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A rich source of melanin is beneficial to those who need to survive the effects of radiation.   Some could ingest it because it's also found in fungi.   
Using melanin to determine "race" is a slippery slope.  I rather not be someone's source of survival in an aftermath of a nuclear holocaust  because I'm dark skin. 

  From ~ The Problem of Identifying Ourselves Based Upon Whites' Concept of Race

Mel Hopkins replied to Troy's topic in Culture, Race & Economy 

http://theleadstory.org/data-scientist-trillions-african-americans-spend-as-much-as-australia/

SoulJourn: "Deciding to work where you're not welcomed"

Marlyn Thomas English Instructor Alabama A&M University talks about the hypocrisy black female artists face when going against the grain of popular opinion.

 In the book, Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

"Black females working at West Computing in Hampton, Virginia worked on a government job that provided them neither the transportation or public area rights as white counterparts; however, they continued to work and eventually began to see where they could win battles one at a time."

Many have stated the film “Hidden Figures” and the actions of those black women featured were inspiring.  However, when Chrissette Michelle decided to perform at Trump’s presidential inauguration, she faced black twitter backlash and was all but black-listed among “progressive” Blacks.

So, what’s the difference?  Thomas states it goes back to the Madonna and Whore archetypes and the policing of black women’s movement must be checked and stopped.  Source: "The hypocritical attacks on black female artists that perform for Trump"

Storytellers play the long game - 
"We must remember, we’re a civilization rooted in story-telling.

We share information filled with iconic imagery, symbolism, and sounds.

Celebrities are no different.

They use the media to tell stories that voice their platform position or opposition." ~Melhopkinsdotcom

Jesus said unto him "Thou shalt love the Lord thy G-d with all thy heart, and with all ... ³⁹ And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."  #Greatestcommandment #relationshipgoals

Nah, I’d rather you love me better.  It seems most of Y’all don't love yourself all that well.  

~Thanks.  

  CCBC Publishing Statistics of Children’s Books by and About People of Color -

"Remaking Respectability - African American Women in Interwar Detroit" Featured in the book by Victoria Wolcott  now available on Kindle "Detroit Housewives Leaque"  and how they helped transform Detroit's  black politics and culture.

"Don't Buy Where You Can't Work"

The 3rd Sunday in May is a special day in Black history when we celebrate the founder of the Detroit Housewives League, Fannie Peck.  In 1930s Black women couldn’t afford to stay at home and wait for their husbands. Too many businesses would sell goods and services to Black people but wouldn’t hire them. So in 1930 Detroit women led by Fannie Peck formed a group called the “Detroit Housewives’ League.” It educated women on their buying power and encouraged them to only shop at African-American owned businesses. The group was also initiating big protests and boycotts.

In 1935 they set a huge packing warehouse on fire protesting against high prices, and later joined thousands of Chicago housewives in a march that shut down the city’s entire meat industry. 

Go toSource: BlackMattersUS

"There’s no excuses for fathers/men who choose to be absent. Nor is it a woman’s responsibility to get him to return.  A mother/woman raises her children but it’s not her responsibility to raise, repair or rehabilitate a broken man or the relationship from which he walks away.  That is all very much an inside job. His job. " #Imnotyourmule

"What's in a Name, N--ger." 

I'm always amazed when black people say the N-word is a term of endearment or familiarity -yet the conventional spelling is rarely used to indicate this 'truth'. Same with this painting that hangs in Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture. The artist, Barkley Hendricks says he's meant to be provocative but the spelling of the portrait's name "New Orleans Niggah"  reveals otherwise.

 "New Orleans Niggah" by Barkley Hendricks  - oil and acrylic on canvas on loan from the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio

From the placard:

 "There's a saying in the black community: You put it out there and let others deal with it.  The cool realist style of New Orleans Niggah Invites viewers to contemplate how they personally engage issues of identity , black masculinity, racism and the politics of language. This is a portrait of the artist's friend and fellow Yale classmate, art historian Jules Easton Taylor. Instead of identifying Taylor by name or profession, Barkley Hendricks chose to refer to him by a derivation of the explosive racial epithet.  Although used here as term of familiarity and endearment, Hendricks does not ignore the complex history of the word.  Taylor had achieved much professionally, but he would not escape the racism that existed in America at that time. "

#blackhistory

According to " Why Do We Take Pride in Working for a Paycheck?"  by Livia Gershon,
The early American Labor movement didn't include black men or black women. 

