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You know I have no idea what Krispy Kream Jelly Beans are. Are they like really small donut holes?

Cynique Were most of the men "coming on" to you Black? If so.....that may explain in part why they didn't harass you or get more aggressive after letting them know you weren't interested. Black men are usually BOLDER than White men when it comes to approaching women but we USUALLY (but not always) draw the line with rejection. Rather than sit there and harass the same woman over and over again who's made it plain that she doesn't want us, most of the time we'll just move on to messing with the next woman and will probably even go through DOZENS of women until we nail one.....lol. Some people don't like that approach, but it's one that has worked for ME and many other Black men who aren't considered the most attractive men in this society. There are exceptions to the rules and you have all types of Black and White men, but generally speaking most Black men like to play games and charm women into sleeping with them. We also tend to sleep with A LOT MORE women to increase the odds of "getting lucky" and staying that way. Where as most White men like to demand or coherce women through their money and power or sense of obligation and often times tend to focus on ONE woman at a time and maybe a second "mistress". Because of their status in society, many White men feel ENTITLED to women and find it very frustrating and almost intolerable that a woman would not want to sleep with them. Most women don't understand this mentality and are often surprised when they encounter it. On the other hand, most Black men in this nation are so used to being dissed and rejected that it really doesn't bother them as much. It becomes a NUMBERS GAME to them and they will shrugg off a rejection to move on to another target.....lol.

Yes @Mel Hopkins, your site, https://melhopkins.com would qualify as having domain; it is just hosted by Wordpress. This site is hosted by GoDaddy. Here is some of the information I pulled on your domain: AALBC Score: N/A Domain Created: Mar 01, 2001 (16 Years, 8 Months) SEMrush Rank: 39,200,000 Alexa Rank: N/A MOZ Domain Authority: 22 I've decided to restrict not to add any new sites to track to my database unless they had an Alexa ranking. There however are some sites without an Alexa ranking in my database and I'm not going to delete them. I'll add your since you got it like that Since I have my webmaster hat on now; it is good that your site is using SSL (https), because Google uses this a ranking signal and they are going to start displaying warning messages in their browsers to sites that don't use it. This will hurt a lot of sites. It is also good that you are using a response design, so your site will display well on a mobile device. This is a ranking signal for Google as well. This is one aspect of webdesign that really hurt a lot sites in search. What happened to your old content? I ran some queries and see that it is still on the site, but I cant find a way to browse it directly the old stuff--at least the stuff I looked for. For example, how does one browse to this page: https://melhopkins.com/2016/06/09/aalbc-the-african-american-media-clearinghouse-wifotit/ If there is no way to browse to this page (no direct link to it on your site), the page an others like it will be hurt in search because they are unrecoverable without a direct link Digging a bit deeper. I would be more descriptive in your description meta tags. This is the text used when people share you site on social media. Google would not use it because it is too short and they pull text from the page. So should control this by being more descriptive. I'm not sure how you do this now, but there are plugins that make optimizing for SEO easy. <meta property="og:description" content="Actuate | Thought Into Action" /> I would also make the site's title (not on the title on the page but in meta tag), clearer. It should always be different that what is in the title tag <title>Mel Hopkins &#8211; Actuate | Thought Into Action</title> You should create a customized 404 error page. You know that page that comes up when someone types a bogus URL on your website like https://aalbc.com/bousurl.html Today SEO (optimizing for Google's search engine) is probably more important than a site's content--especially for Black owned sites because we don't usually have the benefit of larger platforms to support us. I know that is more than you asked for, but I hope it is helpful

I think i am typical of people who to whom all of these figures and statistics go over the head of. What i am curious to know about this battle between black entrepreneur Davids against white monopolistic Goliaths is whether there is any info that suggests that black web sites owned by white corporations are misleading black people, telling them lies, "controlling their narrative", not representing what's authentic and are a negative destructive force in the black community? Are these sites shaping back opinion - or are they shaped by black opinion? Is the fact that these sites, which attract a vast audience and provide a platform for black issues, represent profitable business ventures for their owners something that should be a major concern to anyone other than the black rivals of these white capitalists? I always have a problem with regarding consumers as victims if they take advantage of the useful, convenient and often valuable services made available to them by those who exist to serve them. Isn't there something to be said about reciprocation? (My turn to play the devil's advocate.)

