Mel Hopkins

Isn’t it time for an AALBC mobile phone application?

1 hour ago, Troy said:

This is counterintuitive given the coverage of the state.

Oh snap!

So the “media” never thought to interview anyone Black about how easy it is to vote in Florida?  This pisses me off!  I’m over here in (purple state) Georgia, where it is also easy to vote, track my voting record and register to vote too.  

Well, now gerrymandering makes sense. If politicians pick their voters then why wouldn’t they want to make it easy for the constituents to cast their ballots! 

Learn something new everyday! 

@Troy  All good things and people come from Brooklyn Tech!  #GoEngineers !

19 hours ago, Cynique said:

Democrats need

all the help they can get.

I voted early here in Georgia. But you know what?  I pity the fools who don't vote democratic in the midterms.  And  do you plan to  time-travel during your hiatus?

Independent Authors and Small Publishers I found " The Other Madisons " by Bettye Kearse through the duck duck go search engine. I was looking for an African/Black authoritative voice on the meaning of Griot/Griottes, which led me to the author's website. Ms. Kearse gives a detailed definition and a book recommendation. Although the domain name and the author's name are the same, I rarely stumble upon personal websites with such strong SEO that land on the search engine's first page. So, if your SEO game is strong, forget what I said about publishing a website for each title. If you have a website promoting your book -be sure to fill it with helpful information, and it will help you bring attention to your book(s), and you'll sell books too.

4 hours ago, Troy said:

Sorry Mel the copies I have are not signed, but thanks for your order

Get it together, Troy! The first edition must have signed copies!  LOL!

Love this! Congratulations!!!  Where's the video?

Congratulations!  

4 hours ago, Troy said:

virtual book launch, for Running to Fall.  You may register here: https://bit.ly/RTFzoom

Is there a Link for an advance purchase of  signed copy?  

Never mind.  I click the link to the book title. 

43 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Maybe if more of OUR people thought that way....Chattel Slavery and it's current byproducts would have never materialized.

No. Just No, Erik Killmonger.

28 minutes ago, Cynique said:

 To Mel I say, keep taking the battle to your foes, my brave warrior Princess! 

I haven’t seen The Woman King yet -and I will when it comes to the small screen.  But I still have a problem with the concept that no one in all of social media has mentioned.  

Black women will shape-shift into anything a Black man wants us to be and we still get treated like ish. 

I’m glad  some of us have finally moved into a space where we’ve said enough.  

These women warriors were well aware there was human trafficking occurring during those years of fighting off colonialism.

And they absolutely fought Europeans - It’s documents and even  the French, once they conquered the Dahomey people - made sure to subjugate women.  

But these women fought for the King - a king who also had many wives while these women became like eunuchs - no sex, no family ties -just fight and die for their country.  

Even today, we have Black men like Hershel Walker paying for abortions while denying women the right to choose are even showing up at the polls to make sure more rights aren’t taken from Black women.  Wait. my Black mayor signed into law that no resources would be used and no criminal investigations would be conducted for abortions or miscarriages against any woman in our city.  So, at least he’s got us. 

But Seriously, the things we women have gone through for the past 17,000 years is enough for me to wonder why there aren’t more “Bobbit” cases on the docket.

36 minutes ago, Pioneer1 said:

Show me the group of people who ARE stronger and smarter than the White racists

that would be most of us who know better than to destroy our only home,  “sh*t where sleep or increase circumstances that would lead to sleeping with one eye open.  I would go back to something I posted here back in 2017 or around that time. It seems to remain true today.   The highest rate of suicide in the U.S. points to white men @ 70 percent compared to all other ethnic groups.  

Seems like supremacy thing doesn’t work too well for those it is supposed to elevate. 

38 minutes ago, ProfD said:

She was a student of Neely Fuller's writing.

I’m not familiar with this characterization of their relationship”  Dr. Welsing was an actual medical doctor in the field of psychiatry.  Someone with her background would be in the position to update his work to make it relevant in the 80s and 2000s .  I can see her as  maybe a “Student”, in the sense of life-long learning. However, their affiliation was most likely a benefit to both.  

“Welsing was trained in the liberal arts at Antioch College and in medicine at Howard University College of Medicine, where she would eventually serve as faculty. A long-standing private practitioner and pioneer in the fields of child psychiatry and mental health, her longest institutional affiliation was as the Clinical Director and Staff Physician with the Washington D.C. Department of Human Services“ - EBONY 2016

52 minutes ago, ProfD said:

Some folks will read Fuller's work and see him as an old man out of touch with reality.

