I'll throw in my basic recommendations to get you started. I'll add my mailing list for online shops later.

Shirts

• Purchase 1 black and 1 white tee that fits well, graphic tees that match your personality
  
• Invest in a nice sweater for wear in colder months, they look classy but casual
  
• Go to Macy's, find the clearance rack, and look for Alfani button-down collar shirts with sleeves rolled up. Not only do these make for great evening/date wear and business casual wear in the office, but they also generate compliments. The added benefit of finding them on clearance as that they usually run for less than $15 a piece and you can try them on in store.
  
  
  

  Shoes
  

• Vans are cheap and go with anything
  
• Check out outlets, warehouses, and in-mall shops during sales for good Nikes
  
• Ebay or Offerup if you're brave enough
  
  

  Pants
  

• At least 1 pair black joggers and a pair of well fitting denim.
  
• Bike(moto) or destroyed jeans under $30
  
• Lighter colored chino's are great for a classier look.
  
  

  Accessories
  

• Invest in a nice watch. Seiko is a popular brand for good reason. Be mindful when buying watches and leather straps that they should compliment your skin tone(darker on lighter skin, lighter on darker skin). r/watches
  
• I recommend leather or dark beaded bracelets. They're usually cheaper online but you can also make your own with materials from local craft stores.
  
• A small sterling silver chain with a nice emblem compliments well.
  
  

  Piercings
  

  Under no circumstances should you be getting any piercings done at a retailer like Walmart. Period. Nor should you be using a piercing gun to have your pierces done. Period. Find a reputable tattoo parlor that does piercing with a sterile needle. Discuss your skin sensitivity, how and where you want to be pierced, and what kind of jewelry you want to wear before you even sit down. When the time comes, make sure that they mark and show you where the piercing will be placed so that there are no discrepancies. Most places should place trainers that will be kept in place until healing is done, so make sure you keep that area clean every day. After healing is done, you can go back to the parlor and they should help you pick out your jewelry.
  
  

  Hats
  

• This one is a little trickier. I honestly just buy caps from Lids when they're on sale or from Amazon. Be careful buying fitted ones though, as depending on how often you grow or cut your hair they can become too loose or tight. I prefer snapbacks for that reason.
  
  

  Hair
  

  Most get fades or grow their hair out in a protective style, so not much to say about those. I'm aware, however, that someone asked about how to get the curly hair style that's becoming popular.
  
  

• Decide on what haircut you want; I prefer an Afrohawk. Let your barber know ahead of time what you're trying to do with your hair. Your hair should be at least a couple inches combed/picked out.
  
• Get your cut, then shampoo and condition your hair, or use apple cider vinegar(youtube it) to clean your hair.
  
• While it's DAMP(not wet, not dry, but DAMP) you can massage your usual oil(or growth cream) into your scalp.
  
• Take a dab of curling pudding(I use Cantu's Coconut Curling Cream) and run it through your hair while it's still damp.
  
• Finally take a little finger sized scoop of styling gel(Eco is popular, find one that smells good and holds your hair) and run it through the TIP of your hair. You're not trying to work it into your scalp so it shouldn't go past half way deep into your hair. Add more as needed but not so much that you form visible clumps.
  
• Now grab a mirror, find the crown in the back of your head, and take note of the direction your hair grows(clockwise/counterclockwise). Rub your sponge/brush in a circular motion in the same direction your hair grows for at least 10 minutes until you get the curls you desire. Fix or shake your hair as needed.

Have ever run your fingers through your hair in the shower and felt wonderful, silky curls only to have them disappear as soon as you get out the shower while your hair does it's best impersonation of a shrub? Then this method is for you!

Hi Billy Mays here with the-


Hey everyone. Wanted to share my Scrunch and Go method I use to style my hair most days. It's as close as I can get to a Wash n Go, the only way I can define my curls that doesn't take an hr or more, last me about 2 - 3 days, and only takes about 5mins as I'm getting out the shower. Works great for me, hope it works great for you cause it's so frustrating to feel those nice shower curls but never being able to wear them out.

I have 4A/B mixed hair(allegedly) and even though my hair stretches down to my eyes it naturally coils up tight so I can't really rake any products through and coat "root to tip" without retangling my hair and destroying my curls unless I'm trying to do something like finger or two strand twist. As much as I like it I can't even L.O.C cause applying each step makes my curls frizzier and frizzier, but with this my hair looks great and stays moisturized with just 2 products and 2 steps.