The feedback from this mailing was very illuminating. I'm going to craft a part 2 message in a few weeks taking into account some new insights: Alexa Rank Requirement I made a having an Alexa ranking a requirement to be added to the list of sites that I would monitor. About half of the suggested sites I received today for consideration did not have an Alexa rank. I suspect the person complaining about my use of Alexa had a site without an Alexa ranking. While they did not say this was the reason, I can now understand now why someone would react the way they did. Now an Alexa ranking is a very low threshold to meet but the fact is 20% of the 300 sites I have evaluated so far did not have an Alexa Rank. In fact they are still on my list of sites: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites/top_black_sites_list.php But I have to draw a line somewhere and the Alexa rank is as good a place as any; Right now the Alexa Ranks for sites in the Top 50 range from 1,026 to 470,817 (lower is better, Google's Alexa Rank is 1, Facebook's is 3). The worst Alexa rank, for the sites with a ranking, in my database is 19,987,545. I have never see a ranking worse than 30,000,000. Having an Alexa rank is generous cutoff, but I'm open to suggestions for alternatives. While I'm the only one handling this here will need to be a cut off. I have a booksite to run after all. “I've Never Heard of Most of These Sites” This is the most common comment I've received. Indeed it is the point of this entire effort. There will be some sites you've never heard of that has produced something you will truly appreciate but never see, because it could not be found on Facebook. Facebook “Likes” Are Powerful Facebook likes are very, very powerful--for Facebook. People measure the effectiveness of their ad spend and engagement on Facebook by the number of likes they get. If does not matter if the likes do not translate in getting an email address, a sale, visitors to a website, or improved branding. Likes are the measurement tool. They are readily visible and have the added benefit of providing an ego boost. Facebook is known to holdback likes so that they are timed for maximum impact. There is i ample reason to believe that many of those Facebook Likes are fake, and one should always measure the effectiveness of those paid visitors, you might find as I did they are not very engaged visitors. Most Users Don't Visit Websites I suspect that the majority of new internet users are mobile users using social media. These types of users are much less likely to visit a website. When these users run a Google search they don't leave the Google search results page, because Google will pull answers from websites, most often Wikipedia, and present the response on the page or read it aloud. For these types of users the social media/google/Wikipedia/amazon is the internet. Demographically this is where the growth appears to be. But there is a category of users (like anyone reading this message), who wants deeper information. Like readers of books, the types of users of the web are in the minority. But like readers of books, there are enough of these types of internet users to enable independent Black owned websites to thrive. Finally Don't Forget Email In the four hours since I sent this email, several hundred extra people have visited the pages linked in my mailing. There is nothing I have ever done that has generated as much traffic as quickly from social media. Now I've had some content go "viral" and that brought thousands of additional visitors from Facebook primarily during the same period of time. But I can not ln which post will go viral and they are very rare occurrence anyway. Nothing, I've shared this year went viral, but 2017 will be the year this site see the most page views ever.

I really enjoyed watching this.

@Pioneer1 How do you conclude from CNN's coverage of the study, a deliberate effort to make Black children, in the US, dumber. White people are subjected to as much, if not more, fluoride than Black people.

Poor movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein, the serial molester who has supplanted Bill Cosby as the poster boy for horny ol lechers. Why am i not outraged by his being outed by all of the mostly white damsels in distress coming out of the wood work, making accusations My entrenched cynicism no doubt. Or maybe, i feel rejected because I could not add my name to the swelling ranks of the "me, too" sisterhood of sexually harassed females. More likely because the "casting couch" has been a long standing joke in the movie business, wherein ambitious young starlets anxious to advance their careers, submitted to the sexual overtures of powerful Hollywood tycoons. Now all of a sudden, ambitious women who remained silent because they didn't want to derail their careers are coming forth, playing the victims. I've always considered any woman who was surprised at a man wanting to get in her pants as being naive. But perhaps "vulnerable' is a better description. In looking back, i couldn't think of any incidents that qualified me for membership in the "me, too" sisterhood of sexual harassment. Many men flirted with me on my job, but i took it in my stride and if i didn't respond, they moved on. Only once did a guy make a lewd suggestion to me and after i laid a few choice words on him, he grinned sheepishly and never bothered me again. i suspect because black women usually cuss out or blow off men who bug them and because most of these men aren't powerful enough to impede their progress, this latest feminist outcry doesn't resonate with them as much. Of course, rappers like Dr. Dre are the exception. Dating back to slavery days, black women have had to deal with sexual aggression and they've learned how to be just as manipulative as their predators. Of course, rape and domestic abuse put all women in jeopardy. I'm sure many would dub me as "old school" and would disagree with my view point. So be it. I'm so sick of everything that's going on in the world that i've become desensitized.

