ABOUT THE BOOK: Our nation has taken great pains to cover up the history of the Black man, Africans, and the significance of Melanin in humans. Even our White forefathers politically ran this country from before the Declaration of Independence to this very day – the twenty-first century. When Thomas Jefferson constructed the Declaration of Independence, other persons such as John Adams and Benjamin Franklin made several changes. Ben Franklin even denoted in his writings “the no more Africans should be brought from Africa because Whites were already out numbered in this country. “All men created equal” included only White people, since African slaves were brought to this country - America - only for the labor the slaves could produce as well as their knowledge, talents and expertise in building this nation. All people are given air to breathe as a gift from God and must value themselves and all others. It appears that we will struggle for justice and equality for a lifetime and let a moral voice be heard for generations to come. “Black Lives Matter” and “All Lives Matter” are a starting point. There are many changes coming, no situation is perfect, but with our faith and willingness to accept each other’s talents as gifts from our Creator, we will prevail as a “whole nation”. God has his finger print on us, He’s not pleased with us, but He has the power and love to rebrand us in His own image.
Who would have thought preparations for a March 2014 Sacred Libation Ceremony honoring one-hundred forty-eight African American women lynched in America would result in the observation melanin is worth more than gold? Dr. Frances Cress Welsing first told us the chemical melanin is produced through a process known as melanogenesis upon introduction of the chemical tyrosine to the enzyme tyrosinase. Melanin is found in such diverse places as bird feathers, animal fur, reptile scales, microorganisms, cephalopod ink, mushrooms and even fossils. Additionally, melanin is found in the hair, skin and eyes of people. Melanin is subjected to intense scientific scrutiny. Nevertheless, the highly educated people studying it had no idea melanin is worth more than gold. In June 2014 a post to the Keyamsha the Awakening blog openly declared melanin was worth $353 a gram and $300 a gram more than gold. Shortly afterwards, hoaxers began bombarding the blog with comments claiming "melanin thieves" were harvesting melanin from Black people. The hoax was easily falsified. The hoaxers made certain to never mention the company selling melanin extracted from the ink of sepia officinalis, the common cuttlefish. During the intervening years the melanin thieves hoaxers persisted in their efforts. In March 2017, the melanin thieves hoaxers launched a "Melanin Twitter bomb" involving the dollar value of melanin after publicity of black women and girls missing in Washington, D.C. was released. Their actions exposed a frailty in their psyche. They also reveal it is possible to wipe out false information involving melanin and take the melanin challenged inferiority complex (aka racism/white supremacy) along for the ride. It then became clear the time had come to enter the fray and dispel the myths about melanin. This book completely obliterates the false narrative of melanin. Perceiving facts from a melanin-centered perspective bestows upon us an expanded awareness of the world and our place in it. It helps provide the average person a means to immerse themselves in melaninology and emerge a "melaninologist." Essentially, we get to know ourselves. To date no other path for the public to independently verify, or falsify, outlandish claims regarding melanin being worth more than gold on their own without any "guru" to guide them have been made available. At this writing, melanin is worth over $395 a gram more than gold. In ancient Kemet (misnomered Egypt) such words were known as hekau or words of power with the ability to heal. For nearly one-hundred years, since August 13, 1920, melanin put the "B" in R.B.G. and the "Black" in Red, Black and Green as the flag of Africans, at home and abroad.. Those are hekau, also. Our Blood, Our Melanin and Africa unites us. More hekau. The Afro, official currency of the United States of Africa, also known as the African Union, is worth $2.22. We are swathed in hekau to such an extent Mchakato Wa Uponyaji (Swahili for the process of healing) has begun. All of which indicates we are living in a new era: the era when all the generations of man can be called blessed on a planet that works for everyone. This era demands we convene the Ubuntu Convention. That plebiscite sets the stage for drafting the Ubuntu Declaration. In emulating the success of the August 1920 Universal Negro Improvement Association convention, we deliberately create the world where we intend to live. The revival of the U.N.I.A. with 12 million dues-paying card-carrying members positions the organization to have a treasury flush with over $400 million liquid. All of which represents a quantum shift in awareness, perception and power underway as you read this. Through our own actions we bring about the total, complete, and absolute Redemption of Africa for all time.
"Discrimination based on skin color, also known as colorism or shadeism, is a form of prejudice or discrimination in which people are treated differently based on the social meanings attached to skin color." -- Wikipedia, viewed December 13, 2017.
Beautiful, empowering, and exhilarating, Melanin Base Camp is a celebration of underrepresented BIPOC adventurers that will challenge you to rethink your perceptions of what an outdoorsy individual looks like and inspire you to being your own adventure. Danielle Williams, skydiver and founder of the online community Melanin Base Camp, profiles dozens of adventurers pushing the boundaries of inclusion and equity in the outdoors. These compelling narratives include a mother whose love of hiking led her to found a nonprofit to expose BIPOC children to the wonders of the outdoors and a mountain biker who, despite at first dealing with unwelcome glances and hostility on trails, went on to become a blogger who writes about justice and diversity in natural spaces. Also included is a guide to outdoor allyship that explores sometimes challenging topics to help all of us create a more inclusive community, whether you bike, climb, hike, or paddle. Join us as we work together to increase representation and opportunities for people of color in outdoor adventure sports.
