Mel Hopkins

All three of these points are connected. While it's reported that europeans came armed with guns and bibles to colonize African countries - they didn't have control over their (Africans) minds. Unfortunately, many had succumbed to the ideology of the oppressor instead of powering through the adversity to succeed with their own morals of social justice, way of life and abilities intact. Just like perennials will find their way through the cracks of cement to bloom on the surface, no amount oppression can make one abandoned their morals or belief system. If it does then death is far better for those types. We of African ascent who are here in America obviously had far stronger ancestors than those whose bodies lie at the bottom of the ocean. Edit: To be clear, the story ended for those who are at the bottom of the ocean.

@Damani Wow! As I was reading your introduction, I felt like I was visiting the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. Welcome! I'm not being facetious either when I visited the museum I actually took photos of the exhibits of some of the events you mentioned here. Powerful! Also congratulations on finishing the first draft of your historical fiction novel! Aside: Not sure if this is your first attempt at looking for an editor but just a heads up. Novels require a different type of editor than non-fiction. I suspect editors for historical novels are even more detailed because they will help out with authentic language from the period. So, please don't let just any editor work on your book.

@D.E. Eliot did you mean an estimate of the novel's cost? Or did it cost $10k to publish your novel? If the latter, why did it cost $10K

@Damani , welcome. I don't see your introduction. Is this where you posted it?

@Troy Hidden Figures worldwide box office was $236 million Maybe Nate should have played up the woman co-warrior angle to the historic battle... These young women aren't interested in the man rescues woman's honor trope. All my three daughters have seen black panther as did my women cousins and they were all impressed by how the women were portrayed in the film. This means to me this is how they see themselves. Possibly the way Nate views women came out in his filmmaking and simply turned off many young black women and women of color. Also @Troy don't discount Byron Allen who made a $20 million dollar bid for birth of the nation - he lost to fox searchlight who only paid 17.5 million

I feel these words are true for me, anyway. This is why I believe any cosmological theory goes in my metaphysical bag. No one can we prove origin. And why would we want to prove origin? I love to speculate and enjoy my experiences as it relates to consciousness and energy. It is like having my own secret garden where I can play with others who are of same mind. It's a garden that no one can destroy.

@Delano , @Troy @Cynique The scary thing is all of you absolutely correct! How crazy is that???

Wow, this part right here is quite sad... no, we are not all beholden to white supremacy. Women like me cower to no one. Still, the fact that so many of Black Americans have their minds shackled is heartbreaking enough. Who has time to think about anyone else when those we give birth to perish due to their own ignorance. @Troy , I agree a lot of it comes from culture. From public school, media and culture it was hard not hear about slavery but for a lot of us, we were far removed. For example, I grew up in East Flatbush were West Indian pride was strong ; you'd be hard pressed to hear a Jamaican, Bajan or Trinidadian mom or dad talk about slavery. It was all about education - - I think a lot of cultural differences within the black community have to do with the expectation of our parents.

@Troy Oh no! I was just looking him up and Moneta Sleet Jr. just a few weeks ago! What a huge loss to the black community. He was a great mind, researcher and historian! No, Guest Ben T. Mel, I cannot agree to this as it is written. First one must choose to feel inferior. if this did not occur in my own family - I would not assume this to be true for any other black family; enslaved or not. So, no I'm going to throw this whole sentence away, so that I may read the rest of what you've written with an open mind.

Exactly @Troy ! Why did a movie have to tell black people, Ethiopia was never colonized? And that even that is a half truth... Ethiopian was almost colonized by Britain and briefly occupied by Italy. Why is that most American blacks do not know about the Abyssinia Crisis and the wars prior and the wars that followed. You mean to tell me before black people (the collective) learn anything someone has to put it in a movie? And also, not every black person in America was enslaved. There are many who have the "wakanda" mindset. It's true a great majority have ancestors that were enslaved - not everyone shares in Killmonger's make-up. Even those who do have ancestors who were enslaved in America don't carry that baggage. While it may be a reality for some, I find it disheartening that some feel they can identify with the film's character.

Congratulations, @D.E. Eliot and much success. Yes, you're in the right place. Troy has more than 20 years in the business - especially as it relates to black publishers and author and he won't steer you wrong. Also please consider joining #readingblack if you haven't already. Check out the articles on Amazon posted there. Many successful medium-large publishers have moved away. If you choose to stay, then moving forward as a publisher, you are going to negotiate with Amazon on a different level at least-for the sake of those you will publish in the future.

@Troy I don't rule it out. What if Jung was correct and the stuff we learn goes into the collective unconscious and that's why it takes time to retrieve it? No one can say with certainty where information is stored. Aren't scientist still trying to figure out how Einstein's brain worked?