From my blog: https://darlenepryor.blogspot.com/ Earlier this month,Mo Nix invited us to share our breast cancer stories to our group, Mentally Empowered. Here's mine: As a mother of five sons it wasn't always easy to find time to take care of myself. All my sick time was used for my son's mishaps and childhood ills. Three of them had asthma coupled with allergies. All of them were active daredevils. I had my first mammogram in 1995 when I returned for my six month visit after my twins were born. My gynecologist in Ct had the machine on site. I didn't have another until they were 16 yrs old, almost 17. My gynecologist in Alabama would give me a referral each time I went in for my exam. It was enough of a hassle to make it to that appointment. They wanted me to call the hospital, make another appointment, and take off work again! Never happened. Each time I would take the referral form, stuff it in my purse or a notebook, with every intention of calling later, and forget about it. Out of site out of mind, right. Besides breast cancer was something that happened to other people in other families. Then in Oct. 2010, that insidious disease crept into my own family. The Sunday edition of the Birmingham News (October 3, I believe) was the pink edition. There were copies in the break room at work. I read through all the survivor stories. That night at home I went online and read more stories shared by survivors. Then my son called me to talk about relatives on his father's side who'd succumbed to cancer. He asked me if he was going to get Cancer. I assured him that just because they had had it, didn't mean he would. I believed that. It was Monday night (Oct 4). I would leave my house at 2:00-ish to drive to Alabaster from Jacksonville for my 5:00 shift. When I came out of my bathroom after taking my shower, the light was off in my bedroom. I walked across the room in the dark to turn on the light. Just as I reached out to flip the switch, I stepped on the plug hanging from the Iron I had left on my filing cabinet. I quickly jerked my foot up, but unfortunately I was in midstride and had already lifted the other foot. I collapsed awkwardly to the floor, hitting my right breast on the corner of the filing cabinet. I cried out, grabbed my breast and stumbled over to the bed. Benjamin, one of the twins, ran up to my door "Are you alright in there?" "Yes" "What happened?" "None of your business!" Meanwhile. I dialed my sister's number. "Hello" "I'm going to have a hematoma on my breast" "Oh, well. I'm talking to husband right now. I'll call you back later." It's wasn't that short but it seemed like it. I laid in the bed with my hand across my chest feeling the knot that had already formed, thinking 'what if there was already something there?' I had heard women say that bruises could turn to cancer. I didn't believe that, but for some reason I did think it was possible that my injury could have brought something to the surface that was already there. I didn't tell my husband (ex) about it that night because I didn't quite know how to explain how I hit the corner of that filing cabinet with my breast. I kept envisioning Madea as she tried to understand how her niece hit her eye on the kitchen cabinet door. The next night as we lay in bed, I placed my ex’s hand on my breast to feel the newly discovered knot. He said, “That’s been there.” After my initial shock to learn that he had felt a lump in my breast and said nothing, I realized I needed to have this thing checked out. That Friday, (Oct. 8). I went to Dr. K, in Anniston. He was very concerned and referred me to rmc for a mammogram. I went in on Wed. (Oct. 13) and had my first mammogram in 16 years or so. After the scan the very bubbly technician sent me to xray, just to be sure. The xray tech didn’t say anything to me, but I knew something was wrong. I felt like she was uncomfortable. She informed me that my doctor would call me with the results. I went home and took a nap. That evening as I was preparing to go to my grad school class I received a call from my doctor’s office that they wanted me to come in for the results. I let my ex know that I had to go do my presentation and then I would need him to take me to the doctor’s ofc. I arrived on campus early and went to my professor’s ofc to ask if I could give my presentation first and leave. Before I said anything, he asked, “Are you okay, you look sick?” I said I was tired and stressed and it had been a long day. Then I explained that I needed to leave early to go get my mammogram results. Once we arrived at the doctor’s ofc he informed us that the scans were abnormal and possibly cancerous. He wanted me to have a biopsy as soon as possible. He went to take care of the paperwork. That was when my ex-husband decided to question how, exactly, I had managed to hit my breast on the corner of the filing cabinet that was only 2 ½ ft. high. He was trying to process how this freak accident could end up as a possible cancer diagnosis. I was too. Although I'd had more time to consider the possibility, I was still dealing with it. So, after repeatedly answering the same questions, I threw the ball in Dr. K’s court when he returned. I asked Dr. K to explain to him how this injury led to the discovery of possible breast cancer. Dr. K told him it didn’t really matter how I had sustained the injury, we were looking at a possible cancer diagnosis and we needed to focus on that. We went to the Cancer Treatment Center that next Wednesday (Oct. 20) for a consult. Dr. S. decided to do a needle biopsy at that time. It was a quick procedure resulting in some soreness. The next day I went back to work. Friday evening, after work, we went back to Dr. K for the results. He confirmed that yes, I did indeed have breast cancer. As we left the ofc, I called my daddy and he called his mother. My daddy basically told me not to go borrowing trouble. He reminded me that cancer is not the automatic death sentence that it once was. He advised me not to dwell on it or let my imagination run wild. Just take every step as it comes and follow my doctor’s instructions. Another great piece of advice my father gave me. When I considered running to UAB for treatment, he reminded me that since UAB was a teaching hospital, even if I had a top level, experienced doctor, I’d be more likely to actually be treated by inexperienced doctors. If I stuck with the Cancer Treatment Center, which ever doctor I chose would be the one who actually treated me. All very true for the most part. So I finally had the answer I had feared for nearly three weeks. Without telling them what was going on, I had spoken with family members about what they would do if my kids were to ever lose their mother. On that long drive in to work I would pray to God, begging him to allow me to see all of my sons grow up to be the men he designed them to be. The enemy tried to tell me God was going to move me out of the way so someone else could do a better job. One of those mornings I received a peaceful assurance that everything would be alright. That cancer would not win. One by one, I shared my situation with the rest of my family. I literally felt the covering of their prayers. I told my sons on Halloween night. Bad choice on my part. But I was to begin chemo, the next week and I didn’t know how it was going to affect me. First they were upset that I had curtailed their plans to have a family meeting, then they were ashamed that they were upset. Very bad timing on my part. We got through it though.I have to give credit to the ex for his input that night I had triple negative breast cancer. No family history of breast cancer. Cancer, but not breast cancer. I went through my treatments, chemo, surgery, and then radiation. In the midst of all that, I received my master’s degree in Public Administration and I started working as an Assistant Manager at Walmart. I received my last treatment shortly after I completed my management training. When I meet other women who receive this diagnosis, I am quick to share the great advice I received from my daddy, who is also a survivor. And life continues to go on. from my son's Facebook page: Benjamin Pryor June 5, 2016 · Allowed on timeline So there's this thought that crossed my mind: it doesn't really come really often, which I am SOO glad that it doesn't to be real with you all, but to today it just hit me. So first, take a look at this picture... A real long look. Now let's focus on the woman in the picture. Not many people that I associate myself with is really aware of this because I don't like to brag about it, but there was a moment (just a moment) in our lives where we thought this picture would be impossible. At least, for me, there was a time. Don't know how my other brothers took it. Anyways, back in the dramatic years of highschool, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. We didn't really make it easy for her to tell us, but she got the message across and suddenly I realized then that I'm not the only one here fighting the good fight, there are others who suffer a lot more. I see it on television a lot, because those news channel love to show us negative things, but it really didn't hit home until, well, it really hit home. My own mother was livin on a prayer (sing it if you want to), but one thing I realized is that she did not live like a patient. She did not go into a corner saying "Woe is Me." She did quite the opposite. She cut her hair with a smile (I have the pictures) Tried on a lot of weaves and became a model who demanded pictures and more pictures. It was serious, no doubt, but my mother never stopped living by example for us even when she really deserved a pity party. She probably would've got mad anyways.... Since finding out she had cancer, she graduated from JSU, ran a bunch of 5ks, loss weight and gain weight and loss weight again (in her opinion, I think she just loss weight), supported each of her kids in their individual endeavors, broke her ankle (my bad), recovered and started running again, worked ridiculous hours at Wal-mart, moved to California, started her own book (if you want more info on that, let me know) and flew back to Alabama to check on her family. I thank God for this blessing he has given this family. We aren't perfect, we have problems, but we get through them. My mom has, so it's pretty much my job to be better as her son. — with Darlene Pryor and Brian Pryor. https://darlenepryor.blogspot.com/