Only fools would believe this!  Fuller’s work definitely awakens those who don’t understand the roots and foundation of “western civilization.”  The U.K. and its spawn the United States colonized, and in some cases, is still colonizing the world.  Heck. even England’s citizens don’t realize they’re colonized.  Well, I think they’re getting a clue  when they have curtsy and bow to Meghan Markle, supremacy doesn’t include all white folks. 

18 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

Mr. Fuller stresses in most of his lectures and interviews as well as his literature that his work is meant for the INDIVIDUAL...not the collective.

He tells Black people to basically forget about trying to "unite" and work in large groups to eliminate racism because too many of our people have too much poison in them to work together.

His philosophy and codes instruct each INDIVIDUAL what to do in hundreds of different real life scenarios that you may come across.

Now it makes sense why he never got pushback from supremacists. It is as if Fuller is doing the work for them. "Bend over and just take it." doesn't seem much like a solution.

Nor does Isolation and segregation cure ostracization.

I'll pass on his message. I'm attracted to movements that provide a solution to problems. I tend to be stoic when confronting racism, sexism, and supremacy. I face difficulties and use whatever resources available to me to hurdle obstacles. This position allows others to move forward in a field that was off-limits to them.

I betcha didn't know I was the first Black woman news anchor at a television station in the Ohio Valley. When a bigot took over as news director and tried to get me to quit. I took his azz and the entire station to the EEOC. He was the one who put me in the position to anchor my own morning newscast and then weekend newscast. I don't play to get along.  

Aside: I read Fuller first published this book in the 50s, and it was updated several times by Dr. Cress Welsing) If Neely Fuller, Jr came to this forum and posted some of what he wrote last century today as "Neels," you would have questioned the motives. So @Pioneer1what about his writing resonates with you?

One thing I do appreciate and agree with Fuller is his position which goes back to Ancient Africa... KNOW THY SELF! If his words get Black men to truly learn who they are as individuals and actually do what's necessary to move humanity to its highest level, then Ase'. 

17 minutes ago, ProfD said:

agenda

The agenda is the most important part of someone’s movement. Yet, very few will inquire if the leaders’ worldview matches theirs.  We see this today in MAGA republicans.  Except that movement only serves to empower the one percent. 

Fuller sounds like a philosopher.  Philosopher tend to think their way through deconstructing a system.  Unfortunately, if the ideology doesn’t suit those in power, it goes nowhere.  

Case in point: Fuller’s counter to racism hasn’t changed system Black people must live under.  For example, the link I shared above indicates young Black men are imprisoned at a higher rate for human trafficking - even though we know they’re not profiting from it.  

Systemic racism and supremacy is built into the U.S. code of laws.

Therefore, it appears Fuller’s code is self-serving. Further it seems it is no match for the U.S. code  that it goes up against.

If his code attempts to change behavior of the victims of supremacy - the U.S. Code still remains. 

So, the answer to his agenda is in the fruit of his labor.   He doesn’t have dismantle a system. All he has to do is write and inspire others to consider the institution.  (No small feat, btw.) His fruit could be something as simple as enjoying bestselling philosopher status.

In contrast, there is Black attorney who recently took aim at the existing code - through his use of footnotes.  He quietly did the heavy lifting to chip away at the status quo and won. 

He actually got the Blue Book, the style book all law students and lawyers use - to change the standard and use those footnotes.  He states his agenda for this movement as this: - if someone cites a property case using slavery as standard  then they must continue that case with that person as property without ever mentioning slavery. -

Now, if they use that case as precedent they must footnote slavery.  It makes a difference to some lawyers who can no longer casually dismiss the reality of U.S. history. 

Especially in today’s political climate when you have people denying the 1619 project, banning books, and refusing to acknowledge the horrors of human trafficking from

which their forefather’s participated and profited. So, now the legal institution must cite slavery.  And since they won’t  ban case law the evidence remains thanks to Justin Simard, Esq. and Citing Slavery Project.  

So, although everyone has an agenda, “every tree is known by its own fruit.”

Links

Washington Post (no paywall)

Citing Slavery Project website 

On 10/4/2022 at 5:24 PM, Chevdove said:

I read that the role that Viola played was first offered to Lupita and after she researched it, she refused to take the role, and I WONDER WHY!?

