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  1. Never in my wildest dreams (and yes I have wild ones) would I think a short observation would spur such a nourishing conversation! Thank you @richardmurray, @Troy and @Kalexander2 for you evocative perspectives!
    3 points
  2. I never heard this before, but it is a brilliant observation.
    3 points
  3. Thanks Richard. Of course spam on your blog has increased since i blocked guest posts on the forum… i honestly believe someone just wants to make my life miserable. @Pioneer1 would say it is an overt act of racism.
    2 points
  4. I would like to live in this painting (the house by the river) with someone.
    2 points
  5. Thank you, Mel. You have made my day. Yes, the text next to each picture gives ingredients, process, and an anecdote that includes a quote from my mother or a story that illustrates not only her philosophy about food, but, of course, about life. From the beginning, I make it clear that it is not a cookbook or a how to book, but a book that will inspire some to create their own culinary art, others to enjoy the art when they frame the perforated large format prints on their wall, and everyone to be touched by my mother's story. It is a companion book to the first book, An Extraordinary Life: Josephine E. Jones. The talented illustrator has created an elegant cover that is a work of art, just like the contents of the book. Now if I can get the emergency loan-grant to pay the publicist, I won't have to attempt to do it myself. Thanks again.
    2 points
  6. Okay, WOW! I am going to make a notebook to keep up with this information. Thank you @Mel Hopkins I am going to break this down and digest this. OMGOSH! I can understand this.
    2 points
  7. @Chevdove Thank you for asking!!! (I'm so excited)...ACCESS = LOCATION and refers to where people are most likely to get information about something that interest them. Example - If you are interested in creole cooking - you're are likely to show up to a location that either serves creole food or teaches creole cooking. You will most likely search for creole recipes and even find a creole history club to join locally or the internet. You may even show up here AALBC to look for books on the origins of creole culture or if experts post here. You might even start your own thread about creole culture. NOTE: business owners provide what customers need so the customer can get what they want. Your interest in creole cooking means either you or loved one wants to eat it. So business owners fills the need - by selling a cookbook, opening a restaurant or inviting you to take a trip to the source. So, someone who is promoting, lets say Louisiana travel tours, will make sure they share their information at all those access points where you are likely to show up. They will be at the places where you might look for information creole cooking. It may be advertisement or even information about authentic creole cooking spot on the tour - or even the best dish and include a recipe... Now they have your attention you may even jot down their information for future reference - and remember them when you plan your trip so you can get some good food. This is how the best marketers are getting noticed in today's marketplace. EDUCATION = A MOVEMENT A lot of independent authors think they don't know their audience. My suggestion is to start of movement of one. Ask yourself, "what do I believe needs changing?" I did something similar when starting this blog. I believe Marketing = Change. Marketing is a force that shakes up the status quo. I believe independent authors are unaware they use marketing in the course of their daily living. Therefore, my mission is to help authors realize they can create change through intentional use of the marketing techniques they unwittingly use daily. I was the first person in my "marketing is a four-letter word" movement. I was the first one in the audience. I'm so passionate about this topic, I just want to spread the word to anyone who will listen. I believe, "If you don't believe in your movement or are passionate about it - no one will be." Creating a movement of one is the first step. It will help you clarify what you intend to change. Then, you will be able to identify the people who are interested in your subject matter. You'll notice there are "followers" who will agree with your mission. (note: it might not happen immediately - that's why you have to be patient and passionate.) These people are your core audience. Don't waste your time trying convert anyone who is not interested. Focus on those who are interested. -These "followers" will become your ambassadors who will bring other like-minded people to the movement. How to start a movement: Now, the best thing about being a writer is ideas and words are our movement. We just have to educate others and lead them to the goal we he hope to accomplish. If we didn't believe in changing something we wouldn't write in the first place. And the best way to help others make a change is by sharing information (Education). So when you start your movement answer "Who, what,where, when, why and how." from there you will understand what information you need to share to build your audience.
    2 points
  8. @Troy The action is here! Some of Independent authors here seem to echo the same thing "I didn't know how to market my book." Except, they do. -It appears they're not strategic in their marketing practices. I was the same way with my first novel - I knew what to do but I didn't work my plan. I like how you call it a (book marketing )"clinic" because it is! We, independent authors, already know what's wrong - we just aren't consistent with our "outpatient" care. I'm writing this out for me too. I believe this is one the best places for original content on the subject. By the way, I like that I don't even have to repost it to my profile - the software keeps track of all my postings as long as I'm signed in. Oh! I'll check out @dtpollard. @Troy OMG @hen81 is my writing "hero"! He didn't come here to play with us one-book every 20 year folks !!! 65 titles according to his last post!
    2 points
  9. You are giving a clinic now @Mel Hopkins. DT PollarUsed to posr here quiet regularly. He really was cranking the ebook several a year (or so it seemed).
    2 points
  10. @richardmurray Thank you! Happy New Year! @Troy LOL! You don't miss a chance to give facebook the boot LOL GOOD JOB!!! Facebook and anything it touches is anti-life...
    2 points
  11. Making money trumps (pardon the pun) serving the community everyday of the week. Johnson made it clear the "E" stood for "entertainment," not enlightenment or education. The reality is that it stood for enrichment, Johnson's personal enrichment, and that is the legacy of BET.