Less than 30 minutes ago I sent an email (the entire message is at the end of this post) to my entire mailing list. Anyone one who knows me is familiar with the theme. What makes this issue different is that it does not just deal with Black book sites; it deals with the entire Black owned World Wide Web and how little of it we own and control. Even I was alarmed because I'm having difficulty finding 50 websites with a meaningful level of traffic. What is so striking is that we spending so much time hyping the benefits of social media and we have completely overlooked our ownership. This is like bragging about how warm and comfortable Massa's house while most of us live in crappy shacks we don't even own. What puzzles me is that there is no outrage, no alarm, no concern? This why I find our bitching over a stupid Dove commercial so exasperating. But check this out. This is the very first response I received in reaction to the message was the following: Why is everything controlled by Alexa rank? Is Alexa "black-owned"? Is Howard University the only HBCU that is "Alexa-ranked" and is therefore on your list? What's up? I replied with the following message: Hi XXXXXXX, Everything is not Alexa ranked. I used a proprietary method of ranking websites The AALBC Score and that is Black owned. I find Akexa to be a rather poor indicator of judging the relative traffic of websites. I only use it to help me separate sites that get very little traffic from those that do. On that basis the Alexa Ranks is adequate. Of the HBCU’s I checked, Howard had the strongest overall AALBC Score. If you have any websites you’d like to suggest I more than welcome you to add them to the list of sites to be considered. The instructions are in my original email. Thanks for the feedback it was helpful. Peace, Troy Now this message is from my own tribe! This reader completely missed the point and spirit of my message. I'm not sure how I could have communicated my message any differently to help them understand my point. Does anyone see where I went wrong? So far this message, after only 32 minutes, is the most shared message I've sent in a long time, so it is apparently resonating with some readers. Which is encouraging. I just hope this issue gets some coverage and that Black folks start to patronize Black websites, before the web is complete owned by Amazon and Facebook owned websites. A few weeks ago, I created a list of “The Top 25 Black-Owned Websites.” Over the past week I've reviewed, improved, and expanded that effort. The result is a list of “The Top 50 Black-Owned Websites.” I’ve even come up with a ranking system to objectively score the relative strength of each website. The truth is, the list only has 38 websites. I’ve having a great deal of difficulty identifying 50 Black-owned websites who meet a rather moderate level of performance criteria, and I’ve evaluated hundreds of sites. I was so taken aback by the lack of large Black-owned websites, that I was compelled to write an article, “We Must Patronize Black-Owned Websites or Lose Them.” My goal is to raise awareness and to issue a call to action. Despite the fact that websites are easier than ever to create and more people have Internet access than ever before, Black websites are growing weaker, more difficult to find, and presumably less profitable. TROY, help me identify and promote our top Black-owned website’s by posting the website’s information on AALBC.com. Please share this message with anyone you think will help. We can’t allow a couple of social media websites and a search engine to serve as gatekeepers who control access to, and profit from, our culture on the web. Peace & Love, Troy Johnson, Founder & Webmaster, AALBC.com AALBC.com eNewsletter – October 16, 2017 - Supplemental © 2017 AALBC.com, LLC | 1325 5th Ave Apt 2K, New York, NY 10029

