Mel Hopkins

25 minutes ago, Troy said:

You insist on making this about my personal standards.  But you will not find them as I never tired to define any, despite your attempt so say I have and am trying to impose them on others.

Every time you open your mouth to say what the dress code shouldn't be - you are defining a standard.  

1 hour ago, Troy said:

Yes Mel, I know you are a pull yourself by your own bootstraps type of person.  I was one too.  But then I started AALBC.com, read more, met more people outside my successful Black middle class demographic, and my position changed.

 

Nope, I'm a trust-fund baby.  But I come from a family of women and men who have always run a business, had a side hustle and most importantly thought for themselves.  I'm in the process of pulling myself up by my bootstraps right now - reinventing myself because  the only constant is change. To that end, I READ  and I practice EFFECTIVE THINKING most of the time... so of course, I would expect others to read and think for themselves too. 

So yes,  I definitely believe we have our own mind and we use it to achieve our own desires.   The proof is from visiting so many different countries  all over the world and seeing so many types of living conditions... and the bottom-line is people do what suits them in their environment.   . Russians allegedly tried their crap in other countries but guess what? It didn't work - I wonder why?   Only here in America, it seems, do we have politically disengaged people.    Not black women, though, every publication that keeps records on the electorate , such as American progress and Pew Research indicate that black women vote at a higher rate than any other group.    

So America has its true leader,  black women ... those who aren't following will must likely get run over. 

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/heres-how-nate-boyer-got-colin-kaepernick-to-go-from-sitting-to-kneeling/


Although this feels like an update - here's a new part to the story circulating on social media

 

24 minutes ago, Troy said:

No where did you read that I want to deny women their agency--I want them to reclaim it!  What I'm saying is that there needs to be standards, and we can't allow corporations to make them for us. Mel do you disagree with that sentiment?

Some black women never lost their agency and others reclaimed theirs when slavery ended.   As I've written, corporations only dictate a dress code for their offices.  You deciding a standard for black women - means you want them to lose their agency. I'm not understanding why you're having a difficult time with this concept. 

Black women not dressing to fit your standards, is your personal problem. 

As for 44 % work force vs labor participation; OK very good.  At least you did your own digging for a change, even though I supplied the data.  It could be 44% as I read initially but for now we've both used DOL stats so we're beholden to their interpretation of the figures.  

However,  I added the workforce statistic,  the voting statistic, (both that you picked apart and removed the focus of my argument) and the business ownership statistic to make the point that black women are doing a lot of things besides entertainment. You (or was it educate2 empower) chose to label  all black women  by one woman  and what she wears at her workplace.  Seriously, Troy,  the fact that you don't label black men by one black male entertainer is another reason why I take issue with this particular rant. 

8 hours ago, Troy said:

Saying people should just no better is naive. ...People should know better not to smoke.  People should know better not to eat crappy foods.  The fact of the matter is people are actively manipulated to do things are are bad for them, suggesting that they should "Just Say No," ignores all the propaganda people are subjected to.

@Troy,  You're kidding right?  Naive?   Believing corporations will not act in its own interest is akin to believing in good fairies.   |

By now you should know, I'm from the camp of personal responsibility.   People  are simply acting  on their own desires.  Someone can force you to do something, but  there's no amount of propaganda that will make you do what you don't want to.  

For example, where's the big ad campaign /propaganda machine pushing opioids?  Now t's news and states are filing lawsuits against big Pharma, but somewhere along the chain there was information pull activity- which just shows people want what they want.

So blame platforms and absolve people if that's makes you feel better.  But here in the U.S. people have a sense of agency and they choose their lives

7 hours ago, Troy said:

@Mel Hopkins you missed my point.

@Troy  I never miss your point.  I refute it. 

Now unless you provide the data to refute my assertion about black women is wrong  then it stands. The data is available, I suggest you get to work. 

In the meantime,  If you look at your own words,  you've attempted to decide how the black community should look but fail to recognize that is your personal standard.   

You don't get to define black culture, no one does.  And if for some reason that power was bestowed upon you, black culture isn't a monolith.  We're not uniformed and never have been - we're a mosaic and that's always been our strength.     

However, for one who assails against corporate america for dressing emcees, you "doth protest too much, methinks" .

You've decided that corporate america is dressing emcees and then trotting them out on stage to represent black america. First of all when was black america ever defined by its entertainers.  Maybe other groups tried to copy, steal and most definitely mutilate our talents but black people have never defined our culture by our entertainers...

Well not until you, that is.  But the rest of us are entertained by entertainers in their costumes.  

By your own admission you stated you don't know much about the music business.   From your words, I can tell you know even less about stylists and  the people who hire them. It is rarely the record labels.   

Still at the crux of your argument,  is this offensive habit you have of denying women their agency.    Now I understand why.  You prefer to decide how women dress but since you're powerless -you place the blame on corporate america, in an effort to usurp their imagined power.   

Still, even if you were able to accomplish that feat... your next obstacle would be black women. Since African American women now head more than 1.5 million businesses throughout the U.S with over $42 billion in sales and $ 7.7 billion in payroll - 2015  U.S. Census Survey of Business owners - it's clear black women are deciding their own fate - and that includes how they dress themselves.  