    2 points
  12. true @Troy Just today @Mel Hopkins the mayor to new york city, blamed trumps election or racial biases publicity in the usa on rupert murdoch or fox news. He blames someone whose role is to make money through the media for placating how white people raise themselves in their community. It is not murdoch's fault that he saw a mob and played to it, to make money, in the usa, where making money is the way to anything. Again, merit does not matter. De blasio today suggest a certain philosophical merit must come before fiscal profiteering when the fiscal profiteering is the philosophical merit. One note, when chernobyl happened the soviet russian government had soldiers pick up the waste, all those soldiers died of radiation sickness. Over 10,000 have died from the world trade center wreckage, but if we all recall, mayor guiliani let those people ,fiscally poor people or municipal workers,pick up waste just like the soviet government did the military at chernobyl... ah welll
    2 points
  13. The irony of this article dated May 7, 2018 appearing here as a post is that I believe it was inspired by awesomelyluvvie article - dated April 17, 2018 - Still, It drives home the point that unless a black woman's feelings are echoed by a woman of non-color - then those words are just another "fart in the blizzard." Further, tears of woman of non-color are assigned as the attributes of all women especially black women. And if we don't cry at the drop of a hat then we are labeled Angry black women. Or we're not women at all, or rather we're acting like "men"...because we don't act weak. When in reality women are not weak at all - but women of non-color just play men that way. Now, they've joined the me-too movement to kick men out of their offices all the while playing victim but getting the corner offices in the process. All I got to say is "well-played women of non-color; well-played.
    2 points
  14. @richardmurray: Doubt sister Hopkins meant where that's going, but i'll leave it up her to check it up!
    2 points
  15. @Mel Hopkins true:) but, what separate a baby from a program is a baby while it is created at least physically through parents, its design is special. the parents can not determine what it will be, like all the rest created from humans. @Kalexander2 yes , the one key thing that black people must state or remember is that our vote would not had changed it. The presidential election in the u.s.a. is fifty elections. whomever get the majority vote in a state gain all their electoral votes, except for two states, where the votes are divided upon the percentage. Black people do not have a majority vote in any state in the usa, and the white vote this past election voted as a block for donald trump. The black vote voted against trump, all non white votes , voted against trump side carson, but none of them separately or together did and do have the quantity to win it alone, as the white vote proved.
    2 points
  16. @richardmurray ... OMG!!! this is true of everything we create. Understanding the creator reveals the creator.. I knew this to be true of my writing ... to read me is to know my heart - (good bad or indifferent). BUT now looking from your perspective I'd say this is true of what we consume. @Kalexander2., "It's not that I have something to hide. It's that I have nothing I want you to see." ~ANON (Netflix) @Kalexander2 If I understand this premise correctly, if the state is receiving the money - then why aren't officials distributing the HUD funds based on needs - rather than using the cash to integrate communities. One challenge, however, is to make sure millionaires such as Fox News Sean Hannity don't get the HUD money and then fix up buildings in areas - and charge exorbitant amount of rent for each apartment. https://www.11alive.com/article/news/sean-hannity-under-fire-for-allegedly-using-hud-money-to-help-buy-housing-property-in-georgia/85-548596246
    2 points
  17. Remember @Kalexander2 every machine purpose stem from its creator, not itself
    2 points
  18. The esteem commentary here is encouraging and I'm especially happy to hear Black folk speak this way. All too often people tend to hide from themselves, who they are and how they feel. While I'm no great admirer of anyone putting all their cards on any table unnecessarily, I do believe anyone with something to hide exposes everything about her/his self. Machine learning, AI, data mining, analysis, etc., does indeed seek to learn in efforts to control and manipulate to gain some advantage over others; to little avail, because there is no 'human' touch (or intimacy). There may be an advantage, however, when people, government advance programs based on such intelligence; what they think they see or know, because a person's true feeling, beliefs, and principles get ignored in all the excitement of so-call innovative technics of 'social engineering,' (use of centralized planning in an attempt to manage social change and regulate the future development and behavior of a society). Thanks guys, for giving me an additional way of seeing things.
    2 points
  19. @richardmurray , interesting perspective and one that makes a lot of sense - especially with the history of humans seeking to control each other.
    2 points
  20. I see @Mel Hopkins yes, one member in the masses at a time:) Nice line Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. For me, artificial intelligence will never be truly intelligent. Merely an illusion alluding to intelligence that serve the vanity in humans to be masters to something.
    2 points
  21. @richardmurray & @Troy I hadn't thought about involuntary ways we share our stories. I was thinking more about how we share moments, and events with each other. For example, I can tell a part of your story, Troy, that took place at Brooklyn Tech because it was my journey too. Or Richard, I can share a little of your writing journey as I know it from AALBC because both of us look for ways to get our words to the masses. But your responses allow my little observation to become so much more than I'd realized. Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. Humans are too fluid. We possess innate ability to connect with another human in a way that allows us to feel what the other person is feeling in that moment. This is one reason, Artificial Intelligence will never become the standard. It can never be intimate - because it doesn't understand vulnerability. Such as the intimacy of community. In a community, we allow ourselves to see others and " be seen" by them. Looking through our data and trying to figure out the human experience is as hard as looking through our excrement and understanding WHY we eat the things we do. To know WHY we eat, takes sharing a meal and feeling the nuances of the story we tell. Speaking of meal and stories, -Amistad author Michael W. Twitty, won the James Beard Foundation Award for his book - The Cooking Gene. But I digress. I happened to stumble on this early tedtalk yesterday and while the speaker rambles on, he expands on this concept when he said "emotional empathy, feeling with the other person" His talk reminded me of why it is a lot easier to turn humans into robots than it will be for Artificial Intelligence to reach the level of humanity. Humans will always have shared stories; AI, not so much.