Yes but again people have never been encouraged to think. If too many people think the society gets disrupted. So we are being socially groomed from a young age. So thinking is a self imposed ostracization.

Check out the Chicago Crusader's coverage of this event Third World Press Foundation writers and poets gather at Betty Shabazz Academy to participate in 50th anniversary events. The historic gathering included Askia Toure, Dr. Eugene Redmond, Dr. Maulana Karenga, TWPF founder Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti, Dr. Sonia Sanchez, Kalamu ya Salaam, and Dr. Aminifu R. Harvey. (Photos by Raynard Graves)

Again, I feel you Pioneer. Cynique, men use the lewd approach, because they are crude, and don't know any no better, but it works from time to time. So the tactic persists. I have never used the approach; It is just not my style, but again I know it works for many guys.

@Troy Oh no, that's been there. I didn't know that's what you meant. I did put up a widget for popular content and since yours is one the most popular - it's listed on the front page. I'm still bummed out about VSB... Maybe they just wanted the money and job with bennies. (oh well smh)

Third World Press Celebrates 50 Years in Publishing - ...I'm a man of action and two, that ideas, and the creative carriage of ideas can change lives. I didn't go out there deciding to start a book publishing company. But I knew, I'm not going to be digging ditches for these bad boys." Dr. Haki R. Madhubuti , Publisher - on what inspired him to found a publishing company in 1967.

The only places I was encouraged to think was at home and at Fordham Preparatory High School. If you want people to think or be treated fairly your life will end. .. like Socrates, Gandhi. King, Shabazz.

@CDBurns She tryin' to kill you man...that's sugar it will take you out! LOL.. Just kidding. Beautiful gesture of kindness!

No problem Mel. Here is your link. Yes I used the search feature on your site to find the article because I knew that the content existed. Google still has the pages indexed. but again, how does a visitor to the site discover any of your older Blog posts? None of the blog posts are listed--unless I'm just missing them? You are better off hosting a Wordpress site with Wordpress. I would not move it to Godaddy. I use a plugin "SEO Ultimate" to handle the SEO stuff I described for the wordpress sites I run. I read the article about VSB. The reasoning does not make sense to me. The former owner said the site had 2 million unique visitors a month. That is a lot of traffic. There is nothing in the data that I have access to that suggests get or ever got that many visitors. Here is the information I've collected on their site prior to removing them from the top 50 Black-owned website page (they are still in my database). AALBC Score: 4.99 Domain Created: Feb 13, 2001 (9 Years, 8 Months) SEMrush Rank: 44,400 Alexa Rank: 105,360 MOZ Domain Authority: 48 Most telling is VSB's data from SEMRush, that data alone shows that VSB gets less traffic than AALBC.com, and I don't get any where near 2 Million unique visitors a month. While SEMRush does not have access to VSB server logs their information is quote good. If you believe the 2M number (I don't), then you have to ask yourself why weren't these Very Smart Brothers able to monetize that much traffic to pay writers and provide a good living for themselves. Did Gizmodo buy VSB or just give these guys jobs--jobs they should not have needed with 2M unique visitors.

