind of idealized conditions create truly great writing, start subtly to grow around the writer, like stupid vines, and complicate entry into the once simple act of writing itself. Suddenly the writer who has written on their phone on the subway commute, the writer who scribbles on scraps of paper between diaper changes or shift changes - the writer who doesn’t have a practice of their own, or a room of their own, or even a desk of their own, and has never needed one, starts to feel a sense of inadequacy. They must not be a real writer, because they do not take to an isolated cabin for weeks at a time to write, or have a sacred office space with special writing music and office hours to boot. There’s nothing inherently wrong with interviews with very famous and established - usually financially secure - writers, about how they write. That stuff is interesting to know! We love to hear about what kind of pens or pencils or software or notebooks others use to get the job done. It’s fun to read. The real problem happens when early or mid-career writers start to internalize these practices and become aware of what they then perceive to be lacking. Because here’s the thing: most of those interviews are with writers who are older, who have already achieved outsized success, both professional and financial, whose children are grown and who are no longer caring for elderly parents. These same writers almost certainly did much of their own best and most urgent writing while working a day job or three, while raising kids, while riding the Metro and running errands, while living in tiny studio apartments in a crowded city. The way that most writers throughout time have written - through necessity, through poverty, through children crawling on their laps and demanding their attention, through whatever it takes to access that imaginative fire. I would gently suggest (and I tell myself this, everyday!) that these mythologies aren’t really about the practice of writing at all. These “how I write” pieces, for example, have almost nothing to do with being a writer, and the reasons they’re shared have very little to do with being a writer. They’re actually about the dream of being freed from economic anxiety and the wheel of capitalism, and from the various demands on us from our families and loved ones. They’re a dream of “being just a writer,” which is less a dream about writing than a dream about leisure. I see it everyday - despite almost no fiction writer making a living being “just a writer,” emerging writers and mid-career writers alike have made this unlikely reality their goal. It’s no different from planning on winning the lottery as a retirement goal. And I think it not only leads to disappointment and heartache - I think it also leads to less writing. And there comes a point, or at least, there certainly has for me, where you have to start hacking away at the thorny forest of your mythologies (sorry to torture this metaphor) and find the pencil and notebook and the five minutes inside that were all you once needed. That’s your enchanted shit, not the country house and the pencils and the kudzu. It’s not a lesson to be learned just once, either. It’s a lifelong struggle, I’ve found. As a writer, I constantly fight the feeling of “if only,” feeling I could be a brilliant writer if only I had more time, more space, a real desk, a retreat in the woods. I realized, when talking about my last book in interviews, that I wrote most of it on my phone on commutes and very late at night, when my baby was asleep and I was wide awake. I had that fire in me then, and it blazed its way onto the metaphorical page despite my lack of time, or sleep, or solitude. It was the closest I had been in a long time to that deep mystery, that almost primal urge to tell stories that writers seem to be born with. The ur of writing, to be an asshole about it. This last year and a half, we’ve all had plenty of opportunity to experience the frustrations of not-writing, as family obligations increased or loneliness encroached, as escapes (even just to coffee shops) became impossible, as illness and sadness and anxiety stood guard at the door, and our writing practice narrowed to very small windows in time and space. For most of us, the dream went from “spend all my time writing” to “ spend any of my time writing,” and a lot of us lost a year plus of our practice entirely. I’m not going to spin the pandemic as positive in any way - fuck that - but I do think after emerging from the worst of it here in the US, my expectations for what it means to be a writer have changed. I had a disappointing experience last weekend, with a weekend writing retreat I had planned for myself cancelled unexpectedly. I found myself instead where I have been all pandemic, in my apartment bedroom, my child running in and out, writing on a lap desk on my bed. But somehow, I got on with the writing, and somehow, that old feeling, that love of story, that sense of following my characters into the rabbit hole and getting lost with them - it all came back to me and I was no different than me at six or me at sixteen, not being a writer or a Writer, but just spending the time I could with an imaginary world I made. Which is pretty much all I’ve ever wanted to do. https://ambersparks.substack.com/p/against-mythologizing-the-practice?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Lit%20Hub%20Daily:%20June%2011%2C%202021&utm_term=lithub_master_list