    2 points
  22. That would pretty much be anyone with a smart phone. Even tbe senior citizen with all those plastic rewards card attached to their keyring. It is hard not to freely share your information.
    2 points
  23. I amend:) especially today:) I do not have the numbers but how many people had their informatios shared from others, given freely from others in the internet age.
    2 points
  24. @TSegal, those are some views you got there, brother! However, this mess goes a lot deeper than most people realize. For the sake of this discussion let’s say that instead of 400+ years for European White folks to get it together; they had over 1000+ years of planning. I must use caution here as all I say must be accurate, though ever so unpopular. Allegations of ‘anti-semitism’ holds must greater penalties than violations of civil rights. Here we go! Since before the Roman empire was established, Jews who separated from other European Whites were prosecuted by virtually every society on earth, they got tired and got smart. Really evil smart. More than 1000+ years developing the theory of ‘double entry (modern-day accounting); 1000+ years studying (sizing-up their enemies) habits, likes and dislikes; 1000+ years stealing (plagiarizing) ideas, philosophies, science, ways of ruling a nation, and medicine from Black Africa (there were more than 2000 Black/Muslim universities in Africa) while infiltrating the very government they were subject to. Gaining trust, even marrying into families of their taskmasters. How astute would that group be after 1000+ years trial and error, and what would they do to the people who looked down upon them? Yes, it has always been White on White crime before the phrase was invented. Never forget for one moment, or underestimate the resolve of greed and power, and how even innocent children are fair game in the name of maintaining that power and feeding that greed. NO! No sir, White folks are not hypocrites, they not fools; they have always practiced what they preach. What they preach are all lies, contrary to the theologian riddled metaphor “mixing lies with the truth.” They always lie and cause us to think it’s the truth. I’ll prove it to you, right here and now! How often do we hear Blacks (you and me) asset that we are entitled to the same rights as White folks? What are those rights, I might ask? Freedom of life liberty and pursuit of happiness. Freedom for White folks is ethnocentric related (right to marginalize anyone different from them), kill whoever they want whenever they want and; freedom to follow the hegemony, their own. SORRY, but I am not entitled to, nor want that kind of freedom. Happiness for White is living perversely. I don’t to be a pervert. Just look at the most basic insignificant ways of living in modern society today, from the substance to subsistence, from what is acceptable to what is looked down upon. What rules and social values would you ordain right and wrong? All on the one hand. On the other hand, it does cause one to think (again), and reconsider principles of theology, all of them, excluding none. You’re on the right track, brother, keep up the question asking!!
    2 points
  25. Yes Troy, afromerica is my site and we still around. We were on hiatus for awhile but came back last year. Google has filtered some sites but we started back in 2000 so the Internet has not spit us out yet.
    2 points
  26. Fear is tool that provokes are real-life response. Fight or Flight... Prolonged fear leads to mental breakdown. It's not easy to just resist because most people are approaching psychotic breaks. Most people of EVERY color. We are not just humans; we are human animals and animals all react differently when they're afraid. Some animals play dead, faint and poop when they're afraid and there are animals that make themselves bigger when they're afraid and if pushed to their limit, they will attack. This is where we are today - you can't use a weapon without expecting a weapon to be used against you. Use of fear has pushed everyone to mental instability. Danger is real and it also provokes the same response as those experiencing fear... Fight or Flight. There is another way to combat danger and its through the use of CHAOS... Clear Head Assess Observe Situation then respond. Response requires training. Those who are in imminent danger are usually not of the mindset to survive the danger... especially those who have experienced duress due to prolonged fear. So first we must learn how to respond to a situation. However I suggest first locating the fire (the danger) because fighting smoke (fear) is a waste of resources.
    2 points
  27. Happily ever after is the problem, in literary terms. I will reply to your personal query but after I speak on the problem with the entire modern relationship genre. The first problem is where happily ever after came from. It came from a change in european fairy tales. Originally fairy tales were meant to refer to tales concerning the magical. A fairy traditionally is not positive or negative, in literary terms fairies is a magical label, how the magic apply to humans or the human world depend on the fairies, the humans, the various natural aspects. Most of these fairy tales were variations on pre christian stories from various places in europe that were becoming or would become heavily christian, at the zealot level. The christian clergy to their part, maintained the original christian method, making non christian things negative. This is why the word villans means criminal or peasant is low class compared to urban, where the christian church started, in modernity.Originally fairy tales had many unhappy endings. Some meant to scare, some meant to educate, others cause the story was good. But, over time, as books were being created, some writers decided to omit the unhappily ending fairy tales and only include the happy ones, or convert the unhappy ending ones into happy ending ones. This was the way in the european literary world; that coincided to the european global colonial age. The funny thing is that many of the conquered peoples native to <using commonly used geographic nameplace, not appropriate ones>: Africa/Asia/America had their own fairy tales which reflected the same style that the original european fairy tales did; but, these non european or non white fairy tales were barely transcribed or remembered or recalled through enslaved or genocidal histories. This lead up to modernity, in the united states. The U.S.A. media traditionally likes an inhuman position. From davey croket <is that the correct spelling> to the founding fathers , whether referring to real or unreal history the u.s.a. puts a happily ever after spin on all tales. When, the world wars are ended, the USA through its relatively advanced media machine, spread the happily ever after style and embedded it in films or entertainment. Artists who tried to reject this had to be independent or their work was undermined in advertising. The original scarface black and white film/comedy shows on early television/tales from the crypt comic books are all examples of media in the u.s.a. where someone was telling a story that did not end happy ever after and in each genre rules were set up to enforce a happily ever after product. From the movie ratings to comic code to prewritten shows on television. The artistic goal was blocking unhappily ever after from being experienced. Now, in modernity, the film industries technological capability has allowed an audience to see some of the most fantastic written elements absent reading or use of their imagination. The non science fiction or high fantasy fiction genre's like relationships or biographies are where books are making the most money. And, with centuries of happily ever after saturating the media in anglo led ,u.k. then u.s.a. , humanity you get to the current scenario. Now to answer your query, I believe in being happy in the now and not expecting anything tomorrow. Time is a teacher, treasure each moment you live, hope for the better tomorrow, praise the best from yesterday. Expectation is the enemy to a happy life, cause humanity live in nature, not dominate it, nature will give sad days, unhappy days, and nature is no sinner for it.