My name is Faith Underwood. I am a native of Macon, GA and have recently published my first novel, TRIGGER. I would love if you could feature or review it. There is much authenticity in your book blog particularly giving exposure to the many unsung authors and artists across the country. TRIGGER is a fiction novel set in North Carolina. It follows the relationship of Selena and Alonzo. Like many of us, they encounter temptations as they try to discover their place in this world. Selena is an avid daydreamer that tries to escape her realities when things aren't going well, and Alonzo thinks he has everything planned out. However, TRIGGER isn't just another love story. It was written so that readers would identify with the characters. It was written to invoke self-awareness while falling in love. It is a contemporary and sexy story that is filled with plenty of plot twists and multiple storylines. You may finish this novel wondering what TRIGGERS your dreams. TRIGGER is a self-published novel. It is available in a softcover format on my website, www.diaryoffaith.com. The eBook can be purchased through Amazon. Author Name: Faith Underwood Book Title: TRIGGER Publisher: Self-Published Publication Date: June 17, 2017 Softcover ISBN: 9780998959620 Softcover Price: $15.95 eBook Price: $6.95 Page Count: 344 Genre: Fiction Sub-Genre: Romance Back Cover Text: Daydreams of an old flame’s lips, or cuddling up with a new romance, won’t untaint a poisoned love. In TRIGGER, Selena Harris eludes her problems by running to her fantasies, but reality is always on her tail. Daydreams can’t keep her safe from the dangers of love, jealousy, and heartbreak, or from living out her destiny. You may finish this sexy, drama-filled novel wondering what triggers your dreams. About the Author I am a writer, poet, educator, lover, healer, and a doggy mother. I have two blogs, "In My Mind" and "The Poets' Corner." Both can be found on my website, www.diaryoffaith.com. My current projects include my second novel and guest blogging for BlackGirlNerds.com. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you so much for what you do. Sincerely, Faith Underwood faithunderwood@diaryoffaith.com

I really like this. I would love to feature you and your poetry on my poetry blog.

News ,Opioid Killing White People In America. It's A Epidemic,Some Say. The Heroin Opioid Users,Should Get Counseling Not Jail Time. Black And Brown Get Prison Time...The Crack Epidemic ,Put Black And Brown Behind ,Bars...In The White Communities Where There Is Heroin Opioid ,Is There ,Dead Bodies From Shoot Outs?Black Crack Gangsters ,,They Do Not Care About Innocent People They Shoot When There Is A,Crack Selling Territory War Battle..Crack Buyers And Crack Sellers Are The Same,Crack Buyers Bring Gangsters In Communities....White .Supremacy Trying To Control Other Races,,White People Are Becoming Expendable..Watch The News,White People Dying From Opioid Is A National Epidemic,Something Must Be Done......Poor Black Communities,With Crack Gangsters,,Lot Of Black Leaders Do,Not,Care...

Pharmaceuticals are growing wealthy as a direct result of this epidemic. The sale of these narcotics has exploded. But corporate greed knows no color, save green.

Preparing Black Youth For Success. Some Black People Are Involved With Trying To Motivate Black Children Educationally..Except The Church ,Preachers Love Money,Cars,Poverty All Around The Church ,They Do Not Try ,To Help Black Children. The Black Football Players Trying To Speak To Politicians About Unarmed Black Males Gunned Down By Police. . They Need To Talk About White Police That Have Been ,Fired The Past 6_Years For Being Klan ,KKK,Members..Preparing Black Children For Success Book By Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu..

Hi @Mel Hopkins, I missed your reply initially. Your questions are answered below: 1) what qualifies as a website? A web presence with it's own domain. In fact, I use domain's age as part of my calculus to derive the AALBC Score. 2) Does a website with an owner's domain hosted on wordpress.com (DOT COM) or blogger.com qualify for ranking? No, a site hosted on another site does not qualify, as it is just a portion of the other site. However if the entity registered a domain and mapped to their Wordpress or Blogger presence, then it could be considered a site as long as it functions as a standalone site. 3) Or do you need to build on wordpress.org (DOT ORG) website with separate hosting. I think the responses to the first 2 questions answer this. Do you have a specific case in mind? 4) What if it's a blog with a static page plus a single entry per day... Yes, blogs are websites. I don't make a distinction between blogs or any other type of website. Right now my only conditions for adding to the list of websites and consideration for monitoring for potential inclusion on the Top 50 Black Owned Website List are; The site has it's own domain as described a above The site be Black-owned, or if publicly the management team must be majority Black That the site has enough traffic to have an Alexa rank (any rank) Let me know if there is anything else. I just ran a couple hundred blogs through my ranking process and 10 blogs were added to my Top 50 Black Websites. Right now I have 49 sites which meet my minimum criteria for inclusion in the top 50. I'm sure I'll find enough sites to round out my top 50. Some of the sites that I'm monitoring now may ultimately make the list or replace a site already on it. As I discover more than 50 sites to meet my criteria, I'll adjust the minimum requirement to keep the list at 50. I'm actually still confirming site ownership for some of the sites. I just deleted Carol's Daughter which I just learned is no longer Black owned; it is owned by L'Oreal (I was wondering why the store on 125th Street was closed). The site was not strong enough to make the top 50. I also just deleted Very Smart Brothers, which was in the top 50, but is not Black owned...I guess the Brothers ain't so smart after all. This list, like the rest of AALBC.com is a work in progress. But this is the first serious attempt, that I'm aware of, to identity the top Black websites and to maintain and share this information on an ongoing basis. Back in the late 1990's Earthlink maintained and published a list and only lasted a couple of years. Pew Research also published a list as part of their reporting on African American Media, that that list has not been consistently maintained and many of the sites listed are not Black owned. There are have been a variety of other lists published over the years, but none are nearly as formal or objective.

