Mel Hopkins

To what all of you have written... YES!!! My journey into the occult began with the scriptures .... Those scriptures not recognized and canonized reveal so much - After a deliberate search, the words had me wondering if it were a handbook for angels. If a magician has a specialty, mine would be oneiromancy (dream interpretation); psychography (automatic writing) and I can, as it seems to be the case with @Cynique and @Troy , read energy. It extends beyond presence to include when someone thinks of me. I can pick up the vibration accurately. It wasn't until I was watching a movie that I realized that each of us has a distinctive rhythm to our heartbeat... So that may be what I'm sensing. EXCEPT... that heartbeat rhythm stays with us when pass on. I can tell when I'm in the presence of a loved one that has passed on - or even an energy of a stranger. I believe we all have these abilities but I think many have allowed them to become latent. @Delano Interesting that you mentioned we haven't transited into the age of Aquarius yet. So these labor pains continue - oh my! What's your take on Ophiuchus, the 13th sign - is its appearance responsible for the delay? Or no?

@Delano I like that idea and yes I will share my experiences. I've only shared my knowledge of magick in my debut novel. I've always been too embarrassed to share the practice publicly, the fact that I used to practice magick and how today, I'm still energized by the subject means I shouldn't ignore it. As you mentioned there are many levels of magick and they can overlap. When working within nature there's a real possibility to invite those in from other dimensions that may revel in destruction. This is what I found when I was completely immersed in the practice. As an alchemist, you have to be mindful of your vibrations (energy levels) at all times. Sadness low energy/ low chi brings about forces who are "hellbent" and destruction and those forces will use your low vibrations to complete any task. I was once so sad that I was laid off from my job that I made myself sick with fever. I drifted off to sleep and felt as if I was on fire. I began to toss and turn from what I thought were the effects a high fever. As I rolled over in my bed - my former co-worker text me to tell me my immediate supervisor and my departmental co-worker were trapped in the office and the section of the office building was on fire. They got out unharmed but very much shaken The fire investigation revealed ongoing construction in that section of the building as the cause.

The challenge with this strategy is it undermines the overarching goal of eliminating sexism and inequality. It plays into the narrative that women don't enjoy sex and instead use it as a weapon or a bartering chip. This doesn't change society's structure it reinforces it. Plus, it's a lie. Some intimate the strategy was used in Liberia and Ghana - but it was actually peaceful marches and protest that allowed them elect their first woman president - Also it did however have a short-term effect of stopping a civil war. It didn't change the overall structure of the patriarchal culture. Change is gradual - and those oppressed women you speak of...they are in the first stage "Awareness". I do agree with you about our dysfunctional relationship with western ideals -We've been living under it for about 5,000 years and I suspect it's like a bad relationship - it's hard to break up because it's a habit. A bad habit and we all know how hard those are to break. 2021... and the council of foreign relations and other think tanks would disagree. Those groups and I credit Occupy Wall Street for making it a thing. Here's the list by states . The film "Pray the Devil back to Hell" and Women of Liberia mass movement proved the opposite.

Right up until Saturday, I also believed marching and protesting were a waste of time. I've only marched in "Save our Sports" protest in '79 at Brooklyn Tech. <- @Troy (did you march to the board of education?) A lot of high school students converged of BoE and we won! But as I got older it was my belief that we should use the time to draft legislation and find a senator/ representative to sponsor the bill for us just as ALEC did with the "stand your ground" legislative proposal. Then a little before Saturday, I began to remember what marching and protesting was all about. It raises awareness. It forces the news media to do their job. It puts the poor folks concerns in the national lexicon - a news article sprinkled here and there can't do it. Nationally/Globally, no one paid attention to the wealth disparity until Occupy Wall Street movement brought it to our attention. Now we do studies on the 99% vs 1% to find ways to achieve equity. There's probably no one on the planet who doesn't know black lives matters - and police will go to jail for killing unarmed civilians (well at least here in Georgia). As for the corporatists and their leader DJT - I agree with you, I don't think marching will have an impact on them either. It will, however, keep him and his minions spinning.

Minimum wage increase goes into effect in NY this year -

If we're amid an African or even African American renaissance, it's our best kept secret. A renaissance is usually marked by the resurgence of polymaths - and I'm hard-pressed to find any in this century. Polymaths are identified by their ability of knowing a lot and doing a lot. Further, those achievements are peer-reviewed. I'll keep looking though because when it comes to identifying polymaths in our culture - black women and men are often overlooked.

@Pioneer1 , @Troy Are your comments based in facts, local observation and/or is it just how you feel personally? For example, I can't refute the way someone feels about a topic - we all have our beliefs and our beliefs and emotions mirror our observations of our world. BUT if you are purportedly presenting facts then... There was a study done on marching and the number of marches on a single topic are in direct correlation to how legislators vote...(Protest and congressional behavior: Assessing Racial and Ethnic Minority Protest in the District by Daniel Q. Gillion The Journal of Politics Vol 74, No.4 (Oct., 2012), pp. 950-962) Or the Women's March wasn't just a big city thing - there were Women's Marches on all 7 continents - yes even on a ship in Antarctica. For those women, Climate Change is real - and they want to be heard. Several of the most conservative cities including some from Mesa, Arizona (the MOST conservative city in the U.S. according to The Economist) held sattelite Women's March. It's documented - I even retweeted pictures from those unlikely spots. Edit to add the Tampa Bay Area Tampa -St Petersburg boast 20,000 turned out for their satellite Women's March Also, here's the mission and vision of the Women's March - here's the link . The overarching goal is to upend the more than 5,000 years of patriarchal rule and return our culture to the egalitarian culture it once was.