What is Neely Fuller's agenda?

As for Lupita - she went to the source and filmed a documentary in what looks like 2019. But she didn't pull out of the film until 2020, as announced by JuVee, Viola's production company, when they announced director Gina Prince-Bythewood' would join the project. Maybe she pulled out of the film because of the director? I suggest scheduling. Maybe contract negotiations broke down. Maybe Viola's production company needed to raise more money to pay her salary. Perhaps she got COVID? 

Anyway, folks are so fickle. No one had a problem with the Black Panther film, a 100 percent black woman empowerment movie. The women were warriors, the women were technologists, and the women were necromancers... The women were 100 percent in control of every facet of Wakanda, and the men were mere figureheads, but no one seemed to mind. 

Anyway, suppose you go to timecode 36:48 in this film. Here, Lupita discusses Dahomey's human trafficking, and the women share how they glorify the warriors while honoring their loved ones who were harmed by the history...Lupita concludes the people are both warriors and victims. Much like how we Black Americans celebrate our excellence. Even though there are young Black men, who have been tried and convicted for trafficking our Black girls into sex slavery. 

She also says it wasn't the women warriors but the order of the King to traffic people into slavery. As I inferred in the beginning when asking about Fuller's plan. No one is one thing. We are all very much like the two-faced god Janus. Yet, only the adults in our culture understand this aspect of humanity. When Black people finally wake up to this part of human nature, we'll stop living through this perpetual "ground hog" day.  

Also you can find the video on the Smithsonian channel too

https://www.smithsonianchannel.com/episodes/zv150s/warrior-women-with-lupita-nyong-o-warrior-women-with-lupita-nyong-o-ep-1

On 9/18/2022 at 11:26 AM, Pioneer1 said:

then what the hell use are the boys???

I hope (and believe) this generation of boys can figure this out for themselves. Because too many generations in the past have brainwashed them into thinking they are good for nothing.

Those who don't know their strengths aren't necessarily physical will always fail themselves, the Black community, and ultimately society. 

Custodial mothers, fathers, and even two-parent households who are wise enough to know what we don't know have reached out for help from those in the know. (not opinion-givers) And we have educated our children, especially boys, to know physical strength isn't enough in a society that requires intellect and problem-solving. 

Those children are our communities' success stories. 

Still, civilization requires Hypermasculinity coupled with hyperintellectuality in battle.  And as history shows, it can occur in any sex when necessary and as needed. Sankofa. If you don't know your history, go back and retrieve it. Check out Nyabinghi. 

We, as a species, adapt to our environment for survival. It doesn't require anyone's approval. Those who don't adapt perish. The last woman Dahomey warrior died in 1979.

According to historical records, Dahomey's army fought against colonization until 1892, that was about 200+ years of women and men fighting off European colonization.   When the French colonized them, they made sure to subjugate women.

Because subjugating women is an Anglo thing. Because - No Nation Can Rise Higher Than Its Women.

When I suggested "WritingBlack" I thought it would be a great companion to ReadingBlack.  There are quite a few of us that read and write too. Now, TheGrio has a  podcast with the same name.  So unless @Troy created an affiliate, The Grio's Writing Black is a separate entity. 

In general, Black women and Black men work towards freedom together.  Statistics (numbers) and Labels (reporting agencies like HHR, CDC, Census et al) have data to support our unified movement.  However. our “feelings” tell a different story. Feelings make people behave contrary to the own well-being.  Consider some men who “feel” inadequate and leave or hurt their families Just recently, a  Black women, mother of six was murdered by her children’s father Raymond Thompson. He  told Philadelphia authorities  he believed she was cheating on him. He allowed his emotions to cloud his mind and stabbed her more than 18 times while she sat in the car with him. 

She had a restraining order against him but her family said she wanted to continue building a home with him and their six daughters.   I just added the father’s name because she wasn’t the only mother of 6 in Philly murdered recently.

Sadly, reporting agencies ( Justice Department / CDC), also state, per capita, Black women are more likely to be killed by their Black spouses/ partners than any other ethnic group. Whereas intimate partner murders rank 1 - 1.4 out of 100,000 for other groups, Black and First Nation women rank 4.4 - 4.3 per 100,000, respectively. Also noted. possibly by surviving family members, Black women rarely report domestic violence most likely to keep Black men out of the prison system.  