@Cynique, I hear your points I really do, but you are over looking two of my major points as if they do not matter: Black people are not profiting from the great wealth generated on the web Black people have no agency on the web--corporations have taken it from us I argue that monopolistic corporations are to blame. They have perverted the internet for VAST wealth, and have GREATLY constrained creativity, independence, diversity, and much more on the web. This was simply not the case 10 years ago. You feel the conversations held by Black people has not been changed by corporate ownership of the platforms on which we communicate. Of course it has been; think about the conversations that took place here, on this forum back in it's heyday-- has that in any way been replicated on Twitter or Facebook? And if you somehow think that is has, who is profiting from it? Now image that scenario being replicated thousands and thousands of times over. Does this make sense? Does it not bother you that another for-profit, Black-owned, book site can not emerge and generate enough revenue to provide someone a living? What this means is that the quality Black books are MUCH less discoverable on the web today than ever before. There are very few platforms even reviewing books by Black writers and those that are don't have platforms large enough for those book reviews to be read by anyone. Many have run to social media as an alternative platform, but it is a poor substitute. I no longer use my Facebook page, because Facebook now charges you to have your posts seen. It makes no sense for me to pay them when my platform is so much better for presenting and disseminating information. I have a long history on the WWW that predates social media, so I'm keenly aware of what we have lost and are losing. I also understand that the reason this is not being discussed more widely in the Black community is reflective of this very problem. The Times article I referenced above made a great point: “In addition to their power, tech companies have a tool that other powerful industries don’t: the generally benign feeling of the public” This is our biggest roadblock to fixing this problem.

@TroySorry for how incoherent my previous comments were. i was sleepy when i wrote them. i did try and edit them, just now. So, I want to know that since you were surprised or couldn't tell that certain sites were white-owned, doesn't this mean that blacks running them control what is being meted out to the black community, making sure their output has relevancy and authenticity? And that they are not manipulated by the owners who are conceivably only interested in profiting from providing blacks with venues to communicate among themselves. In your chronic displeasure with them, are you further claiming that Facebook and Twitter somehow influence the black dialogue about race and gender, and that these identity politics are being manipulated by them? Granted, that domain owners monitor the tastes of their traffic and direct advertisers to them via e-mail - spam that can be deleted without even being opened, but are these sites, per se, the opinion makers for black people? Or are black people sharing ideas and either commiserating or debating things that are constructive and relevant to their community, exchanges that possibly trigger reform? At the risk of being repetitive, it seems to me that webs and social media sites simply enable black folks to express themselves - on many levels. They reflect and reinforce black culture, not dictate it. What would black-owned sites do differently?? i didn't read the aforementioned article yet, but i have been guilty of saying that those who deconstruct the people who patronize these sites are, themselves, the ones who are the "know-it-alls". i've always contended that black people are actually aware of the negatives of social media, but they don't care. Going to these places adds a dimension to the lives they lead , - or want to lead, and they go there to reaffirm themselves through pictures and comments. i'd be interested in hearing how critics would change or improve what they consider a detrimental pass time. i assume the article covers this.

Well @Cynique, if history is any indication then we KNOW white corporations will mislead black people, telling lies, control our narrative, not representing what's authentic, and be a negative, destructive force in the black community. Helping to share our truths and our stories is why I started selling books. No corporate lying is nothing new, nor is it limited to hurting Black folks. We all stand to suffer. It is just that Black folks are not talking about this and we stand to suffer the most. Black folks are behind the curve. We are still naively talking, without reservation, about how great Facebook and Amazon are... A few minutes ago, I finished a brilliant article in the the Sunday New York Times, "Silicon Valley Is Not Your Friend." An online version I found is behind a paywall (I read the print version). The author, Noam Cohen, described the problem, much more skillfully than I can. There was only one number in the entire article. Noam also wrote a book: The Know-It-Alls: The Rise of Silicon Valley as a Political Powerhouse and Social Wrecking Ball I think the article, and perhaps the book, would speak directly to this issue in a way that you can appreciate @Cynique (note: the book does not come out until November, I see now the Times piece was a great marketing tactic, but the article was still good!)