Enjoy Let's Groove together this holiday season and all year long. Brought to you by VisitDetroit.com Follow-us on Facebook to stay up to date on all things Detroit! https://www.facebook.com/VisitDetroit *** ONE NATION UNDER A GROOVE (Detroit’s Tribute to The Funk) Original song by Funkadelic was released in1978 by Warner Bros. Songwriters: George Clinton Jr., Walter Morrison and Garry Shider. Published by Bridgeport Music, Inc. BMI Performed by The Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences Choir ft. King Bethel and Anaiya Hall DAAS choir includes: Sincere Austin, Ireland Bradley, Kyndall Bouldin, Drie Boyd, Alonzo Dock, Aniya Elkins, Taylor Glover, Morgann Hicks, Ari'Onah Jackson, Precious Jackson, Jeremiah Johnson, Tania Kato, Lucinda Liggions, Brionna Mahone, DeShawn Marks, Akeylah Mason, Charles McLean, Lillyan Orr-Mercer, Jessie Miller, Joslyn Mosley, Marcus Parker, Brandon Payton, Aja Ross, Aianya Smith, Ashanti Wade, Alanah Wingfield, Rian Woods Choir Direction by Angela Kee Dr. Ras Mikey C, Director of Choreography Also featuring: Chi Amen-Ra, Percussion Efe Bes, Percussion Duminie Deporres, Guitar Amp Fiddler, Synthesizer Larry Fratangelo, Percussion LaShawn D. Gary, Keys & Key Bass Eric “Rain Man” Gaston, Drums Video presented by VisitDetroit.Com and the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive producer, director and editor, Bill Bowen, Octane Design Co-produced by Mike Ellison, AddisDetroit Song produced and arranged by Mike Ellison and LaShawn D. Gary Spoken word written by Mike Ellison Recorded at the Tempermill in Ferndale, MI Sound engineers Tony Hamera and Jake Shives Mixed by Carlos Gunn, Masterpiece Sound Studios Mastered by Danny Leake, Urban Guerrilla Engineers Directors of photography: Andrew Stefanik, Iron Coast and Myron Watkins II Cameras: Ed Knight and Scott West It takes a village. Thanks to these people for their help. All the parents of these beautiful children for allowing their kids to be at the various locations for filming. Talent coordination by Ann Delisi, AddisDetroit Interpretive performer, Dr. Ras Mikey C Appearance by B-Boy, Haleem “Stringz” Rasul Armen Boladian, Bridgeport Music, Inc. Scott L. Guy, The Riviera Group Management Crystal McMahon, DMCVB PM, Christine Ribusovski, Octane Design And anyone we may have missed : ) Special thanks to these locations/organizations: Capoeira Mandinga Detroit Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Detroit Institute of Art Downtown Detroit Partnership (Capitol Park and Cadillac Square) Eastern Market Guardian Building Great Lakes Crossing Outlets The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation (Rosa Parks bus) The Majestic Theatre MOCAD Motown Museum Narrow Way Cafe QLINE The Riverfront Conservancy Royal Transportation Co. Yum Village Image of George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic performing in Waterfront Park, Louisville, Kentucky on July 4th, 2008 by JMSchneid. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. See why you can't stop Detroit at VisitDetroit.com #ItsGoTimeDetroit