Borrowed the "Squish to Condish" method from r/curlyhair, and modified it to fit my needs.

Step 1:

Define - Cowash and finger detangle in the shower. My hair's never fully detangled, I just undo as many knots and separate any chunky or 'reaching' curls as I can and start to feel that good ghost curl definition. A conditioner with good slip is key. This was impossible before. Usually take a few minutes to do this first then finish my shower so the conditioner can sit.

Step 2:

Capture - Showers done. Time to go. I rinse out the conditoner with cooler water. As soon that's done, hair's still soaking wet, I spray my leave-in conditioner. Now I grab a quarter size glob of gel, spread it over my hands and scrunch it into my hair, grabbing a section with my whole hand and giving it a small tug. Repeat until I've done my whole head. This seals in the moisture, captures the curls without disturbing them, and helps them clump together. I check in the mirror to see if there's any uneven spots and tug them into place then just let it dry. If I want I can redo this everyday pretty quick or just keep it for 2 - 3 days with some easy fluffing back up in the morning after some water or conditioner.

Cowash conditioner: Alternating between Shea Moisture Intensive Hydration and Carols Daughter Sacred Tiare right now. Prefer the smell of the Shea Moisture but the Carols Daughter has super good slip, just not sure about it since it has silicone's. My bf loves it though so it keeps popping back up in the shower.

Leave-In:
Mane Choice Type Four Leaf Clover. My hair texture doesn't like cream conditioners so it's sprays for me(spray everything!) and this one works perfect. Even by itself my hair doesn't dry out by the end of the day.

Gel:
Mane Choice 24K Gel Experiment with other gels since this ones $16 at Sallys but so far it's the only one that does what I need and doesn't make my hair shrink bad or feel too hard and fragile. It's soft but has a strong hold. I did not trust gel before this and needed to keep my pick on hand constantly to keep any volume.

Use whatever works for you and hopefully this method helps you tame that mane.

Glad I refreshed before posting, you answer is much more complete than mine. I'm going to add in terms of making friends with similar interests, you have to be willing to participate in the things they want to do and ask them to join you in activities you like. Some people will say no, but in general you don't know if you like a particular activity unless you try.

"Just joining clubs" just gives you exposure to new people. You still have to do the legwork for actually making friends there. It's not really much different from meeting people anywhere else, it just gives you some starter conversational topics.

If you're lacking the social skills to feel comfortable having deeper conversations with others, that's where you need start. Like any other skill it takes practice, and practice builds confidence, and confidence makes you more comfortable. Restricting conversations to banter has to do with your insecurities not theirs.

With racial politics, people just aren't aware of them, and don't want to be preached at, as they're not in a position to contribute. You have to put in a little extra work when you're trying to get to those topics. Think intersectionality and start there. When people feel heard about their issues, they're much more willing to hear about ours. Then at least it's a conversation everyone can partake in. After that initial work, you'll know which one of your friends are allies willing to have these types of conversations, and which are not. I've personally found women to be a little more sympathetic about these issues than men, since you don't have to deal with the MRA and hotep crowds. Adding to what BSworld777 said, you also run into people who only care about the issues that personally affect them. So they're all for advocating for issues that gay men may face, but not issues that gay men of colour face. Same for feminism. You get people who care about feminism, except when an issue doesn't affect them as much as women of colour. (Don't be one of these people! It's really easy to fall into that trap.)

If you've not read it yet, I'm going to recommend "So you want to talk about race by Ijeoma Oluo". It's a book I've almost religiously been recommending people read this past year, as it's the best introduction to intersectionality I've found that I've actually been able to get people to engage with.

(PS - I enjoyed your reading blog post on the portrayal of women in The Boondocks)

I'm not sure about the other guys but I'll answer your question?

​

Did you vote in the 2016 elections?

I have voted in every federal election since I turned 18. That includes the 2016 election when I was living outside of the country.

​

Who did you vote for in the Democratic primary?

While I was able to find out how to vote in the general election from overseas, I was never able to figure out how to vote in the primary while living overseas, so I skipped voting in the primary.

​

Who did you vote for in the 2016 presidential election?

I voted for Hillary, though to be honest I'm not a fan of her. I thought voting for her would be better than voting for Trump or skipping the election. The state that I'm registered in, Florida, is a big state and a swing state. It ended up going to Trump anyway.

​

What exactly do you feel is negative against Black Americans and what policies are you looking for to rectify that?

