Mel Hopkins

Ok now it's getting really weird. Are our lives our own? erm...Thank you?

When you write "Trade Across," are you referring to the foreign exchange (FOREX)? - ETF (exchange-traded funds) investing?- I agree with that too. I made a few "dollars" ETF investing in the Yuan around 2012-2013 (I think). Aside: a lot of folks don't know this, but working as a flight attendant is like earning a GLOBAL MBA. I got stories. But I'm not talking about trading across currencies. I mean trade cryptocurrency for goods and services like we trade US dollars for goods/services. For example, Today, I can edit a paper and ask for a Cash App payment in Bitcoin. I can cash out too. It is that simple. These platforms exist to make the transition smoother. However, I think your original statement raises the question of Usability versus Utility. ("Is it easy to use" versus "do we need it") I just finished watching the JP Morgan Chase CEO of asset and wealth management on Bloomberg - and her main gripe is keeping financial talk simple so that everyone can understand how to invest. Plain communication helps to drive easy-to-use design. When referring to anything digital, the KISS method would benefit Boomers, X-boomers (the Jones Generation), and the first group of generation X, especially since the digital age happened to us. Digital generations Millennials and Generation Z live it - but they may not have an easy time explaining it to dinosaurs. Aside: Not too long after graduating from Tech, I worked for Digital Equipment Corporation during its heyday. It was fortuitous to have access and exposure to technology communication since my teen years and beyond. I do my best to share that insight. If we're going to bring our community up to speed, we must discuss emerging technologies in plain language.

I felt a little guilty because reading does help me escape some of the madness. And yep nailed it with legoland!

Reading? Or media in general?

Here's a group I found via aarp - Silverfox Squad LLC - I think the founding member designs shoes - He's verified on instagram has about a half-million followers. Who knew? lol io

@daniellegfnyI'm not sure what you mean by " this particular down. " Also, I'm not a blockchain technology expert. My vocation is journalism. I'm an expert at gathering and disseminating information. In short, I read a lot.

I was wrong about the influencer part...

I'm not familiar with the Builder + Backers program. If you could, would you share an overview? Also, I don't know why this escapes me (maybe I'm too close)- but YOU ARE AN INFLUENCER with the oldest black books promotion website on the internet. AALBC continuously drives black book sales and promotes authors through email marketing, promotional marketing, bookselling programs, and social movement. TikTok is designed for low information consumers. The TikTok audience wants their info in easy-to-understand, digestible "byte"-size increments so they can share it with others. My daughters always force me to participate in the music and dance challenges, which I love. I've noticed the same with other parents our age -even celebrity gen-Xers and X-boomers. So, from the cultural perspective, TikTok has been able to bridge the generation gap. Users even engage others in the literary movement and have brought a lot of backlist books to bestselling status. So, here's a thought. BookTok (43 billion views as of today)- "BlackLit" could be the theme (the blacklit hashtag isn't popular) featuring social movement black literary fiction. For example, my daughter's beau's grandfather wrote Trumbull Park in 1959. Recently inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, Trumbull Park is about the first black family moving into a whites-only public housing project. I've noticed in the aalbc newsletter you reach back to spotlight the literary history makers. So there might be a way to get your #Sankofa (2.3 million TikTok views) on, to use that editorial angle as a point of entry to tell and promote aalbc's story on TikTok.

@Troy Off-Topic: My club notifications isn't working. I get notifications from the forum topics but not club notifications. I do have it set to receive notifications when someone comments, starts a topic or replies to my topics - but I'm not getting anything. I hope club members are getting notice of activities from Readingblack.com

My preliminary assessment is trading nft books is no different than big 5 publishing does with books that are in the public domain and no longer have copyright protection. Penguin Random House makes a grip selling "The Souls of Black Folks by W.E.B DuBois - so yes, I believe it would expand the resale market in a similar way. No one can own the copyright on the book but you can update it with your insight and create NFT for it. At least, my understanding is the copyright remains with the creator , the winning bidder owns the the original digital file. My understanding of the blockchain ledger - crudely put: no one can go back and change the building blocks. So, the only way it could be effective in black history keeping is if we start from today and add digitized artifacts - kind of like the national archives. Have you read this whitepaper https://www.archives.gov/files/records-mgmt/policy/nara-blockchain-whitepaper.pdf ?

Yes, I've been trading Bitcoin, Ethereum and other coins since 2018. Coinbase pays you to learn about new coins. We trade in cryptocurrency like we trade in fiat money - I'm not sure what you mean. I haven't used my cashapp to trade in cryptocurrency yet - but it's an option. Do you rermember when I wrote about Publica back in 2018?

Reports indicate booktok had an impact on book buying but not necessarily reading. If I remember correctly, Pew Research indicated reading held steady. I think I mentioned this last month in one of the aalbc discussions. "Kristen McLean, executive director and industry analyst at NPD Bookscan, said social media—particularly TikTok users who post about books, known collectively as BookTok—has “definitely been a factor” in surging book sales, along with the pandemic in general, with many of the sales gains coming in Q1 and Q2 before the Covid-19 vaccines were widely available." https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2022/01/28/how-tiktok-helped-fuel-the-best-selling-year-for-print-books/?sh=4ac1eb617c3a Also like I mentioned in Readingblack.com - maybe folks our age would better benefit from a relationship with influencers instead of spending the time running an account.

Troy, you are killing it! AWS has AI (am*z*n comprehend) to help with reading comprehension

I get all my TikTok notifications from my daughters, who share stories with me. Since I don't spend much time on TikTok, I followed up on the CEO's claim of about 40 billion views for the hashtag BookTok. Following that lead, I searched for black BookTok and found Kendra.Reads via the CBS news story. I followed her because she promotes black books and follows up on recommendations where popular series contain black characters. I didn't see one ad while watching any TikTok video. Starting an account and getting an audience would be too time-consuming for me. The way to benefit from the hashtag BookTok is through its popular influencers promoting books.