10 minutes ago, Troy said:

Mel you are gonna have to share the source of these stats again

This is what I'm talking about being too lazy... Troy, when in doubt, research!!!

10 minutes ago, Troy said:

Black people are portrayed. If they can get women to rung around scantily clad and cursing like a sailor and make money they'll do it.  Do you think these music executives care how Black people women are portrayed?

 

And I don't care what other people "think" of us... I care about what we are doing. 

And what is your problem with how women dress?  You do realize women can wear anything they want to wear.  If they choose to wear a head-to-toe burqa or a floss between the butt - it's their choice, AND no one gets a vote. 

36 minutes ago, Troy said:

It was actually that very experience that turned me off to social media.  I was constantly being bombarded by messages that Hilary is a crook, some of them patently false. 

Oh now I see, this was personal.   @Troy you let those memes get to you... Those memes didn't faze me anymore than campaign attack ads do on the radio - or tv.... It's just media and campaigning.   I've been following Hillary since the late 80s...  if you or anyone isn't aware of  candidates' background and that's your first introduction then of course those memes might work - but we can't blame social media for our own ignorance.   On the very same internet, anyone can query and research the background of the candidate, sponsored legislation and just about anything .  Privacy is a thing of the past for you, me but especially anyone running for office.  It's on us to compile information on those we chose to elect.   Again facebook isn't the problem - we are.   No one deserves absolution for ignorance.   If members of the electorate, especially the middle class, get turned off  for something as simple as casting a  vote - then we all suffer - but those too lazy to cast a ballot are responsible for the disaster that we have today.   Sorry facebook is not blame.  Lazy ass people are. 

31 minutes ago, Troy said:

 

The distinction of 94% of Black women versus 94% of those that voted is important. It is possible less than 50% of Black women voted for Hilary.

Of course it is.  But the point is  94% of black women WHO VOTED...  voted for Hillary .... Therefore  trolls  or facebook or any social media have no affect on BLACK WOMEN WHO VOTE

29 minutes ago, Cynique said:

In any case,  you can't stem the tide of change. The future is fluid. This is the age of technology which is really just about enabling people to be more efficient at doing what they've always done and this includes exploiting each other

Beautiful

The way you write @Cynique leaves me verklempt .

Every. Time.  

4 minutes ago, Troy said:

94% of Black women did not vote for Hillary

94% of black women who voted, voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton.   

AND IF NOT FOR SOCIAL MEDIA, you,  by your own admission @Troy , wouldn't have voted in the last election.   Thank you @Cynique  - Troy admitted that you were the one who inspired him to go out and vote.  

6 hours ago, Troy said:

The problem is even as a regular user you are subjecting yourself to false information and manipulation by marketers, foreign governments, and even Facebook itself. The CNN video above is proof that there are an attempt to create civil unrest in Baltimore and Ferguson and that Facebook profits from this activity.

Yet 94% black women still voted for HRC... So while trolls may fool fools, it isn't fool-proof.     Trolls are like a virus - if you're immune-system is  strong (i.e., mentally strong) you can't become infected. Only a weakened immune system will be infected.  

17 hours ago, Delano said:

Mel E Mel 

Dddddamn

I wish I could claim it but daily show writers got all of that lol

POWER!

"It's wrong to do it in the streets,

It's wrong to do it in a tweet,

You cannot do it on the field ..

You cannot do it if you've kneeled.

And don't do it if you're rich,

You ungrateful sonofabitch.

Because there's one things that's a fact.  

You cannot protest if you're black"
=

I don't understand the point.  How does Cardi b have anything to do with the state of Black American women or black women/girls empowerment?     I remember posting the stats of Black American women here in this forum recently.  Here in America, Black women make up 44 percent of the labor force. They head their own households, 1.5 million black women are business owners,  88 of those are start-up tech firms.  Black women are  homeowners,  underpaid, and  medically under serve to name a few stats.   The greatest achievement of black women is they are the most formally educated group in America as of 2016...oh and 94 percent of the black women tried to save America from Pumpkinhead.    So, I know, I'm missing the correlation here.   

What is the point about Cardi b having the number 1 recording in the U.S?  It's a musical recording not the state of the world today. 

Or unless I missed it and we are using Future or  Kanye as a role model as the standard to raise our children and a measuring stick for the state of black men?

7 hours ago, Cynique said:

Colin Kaepernick has been a catalyst.   His protest is just the tip of the iceberg and America is on tap for a meltdown. Why do I get the impression that you guys are frustrated by Colin's longevity,  and you'll be disappointed if his symbolic gesture brings about change? 

@Cynique your quote reminds me of how some black men dismissed some of President Obama's work... If I were of age during the civil rights movement - I bet I would have heard  a certain kind of black man poo-poo Martin Luther King, Jr, and Malcolm X too .  

Now, I expect certain types of black men to be a distraction to progress.   They are like white women who voted for Trump or against Hillary. For them, as long as the status quo is protected no one will expect them to achieve anything.  The best thing, though is those types may delay progress but they will eventually get run over by it.  

