Mel Hopkins

@Pioneer1 Isn’t it funny how things work out like that? What’s the saying “you’ve tried all the rest, now try the best”? Seriously, though it appears that you believe recognizing someone who is treating you well or with kindness is a matter of brainswashing and conditioning. And it could be - but i’m not a church girl and didn’t allow my daughters to go to church without adult supervision - so my conditioning is not “white jesus” nor is it - that a woman is here to be subservient to a man nor subjugated by him... Now is my former husband kind because he’s white? I don’t know - but that’s not my concern ... He’s the kindest man I know. By the way, you do know you can only judge character by actions, right? Not one or two actions but what they do consistently. My former husband has a good heart - and does his best to make everyone whole - it’s how he uses his privilege.

@Pioneer1 History, Huh? Lol! My history is filled with black men. My father was black. My first born daughter’s father is black. I know black men well enough to write a book and I’ve written two! BUT critiiquing black men is not my job. Ali played himself in that video clip. He was a straight embarrassment. Now let me help you out here with MY history. I’ve only had 1 marriage. I married 1 blond hair blue-eyed french /german white man who to this day still loves this dark-skinned kinky-hair black woman and the ground she walks on. And he ain’t soft like you like to think about white men. You can’t roll with me and be soft. He would kick anyone’s ass who would dare to step to me , his black stepdaughter (yes he stepped up and raised her like his own) and African/european descent daughters... no matter what they or I wear. And trust, no one dictates what we wear or what we do ... and he’d still defend and protect us for exercising our rights. But then again he’s white in America so maybe that’s privilege lol. Even though we’re no longer married I considered myself lucky for choosing this strong white man as partner. He is the kindest man I know. Ironically, he never tried to control me or the girls...but I guess there was no need. So no, I didn’t choose white supremacy; I chose freedom -and what resulted is a white man who worships us black women...daughters of Africa, with all the respect due us.

🤷🏽‍♀️

@Pioneer1 is that video clip the hill you want to die on? Lol. OMG! Ali referred to African tribes as savages, his wife as merchandise, compared her to wild beast and praised the white man’s values! OIL DIAMONDS and GOLD have no intrinsic value ...Europeans gave it its value and destroyed practically all of Africa to mine it! What is valuable is ALWAYS visible! Eat some fruit or vegetables, take a breath, get a sip of water! Scratch “bitch” moves - Ali is an effing idiot in this video clip. Further, women are humans. We are free and belong to no man. He may try to enslave us, torture us but he will never own a woman. If anything, a woman controls a man’s fate. From conception, to when she gives him her mtDNA that houses ATP (aka the God Cell) to his birth; a woman controls whether he will exist. full stop. If she’s crafty enough she can end him when he’s born and many women have done just that. Edit: I will never understand the lunacy of a man claiming he is god when he and all men arrive on this planet the same way - though the crack of a woman’s ass. So what is this talk of ownership? A man may make laws or use religion to control a woman’s behavior but let’s not ever get it twisted - man-made laws will NEVER trump Nature. The speciation of the X chromosome is why humans exist in this form. I always thought Ali was a wise man - but in this clip, it is clear, he’s fully indocrinated as a white supremacist. Damn. For Ali to sit there and talk like that indicates he was brainwashed to the highest degree ... damn I’m embarrased to have seen this clip.! What’sn worse is to have his white host defend African tribes against Ali’s ignorance.

@Troy do you mean magnet, as in you’re attracted to women sporting purple hair? Now, that IS an interesting turn of event. 😄 But as my oldest daughter would say, “stop encouraging that behavior”. Just kidding. It seems as if you’re getting an excellent education in black hair-dos. Bravo 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

@Cynique You've spoken like a true hustler !!! one of the many reasons I admire you!!! “Always remember whether you be sucker or hustler in the world out there, you’ve got that vital edge if you can iron- clad your feelings. I picture the human mind as a movie screen. If you’re a dopey sucker, you’ll just sit and watch all kinds of mindwrecking, damn fool movies on that screen. After all, we are the absolute bosses of that whole theatre and show in our minds. We even write the script. So always write positive, dynamic scripts and show only the best movies for you on that screen whether you are pimp or priest.” - Iceberg Slim Yes, I believe it, @Troy . "Law of causation" <--- not really a law but I believe nothing ever happens without a cause - even if I haven't seen the cause.

@NubianFellowReal is all I know - and talking about people, what they wear, et al. is a sign of an inferior mind, lack of power and self-control. As I stated (and this will be the last time); if that’s a sign of black masculinity today, then it’s in a state of disrepair.

@Pioneer1 @NubianFellow Talking about someone’s appearance makes $$$ millions for Wendy Williams and her talk show but that’s cheap entertainment. Nagging about another’s appearance, which gay men have turned into an art form, is a weak and ineffective showing of black masculinity. In fact, when I was growing up in Brooklyn - dudes called that a “bitch” move. An actual sign of Black masculinity would reflect first in a man having control over himself, and then working to better his physical environment. And that’s the bare minimum.

@Pioneer1 If that's a sign of black masculinity - then that's quite damn sad.