Around 150 years ago, it was allegedly beneath white society to sell their time for wages thus bringing the term, wage slavery into the American lexicon when referring to corporate jobs. 

It's reported that in an effort to entice white workers including white working class women, whom worked the farms for their husbands, wages and working conditions were made more palatable.  This fight came from an organized labor union "Knights of Labor" however their advances didn't include black people.  

Today, black women only earn .68 cents on a dollar earned by a white man.  

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

End of Poverty ?, the documentary by Philippe Diaz  should be called how thugs ravage the land and have taken over the world.

Imagine coming up with a concept for a book, writing a draft and then shipping the raw document to someone else - only to have to pay $14.95 to read the finish product. 

Except that is exactly what is happening in so called third world countries such as Kenya - "predatory capitalism" where the impoverished Kenyans work the land ship their raw materials for tea and coffee to other countries and never profit from it.   

I became interested in watching the documentary after seeing an interview clips from Confession of an Economic Hitman, author John Perkins.  He talks about how he and others like him work on the behalf of multinational corporations to jack the land and resources from people in African countries... We're not free in this country - it's impossible to be - because no one will be free until everyone is free...  Watch the documentary. Read the book,  and then really begin to wake the Eff up!

#PhilandoCastile  murder trial

Most people don't want to hear this but we black people must be better involved with government...A quick search engine query returned that Ramsey county where the murder trial of Philando Castile was held has a diverse population 36% are people of color (and there's a lot of Ethiopians and Somalis immigrants) but low voter turnout...

If people aren't even voting there's less chance of being called for jury duty. This jury had 1 black American male and 1 Ethiopian-American woman... that's 1 man who may have shared Castile's perspective of what it's like to be a black man in America - the rest of the jury were middle-aged white men and women. While we hope a jury can be impartial at least and empathetic at best when viewing evidence - not everyone shares a perspective that would allow them to view evidence the same way.

By now we should stop being surprised that the system is failing black people... black people who are not involved in government - at the very least by voting and serving on juries are failing the black community. Let's stop being surprised and get involved; let's teach the next generation how to shape a government that works for them, not against them.

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 Cooking Gene by Culinary Historian Michael W. Twitty  is The 2018 James Beard Award (non-cookbook) winner and as much as I can't stand awards I have to give them a second look now because without hearing that Twitty won the award I would not have heard of this book - which I now absolutely must have on my bookshelf.   

I love to cook but I especially love to cook the foods that are indigenous to my family.   Anyway, I found this interview from Mr. Twitty  and African Ancestry's co-founder Dr. Gina Paige and it too is delightful!!!
 

Searching for a birthday card the other day, I noticed in Rite-aid there were no hallmark cards only American greetings and in Publix grocery store, they only stocked Hallmark greeting cards.   What was noticeably absent, or not, because I can't really recall hearing about them until today was "African-American Expressions. Founder, Gregory Perkins, indicates on the  company profile , AAE has been existence for 26 years.  "Today, African American Expressions sells over 2,500,000 cards annually with over 500 original designs. This multimillion dollar operation has expanded to include many other inspirational gifts such as calendars, handcrafted figurines, journals, mugs, magnets, bookmarks, Christmas decorations and more."  Visit African American Expressions  at http://www.black-cards.com  and download their catalog, http://www.black-cards.com/aaexp/pdf/common/WS_catalog.pdf

Robinne Lee, Actor,  who stars in 50 Shades Darker, that opened this month on the 10th, is scheduled to release her debut novel "The Idea of You" June 2017 .  The synopsis reads a bit like a scandalous love affair between a popular boy band member and an single mom art gallery owner almost 20 years his senior... Normally, I don't read romance but this one appeals to me because it's feels like a mix between "Beyond the Lights" and "How Stella Got her Groove back '  - Don't want to plug another website but Lee's publisher St. Martin's Griffin is hosting a book giveaway... If I win; look for my review!

2015 Newbery Medal Winner 2015 Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winner novelist and Poet, Kwame Alexander, brings a new show to facebook - "Bookish with Kwame Alexander"  

From YA Author to Newbery Medalist to having his own imprint!  "Kwame Alexander Will Start His Own Imprint. The Name? Versify. Get It?   "  Link:  New York Times Books