Melanin Magic

This book identifies the converging socio- cultural, economic, and technological conditions that have shaped, informed, and realised the identity of the contemporary virtual influencer, situating them at the intersection of social media, consumer culture, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and digital technologies. Through a critical analysis of virtual influencers and related media practices and discourses in an international context, each chapter investigates different themes relating to digitality and identity: virtual place and nationhood; virtual emotions and intimacy; im/ materialities of virtual everyday life; the biopolitics of virtual human-production; the necropolitics of pandemic virtuality; transmedial and mimetic virtualities; and the political economy of virtual influencers. The book argues that the virtual influencer represents the various ways in which contemporary identities have increasingly become naturalised with questions of virtuality, mediated by digital technologies across multiple realities. From practices relating to AI- driven, invasive data profiling needed for virtual influencer production to problematic online practices such as buying digital skin colour, the author examines how the virtual influencer’s aesthetic, social, and economic value obfuscates some of the darker aspects of their role as an extractivist technology of virtuality: one which regulates, oppresses, and/ or classifies bodies and datafied bodies that serve the visual, (bio)political, and digital economies of virtual capitalism. In the process, the book simultaneously offers a critique of the virtual influencer as a representational figure existing across multiple digital platforms, spaces, and times, and of how they may challenge, complicate, and reinforce normative ideologies surrounding gender, race, class, sexuality, age, and ableism. As such, the book sheds light on some of the more troubling realities of the virtual influencer’s existence, inasmuch as it celebrates their transformational potential, exploring the implications of both within an increasingly AI- driven, digital culture, society, and economy. Drawing from a wide range of disciplines, this book will appeal to scholars, researchers, and students working in the area(s) of: Popular Culture and Media; Internet, Digital and Social Media Studies; Data justice and Governance; Japanese Media Studies; Celebrity Studies; Fan Studies; Marketing and Consumer Studies; Sociology; Human– Computer Studies; and AI and Technology Studies.

"Contagiously upbeat, joyful, and positive . . . [C]herish this book." -Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW "A must-have for any library that is in need of books with positive representation for and about Black children, as there is no other alphabet book quite like this one." -School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW "A necessary, uplifting volume that celebrates 'black girl magic' and 'black boy joy.'" -Publishers Weekly M Is for Melanin is an empowering alphabet book that teaches kids their ABCs and celebrates Black children, now available as a board book! M is for Melanin shining in every inch of your skin. Every shade, every hue. All beautiful and unique. Each letter of the alphabet contains affirming, Black-positive messages, from A is for Afro, to F is for Fresh, to W is for Worthy. This book teaches children their ABCs while encouraging them to love the skin that they're in. Be bold. Be fearless. BE YOU.

Maverick, an inquisitive little boy notices his brown skin for the first time and turns to his daddy to learn more about the magic in his melanin.

Melanin Magic was written for young queens who have read a geography book in school or seen a television show, and dreamed of visiting a country outside of their own. In just seven days, this young girl travels all around the world on her magical carpet. She visits places she has only dreamed of, and experiences cultures she has never imagined.

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.

This book embodies what it truly means to be proud of being an African-American. The African-American culture is comprised of unique and powerful aspects that are personal to each King and Queen, and through this book, you'll find yourself one step closer to truly appreciating the beauty and excellence built within us.

Welcome to a collection of experiences and feelings that I’ve gone through so far in life, written in the form of poetry. If you can relate to anything I’ve written and that made you feel less alone, then everything was worth it. We’re in this together because life is like that sometimes and it’s better when we’re not alone.