Mel Hopkins

Sorry? No, Thank you for sharing and getting "carried away" !!! This is awesome @Damani Congratulations!

Yep! Got up early and walked the canine late so I could see the ceremony! It was beautiful and they appear to be truly in love!

This sentiment is similar to what Kanye said about slavery being a choice -

Exactly, why I chose not to talk about the video! I did watch it once on twitter out of curiosity . I wanted to know what all the fuss was about - Once I saw it, I thought nothing to see here move along. It wasn't sharing anything that I didn't already know. Further, I'm not impressed by Donald Glover's work. @Pioneer1 's discussion of the video allowed me to revisit the role of art - but the video, meh. @Troy Maybe at the Black Pack Party 2018 but shoot up black books . Then in perfect "Coyote Ugly" style, dance on the bar top. Next send it to the Coretta Scott King Awards committee members and also have someone post it to twitter and facebook with the hashtag #readingblack.com 😛😝

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. 😛

@Pioneer1 You did it again ! I really don't want to give childish gambino this much credit - but he deserves it. He got you talking about him... and I joined in. I didn't want to talk about his provocative video because I suspected that is exactly what he wanted me (meaning us, the masses) to do just ; but here I am. smh (:-) Now I have to admit that is what art does. It doesn't seek to change minds - but it does force you to open your mind and ponder it. You can only disagree with it once you consider it . We may never know what he wants - but we are talking about it. And unlike a politician who tells us what to think about; we have consider how to think about the spectacle. * * * By the way, yes David Hogg, Parkland survivor got Ingraham to apologize when he ran a campaign on twitter. He has almost 800K followers and he inspired his followers to boycott her advertisers...Needless to say it went viral and was quite was effective. Do these teens have that kind of power? Not yet but they're getting the support. But remember the blacklivesmatter group have also been effective with their campaigns. Their support has been in the form of millions of dollars in donation and people power. In fact, they've been so effective that white folks use blacklivesmatter as their avatars on twitter. Just recently one of those white women - forced that white woman who called the cops on the black folks barbecuing in oakland's park - to stand down - then another white woman stepped in and pretty much chased her out of the park and to the police. But I digress. Anyway, the teens I mentioned were also on CNN Van Jones' show and they gave promising numbers on how many teens they've been able to reach. I can't say if they're responsible for the decrease in gun deaths in Chicago but at least there is a decrease "Chicago sees drop in killings and shootings for 13 consecutive months" "Shootings dipped 17% and murders dropped 25% compared to March 2017, figures show. Year-to-date, murders dipped 22% and shootings dropped 25% compared to the same period in 2017, Chicago police said. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the city still has a long way to go to curb gun violence despite the steady progress."

Thanks @Delano I've already acknowledged that perspective. "Although I understand your mentioning that 45* didn't dance an Irish jig to get his message but rather he articulated his message clearly to his base,

I'm not the right person to ask though. I read a lot more nonfiction, than fiction. And when I read fiction it's sci-fi, horror and fantasy. I'd love to hear from those who who read literature. They may have an example of a strong mom character.

@Pioneer1 In Chicago, these students belong to the Peace Warrior program at North Lawndale, which trains students to be nonviolence peer leaders. And the Parkland Florida teens (pictured with Emma) reached out to them because they wanted to join forces since their organization (peace warrior program) had been around since 2015 , if not earlier like 2012. According to reports, a month before the Parkland shooting these students Alex King, D'Angelo McDade began another group Good Kids Mad City - (probably taken from the Kendrick Lamar Album of the same name) to stop the violence in Chicago. By the way, Pulitzer Prize winning emcee Kendrick Lamar would be a more accurate entertainer to reference. He speaks to the pathology of inner city living. Childish Gambino (Donald Glover) is an entertainer - he's not even social activist nor claims to be one. He talks about twitter activism in an old article and being label a white rapper. Although both Donald Glover and 45* are both entertainers; when 45* ran for the presidency he ran as politician not an entertainer ... Although I understand your mentioning that 45* didn't dance an Irish jig to get his message but rather he articulated his message clearly to his base, he wasn't working on The Apprentice or running a Miss Universe contest. He was a candidate. Childish Gambino isn't running for office - he appears in a provocative video to sell records. It's a bit of a stretch to compare Glover, an entertainer to a then candidate now President of the United States. Teen social activists Alex King and D'Angelo McCade and a whole host of young people are working to make the world a safer place - Including 11-year-old Naomi Wadler (see below). For these young people, it's real life not entertainment. https://nowthisnews.com/videos/her/naomi-wadler-speaks-at-the-women-in-the-world-summit https://theoutline.com/post/3887/fighters-good-kids-mad-city-chicago?zd=1&zi=tuhzoe5r https://hiphopdx.com/news/id.30218/title.childish-gambino-blasts-twitter-activists-says-he-wants-to-be-white# http://cct.org/2015/11/a-student-warrior-whose-purpose-is-peace/ https://www.teenvogue.com/story/alex-king-dangelo-mccade-march-for-our-lives-washington-dc-speeches

@richardmurray , In all the fiction, I've read I don't have a nomination for a "best mother" If I go by memory , then most of the mothers have been largely forgettable. However, I felt comforted by mother-figure in The Shack by William P. Young

@Troy and for some corporations this is absolutely their modus operandi! This is exactly why I look for businesses that have sustainable development at its core.

@Kalexander2 According to Anari Sengbe in this talk, the internet of things (IoT) allows the devices to mine bitcoins for others and earn a fee for the transaction. In short, your refrigerator, thermostat or any device in your home can become a virtual "Check Cashing Place" except its mining bitcoins or any other cryptocurrencies.

@Troy Yep. Google has gone commercial and eCommerce - happy. I just noticed that yesterday when I was looking for a aphorism about fishing poles. All I could find on the first couple of pages were places to buy fishing poles. Net Neutrality sunsets in June - so I guess google changed their algorithm to feature the sites that will be accessible. It looks like it will be old-fashioned marketing of websites again - if people know about your website - they will have actively choose to visit it - and hope it will load properly😐

Did Iran claim responsibility for the airstrike?

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