    2 points
  28. thanks @TroyImagine if we can get aalbc to grow more:) wouldn't that be great @Mel Hopkins as the online black community, this should be our goal, to make a black owned website more popular:) Ok Mel:) private message me on here, we will work something out. I will say this, the promote or social share is not present on blogs and i think is not needed. let us be honest. more and more online people, spend their time with photo viewing or tweeting but very few of them spend alot of time with in depth looking at any level. So, social promotion is good but in the end of the day, we have to come up with ways to engender them to us. many people today have filters to their social experience that grooms it.
    2 points
  29. http://centerforblackliterature.org/call-for-submissions-springsummer-2016-killens-review-of-arts-letters-deadline-feb-1-2016/ Call for Submissions: Spring/Summer 2016 Killens Review of Arts & Letters. Deadline: Feb. 1, 2016 Call for Submissions Killens Review of Arts & Letters Spring 2016 Embracing Difference Please send your submissions no later than February 1, 2016, to “Spring 2016 Killens Review” (in the subject line) to writers@mec.cuny.edu. The theme of the Thirteenth National Black Writers Conference, “Writing Race, Embracing Difference,” is indeed an engaging and inviting one. Writers of the African diaspora have worked in earnest for decades to compose text that represents African-American experiences in its complex and various conditions. As stated with regard to the National Black Writers Conference: “If one is to write what one knows, then that writing will represent their perspectives and points of views of racial, cultural, and geographical space in the world.” More recently within genres such as sci-fi, mystery, historical fiction, and biography, writers of the African diaspora have connected the experiences of Black America with a broader appeal. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer James Alan McPherson, author of Elbow Room and Hue and Cry, once commented in an interview: “I’m going to be called a Black writer until I die. But the point is that when I write at my best I try to look for the human situation….” The programming for the 2016 Conference came about as the result of wanting to examine how and whether Black writers “write texts” knowing they are creating works out of spaces that are constructed by race i.e. is race at the core of the works of Black writers, no matter how candid or subtle. For the Spring 2016 issue of the Killens Review of Arts & Letters, we want to continue that exploration of “writing race, embracing difference” in the works of Black writers. Under the theme “Embracing Difference,” we seek submissions of fiction, essays, poetry, memoir, and artwork in which writers and artists create works that embrace race and differences with regard to the aesthetics, belief systems, politics, sexual identity, and cultural heritage that are reflected in the narratives and texts they compose. The Killens Review of Arts & Letters is a peer-reviewed journal that welcomes Black poets, novelists, short story writers, playwrights, journalists, essayists, scholars, yet-to-be discovered writers, and artists whose literature and artwork speak to the general public and to an intergenerational range of readers represented throughout the African Diaspora. Submission of Material The Killens Review of Arts & Letters is published once or twice a year by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY. The Killens Review seeks book reviews, essays, short stories, creative nonfiction, art, poetry, and interviews related to the various cultural, sociopolitical, and historical experiences of writers and artists from the African diaspora. The aim is to provide well-known and lesser-known authors as well as educators and students opportunities to create and expand the canon of literature produced by people of color. While the Killens Review of Arts & Letters welcomes unsolicited material, we prefer to publish original material, i.e. first-ever publication. Unless otherwise selected by the editors, we cannot run a piece that has previously appeared elsewhere in print or on the Web. Please submit to only one category at a time: essay, fiction, interview, poetry, prose, and art. We aim to respond to your submission within two months. Essay, Fiction, and Prose Please send one piece at a time. We have no set maximum length or minimum length for prose submissions. (The average word count is about 1,500–2,000 words.) Most submissions, however, are between 2,000 – 4,000 words. Please set up your submission in letter-sized format, with ample margins, double-spaced, using a standard typeface (e.g., Times New Roman, Helvetica, Arial) and font size (12 point is best). Include your name, title of the work, and page numbers on your submission. Also include a one- to two-sentence bio about the author. If the submission is an academic essay with references, please include your bibliography at the end. Please do not submit book manuscripts. Poetry: Please send up to three poems. Art and Photography: We welcome all types of image submissions. Please include a short note about the context of the images and title and/or caption information. Please include no more than six hi-res jpegs (at 300 dpi). Electronic and Postal Submissions Kindly e-mail material to writers@mec.cuny.edu with “Fall 2015 Killens Review” in the subject heading. Please include a brief introduction of yourself and of the work being submitted. On the first page of your submission be sure to include: 1. Your name 2. Telephone number 3. E-mail address Please make sure the pages are numbered. Or mail material to: Center for Black Literature Medgar Evers College, CUNY 1650 Bedford Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11225 RE: Killens Review Material will only be returned if the sender includes a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE). ----------------------------------- Submission of Materials: The Killens Review of Arts & Letters is published once or twice a