This week on the podcast we are joined by Lateefah Zawistowski to discuss all things OverDrive. As an account manager for OverDrive, Lateefah gives us the inside look at how OverDrive works, how authors can add and market their books on OverDrive, and how libraries utilize the service. She also shares some advice on pricing your books for libraries, what trends she’s currently seeing in library sales, and she discusses the impact of the pandemic on libraries. Lateefah tells us about her role as account manager at OverDrive and why she believes publishers and indie authors alike should consider opting their books into OverDrive She discusses the borrowing habits of readers and how they change based on the genre, and she tells us why the library is such a great tool for discovery, especially for backlist and midlist titles Lateefah explains how libraries purchase books from OverDrive, the multiple purchasing models available to authors and libraries, what time of year libraries are most likely to be purchasing books, and she gives some advice on how to price your eBook for libraries She gives us her predictictions for library trends in 2021 and beyond, and explains why the surge of new library users at the beginning of the pandemic, while great, isn’t necessarily enough to support local libraries Lateefah discusses OverDrive promotions and she explains how merchandising is essential to discoverability on OverDrive She explains the global reach of OverDrive and how many different markets they’re available to, from public libraries to education to corporations, and she discusses the different language markets outside of English Language books Lateefah talks to us about current trends in library sales, what books have sold the best during the pandemic, and she explains why genre fiction is having a big moment right now LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW OR READ THE TRANSCRIPT USING THE ARTICLE BELOW KWL - 245 - Optimizing OverDrive with Lateefah Zawistowski - Kobo Writing Life Happy Audiobook Month! What better way to celebrate than by uploading your audiobooks directly to Kobo! Especially because it’s incredibly easy to do. How easy, you ask? You can upload your audiobook in only ten steps (and one of those steps is signing into your account)! Here’s how: Log into your Kobo Writing Life account here: https://www.kobo.com/writinglife Select the Audiobooks tab on your dashboard. Don’t see the audiobook tab? Send us an email at writinglife@kobo.com and we can activate it for you! Click “Create new Audiobook”. Once on the audiobook uploading page, you can start inputting your audiobook information. You will first be asked to describe your audiobook. This includes: the title and subtitle (remember to only include text that appears on your book’s cover!), the series name and number if your book is part of a series, the contributors including your narrator, your synopsis, publisher name and imprint, your publication date and release date, your ISBN (this must be a unique ISBN and cannot be the same as your eBook or print book!), and finally the language of your audiobook and whether it’s abridged or unabridged. You will then be required to enter the categories for your title. These categories will determine how your audiobook is labelled and categorized in the Kobo Store. We recommend selecting three categories for each book to ensure that customers who are browsing through our store have a better chance of finding your titles. Next, you will need to upload your cover image. We accept cover images in .png, .jpg and .jpeg file formats. We recommend the minimum size of audiobook cover images be at least 600px by 600px. Covers for audiobooks should be square; if they are not, they will be automatically adjusted. Please note: cover images cannot exceed 5 MB in size. Now you are ready to upload your audio files! You can drop files directly from your computer into the Upload Audio Files section or select the folder on your desktop that contains your audiobook files. We only accept audio files in .mp3 and m4a formats. An individual file cannot exceed 200 MB in size and all files combined cannot exceed 2 GB in size. Please wait for your audio files to be completely uploaded before moving to the next step. You will know when files have been successfully uploaded when the “Listen to confirm content” prompt appears . Once your files have been completely uploaded, you can then start to make your Table of Contents. The Table of Contents organizes your audiobook to make sure it is in reading order. You can move the files up and down to ensure they are in the correct order and provide the chapter title for the file under the “Name of Content” section. Please note: What you list in the “Name of content” section will appear in the Table of Contents customers use to navigate your audiobook on our apps. You will then be asked to provide the geographic rights for the title. Please select the countries you own the rights to sell your title in. The final step is to set the price for your title. Please input the price of your title in all the available currencies. Audiobooks pricing is slightly more complicated than eBooks. The royalty percentage thresholds are as follows: 35% royalties for audiobooks priced $2.99 or lower 45% royalties for audiobooks priced over $2.99 Please note: If a customer redeems a free trial token for your audiobook, the royalty amount will be 0. If they redeem using a paid token, the royalty amount will be 32%. Otherwise, the royalty amount will be the values displayed above. Once all steps have been completed you can then select publish! If you have missed any steps, you will receive an error message. Otherwise, your audiobook is in good hands and has been sent for processing. It will soon be available on the Kobo store in 24-72 hours. Be sure to let us know when you’re publishing new audiobooks so we can add them to our audio new release calendar! < https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy1Hzav1WCotnQqd9zOmrUYj5OMcQcqQ-YJl_erliV6apuYQ/viewform > Happy Audiobook Month! - Kobo Writing Life

