Mel Hopkins

@Troy, If you want to pick apart each industry and look at the representation then it would look like there are none but that's not what you wrote. You wrote black middle age men are invisible and that's false. It doesn't matter if you don't like who is representing black middle age men - the fact remains black middle age men are NOT invisible. Michael Eric Dyson,Phd, Reverend Al Sharpton, Tavis Smiley, Michael Steele, Former President Barack Obama, Ret General Colin Powell, Eric Holder, Senator Corey Booker....Kenneth Cheneault, Kenneth Frazier, Robert Johson, Ben Carson, MD, Cornel West, And that's just off the top of my head

Even if you've registered your manuscript under Copyright TX or PA form, you will still need to register it as a sound recording too. Audiobooks require an SR form copyright registration. I'm not an intellectual property lawyer, but it seems prudent to record the manuscript (nothing fancy) and send the tape (phonorecord) along with your copyright registration. Further, this is an additional way to earn royaltie$ and performance licensing royaltie$$$ too. Use copyright SR form to register the sound recording of your manuscript. This way, no one else will be able to register your audiobook as their own.

@Troy, I'm not familiar with any man being invisible. This really is news to me and I'm not being facetious either. Look at who dominates the self-help genre and this includes both men of anglo-saxon and african descent. Look in the pulpits across the America - Look at the list of black ceos of fortune 500 companies... Look at the educators - Skip Gates has a whole dang-on center at HARVARD!!!! Please elaborate

Please share how this online book club "The Coffee Will Make You Black" got its name.

Really, @Troy

RIP <3

@Troy It really is - and it seems to go back for millennia ... Woman up in that video is looking quite fly - though and that snake print dress is killing it. oh wait! It's a jumpsuit! LOVE IT!

@Chevdove, I'm not an author, just a storyteller.

It doesn't get any "truer" than this... Except I think black people want to take the moral high ground and make money too. I think you may have a point though. It's nearly impossible for the two to exists. Robert Johnson learned quickly and emerged as the hip-hop era's first billionaire.

ReadMOORbooks is available!

@Troy, I didn't agree with everything you wrote in the full comment where I pulled this quote from but I put a "like" on it because it was thoughtful. As for the quote, I hear a lot of people say and write this sentiment. I wonder, however, why some believe that it's up to someone outside of us to provide for OUR emotional and physical needs. Biologically, I understand the need to procreate with more than one person - women have been doing it since females began mating with males... but sex for pleasure has nothing to do with variety... (and no, I'm not speaking from ignorance - I've had my fair share of sex partners and lovers). And variety definitely has nothing to do with satisfying an individual's emotional needs. When I hear this, I know that the person has not matured to the level necessary to engage in a fulfilling relationship with another person. Our parents choose to provide for our physical and emotional needs and if they do their job right - we learn how to engage in loving relationships with others. We can have successful relationships without expecting others to do the job of our parents. Maybe that's why polyandry, polygamy, and polyamory appeal to so many "first world" citizens. We've been raised to believe others are supposed to do our heavy lifting whether it be physical, emotional, financial or spiritual. I can testify while we may thrive in a nurturing community - the aforementioned is an inside job.

@Chevdove Big Smile! Thank you! For you, I will add a bonus feature and provide you with the non-fiction source material (mostly secondary) I used to to give the novel its "factual" feel. @Chevdove Love it! I can see a product line especially when featured with curated books on the subject at your "SHOP MOOR" store

@richardmurray Thank you! That is a dang good edit. It is actually what I was thinking but chicked out, afraid to put the emphasis on money. Clearly, my intent came through. You are correct. Making money is the American way, sadly. But still I was being disingenuous not following through with the true intent of the commentary. So, thank you for calling it out. I actually made other edits to complete the thesis. Also please elaborate on what you mean here about DT - I think I understand what you implying but I don't want to miss out on the spirit of your observation.

@Troy , the arts can be used for negative outcomes too... I was giving you an example that seemed to be positive but doesn't have to be. Further, I used written works or the arts as a method to shape society to illustrate, like advertising, it operates on a subconscious level to bring about a desired outcome or goal. It doesn't matter if the goal is money driven, seeking to control a group or to be an opiate of the masses - it is far more effective than advertising. Consider how scripture was and is used throughout the world to remove wealth and power from the masses. By the way. if advertising were effective as you believe- then it could easily change the behavior of gangbangers in Chicago. It would be effective at ending all types of undesirable behaviors - but even with the large money backed PSAs we see the only people who respond are the ones who want to. @Delano, Yes! I heard a study that most people will purchase products because it allows them access to community; or to be in with "the group." It would even explain why facebook is still so popular even though people know they've been used and abused by the company. Loners don't need validation so they are rarely interested in being "in"... in fact, being "in" is repulsive to some loners.

And here is where we agree... Oddly enough, even though I don't believe in advertising; I do believe in the influence of written works, the arts, etc and how they change society as a whole. For example, even on a small level, you'd be surprised how many "a commoner marrys a prince/princess" stories that have been running since the beginning of this decade. By the time Meghan and Harry tied the knot - some people were uncomfortable but not as many as could have been had they not be subjected to all those stories on the small screen.

BECAUSE NOT EATING WAS EASIER, You silly!!! @Troy Anyway, there's no need to bend over backwards; people do what they want to do. I just believe in the agency of people - and you believe in the power of outside influences.

