Entries from May 2007 ↓

Um the $400 million dollar man speaks about Hip Hop, Imus, the Iraq War, movies. Master P, in one big rambling mess. At some point does he say that the Vice President resigned? The gist of his comments is that he is not responsible to the devolution of culture. Russell Simmons taught him well. Brought to you courtesy of Black Exploitation Television. Thanks Angry Independent

Then here comes T.I with fatherly advice ( He’s a father of five. I’m not touching it.)

If we take T.I.’s argument to its natural end.. Using his logic, we don’t need child safety caps on medicine because well… the kids parents should be looking. We don’t need to put fences around pools or covers on manholes or any other of steps we take to protect children. The truth is that we have some really crappy parents TRUE, but there are easily some devoted caring parents who are battling for the hearts and minds of their children against the materialism, misogyny and thuggery glorification that is commercial Hip Hop.

The problem with his final statement about “as long as there are “b’s” “N-words”, and “h’s” in America , rappers deserving to rap about it is that the African American experience is not monolithic, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at what the large entertainment industrial complex presents to the world. To hear urban radio tell it, the only way to get outta the hood is to sell drugs or women.

I’m not saying stop anybody from saying anything. I have a problem with a total an complete lack of balance. Maybe if T.I. didn’t listen to so much rap music as a child, he would know that there are multiple careers options available that do not require violating the law, preying on the weak, and poisoning the next generation so that they end up rapping about how screwed up their lives are.

MIGHT I ALSO ADD that Tupac for all his flaws managed to be conflicted. For every “How Do You Want It.” there was a “Dear Mama”. For every “I Get Around” there was a ” Keep your Head Up.” So even if you start out talking about drugs, sex, and money, where is the growth? Where is the evolution? Are they going to be on Social Security talking about “slanging rocks?”

Somewhere our ancestors are rolling in their graves. There were hundreds of years when Black folks had alot less than we have today. Heck for hundreds of years we didn’t even own our own bodies, but we managed to establish families, a rich and vibrant culture, and even risked our lives to learn how to read.

I think Langston Hughes said it best in his poem, ” Mother to Son“

I’m tempted to send a copy to 50 Cent and T.I. Stop whining already. People did a lot more with a lot less and managed not to compromise their morals or exploit their own people in the process.

Women’s groups to challenge Viacom’s exploitation and degradation of African American women at shareholders meeting tomorrow in New York at 10:30. Yes, the folks that set Black women back about 500 years with Flavor of Love, I Love New York, and Charm School will be challenged tomorrow morning. If you own some Viacom stock and are in the area, look it up. I guess I’m going to have to buy a share so I can go next year. You can read more at Black America Web. THANKS FRED!

Words and images have meaning. I keep saying this over and over. I’ll Keep saying it. Today’s Oprah Show is about Children Ashamed of the Way They Look . The show includes a Black mother who prayed for her son to be born with light skin. Another guest is an 18-year old filmmaker who reveals how black children really feel about their race. So put down the Bar B-Q brisket and watch this show if it hasn’t already come on in your viewing area.

This site is called What About Our Daughters. It think this show will reinforce the idea that the minds of Black children are being warped by what they are seeing and hearing and NO ONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IT!

We’re going to change that!

Cross Posted at African American Opinion Blog.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY: “Was it Worth the Beating?”

A few weeks ago, one of my readers e-mailed me and indicated that he was a proponent of the total eradication of Hip Hop. In his mind, it could not be redeemed or saved, but was too destructive to be allowed to continue unchallenged.

At the time I thought his view was extreme. First, it is impossible to eradicate anything (“ How‘s that War on Drugs going“). Second, Hip Hop is a broad musical genre and all Hip Hop artists aren’t spewing misogynistic lyrics . Third and most important, at that point in the development of this blog, I didn’t want to get into a debate with people about whether Hip Hop can be redeemed. I would have spent all of my time fighting off indignant Hip Hop apologists.

However, recently I stumbled across a report courtesy of Mirror On America: The Rap On Culture & Why Cosby Was Right. The report is the result of research conducted on young African Americans in Ohio:” How Anti-Educational Messages in the Media, at Home, & on the Street Hold Back African-American Youth.” I e-mailed the authors of the report because many of the gender specific findings focused mainly on African American boys and I think more attention needs to be paid to African American girls. For example, one of the anecdotes is about taking a group of young black males to the child support office after a mentor discovers several of his mentees “might” be teenaged fathers. There is no correlating anecdote about what it’s like to be a young Black teenaged mother. What about OUR DAUGHTERS? The gender bias within the report notwithstanding, the results are absolutely horrifying.