So glad you kept it up! I didn't know you wrote books too. (ok sometimes I'm in my own world. )

Didn't take to the streets on Saturday but on Sunday, I gathered the names of all my legislators and elected officials (yep even the dog catcher) and I'm preparing to send them all postcards to thank them for their service. I will also add to the note: "I'll stay in touch." If I need to get a clipboard, (#thanksobama) I will. Having President Obama in office did make a lot of us complacent. Not that I missed any votes; I vote in every election even if I'm new to the area. But as soon as we heard folks were being dropped from the voter rolls we should have been out there registering or re-registering them. I won't sit back ever again.

yes

oh snap! Did. Not. Know. This.

The incentive is "first run movies television shows, indie movies, tv shows, music and free shipping" and that was what they offered when I was a prime member. For example, amazon has a huge film/tv/ music catalog and the cost is $8.25 per month - whereas netflix is 9.99 and napster is 7.99 per month. Plus with your prime memberships there are a lot of freebies. Before I left the service I received a free kungfu panda for download. I'm not singing the laurels of Amazon but..I've enjoyed a lot of the perks.

Yes, I was disappointed too. It must be really difficult to maintain a comment section.

Thank You! Will do!

Can you tell me the significance of .png. Also why does a transparent background make a difference? I ask because I think my logo has a opaque background and it shouldn't have been.

www.tonybrownsjournal.com/blog/i-told-you-so Mr Brown seems to welcome Trump Administration and also predicted his win.

See that aalbc logo looks great! How can we get one?

This is the message bouncing around the black women "Enough is enough" social media echo chamber. A faction of black women will not support the movie : because 1- rape charges (no conviction/allegedly no remorse for passing around a woman for sex) 2- black women have no agency in the film and are used as props to support the "black macho male" narrative. https://www.thenation.com/article/the-birth-of-a-nation-is-an-epic-fail/ The latter isn't sitting well with Dr. Leslie M. Alexander who wrote the article I linked here. Her bio reads: professor in the Department of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University, where she specializes in 19th century Black culture and political consciousness. She teaches courses on slavery, resistance movements, and historical accuracy in film. Historians such as Professor Alexander mentioned black women, especially, Nat Turner's mom played a role in waging war against slavery to the point where she attempted to kill Nat to prevent enslavement. Unfortunately women are silent in the film (literally in the portrayal of Nat Turner's wife). Further some say Nat Turner had a "spiritual awakening" so to speak and refused to participate in the system. A holy ghost moment when someone finally stands up to the moral injustice is a powerful motif. Aside, I think that would have been a better inciting moment anyway, especially with black people claiming "stay woke" status today. Who knows, maybe this whole film is Nate Parker and Jean Celestin's $10 million attempt at absolution and we're just along for the ride. Still, I don't pay to watch slave movies so I can't claim to boycott. After the reviews, however, I have no desire to see it anyway.

I last saw you in 2010! That ain't no decade, man!!!

"In 2015, community giving in South Carolina from Walmart stores, clubs, and the Walmart Foundation totaled $30 million." @Cynique how I missed reading your contrarian views! When you and Troy mix it up we get solutions! Boycotting Walmart would absolutely be counter-productive. (I can't believe I'm writing this lol) Walmart provides employment to folks who would not otherwise have jobs, vegetables in food deserts, and they give back to the neighborhoods they operate in to empower those people who are inspired to go beyond the $10 per hour gig... http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2016/10/14/urban-league-awarded-25k-grant/91938268/ - #solutions

The more I move around the site and learn all it has to offer the more I want to petition the Library of Congress to back it up on their servers. I got one of my associates in the LOC - maybe I can try for two! (smile). Congratulations Troy! I'm so honored to be have you in my network. Speaking of Library of Congress, did you know the Librarian of Congress is a black woman, right? Carla Hayden is the 14th librarian and the first woman ever to hold the position in 214 years. Hayden is also the first person of African-American descent to hold the post. I thought of her when I read this entry because both of you are watching over our history. Thank you for all you do!

I noticed before, it had the period - I removed it and entered the correct address but when I go to the link I don't see aalbc . So you're correct something malicious is underfoot.. If you have dropbox I will share with you the screenshot - so you can see what I see.

Atlantic writers must have noticed the same thing I did... and also hat tip to @Sara because according the article slow suicide is not a thing either because mortality rates are also on the decline for black men while they are on the rise for white men... Check out the article, Black Americans are living longer.

I've played around with Shopify and I really enjoyed how easy it was to set up a storefront. The trial period was 30 days back then I see they've made it 14 days. EXCEPT they didn't have book store templates when I first tried it in 2012 or 2013!!! There were a lot of templates to choose from or if you are good at coding you could do it yourself CSS - but now - wow! It is best to prepare all your sales copy before so you can set up the shopify site in one day. This way you can really test out the sales features. You can either use your own domain name or one with the shopify extension. When I tested it out initially it was $29 plus the percentage of sales. I signed up with fetchapp to download ebooks after purchase. Since I was only selling one e-book it was free. fetchapp doesn't offer the watermark though... This book was worth the 2.99 just because it informed me of shopify's growth! I agree the book is easily 30 pages max but I feel that it has more than paid for itself already. Thanks for the heads up!

I just purchased this book via your link... 1- I wanted to experience the process. The link took me to the author's eCommerce site.. I could pay via paypal or a credit card. (Btw, the price was $2.99 not $.99) Once my purchase was complete, I could download it or put it in my dropbox. For some reason the dropbox didn't work but I was able to download the pdf. Each page is watermarked with my name and email address and a note that it is my personal copy. (How did he do that?) I can tell you one secret to making money is purchasing the book directly from the author - if more people would purchase from author and/or through an affiliate it - authors/publishers can keep more of their royalties. I plan to release my next publications directly from my website.