Mel Hopkins

@richardmurray & @Troy I hadn't thought about involuntary ways we share our stories. I was thinking more about how we share moments, and events with each other. For example, I can tell a part of your story, Troy, that took place at Brooklyn Tech because it was my journey too. Or Richard, I can share a little of your writing journey as I know it from AALBC because both of us look for ways to get our words to the masses. But your responses allow my little observation to become so much more than I'd realized. Data analysts can collect all the information in the world; sift through it and concoct part of our stories but it will never be accurate. It will always lack intimacy. Humans are too fluid. We possess innate ability to connect with another human in a way that allows us to feel what the other person is feeling in that moment. This is one reason, Artificial Intelligence will never become the standard. It can never be intimate - because it doesn't understand vulnerability. Such as the intimacy of community. In a community, we allow ourselves to see others and " be seen" by them. Looking through our data and trying to figure out the human experience is as hard as looking through our excrement and understanding WHY we eat the things we do. To know WHY we eat, takes sharing a meal and feeling the nuances of the story we tell. Speaking of meal and stories, -Amistad author Michael W. Twitty, won the James Beard Foundation Award for his book - The Cooking Gene. But I digress. I happened to stumble on this early tedtalk yesterday and while the speaker rambles on, he expands on this concept when he said "emotional empathy, feeling with the other person" His talk reminded me of why it is a lot easier to turn humans into robots than it will be for Artificial Intelligence to reach the level of humanity. Humans will always have shared stories; AI, not so much.

Programmed to be aggressive... there's no naturally occurring hormone that produces aggression.

Programmed to be more aggressive - there's nothing scientific about being programmed.

"When main accuser Andrea Constand took the witness stand during the trial, she told the jury that one night in January 2004, Cosby gave her three blue pills he called "friends" to relax her." From NPR There's no mention here of Bill Cosby forcing the 3 blue pills down her throat. However, I don't need to rationalize cosby's guilt or innocence. I don't really care about him. What I care about is accountability. While this woman couldn't give consent to have sex if she's under the influence ; where is her accountability? How about not take pills just because Bill offered them. Women are either accountable for their actions or they're not. If they are not, then the whole feminist/equality argument goes out of the window.

Queen X, exactly!!! By her own words he didn't force her... and that should have rendered a not guilty charge... (The Pennsylvania code § 3125 defines two degrees of the crime aggravated indecent assault, each with associated punishments. The degree of the crime depends on the specifics of the crime committed, with higher degrees of the charge generally receiving harsher punishments.) He offered he pills to "help" her relax and she took them. WHO DOES THAT? BUT my problem with this case and all the claims that followed for all these filthy monsters... is why did these women allow other women go into the monster's dungeon? They should have at least warned their friends who would have warned others... We all know of that mom, aunt or cousin who won't let their children go near "uncle bill"... maybe no one has called the police but at least everyone in the family and on the block knows "uncle bill is pedophile " and that's why he's shunned. What's up with all these women waiting 20-30-effing years to "tell"?

1. prescribed placebos cure patients ... 2. synthetic testosterone might contain steroids 3. she was already pissed at him when she swallowed...

Actually you did that when you brought in the nation of islam. Thanks though because you proved my point that there are various reason why people do what they do with their bodies. Sexual reproductive organs are a function of BIOLOGY... it doesn't get any clearer than that. But Sociologists will study the affects of why some men like you think that makes women submissive...

@Pioneer1 Biology is a hard science where the facts of don't change from person to person. Sexual reproduction is biology.. it has nothing to do with sociology... when you talk about gender stereotypes you leave the area of biology and venture into social construct. Testosterone doesn't make a man or anyone aggressive.. Like I said initially take a class in biology. Preferably let a qualified instructor teach the class.

Ancient KMT wasn't the beginning of civilization... but"thriving" is what led to slavery... and the rest will get you what we got. By the way, cleopatra was african and greek . You will have to get your timeline right... many women had ruled before then... as soon as rulers came into play the egalitarian society was long gone What makes some men more aggressive is psychological programming. But like I said, I don't mix biology with sociology.... Human pathological tendencies have too many causes. And that's because there's some kind of glitch on the board - so when you quote a comment- in one thread after just responding to another thread - it merges the quotes no matter where you're responding. It happened to me earlier but I caught and just deleted the response . @Troy have you noticed this?

Erm nope... your premise was black women emulating white women by changing their appearance.. It doesn't matter to what degree - whether slicking down hair with pomenade or dying your hair blond - and lighting your skin and wearing a YT's suit to be appealing to YT... it's your stance, so degrees don't matter. And it was you who brought NoI into the equation. As I stated in my first response. And NO the sexual difference between men and women are reproductive organs ... with part of the Y chromosome creating the testosterone that creates the testes and penis . The second X from the mother is allegedly responsible for the rest of the male traits. Now if you want to say estrogen allows women to be softer with fuller baby bearing hips, lactating breast after giving birth - and higher doses of testosterone allow men to have harder bodies and no "man boobs" - yes. My point is biology is a hard science and not to be mixed with sociology.