year by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY. The Killens Review seeks book reviews, essays, short stories, creative nonfiction, art, poetry, and interviews related to the various cultural, sociopolitical, and historical experiences of writers and artists from the African diaspora. The aim is to provide well-known and lesser-known authors as well as educators and students opportunities to create and expand the canon of literature produced by people of color. Please submit to only one category at a time: essay, fiction, interview, poetry, prose, and art. We aim to respond to your submission within two months. Electronic and Postal Submissions Kindly e-mail material to writers@mec.cuny.edu and CReynolds@mec.cuny.edu with "Killens Review" in the subject heading. Please include a brief introduction of yourself and of the work being submitted. On the first page of your submission be sure to include: 1. Your name 2. Telephone number 3. E-mail address Please make sure the pages are numbered. Please visit our website detailed submission guidelines at: www.centerforblackliterature.org/KillensReview
    2 points
  30. I remember when I saw Hialeah after waking up. The members of the raiding band cautiously behind me. She was cooking food for all. I knew few english words, my name being John; but she didn’t mind. I met her eyes and she already knew mine. We fell in love, and I joined her raiding party. We survived tons of gunfire as colonist numbers grew and grew. We even got through a pregnancy in a winter woods in the MicMaq lands now called New England. Aponi, our little treasure, skipping in the snow. Hialeah’s feet after the pregnancy always needed extra comfort. I had to make special shoes for her. Then, the colonists in 1775 finally wanted to not be english. We talked about what we should do. She reminded all of us, her people were assaulted by the colonist and had to flee. The colonists fable of being aided is their version of saying they stole from native people. Her people of the Powhatan Confederacy had to protect our food from colonists, who eventually raided across the Tsenacommacah and made it Virginia. She will never forgive the colonists, whether they call themselves english or american. And the persistence of their myth of friendship, sickens her very soul. I agreed, some others joined me and her, but most chose to go farther west. I didn’t know about my people across the great water, but I will never forgive the colonists, no matter what they call themselves either. And, we few went south. We were at the battle for Jersey. I even saw a flamboyant soldier defend against the colonists. After meeting Richard Freeman, he told me that Ethiopia is a place across the big water. Since I never heard of a place across the great water where I came from before, I called myself John Ethiopia. And then, the war got worse. My beautiful land was shot during a raid, I held our butterfly, as her mother sung her last song to her. And, in 1783, the war ended. Me plus our daughter, the last of our band, were sent to Nova Scotia. The cold was too much for the little butterfly and she died. Alone, cold, my memory of her with our little life losing color or definition in the last thoughts in my life. My spirit now gives thanks not living under the colonists, as their kingdom grew. A kingdom full of thieves. I give thanks for being eternally free from its lies, side my loving wife and child. Beyond the confines or the reach of the eagle. Thank you for reading, if you want to read more of my work read below Poetry or More https://www.kobo.com/ebook/poetry-or-more-1 Bookbub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/richard-murray-16885e64-6c28-459e-bf5f-45c7d458ce49 AALBC https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/blog/29-richard-murray-hearth/
    1 point
  31. I watched the local news yesterday and when I look at the photo all I can see is a forest fire consuming me and all of my belongings or that river over flowing it's banks an washing everything I own away... More seriously; I guess were are in the midst of autumnal equinox. Here in Florida that is usually heralded by a drop in the humidly, the end of the afternoon thunderstorm, and the arrival love bugs. Since the tree leaves don't change color and die here it is like the springtime. @rosa "...with someone" is the important part. That experience would be goo alone, but great with someone.
    1 point
  32. I love your cute graphic:) will share:)
    1 point
  33. @Chevdove YAAAY!!! More to come!
    1 point
  34. Yes, thanks! Great article! You wrote: S = solution - show us how your product helps us solve our problem. A = access - consider how your readers decide to make purchases... V = value - ask how does this product (book) benefit your reader. Every book is not for everyone. So first find out who reads your type of books - and then share with them how your book fits their desires. E = education knowing who your readers are allows you to share information on topics they enjoy. If your book is a romance - then romance readers would be thrilled to learn the latest - like a romance industry gossip website will bring them to you - and you can engage and build a community around mutual interests. I love this! I am very shaky on the 'A' for access aspect. I have no understandable clue as to how to market a book and find interested readers! And the 'E' I do not understand how an author can really know who their audience might be.
    1 point
  35. 1 point
  36. @Mel Hopkins I like the name, bittersweet soul I concur that soul is a secular version of gospel. All black music is from gospel from slave days/blues from the earliest days free/jazz from new orleans.
    1 point
  37. I don't have a Valentine's album per se, but I do have a collection on apple music called "bittersweet soul." I like soul music which I've recently learned is secular version of gospel music. I kind of knew that though. "This must be heaven" performed by Brainstorm and written by Lamont Johnson is less romance and more like a love song to THE ALL.