@Chevdove I lived near Moundsville, WV, when I lived in the Ohio Valley and Native American lore indicated there were giants buried in the mounds. I included the lore in my novel since it advanced the story line. I heard of the stories from the residents but here's a link to an article that makes a reference. http://appalachianmagazine.com/2014/09/26/the-giants-of-appalachia/ *** (Everyone reading this) By the way, I absolutely believe the "sons of God" were Angels and their offspring were Nephilim (Giants). Further, according to biological findings there was only the X chromosome in the beginning so we didn't always combine to create offsprings the way we do today. So consider this would it absolutely be necessary that angels had to be "anatomically correct" to reproduce? Maybe that is the true story of Mary ....

@Troy It appears you are under the influence of advertising. It seems you give it far too much credit. People can only be influenced to do what they already want to do... it has nothing to do with strong will or lack thereof...it is about the desires and goals. Every salesperson, every marketer knows that. This is why we sell to audiences that are primed for a sale. If the person's interest is piqued by the ad - then there's an in...if not then the advertiser seeks to sell to someone who is. For example, I'm not particularly disciplined but there's no amount marketing that could make me smoke or drink. I don't drink beer, liquor, whiskey or smoke and I grew up in Brooklyn. Further, I am a media junkie. I watch more television, read more books, magazine articles and newspapers than the average person. I can tell you which jingle and tagline goes with which product and there's a lot. I even collect advertising and promotional items. This means I'm exposed to more advertising than the average person but it takes someone in my peer group to suggest I try a product. The reason why I'm a hard sell is because I like to be in control of my faculties. My will to remain in control is stronger than the influence of advertising. Advertising is that simple there's nothing nefarious about it. Find someone's desires and goal then you can sell to that thing to them. Disclaimer: When I was television news anchor, I did smoke in the place of eating. I maintained my high school cheerleading size as a grown women of three daughters because I lived on cigarettes and coffee. My ex-husband smoked and he was thin - so I figured it'd helped me CONTROL my appetite. I stopped when it no longer served me haven't smoked cigarettes since. My point is, there has to be something in it for the buyer to be persuaded to bUy the product. Not the other way around.

@Chevdove Thank you!!! @Delano Thank you!

@Troy who is four-eyed gangsta? @Cyniquemakes a good point. Because our skin color is an easy target -it weakens those in power. They can exploit us by our skin color so it removes their ability to come up with other methods of subjugation. For example, look at the ruling class in China - because everyone shares a similar phenotype; they had to come up with a grading system to create an underclass to make money off of -- it's ingenious. This is why the Chinese will always be the OGs of the world. Here, though, once we accept that our complexion hinders us - we can do like Whoopie in The Associate and work as our own secretary and send a white man in to handle our business.

@Troy are you in the habit of lumping everyone together based on your experience with a small group? I have a high arch and high instep so I don't have a problem wearing high heels - yes even at our age. Now I never wore 5 inches but I can dance all night and have in 4 inches... I do have an hard time wearing flats for a long time - and if I have to, I rather walk barefoot. I did find one pair of flats that I could walk in and I bought them for inflight wear. They are Softwalk - cost $100 a pair and worth every penny. The insole is built up so it fits the natural curve of your foot (if you have one) especially if you have high arch. I wear Asics sneakers for that reason too. I had a boyfriend who used to tease me - and say all I needed to do was paint my foot black and no one would never know I wasn't wearing heels. Anyway, I offer all of this because I've noticed that you seem to believe (at least based on what you write in this forum) that women lack agency and are easily influenced by everything that is put in front of us. Based on my experience, I can assure you, women are more influenced by their community of other women -than any marketing ploy. It's the same for the men who are interested in us. If they want to be with us - we influence how they look and behave. It's really all tribal... no invisible hand guiding women to do anything. By the way, reports indicate it was men who wore high heels first..

@Pioneer1, probably because the person you're interviewing for your dissertation is the one who experienced the account firsthand. Once you're awarded your phd and publish it then it becomes a secondary source for those who read it. @Troy legally speaking what you're referring to is hearsay. Or secondary. It was told to Zora. It's a primary source for her and if she had to defend it she could. None of us who are reading the book, can source everything told in the book so it's secondary for us. Now if you go and find the brother and interview him about what he said in the book then you return to primary source. I read a lot of things about Issa Rae from articles that were already published - so if I wanted to use it in my article - I asked her directly and I taped our interview. I use mostly primary sourced information but there are parts of the article that I use secondary sources - such as videos that she's appeared in. Eyewitnesses accounts are upheld in a court of law. We can only rely on their testimony to be true because we didn't witness the act. That is unless that someone is lying -if they are found out they are charged with perjury. If a person can't defend their dissertation with source documents then they won't get their doctorate.

Thank you, for the kudos @Troy LOL! Now You know I was based in New York, right? I covered 3 airports while I was there and took mass transit. No blond weaves the whole time I was there... None in Houston either (which was surprising) and most women I saw wore natural hair or gorgeous cuts. in Chicago.. In fact, I loved getting my hair done in the Chi because they stylist are very talented. However this is what I meant by saying it may have a lot to do with who you are attracted to. You may see a lot of women with blond hair because you like it. However when you post photos from your events there are never women with blond weaves. As far as the Nigerian women it might have to do with peer groups - in Nigeria. and again it's a specific group because the upper class Nigerians (the jetsetters) are conservative looking like the large groups of Nigerians in New York and Chicago. Those women are british conservative to tribal formal for their galas. Also I don't see any blonds here in Georgia. Since it's "hair capital" we have everything from "glam" to natural. @Troy, that is the point... we are not looking to emulate anyone - we are ourselves. And by the way, this is EBONY's fashion issue. (remember Ebony fashion fair I think you're correct, denial is in play. You believe black women are impacted by european standards. but American women (of european descent) spend boatloads of money to look like black women... So this would mean you believe black women are brainwashed into looking like european women who try to look like us?

Thank you, @Cynique