OMG!!! @Pioneer1ALL HUMANS DO HAVE BOTH TESTOSTERONE AND ESTROGEN!!!

Yep @Kalexander2... and I blame the Ancient Africans for all this bullshit. When we were an egalitarian society , a true civilization and ran the neandarthals into the caves ..life was good. When some of the Africans decided they wanted to be nobility it was the beginning of the end ... we get patriarchy which led to slavery - and coveting and stealing and corruption... And OMG @Pioneer1 would you take a night class in biology - ESTROGEN does not make women submissive It's a hormone! - estrogen is hormone that regulates a woman's menses ... it allows her to drop an egg looking for fertilization... and if it's not fertilized the estrogen level drops... But here's the kicker women have both our testosterone and estrogen hormones as do men and they both fluctuate in varying levels.. Any imbalance in those hormones then yes we may experience physical problems - but please stop mixing biology with sociology... gender stereotypes in this day and age is just plain ignorant.

@Pioneer1 Now I know you're just being contrary - - Women shave their unwanted hairs everywhere they don't want it INCLUDING THEIR MUSTACHES AND SIDEBURNS!!! - But yes, beards are rare which is why I said all humans grow sideburns. Some women can grow sideburns that wrap around their ears to the nape of their neck - a Good Waxing helps them out though. Do consider using the search engine for what you don't want to see. As for the Nation of Islam and its followers; their founder looked like a Sicilian (YT) man and some historical accounts actually say he was a yt man. And NoI followers dress just like him. Low cut slick hair is european and suits are a european design. Now maybe if they had shaved bald head and wore robes, then we'd have men looking like their African ancestors but - NoI members look like they've assimilated by emulating YT's design. Our African ascendants didn't wear suits in any of their old paintings or carvings. Nor did they have slick hair - they shave their heads bald. The Rastafarians , the other African religious sect believe we aren't supposed to touch our hair at all. So when you bring NOI into the equation, you're definitely wandering into the trying to look YT territory. But others say they dress this way to look fancy. Link: Quora

Any indies here who print through LULU.com? If you've signed up for their email distribution, you'll notice that LULU.com, the print on demand technology company, runs a sale on their print products practically every other day. At first, I thought because I was an author/publisher those discounts only applied to my account. Then, I caught a clue. I was receiving notification because ALL Lulu print products were on sale at Lulu's cost, not MINE! It was a boon for us who printed through Lulu to also advertise the Lulu sale to the public while promoting our books. And we'd still get our full royalty! In 2012, I created a QR code advertising the Lulu sale and, I posted it on my twitter account. The tweet looked like this: Yes, it was a tongue-in-cheek flirty ad-copy. At the time folks were sliding up in DMs on the regular. You can create any ad-copy to go with your QR code. You can also use it on your blog. However, this is yet another way to sell your book without amazon dot com. The bonus: your readers can get a discount too. I've since retired my book from online retailers so if you scan the code it will take you to lulu shop. Note: Here's a site I found on the web - https://www.the-qrcode-generator.com I have a QR Reader iOS app by Tap media on my phone. There are also desktop readers available too.

@Pioneer1 actually sideburns can be achieved naturally and grown Naturally by HUMANS of all races - but mostly in women because women tend to grow sideburns ONLY since most women have a more difficult time growing a beard - which is exactly what sideburns attach to if a man allows his face hair naturally - but most men trim their sideburns and shave their beards - for aesthetic reasons - dare I say to look more like white men unless there's a religious requirement most men may wear a mustache but corporate folks rarely have full beards - Also speaking of religion some men actually allow hair to look like bouncy curl sideburns (payot) ... So maybe this is what non-assimilated black men actually look like But then again, Rastafari is a religion too - so who knows what influences us to style ourselves the way we do. It just depends on how you roll -meaning it's a personal/professional choice.

