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Mel Hopkins

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Everything posted by Mel Hopkins

  1. Maybe the DOJ, IRS, or FINRA paid them a visit. 👀
  2. "Between nine and fifteen thousand years ago, scholars believe that a land bridge existed between Asia and North America that we now call Beringia. The first inhabitants of what would be named the Americas migrated across this bridge in search of food. When the glaciers melted, water engulfed Beringia, and the Bering Strait was formed." ( Mack 1.1) We just walked on over to the Americas. There were Black people here before Columbus It was easy to migrate to the Americas - heck most indigenous people and Hawaiians were Black first.. Heck "erry body" was Black. I truly believe that is the only way would could initially survive the UV rays from the sun. -
  3. I'm assuming this stands for "Foundational Black Americans" and ADOS American Descendants of Slaves? What is the difference? Or is the difference because they (Black People) were never slaves in the Americas? If yes, while those Black people weren't slaves, they weren't citizens either. They were Stateless and had no rights or protection under the U.S Constitution until the 13th and 14th Amendment.
  4. I have to disagree. Some Africans were reported to be sold because they were imprisoned or had debts. But the Portuguese literally built a fort at what is now Ghana's shoreline because they had already invaded West Africa and had to fight other invading Europeans who headed to the continent to get goodies. But we are talking about the 1400s. This was just the beginning of what historians call the Atlantic Slave trade. Elmina Castle "In 1482, Portuguese traders built Elmina Castle (also called São Jorge da Mina, or Saint George’s of the Mine) in present-day Ghana, on the west coast of Africa. (Mack 1.1 Portuguese Exploration..") But the millions of enslaved Africans wasn't sold by Africans, that was the British, French, and Spain until they finally got out of the human trafficking business. Then the newly minted Amerricans started a second middle passage - and imported a few million more. By the time of the Civil war there were four million Africans in the southern states (also why they lost) ...Africans selling Africans is white propaganda to deflect from the truth of the slave trade that harmed so many lives. The reason why historians know they trafficked all those Africans to various Carribbean islands and the Americas is because of the hubris of the white man who kept-effing records. Like Thomas Jefferson who had a list of his 600 slaves, they kept records everything!
  5. We do have interest! There a many Black people interested in diplomacy. But it would help if we all vote so we can get in an executive in the oval office who would appoint us. Linda Thomas-Greenfield - Wikipedia Championing Equality at Home and Overseas: African Americans Leading at the UN No, that's one of the reasons I married him. He had this annoying sense of humor but it helped me loosen up a bit. Then he went and cheated on me - (after I had the twins) and treated me like the side-chick. I took him back but then he said one thing that hurt my feelings so bad that I was done. I ran and got my name back and probably decided then that I would never marry again. Shoot, I barely even dated anyone seriously. But enough my sob story. 😩 I think you both said the same thing because most men have different goals than women -Some women can live a lifetime alone and men can't imagine a life without someone in it.
  6. I haven't. Thank you for sharing! I probably won't. I am working on my first screenplay but it's historical fiction.
  7. OMG! Do you know that my ex-husband said the same exact thing LOL! | I'm not on the campus this semester. I've only registetered for asynchronous online classes.
  8. I was included. I didn't know until this semester. I'm taking this awesome history class at my local university. 😊
  9. We can too! That is still our medium. But I get your point, we don't have the other media. Heck we barely have newspapers!
  10. Weren't the Russians, and Ukranians Slavs? The Slavs were enslaved back in the 9th and 10th century. If they supported it , it would make sense. The U.S. kicked China out of the U.S. country in the 19th century. "In 1882, Congress took up the power to restrict immigration by banning the further immigration of Chinese."
  11. Except LLM /GEN AI like Chat GPT and Gemini will respond they are co-creating based off of what we share.. Now, Claude is different. LOL (I'm afraid of Claude 😄) But Claude creatively processed our conversation and showed me a pattern I missed. I'm thankful for that - because it brought clarity in how this government works!