​

For me, the biggest thing is the racial wealth gap. The following quote is taken from [a paper that was released by the Boston Fed](https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/one-time-pubs/color-of-wealth.aspx)

​

\> Nonwhite households have only a fraction of the net worth attributed to white households. While white households have a median wealth of $247,500, Dominicans and U.S. blacks have a median wealth of close to zero.

​

By comparison, West Indian immigrants in Boston had median total assets that were more than 17 times that Black Americans and median net worth that was about 1,500 times that Black Americans! No that is not a typo. When you compare the median net worth of an ADOS family in Boston to a white family in Boston, the white family has almost 31,000 times more wealth.

​

Those types of numbers don't happen by accident. To understand how they happened, you have to look at history. While there are a number of books, such as [The Color of Law](https://www.amazon.com/Color-Law-Forgotten-Government-Segregated/dp/1631492853) that go into detail about this history, [this](https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/working-papers/2017/wp2017-12) working paper from the Chicago Fed sums it up perfectly in one sentence:

​

\> In total, our results provide strongly suggestive evidence that the HOLC maps had a causal and lasting effect on the development of urban neighborhoods through credit access.

​

And what little wealth Black Americans have is projected to fall to 0 by 2053!

​

The reasons behind the poverty of African Americans was caused by government policies that were abolished before most black immigrants moved to this country!

​

Before the passage of the [Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Act_of_1965) Africans weren't allowed to immigrate the US, and West Indians were only here in small numbers. The ones who were here assimilated into ADOS neighborhoods and families.

​

You can say that countries like Jamaica and Senegal or where ever are also poor, and while you may be correct, that has nothing to do with me. That is a grievance that should be taken up with the British or the French.

​

I personally see noting wrong in acknowledging that we as a people, though connected, have different histories.

​

When Obama says things like we can't do reparations because [immigrants would get offended](https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/164713) I think, then they can just stay where they are.

​

Also, I really don't care about immigration reform. And this is coming from a guy that is married to a latina immigrant. Our people have been here for 400 years, why should I care about immigration reform? That does nothing for me or my community.

​

Now, I have nothing against immigrants. I speak three languages, have been to multiple countries, have lived abroad and am married to an immigrant. Honestly, my mother's family was relatively wealthy for a black family in the South during Jim Crowe. My grandfather left 5 properties for my mom and my aunt to split when he passed. However, I see no reason to put the needs of foreigners ahead of the needs of my own people, even if those foreigners are black.

​

I really don't care if the government does something to fix immigration if they do it after addressing the wealth gap here first.

Primary Considerations

When you're replacing a laptop hard-drive the two things you have to consider compatibility wise are size and plug. Now the plugs have been pretty stable for a long time. The other thing is the size. You want a 2.5 inch drive. Basically you're looking at two sizes 2.5 and 3.5 inch. Long as you get that 2.5 you're perfectly fine.

Shopping Around

Now within those requirements there's still a lot to choose from. My advice would be to use PCPartpicker. That's if you're ordering online it should give you the best prices across multiple store. Store prices aren't that disparate but it should still be useful.

Other Considerations

I'm not even sure if they sell spinning hard drives in that size but prices have come down to much I see no reason not to recommend you an SSD. Now we can get back to your point of how much space to get. It would help a little to know more about what you plan to do with it. Presumably not just storage but are you doing photo editing? Video editing? Do you have other storage that you use for backups or will this be your one and everything. MOST importantly is your budget. How much are you planning to spend and how flexible are you? (But I'll assume you don't know what you're doing and don't know how much to spend in order to make some guesses)

So shooting from the hip I'm going to suggest a 1TB SSD. They're reasonably cheap. Any brand you've heard of is probably going to be a solid pick. Depending on how mission critical I wouldn't worry too much about a hard-drive especially if you have a backup solution.

Other Sources

I don't know how many of us here build PCs. I have done it, but i don't do it regularly enough to know the brands that well. The guys at /r/buildapc and the related subreddits like /r/buildapcsales (and their regional equivalents I assumed you weren't Canadian if you are I change all those links)

Some Picks

1. Silicon Power 1TB SSD - $90
   
2. Team L5 LITE 3D 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive - $98
   
3. Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" SSD - $108
   
   There's a lot of features that harddrives can have my advice is to pick a capacity and look at the prices. Find a price point you're comfortable with and then look at the features and see what you might find valuable and from there see if your initial picks have them and if not see how much it would cost you to get those features and is necessary how much it would cost to get those features at 500 GB instead of 1000 GB. That Crucial drive is pretty popular if you have the budget and you want a no thinking pick go for that one.