Brianna "Briyonce" was invited to perform on Ellen ... The tide is turning even if it's slow... Youtube: https://youtu.be/GZlCYNxt-Jk

Just a reminder. Your life is an open book. No matter how high you rise or how low you go; someone, somewhere knows part of your story. Originally published 121017 The Thriving Writer

@Delano Since I spent several years in broadcast news - I don't trust anything I hear on the radio/television. I understand how broadcast news works. If it's of interest to me or if I need the information for survival - I verify with the proper agencies. I know not everyone does that but when you work in news you have to get your information from primary sources - second at best. So if I hear on the radio there's a case of salmonella contamination with the current crop of romaine lettuce chances are I'm not going to purchase romaine lettuce. I haven't tested it - nor do I have the tools to confirm or deny there's contamination but since I got a notice from Georgia's department of agriculture stating there is ... I'm going to trust it.. So yes, outside of opening up my own lab in the basement, I'm going I trust the departments we've set up to check our food. Is it an objective fact? Who knows maybe another type of test will turn up no contamination - but I'm simply going to avoid all romaine lettuce for awhile. By the way, isn't saying there are no objective facts, is in fact an objective fact?

Well this one took me two days to respond to and I'm still not 100% that I actually communicated what's on my mind... But I did post my response in my blog here on AALBC... And I will paste it here too. HOW TO PROFIT FROM THE UNDERCLASS The Black community who have nearly zero wealth but $1.5 trillion buying power keeps the U.S. economy afloat. Some have the belief, Absolutely some of those tactical and strategical solutions require mental reprogramming and behavior modification. The Black community didn’t create fiat money or its banking system. Therefore, we're clueless when dealing with it. The system terrorizes and traumatizes others, crushing them under the weight of insurmountable financial problems. The former can be solved by education, while the latter would require reprogramming to alleviate ourselves of its pressures. For example, many believe we derive our worth from our financial portfolio, our parents or where we were born. Society programs us to believe what we own, who we can influence even our zip code determines our value. Once we’re indoctrinated into that belief system; once we begin to equate our intrinsic value to tangibles such as assets, physical appearance, influence or anything outside of our control; we quickly travel downhill on a slippery slope. For many of us, this is a way of life. It is as natural as breathing. We’ve been taught to seek outside acceptance, or even popularity, i.e., create an artificial demand for ourselves. We will do anything to achieve it. We'll pay for things we can’t afford to get the attention of people we don’t know, have a relationship with, or even like. When we follow this path, we create demand for human-made products giving it value and thereby enriching its producer. Ironically, the value comes from the demand. Without demand, there would be no value. Humans, however, are valuable whether or not there's a demand. Looking for outside validation, or even valuation wouldn't be necessary if we recognize that we're invaluable from birth. More on that later when we discuss remedies for financial pathology. Some attention-seekers don't understand how attention derives its value or its purpose. So, they exchange it for money. Others attempt to convert it into status. Once in demand, the goal for many is to gain an illusory higher ‘position’ in society. Hollywood even has a rating system for a celebrity’s popularity and will pay according to the rating. And as a society, we’ve agreed to this rating system as if it’s nature’s design. Instead of what it is, an artificially created social stratification system. In nature, there’s no such hierarchy only symbiosis and mutualism. Every species has a role and carries out for the continued evolution of this planet. Our belief system should reflect what exists in nature. Our innate abilities, talents, and Love at its apex are for this planet's growth, not its destruction. It's inherent within the Black community or any indigenous people to know their role in nature. We're here as sustainable support for nature and all that exists within. Still, that knowledge conflicts with the members' need for acceptance. Further, the natural system wouldn't benefit parasites who have learned how to thrive off the artificial system of selling attention-getting products. Unfortunately, they have convinced us to bury our talents and abilities and instead trade our time for a pittance so we can pay twice the amount of our earnings for trinkets. The price of human ingenuity is incalculable. Meanwhile, the black community is financially-strapped because they work to get attention. Some will convert the attention into money to buy things they don’t need, tire of it and unfulfilled will self-destruct. Others will use the attention currency, convert it to power then into money to maintain the social stratification system. Of them, in whispers, we'll say, "so-and-so sold their soul." For the rest, the tactical solution is to remember individual intrinsic value. Then we'll realize humans belong at a roundtable not in a pecking order. But I digress. There's a difference between how things are and how they should be. There's a difference between reality and belief. Maybe our psychological challenges stem from overthinking this lopsided mixed economic system. Therefore, a strategic solution is to understand that in democratic capitalism, money is a medium used in an exchange of goods and services. The key is knowing the difference between price and cost.

@Pioneer1 Ok, then you understand that this is EXACTLY what you are doing when you represent YOUR experiences and observations as truth. At least the studies that contain the statistics include an abstract, raw data and , methodology of how they've come to the conclusion. Further they don't rely on others having experienced or observed the same to come to their conclusion. Even after the presentation the author will state this is our conclusion. Conclusion does not equal truth. So like I wrote earlier that's your opinion, experience and observation -I don't agree with it but I do appreciate you sharing it - because it does at least advance the conversation and provokes some metaphysical thought.