  12. UN backs resolution calling slave trade ‘gravest crime against humanity’ RFI Thu, March 26, 2026 at 4:08 AM EDT 2 min read A memorial sculpture by Sandrine Plante-Rougeol in Bordeaux, a historic slave-trading port, where the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade remains central to debates on recognition and reparations. (AFP - GEORGES GOBET)More The resolution – proposed by Ghana – was adopted to applause by a vote of 123 in favour. The United States, Israel and Argentina opposed the measure. There were 52 abstentions, including the UK and all 27 members of the EU. Ghana's President John Mahama, one of the African Union's most vocal supporters of slavery reparations, was at the UN headquarters in New York to support the vote. "Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice," said Mahama. "The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting." Transatlantic cruise to turn spotlight on Brazil-Angola slavery past Despite being non-binding, the resolution goes beyond simple acknowledgment and asks nations involved in the slave trade to engage in restorative justice. It also highlights the legacy of slavery via "the persistence of racial discrimination and neo-colonialism" in today's society. "The transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity that struck at the core of personhood, broke up families, and devastated communities," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. "To justify the unjustifiable, slavery's proponents and beneficiaries constructed a racist ideology -- turning prejudice into a pseudoscience." During discussions over the resolution, US ambassador Dan Negrea said the text was highly problematic. "The US also does not recognise a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred." He added: "The US also strongly objects to the resolution's attempt to rank crimes against humanity in any type of hierarchy." The UK and EU countries put forth similar arguments while acknowledging the wrongs of slavery. "The resolution risks pitting historical tragedies against each other that should not be compared, except at the expense of the memory of the victims," said French representative Sylvain Fournel. Heroes who fought to abolish slavery honoured in Paris Pantheon expo For African Union officials, the language of the resolution is central to its purpose. Amma Adomaa Twum-Amoah, the AU’s Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Development, said clearly naming these events removes any lingering ambiguity about their nature. “It is to say that what was done to Africans was not a tragic accident of history, but the result of deliberate policies whose legacies structure today’s inequalities,” she said. “Justice begins with calling things by their proper names.” Beyond recognition, the resolution encourages countries historically involved in the slave trade to engage in processes of restorative justice. Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has been explicit about what that could entail. “The perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade are known – the Europeans, the United States of America,” he told reporters. “We expect all of them to formally apologise to Africa and to all people of African descent.” He pointed to the return of looted cultural artefacts as one possible step, alongside continued efforts to dismantle structural racism and, potentially, financial compensation for affected communities.
  13. We have black owned radio stations and cathy hughes' urbanone network. Better for the imagine. Bump the boob tube!😄 Also you can stream TubiTV. A lot of our creative work, films, tv series, documentaries are airlng on Tubi and the creators also get paid. (I don't know how much though) you don't need to sign in either all you need is a browser and internet connection. BUT Tubi is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
  14. Actually I don't have any chattel slavery on my maternal side probably because of the "white' foremother... My paternal ancestors got their papers, land and were recorded in the first census in the late 1700 before slavery ended in America...It's kind of weird to see how both sides of the families avoided slavery or got their freemen papers - but I think that's why I don't suffer from the trauma of enslavement - Still, I identify as Black although my ancestors were white, mulatto, black, indigenous or colored. I think if folks start digging for their roots (I have, thanks to finding a cousin on my father's side) many would find they migrated to the Americas long before chattel slavery was a thing.
  15. I agree. These folks refuse to believe other "Black" people have different journeys. And let us not forget about Black people in the "original packaging" sometimes other Black Americans. This entire argument reminds me of the Horror Flick "The Blackening's" question, "Who is the Blackest?"