A Moment Or A Movement? Black Bookstore Owners On Business One Year Later On the day George Floyd was murdered — Monday, May 25, 2020 — there weren't any books exclusively tackling white privilege, anti-Blackness, or policing on the New York Times' Best Sellers list. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo was the only book to break through the week of May 31, but by June 21, almost 70% of the Times' Best Seller list confronted race. With the sale of print books rising just over 8% and all unit sales of books surpassing 750 million, Black bookstores would play an integral role in feeding the nation's "sudden" appetite in the plight of Black people. Black bookstore owners like VaLinda Miller of Turning Page Bookshop in Goose Creek, S.C., can attest to the book boom. "It was crazy and extremely overwhelming. And I had to hire some more staff members just to mail out the books," Miller says. From June through August, Miller says they "were getting [anywhere] from 100 to 200 to 300 orders a day." Even though anti-Blackness is an indiscriminate system that pays little attention to borders, Miller was especially shocked by the international shipping addresses. "About 70% of my customers were from the United States... [but] I was surprised I got so many people from Brazil and Venezuela and so many other foreign countries," Miller says. She called the surge "unbelievable," and that word resonates twofold for Miller, who had to close her first bookstore, The BookSmith, after only a few years when "people weren't interested" in what she had to offer." After Miller reopened in June of 2019, she learned from this and took on a different approach when engaging this past summer's burgeoning readers. She prodded customers to buy a book from their favorite genre in addition to the book on race that they were solemnly after. Miller vividly recounts an instance where an elderly white man entered her store looking for White Fragility. "He said 'My wife told me to come in here and buy a book by a Black author so I can support a Black-owned bookstore,' " Miller says. Her store is the only Black-owned, brick-and-mortar bookstore in the state. "I want you to support my store," she remembers saying, "but if you're going to buy this book, especially considering what's going on, I need you to also buy another book because I know what you're going to do. You're going to take this book home, put it down, and read the other book," Miller says. A few months later, this same gentleman stopped by Turning Page Bookstore to confess that he did exactly that. In other places across the country, Black bookstore owners saw new customers who were engaging in anti-racist reading. Derrick Young, one of the co-owners of Mahogany Books in Southeast Washington, D.C., where the population is more than 90% Black, says he noticed more white customers coming to shop in his store. "We're definitely seeing more people who seem like they're really willing to do the work; we see people who aren't just picking up notable bestsellers like White Fragility," he says. Young is able to gauge those willing to "do the work" based on the books they're asking for. He believes it's indicative of where that person is on their journey. "We see people who are coming in to buy books like Chocolate City from us, or Medical Apartheid," Young says. "Books that are a little bit more specific and dealing with issues that we've been talking about for a long time that create issues of equity in our communities." Young says that his store, which was recently nominated for Bookstore of the Year, has seen some patron attrition, but admits that was inevitable. He isn't discouraged; he's moved by the continued growth of readers who keep coming back. "They're coming back not just to purchase books around Black people, but we now have people who are purchasing books specifically about women issues, about LGBTQ issues," Young says. "So, you know, it is really good to see that people are sticking around and trying to do the reading necessary to really open up their minds." La'Nae Robinson, co-owner of Bliss Books & Wine in Kansas City, Mo., saw something similar in her customers. "They were forming some of their own book clubs and reading groups and they were looking for recommendations," she says. "They wanted us to help facilitate." These facilitated conversations led to a bevy of questions. "Like 'I really didn't understand everything that was going on, but now that I do know, how do I learn more?' And 'What do I do with the information that I have now?' " Robinson recalls. Bliss Books & Wine made these conversations more immediate to Kansas City and started virtual book conversation with local authors. Robinson believes this is how her bookstore was able to retain some customers who may have stopped by once or twice just to say they supported a Black bookstore and bought an anti-racist book. "I think it allowed us to bring in those new customers and then introduce them to new books and some of the classics — some of the ones that were more known within the Black community, but not necessarily mainstream or within the white community," she says. While print book sales are still surging, the Black bookstore owners who spoke to NPR say sales are down for them when compared to last summer, when they were handling 100-300 orders per day. Some of the books purchased at the apex of last summer's protests were never finished. And there are no longer legions of protesters marching for accountability for consecutive days, despite their personal feelings toward the Black Lives Matter global network. Measuring America's progress on race relations one year after a video of George Floyd's murder at the hands of former police officer Derek Chauvin went viral is both premature and inconclusive. However, if last year's book boom on all things white privilege and anti-racism is a litmus test, then, at least in theory, Americans are intrigued at understanding racism and its byproducts. photo citation Derrick Young, co-owner of Mahogany Books in Washington, D.C., says his store has seen new customers in the last year who seem to be "willing to do the work" to educate themselves on issues of race in America. Bonnie Jo Mount/Getty Images La'Nesha Frazier and La'Nae Robinson own Bliss Books & Wine in Kansas City, Mo. Robinson says that even though readers might have initially come in "to check the box," overall they've retained new customers. Courtesy Bliss Books & Wine Article link https://www.npr.org/2021/05/26/999956694/a-moment-or-a-movement-black-bookstore-owners-on-business-one-year-later Welcome to the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition! Or the spussfic, as we like to call it around here. What in the world is the SPSFC? It’s an opportunity to shine a great big laser beam on wonderful works of self-pubbed science fiction. Some rules for admission 1) Your book must be a standalone or the first in a series. 2) One book per author. So send your best! 3) It must be a novel, not an anthology. 4) The book must be self-published and available for purchase now. 5) Works must be at least 50,000 words. Contest link https://hughhowey.com/the-spsfc-begins/ Referral https://kobowritinglife.com/2021/05/29/a-wattpad-imprint-emily-bronte-poetry-and-a-steinbeck-werewolf-novel-this-week-in-book-news/