Now I understand "Climate Change"! We're probably packed up in a storage container! 

11 hours ago, Cynique said:

America is being tested and examined.  Because it is not the noble country it is cracked up to be, it is on a collision course with failure.

My most-quoted and referenced movie is The Wizard of Oz. The unmasking of the wizard shown to be bumbling-coot of a con artist is my favorite part.  

I read, recently, stadium sports was used to amp up the revelry for war.  In fact, according to the Washington Post the anthem tradition allegedly began in Chicago before the NFL was founded.  

Meanwhile, Senate just passed a  $700 billion  in NDAA (New York Times Article) funding  for the war machine - that is America... A bended knee at the military function, commonly known as NFL match-ups , is like having a traitor in their midst.    

See, Colin Kaepernick, being half-white and raised in a white household understands the war-related symbolism.  He simply dog-whistled the Jingos and like wounded dogs, they are howling.  

The rest of us battle-weary Americans are waking from our poppy-field slumber (opioid crisis, my ass) and are no longer under the influence of the Powers-that-Be and their spells.  

We see you, WH Resident 45*.   We see clearly the whole damn theatre.

19 hours ago, Delano said:

what your previous approach was in relation to the question;

@DelanoI was going to ask what "question" but then I listened to the video.  I don't currently have any questions plaguing me at this time.  Thank you for the invite.

Oh by the way,  I'm squeamish and tend to be protective of sharing my body parts for record.

 I had my mtDNA tested once.  Thank goodness that facility isn't holding it hostage like its their property such as reported about ancestry and 23 and me. 

On 9/14/2017 at 12:03 AM, Cynique said:

BTW, i wasn't aware that there was a reservoir of wealth in the black community that could be taken out.    

Bravo @Cynique !  But there is some wealth that can be brought into the black community.   When I was married I was a stay-at-home mom until I couldn't take it anymore.  But while I was at home, I managed the money and I spent the money in our community.  At the time, we were living in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn before we moved out of state.  

My daughters are heirs to their "white" fathers estate.  Not only do they benefit from his wealth now; he is preparing them to care for his estate when he dies.   When black women marry white men, the wealth is usually managed by black women ( This is true for all women since women manage the purse in the home) and  we keep the money in our community - at least when we can.  The reverse isn't necessarily true.  

Wait,  I do remember, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie frequented a lot of black establishments, especially hair care spots when they adopted their ethiopian daughter Zahara. But I digress. 

Speaking from experience mixed with the fact that women control 70 - 80 % consumer spending;  when black women  marry white men , the black community benefits from the union.  

Thank you for the invitation @Delano !  I'm still working on my own project of know thy self .  How can your project help me with my quest? 

3 hours ago, Del said:

I was just thinking thst perhaps society encourages these distinctions to both advance the society as a whole. And to exploit the "common" "man"

@Del, now that's some food for thought! 

Exploit the common man would be fine, but can she get paid for her contribution?  Everyone works to advance the system -so can she some some severance pay  before everyone advances to the next level? 

I see the tree and the serpent (s) golden ratio (Phi), owl and for some reason I also see a peacock feather... It feels like If I look at too long I'll become one with it .   One more thing, many of those symbols are allegedly related to worshiping the Canaanite's sun god.   

On 9/4/2017 at 8:21 AM, Troy said:

Since May of this year, I've been sharing this bestseller seal. I this time I simply never noticed the type it contained!  This morning I read an email from a bestselling author alerting me about the typo.  They did so almost reluctantly not wanting to bother me in the event I was already aware of the error. I was not and just the day before I began using the seal throughout the site--an effort that I now have to invest valuable time to correct.

 

Of course as soon as the error was pointed out it jumped out at me like some sick magic trick.  Oh brother...

I hate when that happens... fortunately, for us our brains process information extremely fast.   

On 9/7/2017 at 9:30 PM, Troy said:

Hopefully some good will come out off this "technology," but all that has happened is that wealth inequality have grown to a record highs and more of us are living on the margins.

@Troy , thank you for this response - I agree technology is creating a digital divide - and many are not afforded the opportunity to capture the equity they are owed.

5 minutes ago, Troy said:

You need programmers and engineers to design the hardware and software to make sense of it all.

Except @Troy, it's happening now - did you forget the story about big data and 45*s election win?  

That's not  even where it begins or ends.

This is why I've asked are we being left behind again. - And you, the second most geekiest person I know when it comes to statistics - and you blow off my question with a sentence.  As if I'm speaking about some sci-fi future shock. 

 Predictive analytics and modeling  are being used at corporations determining how long you should spend on hold - to whether you'll get that loan - to whether you will donate to a worthy cause and how much you'll spend.  Programs ARE making it "possible for humans to analyze the unimaginably large volumes of data being produced."

Like you wrote,  no human could pour through the all that data but computers can and are doing it Humans need not apply!  

So those "exponentially fast-growing companies that leverage technology and require less employees but those who are tech-savvy" are way ahead of us ...AGAIN