    1 point
  38. You could have started and stopped right there @richardmurray
    1 point
  39. @Mel Hopkins Everyone,I repeat everyone, in the usa is in a mental conditioning program to suggest merit not making money is the key. My pleasure, but we all suffer from that. As someone who prefers efficient municipal structure, I do not know how many time I spoke truth to inefficiency in the usa /nys/nyc municipal structures when in truth i wasted and still waste my breath; cause said systems are not meant to be efficient but tools for those who have the most money to control. The true answer is always in the usa, very simple. Make money and do what you want. Crude, inefficient, non sustainable but that is the way in the usa. When DT first went bankrupt who saved him. new jersey and the banks led by goldman sachs who held his real estate transactions as well as alot of atlantic city property. If DT went bankrupt the first time, like many fiscally common folk <red/black/white/or other or any> Atlantic city would had plummeted in value and caused a severe depreciation in the banks. Whom we all learned later had too many DT -esque deals they were holding which is why the federal elected official class did to the banks what the banks side the elected officials class from the state of new jersey did to trump, made the later too big too fail. Sequentially, Donald trump did not strictly go bankrupt the first time and the last two were mere repetitions to the first. DT calls it the art of the deal when it is simply modern global fiscal capitalism. People who have money are deeply connected and will protect each other's finances to protect each other's finances. I don't know what they gave obama/clinton/emmanuel/et cetera for that blank check but they all paid when trump was elected as president. the party of lincoln party elders lost leadership to a man who has allegiance to nothing but his personal benefit. the party of andrew jackson was exposed as internally deeply dysfunctional. Returning, DT's fiscal condition is about protectionism from the fiscally wealthy and people do not admit it, though it was said enough to be common knowledge. We all know the truth behind DT yet we do not say it. We all know the truth behind the too big too fail but we do not admit it. Obama himself talked about the system falling down. that is a lie and we all knew. the banks falling down side all but one from the major usa car companies falling down would not had caused chaos. but it would had deleted many fiscally wealthy people's finances. And, those people used their money or power from money to maintain their fiscal wealth. Does it mean the banks or car companies are educated? how educated are the people in the banks in the center to the global empire when they have every advantage to make profit while be stable and failed? how educated are the people in the car companies when they are in the center of the global empire and yet fail to make a cost efficient technically superior automobile? How many people in the banks or car companies merited their job or were given their job? Many people allude to merit to everything else but having money and being cutthroat or coercive to keep it, no matter what.
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  40. Cryptocurrency is now a new object interest for me, thank you @Mel Hopkins. I've been researching, investigating digital assets that use cryptocurrencies using an encryption technique, for security; how it is used to buy and sell goods and services. People are able to use cryptocurrency under near-anonymity, peer-to-peer purchasing eliminating of financial intermediaries, and some other “smart,” programmable capabilities that Bitcoin currently does not possess. There two major categories utilized for the purchase of goods and services and those that allow for the creation of a sort of “smart contracts;” agreements that enforce themselves per a code rather than the courts. With over 1,000 cryptocurrencies in existence as of January 2018 (called “altcoins”); over 600 have market capitalizations of over $100,000. I've noticed at least five-countries using this form of digital financial assets as well as identified several major companies all of which are U.S. affiliated, and thirteen major retail outlets. Brother Troy is on to something very interesting, in his post response. Like the NRA whom I believe is unofficially trading in cryptocurrency. Though FEC has officially prohibited trading in this form of financial asset, some traders are seemingly getting away with it. I'm still sometime away from getting all the information to satisfy my curiosity; though the ease of getting involved and the direction global economics is heading, I'm quite skeptical. Cryptocurrency appear to be soaked in blood!
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  41. Interesting subject. The "shovel" metaphor holds true and illustrates the problem with unbridled capitalism -- you know when the only incentive is to make money -- the way it is practiced in the United States. So I can become rich by doing anything from hosting pedophila websites to making the plastic crack vials. At the corporate level, selling toxic securities or cigarettes. It is all the same thing. The human consequences are not important at all...
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  42. @Richard Murray, yes sir, I don't recall hearing that specially because they promised so many ludicrous polices. But to witness this 'heartless' move in real life only adds to my sense of hatred for Trump/Carson. To think of the plight elderly Blacks, children and widows without protection from the elements, without a place to call home or hope for a future. Not even talking about how worse matters are going to get for Black folk. Or is that a 'blood red' light at the end of this tunnel?
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  43. @richardmurray thank you for thinking of me and thank you for bringing this project to my attention. I barely make enough time for my current writing projects so for now I have to pass. By the way, I don't write or speak Portuguese, lol.