The Black community who have nearly zero wealth but $1.5 trillion buying power keeps the U.S. economy afloat. Some have the belief, Absolutely some of those tactical and strategical solutions require mental reprogramming and behavior modification. The Black community didn’t create fiat money or its banking system. Therefore, we're clueless when dealing with it. The system terrorizes and traumatizes others, crushing them under the weight of insurmountable financial problems. The former can be solved by education, while the latter would require reprogramming to alleviate ourselves of its pressures. For example, many believe we derive our worth from our financial portfolio, our parents or where we were born. Society programs us to believe what we own, who we can influence even our zip code determines our value. Once we’re indoctrinated into that belief system; once we begin to equate our intrinsic value to tangibles such as assets, physical appearance, influence or anything outside of our control; we quickly travel downhill on a slippery slope. For many of us, this is a way of life. It is as natural as breathing. We’ve been taught to seek outside acceptance, or even popularity, i.e., create an artificial demand for ourselves. We will do anything to achieve it. We'll pay for things we can’t afford to get the attention of people we don’t know, have a relationship with, or even like. When we follow this path, we create demand for human-made products giving it value and thereby enriching its producer. Ironically, the value comes from the demand. Without demand, there would be no value. Humans, however, are valuable whether or not there's a demand. Looking for outside validation, or even valuation wouldn't be necessary if we recognize that we're invaluable from birth. More on that later when we discuss remedies for financial pathology. Some attention-seekers don't understand how attention derives its value or its purpose. So, they exchange it for money. Others attempt to convert it into status. Once in demand, the goal for many is to gain an illusory higher ‘position’ in society. Hollywood even has a rating system for a celebrity’s popularity and will pay according to the rating. And as a society, we’ve agreed to this rating system as if it’s nature’s design. Instead of what it is, an artificially created social stratification system. In nature, there’s no such hierarchy only symbiosis and mutualism. Every species has a role and carries out for the continued evolution of this planet. Our belief system should reflect what exists in nature. Our innate abilities, talents, and Love at its apex are for this planet's growth, not its destruction. It's inherent within the Black community or any indigenous people to know their role in nature. We're here as sustainable support for nature and all that exists within. Still, that knowledge conflicts with the members' need for acceptance. Further, the natural system wouldn't benefit parasites who have learned how to thrive off the artificial system of selling attention-getting products. Unfortunately, they have convinced us to bury our talents and abilities and instead trade our time for a pittance so we can pay twice the amount of our earnings for trinkets. The price of human ingenuity is incalculable. Meanwhile, the black community is financially-strapped because they work to get attention. Some will convert the attention into money to buy things they don’t need, tire of it and unfulfilled will self-destruct. Others will use the attention currency, convert it to power then into money to maintain the social stratification system. Of them, in whispers, we'll say, "so-and-so sold their soul." For the rest, the tactical solution is to remember individual intrinsic value. Then we'll realize humans belong at a roundtable not in a pecking order. But I digress. There's a difference between how things are and how they should be. There's a difference between reality and belief. Maybe our psychological challenges stem from overthinking this lopsided mixed economic system. Therefore, a strategic solution is to understand that in democratic capitalism, money is a medium used in an exchange of goods and services. The key is knowing the difference between price and cost.

@Pioneer1 facts make up statistics... Even though you can include what ever facts you chose to get those statistics - Statistics will always contain facts. Further those fun-facts are measured. So since you don't debate like white folks taught you - then using your personal method of observations and experience - share your 'truths" how many black girls have committed suicide between 2014-2018? Who are they? Do they come from two-parent families, Single parent , adopted or are they in foster care? What were their ages - 0-17? School aged? Where are these suicides occurring? Specifically? east coast, south, west? Have they left notes to say what was troubling them? Were they huge beyonce fans? Were they religious? Was beyonce their religion? Were these black girls, fair skin, dark skin? light colored eyes, brown eyes? Did they have straight hair, natural hair, colored hair? Did they seek psychological help before they killed themselves? Were they rich, impoverished? Parents living below the poverty line? Did they go to private school, public school? Were they drop-out? Why the increase in suicides?

@Troy This is great suggestion because I was just about to reach for the duct tape to wrap around my head lol For 2014 : "The suicide rate for African Americans females ages 10-19 was 3.11 per 100,000.i  For African American youth (ages 10-19), the rate of male suicides (4.60 per 100,000) was 2.9 times higher than that of females (1.57 per 100,000). https://www.wellspacehealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/African-American-Suicide-Fact-Sheet-2016.pdf National Institute of Mental Health has the suicide rates for Black females at 2.1 per 100,000 - but @Pioneer1 no, don't let facts get in the way of your argument

I didn't realize that it had gone down but I remember being the first one to do a full-blown report on their sucide rate going up - right here in the aalbc forum..