Razor bumps are created by the hair growing back into the skin, breaking it, and all the related inflammation/infection. Electric razors, particularly the Norelco, work on the premise of lifting the hair above the skin, cutting it, and letting the hair drop below the skin after the tension is released. For a man with even slightly curly hair, this is a recipe for DISASTER. The tighter the curl pattern the worse the results. The Norelco must go!

What he needs/wants is something that cuts close enough to give him a clean look, but leaves the hair at/above skin level so that the curl pattern doesn't dig back into the skin. He needs trimmers. Pick him up some professional quality trimmers like these or these. Make sure to also pick up spray lubricating disinfectant (not plain alcohol!), clipper oil, and store them in a large zip lock freezer bag (humidity protection). They will last literally forever as long as not dropped.

He will need to make trimming part of his daily routine. He may still get "razor" bumps in areas where his hair is particularly curly or if his hair grows fast even with the trimmers. So staying on top of it is a must. Also, running a CLEAN straight edge, like a credit card, against the grain of those hairs through the day may help them not dig into his skin. Most likely though, running a trimmer over his face once/twice a day should keep him clean "shaven" without the bumps.

Finally finished "To Save Everything, Click Here"

Honestly, it was a good book, although his point was made pretty quickly and it was unnecessarily long and drawn out. In effect, the internet is just a conglomeration of previous activities that existed in society. Its "revolutionary" nature isn't; it's just a continuation of things that have come before. So these ideas that stem from the function of the internet (well, openness works on the internet, so let's have openness everywhere in life!) are absurd extensions of logic. The internet isn't special, therefore the openness of the internet isn't particularly special either, or any other characteristic of the internet. Rather, moral and philosophical deliberation with technology itself and between people are more useful and more important that trying to extend the internet as a means to a solution in every facet of life.

Give it a 3.5/5.

----------------------------------

Now reading "The ABC's of Political Economy" by Robin Hahnel

Now this is a worthwhile book! Personally, I wanted to be an economist, and I understand that there are problems that exist within the discipline, but now exactly what those problems are. The author starts from a perspective informed by feminism, political activists, sociology, biology, etc...but all brought to bear against mainstream economics. Honestly, it's rejuvenated my interest in economics. I'm about half way through and I've learned so much!

Would definitely recommend if you're into economics. 5/5.

What kind of Cantu are you using? I've found the mens line to be pretty great.

1. https://www.amazon.com/Cantu-Butter-Collection-Shampoo-Conditioner/dp/B01LTIAUA6
   
2. https://www.amazon.com/Cantu-Butter-Collection-Leave-Conditioner/dp/B01LTIAU8S
   
3. https://www.amazon.com/Cantu-Butter-Collection-Cream-Pomade/dp/B01LTIAUHY
   
   I also use a twist it comb and what I basically do is wash my hair with the 3 in 1 about once a week, after that in goes the leave in conditioner, then some pomade. Make sure your hair is damp when you use the conditioner and pomade and a metal pick is a must, but honestly after sticking to this routine for a few weeks my hair is so soft that I kind of just pick it out and mold it into a shape.
   
   
   A really good trick is after you use the twist comb pick UNDER the curls and twist a little (not enough to untangle anything) to add some volume and get a fuller look.

• Another America: The Story of Liberia and the Former Slaves Who Ruled It - Provides a great introduction/overview of Liberian history, with fascinating backstories.
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/Another-America-Liberia-Former-Slaves/dp/0809095424/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
    
• The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood by Helene Cooper(a famous Americo Liberian who lived and grew up in Liberia while it was at its peak (1960s,1970s) This is her story of her memories of Liberia(good and bad) and what she experienced before, during, and after the coup. She is now a reporter for the New York Times.
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/House-Sugar-Beach-African-Childhood/dp/0743266250/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1549376247&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=house+on+sugar+hill+helene
    
    I am currently reading :
    
    
• Madame President: The Extraordinary Journey of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (also written by Helene Cooper) - Book gives more background on Liberia with a focus on the former President's life.
  
  • https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451697368/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
    
    I am a new moderator at r/Liberia and recently revamped it, so feel free to stop there as well as I like to post interesting news and videos about Liberia both past and present.

The Solution: How Africans in America Achieve Unity, Justice and Repair by Jay Morrison

The Akan Diaspora in the Americas by Kwasi Konadu