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  44. Being yourself is key I concur to this post , what I have learned is patience is massive, if you keep at it the community will grow who are truly interested and reply to inquest. but you have to be patient, and don't beg, simply state what you are doing. https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/01/29/be-authentic-how-to-build-relationships-with-readers grammar thoughts https://kobowritinglife.com/2017/12/21/grammar-girls-top-10-language-myths/ I only wrote romance in a story collection. I have yet to produce a book intentionally displaying positive sultry intimacy between characters from cover to cover but I know many who read romance novels in various sub genres: tech/adult/noir et cetera. Considering what you said about critics, or judges, the issue may be they are afraid to have positive relationships dominate in stories more. Negative friction is easier to utilize than positive friction. more tweets are about negative interactions than positive ones. Romance novels by default are displaying positive relationship, through various environments. https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/05/romance-writers-dont-need-your-love-theyre-too-busy-making-bank/ Kobo authors do check this out , I suggest all go for it. so many of us are online all the time. @sabine ziya https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/06/kobo-affiliate-links/ join the affiliate program https://www.kobo.com/us/en/p/affiliate I had and have total opposition to the message in the following article. I saw many beautiful book cover in my time. I think book coveres have value, especially to attract. The problem is in molding readers. Readers when best, are unconcerned to a book cover. The literature between the cover is the content. not the book cover, the movie poster, the music video. I wonder what film sales will be absent, film posters/previews imagine if the only way to see a film would be in a movie house, what will sales be? I wonder who will be the top charting artist absent the music video, the album cover, the concert. what if you can only hear the music? Viewers/audience are groomed to expect the main content to come in a package and i think that augments the value or the intake to the main content. https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/07/the-importance-of-a-professional-book-cover-design/ Authors on a Train sound fun, If anyone want to collaborate, on short stories I am game If Authors on a Train sounds like something you’d want to attend, we are currently accepting applications for our 2018 retreat. It will take place November 11-16, and again head to New Orleans by way of Amtrak from Chicago. For more information, go to http://www.authorsonatrain.com Part 1 https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/01/authors-on-a-train-part-i-the-beginning/ Part 2 https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/08/authors-on-a-train-part-ii/ If you want to be part of Kobo's beta promotions program and are a kobo writing life member send an email to support@kobowritinglife.zendesk.com A kobo author shares her experience https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/12/how-to-reach-readers-on-kobo/ Great tools in the blog entry to be honest, i am one of those people who changes my environment when in writing mode. When I feel an urge to write I cut off and write only. I think that old tool is still the best. Sometimes not the most functional but, works for me, when I am in a writing groove. no net, phone, anyone else. Luckily, I don't have a fiscal scenario that disallows that as well. https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/02/09/eight-tools-that-will-help-you-start-your-novel/ The following is a great idea. Communicate as a character in your story. I like this idea lot. I will give it a go. Any suggestions on a character from a story I did not compose that interest you ? https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/03/02/becoming-sophie-a-unique-way-to-engage-your-readers-on-social-media/ Rachel Grant who opens up her email to query from kobo writers who have thoughts about the industry, as what makes your story unique. But I go one further and ask what have you read that is unique? https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/03/05/13860/ Self publishing in the netherlands, a good read https://kobowritinglife.com/2018/03/06/not-taboo-anymore-the-rise-of-self-publishing-in-the-netherlands/
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  45. Well that is great news! Please share something you think will appeal to readers of Black literature, that is on your site, and I'll see if I can work it into my newsletter. Welcome back and keep us posted on what new.
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  46. @richardmurray Thank you for an alternative perspective. There are as many in our history as there are people. Still the key to balance is being aware that our differing angles exist.. Thank you!
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  47. Mel you may actually know the software as well as I do. Much of what I know is HMTL, which is not specific to the feature of the blogging feature of the software. I'm sure @richardmurray, knows the software better than I, as he uses it more. It would take me some time to create the tutorial video, one because they take time, and two I'd actually have to get up to speed on the software and I don't know when I'll be able to do that. What I really need to do is check the vendor's website to see what documentation they have and direct people there. Here is a link to a description of the blogging software: https://invisioncommunity.com/features/apps#blogs
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  48. Call for Submissions Killens Review of Arts & Letters Fall/ Winter 2016 Embracing Difference Please send your submissions no later than June 17, 2016, to “Fall 2016 Killens Review” (in the subject line) to writers@mec.cuny.edu. The theme of the Thirteenth National Black Writers Conference, “Writing Race, Embracing Difference,” is indeed an engaging and inviting one. Writers of the African diaspora have worked in earnest for decades to compose text that represents African-American experiences in its complex and various conditions. As stated with regard to the National Black Writers Conference: “If one is to write what one knows, then that writing will represent their perspectives and points of views of racial, cultural, and geographical space in the world.” More recently within genres such as sci-fi, mystery, historical fiction, and biography, writers of the African diaspora have connected the experiences of Black America with a broader appeal. