Mel Hopkins

Wow... something so simple... like an archive page? Ok I'll do some research and get on it! That IS what I asked myself... I got very sad too. I thought if you're getting that many visitors then why sell? It made me feel that even traffic won't help me set up a business writing.

@Troy Unfortunately that's not it.. Reading comprehension is a becoming a lost art. Most people don't even have a grasp of semiotics... I included few symbols in my novel that modern Americans would (should) have understood right away but they didn't have a clue. And my symbolism was basic - really basic! Today, people read a few words that tap them emotionally and believe they understand the composition. Recently I had to diagram a essay beginning with the conditional statement . I agree education is the key... but now we have to figure out how to help people become educated.

Thank you, Troy! Thank you for including me! And thank you for your website diagnosis. It helps out a lot! I was considering moving off the service and going over to wordpress.org hosted by godaddy but I may rethink that now. I'm not quite sure how to add those meta-tags and title tags through the wordpress. template. I do get to chat support with my subscription - so I will contact them and ask. Did you use the search feature and type in aalbc. I found about five aalbc related articles. Also I found this article through my categories. Also the link works too -am I misunderstanding? I am a beginner when it comes to html and coding.

This is my question. I can't tell if melhopkins.com is a standalone site or is ranked as wordpress.com . Or it could be because I signed up for the wordspress site before I mapped my domain. With wordpress.org - I don't think you don't get a wordpress domain in addition to your domain name. I hope I didn't make this too confusing. AND... I'm very disappointed in VSB... I thought this was a blackowned site! Edit: Here is their reasoning http://verysmartbrothas.com/why-we-joined-gizmodo-media-group-gmg-explained/

So many things to ask and say about this clarion call but first, 1) what qualifies as a website? 2) Does a website with an owner's domain hosted on wordpress.com (DOT COM) or blogger.com qualify for ranking? 3) Or do you need to build on wordpress.org (DOT ORG) website with separate hosting. 4) What if it's a blog with a static page plus a single entry per day... 5)

So now we aren't going to use government statistics as the standard because they don't measure up to what you believe you've seen?

@Troy Are you getting that number from somewhere other than bureau of labor statistics. From this chart it looks like the highest unemployment rate for the black community was 17% and from this chart it seems participation rate makes it difficult to have unemployment rate at 50% ... Since you say I play fast and loose with the statistics, please review. I do agree with you on the jobs numbers. I don't really pay attention to them. - other than to figure out who has a steady paycheck lol... I do have a prediction - the job numbers will be high just in time for Christmas. So many contractors are needed to rebuild those states hit hard by the hurricanes.

We have to create the habit... When I saw the monthly subscription fee, a bell went off. Since it wasn't "free" I was able to consider the cost and then decide where I'd like to spend my money.

Great Minds think alike... I did that too. Troy, I write so much I forget what I've written and what are notes from a text I wrote something last year, but I forgot that I had written it . I needed to check if it was my prose or something I heard. I used the free version of grammarly last night - and had to correct my content for what felt like 50 times. I finally got an "A" but I can't do that for a manuscript - it would be too time-consuming. Grammarly is superior and its features such a checking for plagiarized documents is stellar. -Still, I'm very serious about patronizing members of our community before I go outside.

I have not...but he's not on my radar either. I agree with you @Troy , there is NO reason for publishers to overlook aalbc - it's actually disrespectful especially since aalbc has been on the 'net much longer than any other book website - and almost as long as publishersweekly.com - Maybe you should send a note to the publisher?

Looking for a Grammar/Plagiarism detector digital platform created by Women or Person of Color. Grammarly is $29.95 per month --- so, before I subscribe, I would like to find out if there are other platforms available in the community. Thank you.

@Troy WHO SAID? Doesn't matter though because we live in a world that is governed by cause and effect... There is a cause for job loss in Obama Administration. He started with job loss. 45 Administration didn't begin with job loss. But this much I will agree with you on... Thank you!

