Mel Hopkins

Social media, in my opinion, doesn't prove we are stupid.  A lot of social networking sites, however, are putting us on a path to the land of "idiocracy".

The steps we are taking are as follows: 

We want to remain connected to our peers and one way is through our shared beliefs. Yes, even something as simple as belief in an optical illusion of a viral video.  If our peers believe something is true, many of us do our best to see the truth in it too.  For example, look at religion - there's very little in any of the tenets of the three big religions that is "factual" or  even can be proven - but it doesn't stop each of those three big religions from having billions of believers. 

Our beliefs are our fellowship.  

Same can be said in social media networks.  Look at your "friends" , your "followers"  clearly there's something that connects  all of you. What ever that connection is there is a trade-off and that is the challenge with social media;  we are beginning to "share belief" in the mundane to remain connected.  Eventually without questioning those beliefs we will undoubtedly become mentally weak.  

Today's Social Media, such as facebook, doesn't serve as space to engage in critical thinking nor problem solving - it serves as a place for us to be seen.   What we share there is a reflection of us.   Oops!    I've just proved your argument didn't I?  

I found my audience on facebook and i'm actually selling my book! A few people who i have known since high school and reconnected with on facebook have actually bought and liked my novel- thanks to facebook i remembered the importance of creating and maintaining relationships that lead to sales, vendors and other viable components of a strong network. In fact, i even reconnected with Troy and enjoy watching not only his personal brand grow but aalbc.com - i don't read books by black authors unless those books are sci-fi/supernatural/fantasy/horror - therefore i had no reason to peruse the aalbc website - but when i reconnected with Troy, he was my reason. His posts on facebook cause me to visit the website - a few of my dedicated followers visit Troy - when i do. One more thing facebook allows for is to act as a test-market. People respond to content that interest them. That is one thing we can't fake. As a writer this is incredibly important. The adage is to write what you know but when you write what you know and the public responds - not only have you identified your market - you also have the much coveted mental real estate. Yes facebook is a juggernaut for a reason!

I was discussing this topic with my daughter and she reminded me that as soon as I posted a comment here I was writing for free. Sadly she is right and this is exactly why we writers find ourselves are in a quandary. Our hubris is our downfall. We believe someone wants to read/hear what we have to express and when we do communicate our thoughts it diminishes the value of our rhetoric. Imagine being thought of as such a great thinker that people are willing to line up to purchase your thoughts.

This is why I spend so much time reading writers of antiquity... They don't tweet, Facebook , blog, or visit forums. I can only find their work in a book so I'm willing to pay for it.

.I was saddened by this story when I first read it. I understand the history, I understand the need to belong - but native Africans need to come home.

Do you know how happy I was to learn that my maternal lineage began in Ethiopia- For years my mother told me we were blackfoot indians - and I searched and searched - and yes I did find my great great grandfather on the maternal side was from some tribe in West Virginia...but I rejoiced to learn that we were the original women ( haplogroup L3 - no markers) from Africa...It is time for Africans to reclaim our legacy...

I was just reading the obit of Bob Guccione the founder of Penthouse Magazine, and apropo of what Mel said, it mentioned how he'd been one of the richest men in America when he was an entrepreneur but went broke once he branched out into business investments.

Wow! It's amazing how a repetitive message (programming) can even override the sensibilities of someone who has actually seen how the game worked for him. I suspect true fiscal knowledge isn't complicated. The Ponzi scheme we are expected to participate in, is complicated. smh

Despite Kam's 4 star rating I did not think I would find very much appealing about CNN's latest special on "Black America"...Overall I’d give the program 1 star for the simple fact is they more than anything else help spark a conversation that might actually led to some positive actions. At least I hope so.

Troy, thank you for this thought-provoking review. I didn't bother watching the report although one of my Facebook friends posted it as must-see TV. Personally I learn more from the ruling class's entertainment on how to manage my money than I would from any CNN special report.

I have to disagree with about post-slavery economic woes for former slaves. You of all people know that investing and saving is not the way to financial security and solvency - entrepreneurial activities are and have always been the way to become rich. If you look at how many West African people were awarded patents for their inventions post-slavery, you like I, would probably wonder why we start believing in the current bill of goods about saving and home-ownership. After reading that both Mark Zuckerberg and his former Facebook president and Napster creator Sean Parker both rent their homes it got my 20-something year old daughter and me wondering why they rent? We did an exercise which gave an overview of our home-ownership expenses. We pay a mortgage, property taxes, insurance, electricity, gas, and water. Let's say we pay off the mortgage - what are we left with? We will still have to pay property taxes every year for as long as we "own" the property. Let say our property taxes go up to 15,000 before I am able to apply for homestead to freeze it. Now I pay $15,000 plus maintenance, heat, electricity, water and insurance which totals about $20,000+ per year. My cost to live in "my" home is now $20,000 +. How does this benefit me? Well some would say I've built up equity. If I sell my home for $450,000 I really wouldn't have come out ahead or broke even, have I?. Nope, because most likely I would have paid more in finance fees. I'm not surprise Zuckerberg and Parker didn't run to buy a home with their earnings. Their businesses were their equity and there are more loopholes to get around taxes than there is available to sustain property.