Survivor - Session 2 - May 21, 2021 - OEB Slow-Read

Not so fast: Prolific Black Authors left out of a soon-to-be-published book of writers covering the past 2500 years. The Guardian reports with too Black voices missing from the nearly 750 page book, a major US publisher cancels publication. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/may/16/whos-missing-top-author-stirs-anger-with-too-white-history

Get ready to swoon. Berkley, a Penguin Random House imprint, is rereleasing three Stacey Abrams romantic suspense novels that have been out of print for many years. Originally published under the pen name Selena Montgomery, Rules of Engagement, The Art of Desire, and Power of Persuasion will be out in hardcover and audio in 2022. According to a release, each of these novels, which were her first published books, features “international espionage, page-turning action, a core love story, Black heroines, and a diverse cast of characters.” While the Democratic political leader and Team Spike fan has since written bestsellers on topics from voter suppression to leadership, she has never shied away from her romance-novelist roots. “As my first novels, they remain incredibly special to me,” Abrams said in a statement. “The characters and their adventures are what I’d wished to read as a young Black woman — stories that showcase women of color as nuanced, determined, and exciting. As Selena and as Stacey, I am proud to be a part of the romance-writing community and excited that Berkley is reintroducing these stories for new readers and faithful fans.” If you can’t wait until 2022 to read Abrams’s fiction, don’t stress. While Justice Sleeps, her first legal thriller, will be out on May 11. https://www.vulture.com/2021/05/stacey-abrams-romance-novels-rerelease-berkley.html