  16. @ProfD here's what ChatGPT had to say and I verified through YouTube and Medium. If the question is “Are there Black-owned AI companies using Gen-AI?” — yes, many. If the question is “Are there Black-founded frontier model labs like OpenAI or Anthropic?” — not yet at hyperscale. But there are early-stage labs building toward that future, especially Lelapa AI and CDIAL AI, which are developing language datasets and models — exactly the stage OpenAI started at before becoming a frontier lab. The barrier isn’t talent; it’s access to billions in capital and compute required to train foundation models. That is exactly what I'm working on because the fee structured tools are already available. The challenge is when Black people have low self-esteem and want to be in the "room" so bad so they appear for the brain drain nstead of saying, "I'll appear. My speaking fee is..." or I'll license my systems and frameworks for X dollars." Once we get paid we can finance our on Labs.
  17. Nope but Dr Blackwell made it possible!
  18. What if its true according to a birth certificate, I've recently located, that my great great grandmother born in 1880 was 'white' by way of her Britsh mother and her father was indigenous (Blackfoot) but I'm Black Black Blackity-Blackity-Black-Black American not Afro-American? I'm not light-skinned which just shows that none of those labels matter. It is just how you identify. I identify as Black as does my mom and daughters.
  19. I don't disagree but dang sometimes GEN AI can be ridiculous especially Gemini. I was fighting with it and it deteriorated. I skipped over to ChatGPT to get my images done right. By the way, NotebookLM produced the slickest Pitch Deck ever. I see now that each version has its strength.-
  20. I still don't understand why the other republican candidates didn't demand Kemp leave his seat as Secretary of State when he chose to run. I hate to admit though I don't hate him as governor. He really did get Georgia through COVID-19 and if I remember correctly we emerged in the black.
  21. Yep! Not sure if true but I've read that is how Black People survived the Stock Market Crash in 1929 They didn't just sell their labor, they sold goods too -and since they weren't allowed to Bank they had cash! But yes, trading needs to be back on the table. I don't mean bartering either but trading for goods and services like the stock exchange. People participate in the economy as holders of assets, not as employees. We definitely need to pivot! Here I AM 😉
  22. Naiiled it! And guess where the majority of Black people live? FULTON COUNTY!!!
  23. Oh, and unfortunately, many have already been replaced to some degree due to IoT and sensors, which reduce the need for repairs. But the argument is NOT AI vs Humans...It's about those who write the check and how they choose to use their money, For example, trades are not exempt from disruption. AI, IoT, and sensors already: Reduce emergency repairs through predictive maintenance Automate diagnostics (“the system tells you what failed”) Enable remote monitoring that replaces some inspection labor Shift work from repair → installation + oversight Reduce total labor hours per job I know this because I'm an editorial consultant to the inventor who designed a system on a chip (SoC) AI to know when a part is about to wear out before it causes a problem. However, this does not eliminate trade, but it changes the volume, timing, and skill mix of the work. So fewer call-outs, fewer apprentices, fewer “learn-on-the-job” roles—especially at the lower end. Once again, hourly rates diminish, possibly to the level of gig workers. It might be too late for us to change course, but I assure you our current problems have nothing to do with Artificial Intelligence. We, humans, are solely to blame for this current predicament.
  24. @ProfD Rationalization is a human characteristic—not logic, which is the basis of machine learning and the way AI is trained. Generative AI does not plagiarize; it trains on information. All anyone has to do is ask for a source, and it provides one. It is up to humans not to be lazy and to actually check the source provided. Humans co-opt AI to copy copyrighted text—as usual, unscrupulous people behave unscrupulously. Plagiarism will not be able to displace millions of workers. But human employers will absolutely try to reduce the workforce. That has been the goal all along: reduce the middle class and leave only the poor and the billionaires. And sadly, stupid and ignorant human behavior has made that possible. There was no integrated Gen AI or LLM when workers rejected labor unions—that was human intelligence (or lack thereof). There was no integrated Gen AI when the Supreme Court ended affirmative action, weakened the Voting Rights Act, or declared corporations to be people. AI did not replace 600,000 Black women in the workforce. No—humans did that, because people couldn’t get off their asses and vote for a Black woman. Many said they didn’t want a “top cop” in the White House, so they chose the felon instead. Humans always look for a scapegoat. But really, all they need to do is look in the mirror.

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