My buddy, Ron Kavanaugh, who runs the Literary Freedom Project, has just launched a Kickstarter campaign for his upcoming literary conference. Support Mosaic Literary Conferences’s Fundraiser Ron actually started a website dedicated to Black book before AALBC.com launched. He discontinued his website in 2014, for all the reasons reason I've lamented over the years. We met each other back in 1998 at a now defunct bookstore Nkiru Books in Brooklyn. One of the store's booksellers introduced us, because he was aware of both of our websites. Ron actually went to the same high school and graduated the same year I did, but we did not know each other in school (it was a big school). Interestingly, our friend, @Mel Hopkins, was also a member of that class (it was also great school).

So many things to ask and say about this clarion call but first, 1) what qualifies as a website? 2) Does a website with an owner's domain hosted on wordpress.com (DOT COM) or blogger.com qualify for ranking? 3) Or do you need to build on wordpress.org (DOT ORG) website with separate hosting. 4) What if it's a blog with a static page plus a single entry per day... 5)

Thank you. the funny thing is I didn't know how interesting until I started researching. I do discuss DNA some but for the most part it is about following the paper trail and helping others who are searching for their families.

Please consider my book, Comes to The Light: Learning About the Entangled Families of Edgefield, South Carolina for review. Released on September 21, 2017 (ISBN-13: 978-1975649951). Edgefield, South Carolina was the best kept secret in American History. Well that was until a woman by the name of Donya Williams became interested in her personal family history. In the new book, Comes to The Light: Learning About the Entangled Families of Edgefield, South Carolina Donya reveals how she learned an entire county just may be related to each other and realizes that her interest in politics didn't just come from her uncles. Join Donya as she takes you on the journey of learning how to research your family by telling her stories of ups and downs. Follow along as she shares how Genealogy pulled her in and helped traces her family history from now all the way back to the American Revolution. Donya will share stories of family members who experienced slavery in every form, from breeders to free people of color, and persevere despite the many obstacles that was laid before them. And finally follow her as she looks in several old newspapers dating back to the 1880s to find her cousin John Yeldell on trial for murder. Is he found guilty? Comes to the light is a jaw dropping yet informational book about how African American families survived from the early slave days straight through the Jim Crow era. For more information visit: https://comestothelightlat.wixsite.com/comestothelight

Education. Full stop. If you really want the full solution; stop consuming most forms of media and go back to reading books and newspapers. That is it. --------------------------- I think we need to seriously consider the media we consume. There is some media that I simply do not subject myself to. Social media is one. Sure I post a link to AALBC.com on most days, but you will never see me scrolling through my own feeds. There are no social media apps installed on my phone. I say this because people lie, misinterpret things, or just make shit up. I prefer to consume my news directly from reputable sources --even then you need a variety of reputable sources. Speaking of cell phones. I do not keep it next to me. I don't even sleep in the same room with it. I primarily use it as a wifi hot spot, to text family and friends, and to look stuff up. I barely used the telephone ap. , Whenever I'm in public I see people fully engaged in the cell phones, they could be driving, walking down the street, at dinner with friends, or just riding in an elevator. The thing never seems to live their hands. At the airport, I see people sprawled on the floor slavishly tethered to an outlet because their stupid phone can't hold a charge for a full day. I think cell phones are one of the easiest ways for corporations to get into our heads and manipulate us. starting with getting us to buy a brand new one every two years--at least. I use the devices accordingly.

Mel we are taught to consume media that way. In fact we are taught to produce media in that fashion for the web. I took a week long course that Stanford University gave on publishing for the web. We were taught to "webify" our content. I called it dumbing down; Basically reducing the complexity of sentences, lowering the vocabulary level, and shortening paragraphs etc. The idea is to optimize content for consumption on the web. There are application that will dumb down you content. I know I have encountered a good article when I feel compelled to print it out. The trend has only increased today. It is big pictures, graphics, and short video that have substituted for depth. We are expected to be able to communicate complex ideas with memes optimized for delivery on Instagram. They say a picture is worth a thousands words, this is true but those words are different depending on the person. One reason we fail to communicate a coherent consistent message is that we do it in a webified or dumbed down manner which is less clear and open to interpretation Sometimes complex ideas take many words to relate. The economic of the web, driven by social media is not optimized for log form content. Many of us are simply not accustomed to consuming the type of content, so we don't. Education is key.

I would say that people were best served by the internet perhaps during the first 10 years it became commercially available roughly before 2005. We emerged from a period, not unlike today, when corporations like AOL and Compuserve controlled everything. When the web emerged we were liberated. Anyone could establish a website and create a unique platform that catered to the needs of an audience. For Black folks this was particularly good news because we were underserved by corporations. Most importantly it created economic opportunities for folks to create business or just earn money r just earn extra money on the side. Today we have completely regressed. This economic opportunities are largely out of reach today and we are back to paying corporations for access. If we are not paying them cash we are paying them with all of our personal data. Black cultural content is not back in the hands for corporations, largely run by white men motivated by greed. Today, on social media, information that is made up crowds out journalism, so people are woefully completely misinformed. This is worse than being ignorant in my view.