@Troy , I thought I was the only one who felt this way. I still haven't seen the movie but I get the sense that black people couldn't relate to the monomyth before this film. I could be biased though -and "tight" because I wrote a whole contemporary world within a world that made no references to the european culture. In fact, the main character ascends from Ethiopia and she speaks about the fact that the country was never colonize. Her antagonist is a powerful obeah priestess that ascends from the gold coast but settled in Jamaica - and their heritage, language and rituals are intact. Some of the reviews I got from black women specifically was it wasn't believable because the characters didn't behave like "real black people". Specifically the "black" people in my book didn't have "colonized" minds. I am glad this film has opened up the minds. Now it won't be so difficult to write and sell books that are set outside of the 'hood, or cling to that slave narrative.

@Troy I found a plausible explanation while I was watching a skeptics video. The explanation offered relates to the news article you shared regarding knowledge. The professor mentioned that the more you know about a subject, the more information you have to draw from. You may not be able to access it right away but once you quiet your mind or do something else the information surfaces. The odd thing is no one really knows where this information is stored. There are some theories that it resides in the brain, but not everyone believes that. Anyway, life-long learning is the key.

@D.E. Eliot Not to be contrary, but I felt sorry for Loki, Thor's brother who was adopted. He felt he could never legitimately be worthy of the throne or his adopted father's love. Loki had so much animosity for his brother that it allowed him to be the perfect villain. Except when he realized his love for his brother. I do understand your point. The best antagonist is the photo negative of the protagonist . This way the antagonist is able to trip up the protagonist because she knows her counterpart's weaknesses.. This causes the protagonist to step up her game and defeat the antagonist because in reality the only true battle is the one we are in with ourselves. Awesome observation. I haven't seen the movie, yet but they pretty much follow the same script. *** I forgot to add - that I'm referring to "Loki" in the film not the comics - I don't read the comics.

@Delano Ok

@Delano of course not. It's an explanation of the nature of theories. Gone tomorrow, here today. Get better instrumentation and back again. That's what a theory is - it's not a force of nature, it's a hypothesis that may have facts surrounding it but it is still a theory. LIKE I WROTE... Now shall I define theory for you - so we'll be on the same page?

@Troy, not a clue. But I know I pull information out of my butt, so to speak. and I know where to use words that I've never heard of before until I need to use them. But I just don't know. Maybe, I'll sleep on it.

@Cynique I don't think I did... I think my browser has a glitch. I'm going to sign in again

@Troy I just reread this on my phone messages and I had to come back to say, I get it now. You seem to acknowledge the metaphysical realm - you just don't mix it with science facts that produce the same results for anyone who test it. Is that correct?

@Delano Ignorance would mean, I don't read or study these concepts. You do realize I was an electrical engineering major in high school, right? When you have an academic foundation like the one I was afforded at Brooklyn Tech - it doesn't all just disappear. The interest remains. I've continued to study physics theories even though I've long since left school. I may not throw around physicists names here - but it doesn't mean I'm not aware of whom you are referring to. I'm just not a fanboy of the physicists. They are people with ideas- nothing more nothing less. So let me also share that biophysics of consciousness is a hobby of mine... this way you won't argue a point about me from ignorance. Now, have you heard of the big bounce theory? It's contrary to the big bang theory. There's more evidence supporting the latter. however even the theoretical physicists who actually study this stuff for a living, agree they are theories. @TroyI could have sworn our Keynote was Alumni Lou Ferrigno I don't remember Arno Penzias but I will look him up in our year book...

@Cynique now see this is similar to what Sheldrake talks about with his morphic resonance theory. What if I did pick up on your thoughts and it was you who spoke to me while I slept... There's no way to test it. However, the fact that there was an occurrence ( and I don't believe in coincidences) there's more going on in nature than we really know. Maybe we shouldn't put it in the science category because there's no instrument to "test" it. Maybe this is what people speak of when they say keep an "open mind" There are people I shut down and shut out immediately. I believe stupid is contagious, Yet, I have no proof . Doesn't matter to me though, I shut out people who prove to be stupid. I especially don't listen to talk radio because I don't want to tune into that frequency. You are wise, so my mind is open to sharing your perspective and learning from your experiences. So maybe I can actually "hear" you. Maybe I tune into frequency such as yours and others who I believe I can learn from. Maybe I can hear people like you all the time even when you're thinking.

@Delano both are theories - not law so I put those two theories in the metaphysical category such as Aether, String, Multi-dimensions etc. ...There is no proof just experiences - which can't be proven. And I'm ok with that. also that's flat out dumb on his part. If something can be proven there's no need for faith.

What is science? "Just as importantly, science is also a process of discovery that allows us to link isolated facts into coherent and comprehensive understandings of the natural world." https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/whatisscience_01

@Delano , yes that's what was revealed in this conversation - we've all been indoctrinated one way or another...and some of us were able to shake it off like @Cynique The rest of us are stuck namely you, me and @Pioneer1. If we don't shake it off we will remain stuck.