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer James Alan McPherson, author of Elbow Room and Hue and Cry, once commented in an interview: “I’m going to be called a Black writer until I die. But the point is that when I write at my best I try to look for the human situation….” The programming for the 2016 Conference came about as the result of wanting to examine how and whether Black writers “write texts” knowing they are creating works out of spaces that are constructed by race i.e. is race at the core of the works of Black writers, no matter how candid or subtle. For the Spring 2016 issue of the Killens Review of Arts & Letters, we want to continue that exploration of “writing race, embracing difference” in the works of Black writers. Under the theme “Embracing Difference,” we seek submissions of fiction, essays, poetry, memoir, and artwork in which writers and artists create works that embrace race and differences with regard to the aesthetics, belief systems, politics, sexual identity, and cultural heritage that are reflected in the narratives and texts they compose. The Killens Review of Arts & Letters is a peer-reviewed journal that welcomes Black poets, novelists, short story writers, playwrights, journalists, essayists, scholars, yet-to-be discovered writers, and artists whose literature and artwork speak to the general public and to an intergenerational range of readers represented throughout the African Diaspora. http://centerforblackliterature.org/2016-killens-review/ The Killens Review of Arts & Letters Is Currently Accepting Submissions for the Fall/ Winter 2016 Issue THEME: "Embracing Difference" The theme of the Thirteenth National Black Writers Conference (NBWC) is "Writing Race, Embracing Difference." Writers of the African diaspora have worked in earnest for decades to compose text that represents African-American experiences in its complex and various conditions. As stated with regard to the National Black Writers Conference: "If one is to write what one knows, then that writing will represent their perspectives and points of views of racial, cultural, and geographical space in the world. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer James Alan McPherson, author of Elbow Room and Hue and Cry, once commented in an interview: "I'm going to be called a Black writer until I die. But the point is that when I write at my best I try to look for the human situation...." For the Fall/ Winter 2016 issue of the Killens Review of Arts & Letters, we want to continue that exploration of "writing race, embracing difference" in the works of Black writers. Under the theme "Embracing Difference," we seek submissions of fiction, essays, poetry, memoir, and artwork in which writers and artists create works that embrace race and differences with regard to the aesthetics, belief systems, politics, sexual identity, and cultural heritage that are reflected in the narratives and texts they compose. #JOKReview2016 The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY Phone: 718-804-8883 E-mail: writers@mec.cuny.edu Like us: Like us on Facebook Center for Black Literature Follow us: Follow us on Twitter @Center4BlackLit www.CENTERFORBLACKLITERATURE.org Submission of Materials: The Killens Review of Arts & Letters is published once or twice a year by the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY. The Killens Review seeks book reviews, essays, short stories, creative nonfiction, art, poetry, and interviews related to the various cultural, sociopolitical, and historical experiences of writers and artists from the African diaspora. The aim is to provide well-known and lesser-known authors as well as educators and students opportunities to create and expand the canon of literature produced by people of color. Please submit to only one category at a time: essay, fiction, interview, poetry, prose, and art. We aim to respond to your submission within two months. Electronic and Postal Submissions Kindly e-mail material to writers@mec.cuny.edu and CReynolds@mec.cuny.edu with "Killens Review" in the subject heading. Please include a brief introduction of yourself and of the work being submitted. On the first page of your submission be sure to include: 1. Your name 2. Telephone number 3. E-mail address Please make sure the pages are numbered. Please visit our website detailed submission guidelines at: centerforblackliterature.org/2016-killens-review/
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  49. DEEP SOUL IN THE TEMPLE Monday, April 25th at 7:30 p.m. DEEP SOUL IN THE TEMPLE will feature 4 plays by Nina Angela Mercer in excerpt directed by Ebony Noelle Golden and Candis Jones. The four plays featured in this showcase are Mother Wit & Water-Born, Itagua Meji: A Road & A Prayer, Gutta Beautiful, and Gypsy & The Bully Door. This is more than a stage reading. It's an environmental workshop performance with some music, dance and song. We will also facilitate a community conversation following the performance. RSVP at Facebook Event Link here: https://www.facebook.com/events/241740509511203/ https://www.facebook.com/NationalBlackTheatre/events?__xt__=33.{%22logging_data%22%3A{%22profile_id%22%3A38771499619%2C%22event_type%22%3A%22clicked_view_events%22%2C%22impression_info%22%3A%22eyJmIjp7Iml0ZW1fY291bnQiOiIwIn19%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22www_events_permalink%22%2C%22interacted_story_type%22%3A%221628857644061911%22%2C%22session_id%22%3A%22MCAwLjY5NzM1MjAwIDE0NTQ0MjYzOTYgMjc4MjAyNzA3%22}} When Monday April 25, 2016 from 7:30 PM to 10:00 PM EDT Add to Calendar Where National Black Theatre Inc. 2031 5th Avenue New York, NY 10035 Nina Angela Mercer https://www.facebook.com/nina.a.mercer The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College, CUNY Phone: 718-804-8883 E-mail: writers@mec.cuny.edu Like us: Like us on Facebook Center for Black Literature Follow us: Follow us on Twitter @Center4BlackLit
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  50. Jornal Afronta - a new newspaper catering to the Black community in Minais Gerais Brasil- created from Etiene Martins I paraphrase the article: “Releasing Jornal Afronta is for me the realization of a dream. Many ask me, but why a black newspaper for blacks? And I answer, why does no one ask this question when they sees a newspaper made by whites for whites? Since we blacks are in ‘fashion’, as they say, we should gain prominence on the covers of newspapers and magazines, but it is for our deeds and achievements and not as criminals, imprisoned, killed or on the run,” Etienne emphasizes. ... The Black Women’s March, held in downtown Belo Horizonte on May 13, with 500 women from 65 Minas Gerais cities, is the cover story of the first issue of Jornal Afronta. Coverage of the event by the Minas Gerais press disappointed Etienne Martins; She said: “Some newspapers covered it and took lots of pictures, but the next day, when I picked up the O Tempo newspaper to check it out, there was a line on the cover about the subject, but the photo chosen was of two white women. For me it was the last straw and I found that it was necessary to launch a Minas newspaper to give appropriate visibility to black people,” Read more including an interview involving Jornal Afronta Publisher Etiene Martins. Article Link http://blackwomenofbrazil.co/2015/07/22/for-us-by-us-afronta-new-newspaper-in-minas-gerais-brings-black-faces-and-culture-to-media-outlets/ Afronta( http://www.afronta.org/ ) The organization helping to organize Jornal Afronta Note: they operate as the liason to Jornal Afronta through their contact facebook twitter Raca Brasil - Note: It is owned from Universo Online , UOL is owned from Grupo Folha, primarily owned from the Frias family. Sequentially, Raca Brasil is not a Black owned magazine. http://racabrasil.uol.com.br/ Release Party to Jornal Afronta
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