"Our intimate connection with the world, skin protects us while advertising our health, our identity, and our individuality. This synthetic overview, written with a poetic touch and taking many intriguing side excursions, is a guidebook to the pliable covering that makes us who we are. This book celebrates the evolution of three unique attributes of human skin: its naked sweatiness, its distinctive sepia rainbow of colors, and its remarkable range of decorations. Author Jablonski begins with a look at skin's structure and functions and then tours its three-hundred-million-year evolution, delving into such topics as the importance of touch and how the skin reflects and affects emotions. She examines the modern human obsession with age-related changes in skin, especially wrinkles, then turns to skin as a canvas for self-expression, exploring our use of cosmetics, body paint, tattooing, and scarification"--Publisher's description.
In the aftermath of the 60s “Black is Beautiful” movement and publication of The Color Complex almost thirty years later the issue of skin color has mushroomed onto the world stage of social science. Such visibility has inspired publication of the Melanin Millennium for insuring that the discourse on skin color meet the highest standards of accuracy and objective investigation. This volume addresses the issue of skin color in a worldwide context. A virtual visit to countries that have witnessed a huge rise in the use of skin whitening products and facial feature surgeries aiming for a more Caucasian-like appearance will be taken into account. The book also addresses the question of whether using the laws has helped to redress injustices of skin color discrimination, or only further promoted recognition of its divisiveness among people of color and Whites. The Melanin Millennium has to do with now and the future. In the 20th century science including eugenics was given to and dominated by discussions of race category. Heretofore there remain social scientists and other relative to the issue of skin color loyal to race discourse. However in their interpretation and analysis of social phenomena the world has moved on. Thus while race dominated the 20th century the 21st century will emerge as a global community dominated by skin color and making it the melanin millennium.
This book investigates the social history of skin color from prehistory to the present, showing how our body's most visible trait influences our social interactions in profound and complex ways. The author begins with the biology and evolution of skin pigmentation, explaining how skin color changed as humans moved around the globe. She explores the relationship between melanin pigment and sunlight, and examines the consequences of rapid migrations, vacations, and other lifestyle choices that can create mismatches between our skin color and our environment. Richly illustrated, this book explains why skin color has come to be a biological trait with great social meaning-- a product of evolution perceived by culture. It considers how we form impressions of others, how we create and use stereotypes, how negative stereotypes about dark skin developed and have played out through history. Offering examples of how attitudes about skin color differ in the U.S., Brazil, India, and South Africa, the author suggests that a knowledge of the evolution and social importance of skin color can help eliminate color-based discrimination and racism.
Weaving together personal stories, history, and analysis, Same Family, Different Colors explores the myriad ways skin-color politics affect family dynamics in the United States. Colorism and color bias—the preference for or presumed superiority of people based on the color of their skin—is a pervasive and damaging but rarely openly discussed phenomenon. In this unprecedented book, Lori L. Tharps explores the issue in African American, Latino, Asian American, and mixed-race families and communities by weaving together personal stories, history, and analysis. The result is a compelling portrait of the myriad ways skin-color politics affect family dynamics in the United States. Tharps, the mother of three mixed-race children with three distinct skin colors, uses her own family as a starting point to investigate how skin-color difference is dealt with. Her journey takes her across the country and into the lives of dozens of diverse individuals, all of whom have grappled with skin-color politics and speak candidly about experiences that sometimes scarred them. From a Latina woman who was told she couldn’t be in her best friend’s wedding photos because her dark skin would “spoil” the pictures, to a light-skinned African American man who spent his entire childhood “trying to be Black,” Tharps illuminates the complex and multifaceted ways that colorism affects our self-esteem and shapes our lives and relationships. Along with intimate and revealing stories, Tharps adds a historical overview and a contemporary cultural critique to contextualize how various communities and individuals navigate skin-color politics. Groundbreaking and urgent, Same Family, Different Colors is a solution-seeking journey to the heart of identity politics, so that this more subtle “cousin to racism,” in the author’s words, will be exposed and confronted.
In the aftermath of the 60s “Black is Beautiful” movement and publication of The Color Complex almost thirty years later the issue of skin color has mushroomed onto the world stage of social science. Such visibility has inspired publication of the Melanin Millennium for insuring that the discourse on skin color meet the highest standards of accuracy and objective investigation. This volume addresses the issue of skin color in a worldwide context. A virtual visit to countries that have witnessed a huge rise in the use of skin whitening products and facial feature surgeries aiming for a more Caucasian-like appearance will be taken into account. The book also addresses the question of whether using the laws has helped to redress injustices of skin color discrimination, or only further promoted recognition of its divisiveness among people of color and Whites. The Melanin Millennium has to do with now and the future. In the 20th century science including eugenics was given to and dominated by discussions of race category. Heretofore there remain social scientists and other relative to the issue of skin color loyal to race discourse. However in their interpretation and analysis of social phenomena the world has moved on. Thus while race dominated the 20th century the 21st century will emerge as a global community dominated by skin color and making it the melanin millennium.