I saw TikTok CEO Shouzi Chew on Bloomberg this morning and the interviewer, David Rubenstein, asked Chew, how someone Rubenstein's age could benefit from TikTok. Chew answered BookTok, generates 40 billion views (BILLION WITH A B ) for the booktok hashtag. There is also Black BookTok I found one influencers "Kendra.Reads" https://www.tiktok.com/@kendra.reads?lang=en with more than 100k followers who was featured on CBS news https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kendra-keeter-gray-tiktok-creator-black-characters/. I'm on tiktok. So far I just watch. Is anyone promoting here promoting their books, bookstore or publishing company on tiktok? Post your profile name so we can follow.

I am ThrvngWrtr. But I haven't thought of how to use it yet. Which is why seeing TikTok CEO Shouzi Chew on Bloomberg this morning was wild. The interviewer, David Rubenstein, asked Chew, how someone Rubenstein's age could benefit from TikTok. Chew answered BookTok, generates 40 billion views (BILLION WITH A B ) for the booktok hashtag. There is also Black BookTok I found one influencers "Kendra.Reads" https://www.tiktok.com/@kendra.reads?lang=en with more than 100k followers who was featured on CBS news https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kendra-keeter-gray-tiktok-creator-black-characters/.

not so fast... have you checked out Publica https://publica.com/

Well, in the case of President Obama, "a brother" was more than good enough. Obama's father is a black man who met the President's mother in college when both were studying Russian. But President Obama is married to a black woman he met on the job (White Shoe Law firm) "When Barry Met Michelle." There is a pattern, and it's called access. We rarely leave our comfort zone to find a mate. Judge Brown Jackson met her husband when they were in school (Harvard). A mutual friend set Madame Vice President up on a blind date with her future husband (former Partner at a multinational law firm). They married when she was 50 or already in her 50s. If there's something to gripe about, it's how they all run together like some badass wolfpack. Btw, betcha didn't know the Late Senator John McCain's daughter-in-law is a black woman. McCain's son met his wife in the military.

Let's say you have a publishing company and want to release the next bestseller, "Grind and Hustle." Would you pay a ghostwriter $40000.00 to write the book? Or would you use Artificial Intelligence software to produce 20,000 words for $29 and hire an editor?

I don't have the app - and they haven't updated it in 3 years. Also, I'm not thrilled by GoMeta's privacy policy. http://help.gometa.io/privacy.html

@Troy Interaction defines the metaverse, not necessarily the website platform. The word folks are using in connection with the metaverse is "interoperability," defined as: "the ability of computer systems or software to exchange and make use of information." We connect to the internet with personal computers and handheld mobile devices in "cyberspace." Well, to successfully interact with the metaverse, we'll have to incorporate devices that allow for augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D media (which has been in use forever - remember those blue and red glasses they used to hand out at the theater?), etc. The brands designing those lifestyle products, i.e., software embedded in hardware, will most likely benefit from consumer consumption. For comparison, think of Apple's micro semiconductor chip. The Apple A14 Bionic is a 64-bit ARMv8.4-A system on a chip (SoC) that makes the iPhone the must-have device today. While I don't have to use iCloud or even go there as a destination, it is an option because I'm a product consumer. In contrast, I don't have to go to Facebook for any reason. I'm even less likely to engage in the Meta platform in the metaverse. Yes, of course, most people go to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but the internet doesn't belong to those websites, any more than the metaverse will belong to them tomorrow. Mark Z - and the other ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) brands will always work together to get the biggest payday from consumers. Here's where it gets sticky and appears to be a "gold rush" mania in the making. Folks involved in cryptocurrency make it seem like you have to trade 'coins' and buy 'land' in the metaverse. So far, it appears that you can still register a metaverse domain and develop your website through coding. Some say that NFT (non-fungible tokens) will replace trademark laws, so "get yours now." Some have tried that with internet domains and have lost, with-quickness, to the major brands who hold those trademarks. Anyway, I believe the metaverse will be another way to engage readers. I plan to write more about this topic on #readingblack.com.

And Let the Church say, "Amen!"

Maybe. I've interviewed you on a few occasions. Or it's just the reporter in me.

Former President JC did get elected to lead. But I agree he is a rare air man and the problems he’s willing to solve - are too difficult to assemble a large following. I’m still tripping over his willingness to go into a nuclear reactor. Carter also tackled affordable housing - and joined habitat for humanity in the 80s to put together a annual home building program that offers different levels of involvement. That’s strong leadership there to get folks from around the world to build homes for people they don’t know. Good food for thought here @Delano

Ding, Ding, Ding! Powerful observation! We have so many leaders today - and all start out by responding to the will of the people. Celebrities rarely become leaders - leaders sometime become celebrities. For example, Beyonce became a leader not because she could sing but because her journey mirrored the millennial woman’s journey. The songs she chose amplified what some women (all ethnicities and ages) were experiencing but had a hard time articulating. She sang their trials and provided solutions. “Put a ring on it” Beyonce led many young women to consider marriage while promoting the nuclear family. Troy Johnson became a leader not because he reads books - but because he decided books by and for black people needed a platform to get the recognition they deserved. Lawd knows publishing companies weren’t doing it. Today, Troy leads many people to consider black books first! True leaders are rarely in front of a group. Leaders center themselves in a group that has problems no one is addressing. Leaders organize a group that already exist and provides them direction. Bravo @richardmurray You nailed it!