Troy, I can go on but black people are more slaves today than we were in 1864...at least then we wanted to be free.

Troy,

What is the real crisis here? Is it single black men? Is it single black women? Is it lost black boys? No one for black men to lead? Is it black women in the workplace? Not enough black women willing to stay at home? Not enough wealthy black men? What is the crisis?

@ Mel, I have found in my experience that "some" women prefer the thug-man over the "nice" man. This attraction for the thug-man usually begins at about age twelve or thirteen and lasts until around age thirty to thirty-five. Usually during the mid-thirties the light bulb comes on, and now she is ready for the "nice" guy, you know, the one that was totally ignored in high school, the smart one, the one that focused more on his academics than his "mack." Ironically, even the "nice" Black sister is attracted to the thug-man. What I have presented is something to think about, and ponder.

Oh my! I couldn't find any other Mels on this page so I think this was meant for me. I don't know why I would ponder this Are you assuming about things you do not know?

@ Mel Hopkins, your comments on the "I AM" is debatable. I have heard this argument before, but from a strictly Biblical perspective, I see no concrete substantiation for your reasoning. But I don't want to get into a back-and-forth debate on this because, based on past experience, a consensus will not be reached.

I also noticed a sprinkling of Feminist ideology in your comments. We need to talk.

That was my point. There is no need to bring in theology in this discussion because it would not produce anything to bring us to a solution. I AM has no sex so why bring it up. As for feminism unless you want to talk about the equal rights amendment- I'm not sure what else there is to say other than the proposal has been in out of congress since I believe 1923. It has yet to be ratified.

One more thing...why is my picture so darn huge?

Additionally, I’m not so sure that Black women, despite the advances, are all that happy. Considering the types of books that cross my desk; a significant portion of them deal with relationships. It is already a worn out cliché that “there are no good Black men out there”.

The old line from Mahogany: "Success is nothing without someone you love to share it with", rings truer today than ever.

This problem hurts both sexes.

Troy, the only time I've ever been unhappy with a man is when I tried to control him and he didn't want 'ack' right lol. Seriously though, I don't know why some women seem unhappy. Contrary to popular belief, I've found black women to be some of the most submissive women in the western culture. I've seen women settle for men they know weren't right for them. I've seen women allow their men to beat on them, harm the children and even bring sexually transmitted disease to them sometimes resulting in fatalities in the worse case scenario. Therefore letting a man lead them can not be the problem.

Everyone of my inner circle friends is either married or working on marriage number two or three. Personally, I've never had a challenge having a relationship with a man from any ethnic group. I did notice there was a bit of difference between having an intimate relationships with white men versus black men. After getting a divorce and until recently I didn't want a serious relationship. I perceived having an intimate relationship interfered with my definition of success and getting to understand me.

Speaking of which maybe that is the challenge - not so much letting a man lead the household but rather having a woman in the household at all. I know in my travels and position as a flight attendant - I can't tell you how many men of different ethnicity have told me - I couldn't possibly be married because no man in his right mind would let me fly around the world on my own...I always respond "let me?"

As a Christian minister, I would like to add a different take on this issue. After reading all of the comments, I immediately noticed that God, along with the specific mandates that He has set forth concerning families in the Bible, was not mentioned.

Personally I didn't mention a christian god because the male and female sex are mutually exclusive of theology. Gender roles are a societal construct and independent of I AM. I believe in I AM and THE I AM that I believe in has no sex - for if I AM did - it would be human being and not worthy of any more praise than I give you or anyone merely because of divine nature contained within each of us.

Using the judeo-christian patriarchal theological explanation of why a man should lord over a woman is no better than our ancient ancestors in Ethiopia and Egypt (KMT) (who came before the god of abraham) using the fact that since women can create life sans a man itt was reason enough why woman should rule over man. We were once one who became two...We dealt with that change and that had to be the biggest obstacle of all. So this societal change of men finding new footing should be a small thing to a giant aka humans.

So as society changes men and women simply need to change with it. It is my belief that we are all embodied with Divine Intellect -therefore when someone moves the cheese - we needed to be able to seek it out. Those who can't will unfortunately get "LEFT BEHIND"

Sorry to read that some black men only know their role or how to lead if they can subjugate other humans i.e, women. That doesn't seem like leadership at all. If it was possible to lose those leadership abilities it was actually never theirs in the first place. For you can't lose what is yours by divine right. Further, this crisis you speak of, seems to be a challenge that afflicts the lower socio-economic class. This doesn't seem to be a challenge in other other western cultures. In other cultures, including the prevailing 'ruling class' it seems as though men seek out women who come from equal or higher socio-economic classes and standing in an effort to advance in this society.

As for the equal rights for women side of this argument; the civil rights act of 1964 didn't actually give women equal rights but rather it made it illegal to discriminate against women in the workplace. The ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) proposal is still in the works and has been since 1923. So far ERA has not been ratified therefore it is still not law. Which brings me to this; there is an axiom in the military which is - in order to lead you must first learn to follow. It seems with the strides that women are making in the workplace, entrepreneurship, finance, family, education etc, sans having a man in the home, I believe we women have learned this lesson very well. For those men who are having a hard time finding their footing in this 'new age', I suspect it is time to follow the leader. AGAIN.