Are you thinking about writing romantic comedy novels? You are in for a treat! Writing romcoms is a wonderful experience… but it’s not necessarily easy. That’s why I’m sharing 3 tips for you when it comes to writing humour into your stories. When I first started writing my Polyamorous Passions romance series in 2018, I didn’t really know what the subgenre was. I referred to these novels as “contemporary romances” and “new adult romance.” Sometimes it takes a while to hone in on our niche. I didn’t even know that “romantic comedy” was a genre of novels! A year into writing those novels, I happened to be reading a book by an indie author who calls her stories “romantic comedies,” and I realized that my style could totally be considered romantic comedy. READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE https://kobowritinglife.com/2021/05/13/the-trouble-with-writing-romcoms-plus-3-tips-for-writing-humour/

as an ebook writer, I Can say a lot about this, but the reality is authors of ebooks need to ban am*zon ourselves. Stop publishing through them. am*zon comprehends one key point, most artists whether they want to admit it or not, are so desperate to make a dollar, that they are unwilling to risk any financial penalty, thus they gamble the safest financially, and that means publishing through am*zon in the ebook world. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/10/am*zon-library-ebook-monopoly/

Huzzah! So happy to announce this! ### “The Path of Pen and Sword” A workshop in creative writing and martial arts with Steven Barnes WORKSHOP ON SATURDAY, JUNE 5TH, 12-3PM (Pacific Time) IN PERSON OR ON ZOOM The “Twofold Path of Pen and Sword” is also known as Bun Bu Ryo Do — “The samurai were successful for so long because they studied both cultural and martial arts. They mastered both the pen and the sword, making them formidable intellectual and military opponents.” The Chinese concept of the “Master of the Five Excellences” is looking at the same phenomenon, as is the yogic concept of the “Householder Yogi” who lives in the world of spirit while functioning superbly in the world of flesh. The truth is that there is much in common between the disciplines of creative writing and martial arts: both ask questions about personal identity and the nature of reality. Both demand energy, access to the unconscious mind (Stephen King’s “Boys in the basement” or Bruce Lee’s “It” as in the quote “I do not strike. IT strikes”), and in studying the one we can deepen our understanding of the other. This workshop, an expansion of the original Lifewriting specifically for writers and martial artists, will use two major tools: Joseph Campbell’s structure of the Hero’s Journey, and the yogic “chakra” map of human energy, as a launching point for a discussion and workshop delving into the nexus of breath, flow, focus, fear, commitment, and dynamic living. Come play with us! No previous experience in either writing or martial arts necessary, but all levels welcome. Bring notebooks, loose clothes, and a flexible mind! STEVEN BARNES has published over three million words of fiction, including over thirty novels, episodes of ANDROMEDA, STARGATE SG-1, TWILIGHT ZONE, and THE OUTER LIMITS, including the Emmy-winning episode “A Stitch in Time.” The creator of the Lifewriting system of writing and personal development, he has taught at UCLA and Seattle University, and lectured at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC In the martial arts, he was the Kung-Fu columnist for Black Belt Magazine, holds three black belts, has studied and taught Wu style Tai Chi for forty years, was voted into the Black Karate Federation (BKF) Hall of Fame, was a senior Kali student under Danny Inosanto, and studied Pentjak Silat Serak under Stevan Plinck for almost ten years. When: Saturday, June 5th, 12 noon-3pm, Pacific Time On ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/2461580494 / ID #: 246 158 0494 Or In Person: Taoist Institute, 10630 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601 FEE: DONATION BASED, with all proceeds going to the Taoist Institute RSVP: Email: taocore@taoistinstitute.com / Phone: (818) 760-4219

