Mel Hopkins

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@Troy Congratulations! Overnight sensation more than 20 years in the making. I'm kidding. I congratulate you on staying the course. You don't just talk about you are about it and you were ready when the tide - scratch that, Tsunami hit! Bravo! Thank you!

@Troy us old-school Journalists believe in attribution. My copyeditor at EBONY was real old-school (she was writer/editor for Playboy back in the day) - and she checked every line of my 3800+words in those last two articles. If we couldn’t verify we took it out. All this to say, your information would have made it into the article - but unless the article was about aalbc - we wouldn’t have contacted you. We would have attributed to the article and publication we got the information. But thinking back on how she hazed me with those two articles. Never mind, Rema probably would have made me contact you!

The Guardian newspaper (US) covers the plight of Marcus Books during the Coronavirus Pandemic in the article "Economic duress is nothing new': Can America's oldest black bookstore survive the pandemic?" by Andre' Wheeler dated Fri 15 May 2020 Wheeler references AALBC's black bookstores research in the article. "According to the African-American Literature Book Club, there were over 200 black-owned bookstores in the 90s. In 2019, the number was slightly over 120. " (Author's note: I also donate money to The Guardian )

Well, no more 'white'-washing the truth of the United States of America - coming to a bookstore in the UK and US, a book about the wrongfully imprisoned. HarperCollins Children's Books will publish Punching the Air, a YA novel about a black Muslim teen who is wrongfully sentenced to prison. (see link at the bottom) If this scenario seems familiar the book is co-authored by one of Exonerated Five, Dr Yusef Salaam, fomerly the Central Park five. The Young Adult book arrives on the shelves in September 2020 https://www.thebookseller.com/news/harpercollins-childrens-books-publish-ya-book-one-exonerated-five-1203387#

EBONY Website is back up. According to a few articles including The Root and Chicago Crusader - the Clear View Group owners they didn't mean to leave it offline for more than two days. Not sure what that means and neither article elaborated.

Marcus Books, the oldest black-owned bookstore in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA needs your help to preserve black history. Go Here for more information.

Marcus Books is in danger of closing its doors forever. That is, if it doesn't get funding. The San Francisco Bay Area bookstore billed as the oldest black-owned independent bookstore in the United States had to close its doors due to the Coronavirus pandemic. To cover ongoing operating expenses and costs, Folasade Adesanya set up a fundraiser in April - with a $200,000 goal. So far, the team has raised half and are reaching out for help to meet the goal. Drs. Raye and Julian Richardson founded Marcus Books in 1960 and named it after the freedom fighter and publisher Marcus Garvey. The Marcus Books family say in their appeal for funding, "At Marcus Books, "Black" is not a subject, a single month, or a niche; it is the universe. "Black" is not just history; it is the present and the future." To donate and preserve black history - visit gofundme.com "Marcus Books Anniversary Fundraiser" https://www.gofundme.com/f/marcus-books-anniversary-fundraiser

@Delano exactly! sadly, the non-thinkers along with "the indifferent" are the largest non-voting block in the U.S.

Welp. it's hard to save folks from "stupid." But I think I see from your perspective. Weren't you on the BTHS swim team too? If yes, that explains your position. For the rest of us, we are occasional swimmers and we know better than to try to save a drowning person. They'll take us under too.

@Troy "Like it or not, Google and Facebook are becoming the leading patrons of the news industry." Digiday, Max Willens, May 11, 2020

According to a press release dated May 10, 2020 Sovereign Noir Publications is celebrating the release of their debut Novella "Nothing but a Number" by Kayona Ebony Brown. It's the first in a series called "Of Music and Men." Sovereign Noir CEO Kameisha Jerae Hodge said of the new release, "Of Music and Men is a really dope series, both the novellas and the podcast, and it is very exciting to be a part of something that combines entrepreneurship, Black women’s perspectives, and the mindset of being a millennial in such a weird space and time. Kayona really captures the essence of presenting reality in a comedic and thoughtful way." The second in the series is also available for pre-sale on a pay-what-you-can basis at both sovereignnoir.com and ofmusicandmen.com . I made the mistake of listening to the first episode of the podcast and - Kayona's voice is soothing and hypnotizing. So be careful, if you listen, you might get hooked. https://www.sovereignnoir.com/about http://ofmusicandmen.com/

Black Voice News won a $100,000 Facebook grant that is geared to supporting newsrooms during COVID-19 pandemic. According to Facebook's grant page, the "Facebook Journalism Project’s relief fund for local news" is granting an additional $100 million to support journalism during the pandemic. This is in addition to the $300 million grant initiative to support journalism around the world. So far, 200 news organizations have received funding from the local news fund. According to the Black Voice News Community News article , Dr. Paulette Brown-Hinds, publisher said "The grant will allow our team to build on our current reporting on the economic impact of COVID-19 on our community as well as help build our growing interest in data journalism and digital mapping.” If you also write for a newspaper you can learn more about the Facebook Journalism Project by visiting https://www.facebook.com/journalismproject .

Welp, @Troy that's too bad - they are going to get run over.