So, no matter how we “feel” about unity between Black women and men, the numbers show Black women  are “ride and/or die” when it comes to Black men.  

Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Amerie pens a children's literature book, “You Will Do Great Things," illustrated by Raissa Figueroa, under the imprint, Roaring Brooks Press, published by Macmillan Books. Publication expected date 03/282023. ISBN: 9781250817020 Hardcover price; $18.99  The Host and founder of Amerie' Book Club on YouTube gives a sneak peek.  #readwithamerie #ameriesbookclub 

Thank you for the tag @Delano  i tend not to think about such things unless I’m writing.  When I write, all the cosmic “truths” reveal themselves.  I think this is probably why I tend to procrastinate instead of write.  In short, we know everything - we’ve simply convinced ourselves we “know nothing.”. I likened this denial to a line from The Matrix

To paraphrase quote “You’re not here to make a choice. You already have. You’re here to understand why you’ve made the choice.”

I believe when we try to analyze the tangible with intangible”. - It’s a mind f-ck we perform to keep us in the state of plausible deniability.  Probably why we created “God” to scapegoat. 

also: @Cynique you remind me of the Oracle.

greg consistently does this one thing and it confirmed my suspicion early on that he's a white nationalist in a digital blackface. greg writes white with an uppercase "W" and Black with a lowercase "b."  Black people wrote Black in uppercase long before it appeared in the AP style guide.

So, if this were a game of poker, that would be his tell.

DeFi Understanding decentralized finance exchanges

Coinbase and Cashapp are DeFi (Decentralized Finance)-adjacent cryptocurrency exchanges. These exchanges are connected to the internet; you can link your traditional bank accounts to them to buy coins and even cash out into dollars.

BUT the platforms must report any transaction to the IRS and your digital currencies are at risk of hacking,  By its very nature, exchange platforms are no different from depository banks. EXCEPT your dollars are insured but not your "digital assets."

If you are only buying coins, any digital asset, because you think they are going up in price, you'll lose. The "invisible hand" that moves the crypto market has extremely deep pockets causing extreme volatility.   At least, the U.S. central bank is controlled by the FEDERAL RESERVE. The Feds control the monetary policy on the U.S. <-IF You don't understand centralized banking - I'm sure you won't understand decentralized finance markets. So study up!

So why do you need a cold storage wallet?

You need a wallet to store your authentic cryptocurrency transactions. Instead of "trading dollars for digital currency," most peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trades are for goods and services. Think about Russia's new law? Why would this ban come up now? You can trade cryptocurrency for anything and can cash out anonymously. (This will take a lot of maneuvers, but it can be done)

A cold storage wallet secures your private key. A key, in this context, is a secret number used in cryptography and cryptocurrency. 

The key protects digital currency, NFTs, et al. Cold Wallets are noncustodial and NOT connected to the internet. There are a lot of hardware storage wallet manufacturers, So I'd give the side-eye to anything built by Mark Zuckerberg. Still, cold storage wallets are better than hot storage because there's less chance of hacking.  

However, storing digital assets in a cold wallet requires the owner to be extremely careful. It is easy to lose or damage a cold wallet and even easier to lose access to your private key. A simple internet search will reveal stories of owners "physically" losing both. And if you lose either one, you lose ALL YOUR ASSETS, and there's no getting it back.

Still want to get into Crypto?

Suppose you still want to make money in digital currencies. In that case, the best route is to build your own decentralized application(s) or invest in a dApp startup. dApp companies are the "gold rush" shovels of the digital assets craze. I'm an equity shareholder in one such Black-owned fabless semiconductor company that has a proprietary patented cold storage wallet and NFT Ethereum-web-based application.  If you want to invest, message me your email address, and I'll add you to the company's mailing list. 

1 hour ago, Chevdove said:

Yes. For so long, America is known as the superpower.

While I don’t believe the official 9/11 report, I feel we are all complicit in what it takes to be a “superpower”    

9 minutes ago, Delano said:

I was thinking of visionaries, that look at world yet see something everyone else misses.

Yes. I tend to believe someone is always on the cusp of dropping science.

Now I see those days are long gone.  Many have given up their power. 

It is clear a lot of people want to be stupid.  

“When  people show you who they are believe them.”  

I’ll add “when people display their “aggressive ignorance,”   step back,  stop talking.