@Troy So, you're not going to answer my question - one that I asked in relation to the point you were trying to but failed make. Ok I see what you did there. lol

@Cynique ,I think it's because they haven't been taught to interpret the symbols. Television programming isn’t bad - but what I've learned when reading reviews is people watch on the surface and miss the meaning. For example, "the blacklist” is about resources and networking - how even your worse enemy can be a great resource depending on your goals and needs... Through television programs it is easy to learn how to navigate corporate politics ... I used a phrase with my daughter, in fact both, her dad and I use the phrase” Did she "good wife" you" when she tells us about the corporate shenanigans ... "The Good Wife" phrase in this context, as you've probably gathered, is someone in the office threw her under the bus soon after they decided how they were going to handle a challenge (a contract in her case). By the way, you may be an octogenarian but I wonder if you, like I, have had always had a hard time finding those who share your interests? I find very few people are interested in observing humans, their skills, talents and behaviors... Sometimes, I feel like a homosapientologist ...and I don't think there are many of us.

Please do, but don't forget to answer my question - what precipitated the job loss in 2016... We know what happened in 2007 leading up to the two years of job loss 2008-2010 ; it was the great recession ... but what happened in 2016?... This is the first time the U.S. economy has lost jobs since September 2010 – seven years ago. It interrupts the longest streak on record of consecutive months in which the economy added jobs.

@Troy Were you absent during the housing crisis and the economy collapse of September 2008? I wasn't. I had just started a new job and was almost laid off because of it. Now, I did miss the near-economy collapse of 2016 ... so please remind me of what happened.

Milo is suing Simon and Schuster for $10 million ... Judge ruled in his favor to let the case go forward. Also he got to keep the $80,000 book advance. I guess they are learning "hate" doesn't pay. Probably the last time they will try to cash in on a built-in market of hate , It can be very costly. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/milo-yiannopoulos-wins-first-round-10-million-lawsuit-simon-schuster-1046027

@TroyThat would be a 1 MILLION DOLLARS over 10 months.. $100-THOUSAND PER MONTH http://kaepernick7.com/million-dollar-pledge/ “I will donate one million dollars plus all the proceeds of my jersey sales from the 2016 season to organizations working in oppressed communities, 100k a month for 10 months.” – Colin Kaepernick And in my 50 something years ... I've never heard white america squeal like a stuck pig over anything Farrakhan has said or done...Even during the million man march - remember the joke that NPS counted black men as 3/5 - and returned a count of 400-thousand in attendance.. Farrakhan doesn't enter into white america's sanctuary. He's smart enough to stay in his playground. He's not a threat to white America's psyche. Beyonce was enemy no 1 , though, when she performed "formation" during the 2016 super bowl. THE SUPER BOWL 50. Like a Trojan Horse, she and her black panthers styled-warriors marched out on their field and she resurrected Malcolm X and gave corporate America the finger. White folks screamed bloody murder and cops threatened to not provide security for her concerts. Butthurt. Today, 45 and white America are butthurt because Kaepernick took a knee 7 months after Bey danced into formation . For a protest to be effective you got to surprise them on their own battlefield... https://youtu.be/SDPITj1wlkg

But, but, but... this is the same country that doesn't lower the flag; or make a lighted statement on an edifice when an unarmed citizen falls victim to a state-sanctioned execution. We have to pay closer attention to our natural laws, such as cause and effect. It's nipping at our heels and biting our azzes while showing it doesn't discriminate. This means we'll all fall victim even if we didn't contribute because we did nothing to change our course.

@Mark Radford Thank you. ... I read your blog post about the ghosts in the restaurants -- good story! Those gloves - made it even more spooky! Nice placement. When I pulled up the page - I thought "why the gloves"... when I finished the story... it was "oh those gloves" lol

Yes! @Troy that's what @Cynique and I have both touched upon. It's about access to experiences... and I've not shied away from the underbelly of Black culture. But I must admit - when I started crafting my response to @Educate2Empower I remembered the difference between those who idolize musicians and those who are entertained by them -and the difference is access to other experiences... Both Cynique and I are veteran journalist - in that vocation you don't have the luxury to remain in a bubble - And I got stories - these are tame... But besides working with at-risk children when I was only 16 years old... I've interviewed child prostitutes (male and female) who shared a day in their life with me. These were in-depth stories for sweeps (Nielsen ratings month) because we wanted the most viewers. (Now you understand why I left broadcast news to go work for a nonprofit that would help these children) But I digress. And just like Cynique wrote, those female emcees imitated them - not the other way around. Again, what we experience, paints our world and colors our perspective. So, if Cardi B has influence over certain members of the black community - it's because she's mirroring a subculture of the community. She's familiar persona. Maybe the target of our rage shouldn’t be directed at SONY but those who patronize the children working the streets ... Get rid of the pedophiles; and we remove the child prostitute's market. Then the Cardi B's of the world will be foreign to the subculture as they are to me and those like me. .