Book Wish List Sympathy for the Devil: An Angela Bivens Thriller by Christoper Chambers - A metaphysical police procedural romance thriller with a Black female lead? How could it not be good? I must read this book! Trumbull Park by Frank London Brown - I found out about this book from my daughter. Her partner's grandfather wrote this novel about hostile integration at Chicago's Trumbull Park public housing in the late 50s. Ain't that some ish? Public Housing was reserved for whites only but, everyone's taxes fund the project. Good News, though, in 2020, the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame selection committee nominated Mr. Brown's novel for inclusion. It appears from this post from Richard Guzman he was inducted. BRAVO!! https://richardrguzman.com/frank-london-brown-inducted-into-the-chicago-literary-hall-of-fame/ TBD

Happy Easter Photostory tumblr https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/261-good-news-blog-stories-through-a-year/?tab=comments#comment-892 Photostory deviantart https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/261-good-news-blog-stories-through-a-year/?tab=comments#comment-893

yesterday was the anniversary of the first time a us president lived in washington d.c. and that president was... john adams:) Today is the greatest elongation between mercury and the sun, that means today mercury will appear farthest from the sky than any time after until the next greatest elongation Tomorrow is a lunar penumbral eclipse. MEaning the moon will go across the penumbral which is where the light of the sun is refracted off the side of the earth, not the umbral where the sunlight is blocked by the earth. It is also a strawberry full moon, a better word I think is totluc moon meaning total light moon. The moon is always full. Where as the %paraluc moon can be for the other phases of the moon outside the new moon , which is more appropriately anluc meaning no light. It is called a strawberry moon based on the habit of algonquin's , a native people that used to live where the midatlantic states in the usa reside, who will pick strawberry's around this time of year. It is also the roman catholic st bonafice day who is known as the patron saint of the germans. As well as an Ember day for the Latin Catholics, so be ready to fast you latins.

Have a Wonderful and Prosperous New Year!!!

HOLD ONTO LOVE. Shit happens — no need to immortalize it. If you survive it, internalize what's left. LOVE. Happy Valentine's Day.

Hi doll! Miss you.

"ARES" stars 26-year-old Dutch actress Jade Olieberg who plays a multi-ethnic character that advances the original series plot in ways that are not obvious in the beginning. My initial reaction was the .5 % wealthiest of society will not be happy. But then this portrayal of secret societies targets any of us who "belong" to one. Cutting to the chase without spoilers; this series asks "What do you want" and what are you prepared to do to get it. I'm still thinking about this show today. It revealed a lot to me about myself ...and has me giving the side eye to friends, family and folks I see on the street. I couldn't binge watch the series - it was a little too intense for me. What did you think about ARES?

Greetings Everyone and Happy 2020' I am feeling energized by what is still yet to come for me and continuing my journey. I recently went out to perform and it felt great being appreciated by the crowd. Here is a little clip of me. Peace! https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=37701fd47c&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-a:r172384196585482943&th=16fa897786429dd7&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=16fa896ea276ea0d9b71

Hello Mel! I cannot find the thread where you offered my wife and I some suggestions re: an editor last year. I thanked you then and thank you again. We did find an Editor right here in Panama, where we live and she did a great job. Here's our website: Clandestine-Life.com We will soon self-publish as an ebook. Very soon. Thanks to you and to Troy. He was also quite helpful to us.

The art of lying:) from #Omarosa enjoy what is the lesson concerning the fury from black folk that lick white people's balls or the lies we tell, for she is trying to bring down the, i quote her, the most powerful man in the universe, and she has the audiotapes to try https://photos.app.goo.gl/G9RxaEaqCzGNepML9

Hello Everyone, My First Book Signing Event will be on August 4th, 2018 African Art Bookstore 880 N. Military Hwy Norfolk, VA From 1pm to 5pm If you come through you will be able to purchase my book and I will personally sign it for you. I really hope you can attend. Peace! For More Info Contact Me At: Wokethejourney@gmai.com