@Troy Propaganda is sneaky like that - but I don’t “trust” most things I read or hear in the mainstream. It is all leads to me - I’ve been chasing down stories for so long - it’s second nature for me to follow up each claim. Check out my story “Guess Who” when you get a chance. It’s all theories as far as I’m concern - I just look for angles on how we can use the “news” to our benefit.

@Troy it can be and is, just like every other media outlet. I get a lot of leads from twitter but my cry is when the news is about black people it is never broken down into information that is relevant TO the black community. I'm so SICK of mainstream media talking ABOUT us but never to us. If those concerned about news that effect the black community and also want to be spoon-fed the issues - you are correct. Curated news for the black community is long gone. Look at your website. You've been in existence for more than 20 years and I'm sure you've seen the interest in black community news dwindle. We seem to be more interested in theories. Bite-size news bytes that we can retain and repeat. We don't even seem interested in keeping our local black newspapers in business. I look at my own website and my top search hit from all the search engines is news about blitter, the social media platform that was focused on black twitter. It never got as popular as twitter. I'm not even sure it still exist. Black people seem to like to support or be seen in white-owned spaces. I'm not sure if the 24-hour black news channel is giving black people news they can use. As of right now, I can't even get it on Comcast and they aren't set up for live streaming.

@Troy I put the WSJ in the same box as FOX news. The WSJ is listed as owned by News Corp a publicly traded company with Rupert Murdoch at the helm. Paul Gigot is the op-ed editor - he's listed as a pulitzer prize winning journalist and conservative who served as a fellow under Reagan. All that to say, this company, Aytu BioScience seems to have used the controversy to promote their latest product. It appears their first attempt into the coronavirus market was testing kits that one report indicates returned false positives. I also went to seekingalpha and read the transcript of their call - and the comments and analysis doesn't seem favorable. The company is trading at under two dollars today. So, it appears that mainstream media doesn't trust Aytu based on its track record but WSJ may feel the need to support 45 in his controversy because those right wing boards are going crazy over the news release from this company.

@Wendy Jones this is wonderful concept! A friend also told me to set up a resource-type kit on my website. She mentioned it should look like a restaurant she visited called "Flight". Thank you!

Sis @Chevdove, it is a balancing act!

Oh Snap!!! @Wendy Jones and @Troy I don't see it but I will keep looking.

@Pioneer1 I never left! I decided it was wiser to spend my time on other areas on this website, where I could help and also learn what others are doing in the book world. I don't argue with supremacist folks of any shade and for a while this forum (culture, race and economy) was traveling that path. Calling people coons, uncle toms, ni--ers, colonizers, crackers, (dang there are'nt many derogatory names for Angles that don't include them being in a superior position over black folks, is there? LOL but I digress)- because of their differing life perspective doesn't help any of us. Black Supremacy is as hateful as white supremacy. Hate and fear are way too draining, divisive and mentally harmful. If we couple that with Alex Jones-type alternative theories especially the unsolvable theories then we're all doomed. I'm all for considering alternative theories but if they are not meant to help us evolve then what? For example, if coronavirus is engineered/modified. - SO WHAT? A lot of viruses are engineered/modified for health reasons - such as gene therapy. For years domestic animals such as cats and dogs have been vaccinated against the coronavirus . Are we talking about that modified virus? Anyway, if we're going to talk about solutions then I'm all in...but just talking about what somebody is allegedly doing to us - makes us victims...and I ain't got time to talk about reinforcing my victimization.

@Troy yep! I only made the suggestion because I know you can get these web content management systems to "sing"... Sometimes, I wish I knew how to code. But because I have no skills it makes it easier for me to imagine what would be cool if it could be done. So, a wishlist on the profiles would also advertise the books in the aalbc.store . Even if we can use the wishlist feature in the store - then maybe adding a widget to the profile and even personal website would be a win for #readingblack.com

@Troy thank you for the discount! I know didn't share with you all the recommendations I have for this forum/website but here's one. Is there a way to have a wishlist in the bookstore AND have those books appear on our profiles?

@Wendy Jones "The Culinary Art Portfolio of Josephine E. Jones with Ready-to-Frame prints, where food and art intersect." You nailed it right here. I want to read, see and have this book on display in my home! So as you can see, just from this title and introduction; I already know I'm in this audience. I know there are others in the audience too. And here's why - #arthistory #africanamerican #womenshistory #chef #foodporn #gastronomy #oralhistory #pictorialhistory are some of the tags that popped into my head. I also believe "all art is political" ; so in the content I would expect to read about a change agent too. - Art is a movement. - Food is America's pastime and "Food Porn" as the young people call it today - is all over Instagram, pinterest and maybe even facebook as a club. In 2019 , We finally got our very first black woman Michelin star chef. In. 2019. So, imagine to learn there was black woman who was doing this way before social media was a thing! You are tying the past to the present and that would make this book hard to ignore. You've nailed this! Answering the rest of those questions just help you and your publicist to promote your brand in a way that secure you as an authority on Black/African American women history. While your mother may be the protagonist in the narrative you are still highlighting the journey of a group of black women and documenting the period for the annals of American history. Your brand is shining.