Let the church say AMEN!!!

Welcome @Gibran , @Audrey Jones ! Thank you for joining us!

And I just made it a feature photo on one of my posts on my website and plan to add it to other relevant posts lol. I think it's a campaign that hasn't fully developed yet

TRUTH!!! This is why I like the concept of readingblack.com - the goal is to make buying books by and for black people -fastfood/microwave easy... Now I just have to figure out how to achieve that goal lol

Yet, the senator from Mississippi said, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row,” and she still won the run-off election. So, I put nothing past any of these demons wearing every shade; black, white and shades in-between of human-suits; . Yep, thank you my idol "Ida B. Wells" for being the voice of reason with the mighty pen. It's words that cast the spell and binds demons . I believe this is why she emphasize "unwritten".

@Troy Thank you for PB co-sign! I'll put together a short post here in readingblack.com about pressbooks. The beauty of PB - is it offers a few book formats and book covers that writers can use for POD books too. The fully formatted PDF is $79 . Writers don't even have to use PB beyond formatting their novel or book. There are so many tools for self-published / indy authors to use today, that amazon should be the last resort for publishing.

@Cynique "life is but a dream"... I really believe you accomplished exactly what you set out to do... ❤️

Yep! Except those 3rd party sellers would still have to purchase the book (s) which is another reason why I'm selling eBooks direct too. I'm considering making my eBook cost more than my print so folks will be hesitant to attempt to bootleg my pdf. Another way to protect your digital files is to offer it directly through a web reader service like pressbooks. By the way, my novel is currently selling on amazon.com for $62.65 and of course NONE of that goes to me - because I'm not the 3rd party seller. smh

@Cynique I was thinking what would be the purpose to check out the lunar eclipse. It just didn't make sense to me' until this very moment. Thank you... "to commune with the universe" - perfect!!! This is probably what our ancestors did too - but I wonder if these rare moments were also resources of some kind? I did put that question out there - and you've supplied part of the answer! Consider late 14c., "to fix the mind upon for careful examination, meditate upon," also "view attentively, scrutinize; not to be negligent of," from Old French considerer (13c.) "reflect on, consider, study," from Latin considerare "to look at closely, observe," probably literally "to observe the stars," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + sidus (genitive sideris) "heavenly body, star, constellation" (see sidereal). Perhaps a metaphor from navigation, but more likely reflecting Roman obsession with divination by astrology. Tucker doubts the connection with sidus, however, because it is "quite inapplicable to desiderare," and suggests derivation instead from the PIE root of English side meaning "stretch, extend," and a sense for the full word of "survey on all sides" or "dwell long upon."

@Troy You really have to read Victor Lavalle's books. Whenever I finish one I think of this discussion. Well, I've only finished two and now half-way through the 3rd but like I said everything you ask for you already have. Remember I mentioned that I learned of Victor LaValle on this forum. I bought one of his books back in 2012 - I started it last year and finished it within the month. I read one of his novellas next and now I'm reading "The Changeling" (( 2018 World Fantasy Award Best Novel, winner ("The Changeling") , 2018 British Fantasy Award Best Horror Novel, winner ("The Changeling") 2018 Mythopoeic Award Fantasy Award for Adult Literature, finalist ("The Changeling") 2017 Shirley Jackson Award Best Novel, finalist ("The Changeling") 2017 Dragon Award Best Horror Novel, winner ("The Changeling")) The main character is in his 30s but his two compadres are middle-aged average men doing somewhat extraordinary things. In fact, the protagonist and his besty are both rarebook dealers lol...

Thank you @Troy ! No, I'm trying something else ...I figure if folks feel strongly enough about the content they will share it. Right!!! I like that you mentioned to one of the members - to become amazon associate. As an associate there's more customer insight available. I don't think I'll sell my books on amazon because to them, it appears books are like "giveaways" to them. I do appreciate the associates program. It allows me to see customers in a new way.

Book Selling in the Amazon Age (blog post) Independent book selling is hard in the age of Amazon. But if you think you can’t be profitable, think again. Amazon provides customer-centric tools booksellers can use to build their own community of readers. You just have to know where to find them. Visit me at theleadstory.net for more tips.

In this world, as a woman you must employ both ... and if you're a black woman you must use both as weaponry. Welcome, @Gibran Thank you for joining us ! I hope you will also share your talent with the rest of us who #dothewritething !

And your curiosity should have awaken not ended! Brooklyn Tech faculty and staff taught us HOW to learn so it would be an ongoing process.

OMG!!! LIKE THE KOMODRAGON!!! I never thought of it like that! What the eff! Of course, folks would believe this was a miracle - meanwhile the Hebrews who are a matrilineal sect would say “we been knew women could flip like that” lol! Thank you for sharing that perspective!

@Troy please re-read my words. And here we agree which is EXACTLY why I wrote “ignore Troy’s comment...” HOW do you know? This is exactly the research that is currently underway... BECAUSE biologists have questions not answers. So do tell, are you also moonlighting as biologist now? Is this something that you even read up on ... Ever? If not you have nothing to add. Please don’t dumb down your own forum... it would make this place boring.