Hello!!! I just finished this book "Transitioning from employee to entrepreneur" - Do you feel comfortable sharing your experience of exiting your business? If yes, please share. Thank you.

I'm the WTF kinda person too... Right now - just in this moment because it will most likely change, is this - I get the we were born in sin part of the scriptures. Humans are cursed with thinking too damn much. We are so curious ; that our curiosity is killing us and everything around us. I checked out pictures of capybara and realized that most animals, reptiles, birds, et al are social creatures. When they see us humans they' probably say "RUN, the upright- 4-leggeds" are crazy AF...." I agree, @Cynique, when I shut off my "why" tape - life is filled with wonder and surprise - just this morning I went out with my pooch - and I saw a bird against the dark skies and the bird (bat) was illuminated.. I betcha you he or his kind never sought to find out why he glows in the dark - they never experimented on him... and said this could come in handy when we try to prolong life even though we will die.. He was just chill probably saying in response "Really, I glow you don't say." as he flapped his wings to get away.

@Educate2Empower I don't know much about you so I don't want to assume anything. If I get it wrong, charge it to my responding to your words. First, as one who has traveled the world, and not just the tourist parts either, globally, people recognize Hip Hop as entertainment. Most young people, globally and here at home, support Hip Hop because, as @Cynique mentioned, it's edgy. As for Hip Hop or emcees dictating our individual style via corporate whims; I was born and raised in New York, the fashion runway of the world; reported news in the Ohio Valley, where I lived for 10 years; moved to Illinois and worked in Chicago, where most of our work was in the predominately black neighborhoods; and my next job there, took me all over the world. I can say, with full confidence, no one dressed like they were spitting rhymes in a video or on stage. Well, I went to a few concerts in Chicago, and there's a segment of the black culture that dress like Superfly of the 70s but that was the extent of the costuming. The rest of the world and even most of us here in America separate entertainment from daily life. If we mimic any type of dress, it's what we see our peers wear. It's a tribal thing. Now, when you speak of "collectively", I'm not sure what you mean. Collectively, most us work to make our lives better and better for our children. Individually, we seek to contribute to the world what we ourselves desire. Good, bad or indifferent - we give what we desire. It is clear, you represent the world you live and I represent the world I live in. I hadn't noticed Cardi B before Troy posted here in the forum. My daughters never mentioned her. They are too busy making their mark. So, it's not an age thing, either. For the record, Cardi B is contractor of corporate America. She's not employed by a record company therefore, she is not a representative of corporate America. She represents herself. Just because she's black doesn't make her an influencer of black women either. Corporate America, Starbucks, specifically, just named Rosalind Brewer, (former CEO of Sam's Club) as their COO ... She's a graduate of Spelman College, a college for women, (mostly black women) She is CORPORATE AMERICA... And she definitely no one's fool. Ms. Brewer provides a pleasing image for Corporate America. Or did you not notice her? Here's the crux; my daughters are millennials; and none of them listen to the radio. In fact, most millennials don't listen to the radio... when African Americans listen to music Nielsen's stats indicate it looks like this AFRICAN-AMERICANS' MUSICAL PREFERENCES Blacks demonstrate a strong preference for the genres of music they helped to create and have been closely associated with for decades. But hell, millennials don't even buy music. They stream their music. I stream music! If the group/audience you're dealing with is under the spell of corporate media; chances are Cardi b is the least of their problems. Maybe they don't have access to the outside world. If so, the tragedy is they're left behind. There are many organizations, such as YWCA, Boys and Girls Club, local libraries and individuals to help folks get out of the proverbial cave. Getting access to outside world for those left behind is one goal I think most of us can get behind, collectively.

@Troy, I did... It's scheduled to post on the 6th. Our turnout along with other women of color makes the difference - and we do turn out in mid-term elections. We can't carry the democratic nominees but if others join us we can elect them. My post indicates the latter. Together we must turnout at 65 % or higher... Like @Pioneer1 said, we aren't protecting ourselves and we are being gerrymandered. The democrats in the state legislatures are allowing it to happen. OK North Carolina went to court to stop the shenanigans but each state democratic caucus has to do the same.