• In 2002, only 59 percent of African-American students in Ohio high schools graduated. That compares to a graduation rate of 84 percent for white students in Ohio, according to a 2006 report by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
• Nationwide, the high school dropout rate for African-American males is nearly double the rate of their white counterparts. Students who drop out of high school are more likely to be poor, engage in violent behavior and end up in prison.
• Male and female students with low academic achievement are twice as likely to become parents by their senior year of high school, compared to their more studious counterparts.
• Roughly three-fourths of Ohio prison inmates dropped out of high school.

For all of you leaping up to point the finger at White America, retake your seats! This study actually ties the Hip Hop culture to the achievement gap between African American students and their counterparts in other groups.

Contrary to some beliefs, achievement gaps between Black or Hispanic students and White or Asian students cannot be completely explained by economic disadvantage…Hip-hop culture has come under scrutiny of late, following the racist and sexist comments by radio host Don Imus. Much of the attention has focused on misogynist, violent images pervasive in the industry. However, we consider anti-education messages often found in the music equally harmful. These have led far too many African-Americans, particularly boys and young men, to believe that academic excellence is undesirable, or simply not “cool.” The excesses of music artists, along with the exploits of athletes, have contributed to a false sense of confidence among urban youth that other opportunities abound for those who do not take their education and responsibilities as young men seriously.

What are you going to do in a post industrial era without the entry-level credential to enter the workforce, a High School Diploma? How are you ever going to have the slightest chance to fully participate in the economy without a High School Diploma?

The NAACP is wasting time at its national convention to bury the “N-word.” When you have hundreds of thousands of African American youth committing financial suicide by dropping out of school, does the “ N-word” really matter? Where is the funeral for high school drop outs?

The typical response from Hip Hop apologists are that the artists are merely reflecting their upbringing and that it is a legitimate form of artistic expression. But is this merely art, or is it more sinister? According to this report, Hip Hop isn’t merely reflecting culture, it is driving culture and not in a good way. If Hip Hop were a cancer, would we be content to destroy only a few of the cancerous cells? Probably not

My challenge to my readers. Read this report. It is only 16 pages and come back and let me know what you think. If the stakes are this high, can Hip Hop be saved or should it be eradicated?

Attention all Coca Cola stockholders: You are about to give 400 million dollars to 50 Cent. Yep. That’s not a typo 400 million dollars. Way to be a responsible corporate citizen! Why don’t y’all take time to thank Warren Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway, one of Coke’s largest stakeholders: Mr. Warren Buffett,Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, 3555 Farnam Street,
Omaha, NE 68131

Now how many of y’all think Defunding the War on Black Women is a joke? 400 million dollars. Hip Hop is not about making music. It is about making money. Part of the reason this purchase was so palatable is because 50 Cent was mainstreamed. Stop Funding Foolishness!

THANKS FRED!

As if we didn’t already know that the War on Black women is GLOBAL,Iberia Airlines recently had to pull this ad, running in Spain. From the Miami Herald.

The video posted earlier this month on the company’s website showed the baby being coddled by two black women with exaggerated full lips and wide hips squeezed into hot pants.The women fed, massaged, fanned and danced with the infant as he sang, in an adult male voice, “Mulattas, feed me. Come on mulattas, take me to the crib.”

An organization called the Consumers in Action Federation protested because the advertisement denegrates women who work in the Cuban tourist industry. Apparently under Spanish law, it is illegal to have advertising that denegrates a group of people.

It was the Cuba cartoon that drew fire from a consumer action group, which said it was a sexist insult to Cuban tourism workers. ”Cuban tourism workers do not massage you, fan you and dance with you,” Ruben Sánchez, spokesman for the Consumers in Action Federation, said by phone from Madrid. “This ad denigrates people who work in tourism.” He said the ad violates a 1988 Spanish law that prohibits advertising that is denigrating to groups of people. In this case, Sánchez said, the video was demeaning not only to tourism workers, but Cuban women and Cubans. The organization complained about the ad last week and Iberia pulled it four days later, he said. Advertising professors are requesting copies so they can show them to students as an illustration of what not to do, he added.

Wow. Yay. Consumers in Action Federation! They are known as FACUA in Spanish. You can find their translated page here. Wouldn’t it be nice to have US consumer groups lead the battle against negative portrayals of African American women? Alas, it is not to be. We’ll have to do it ourselves.

What About Our Daughters strives to be different by highlighting the works of others in the struggle to combat negative portrayals of African American Women in popular culture. Here is the latest batch of featured activism.

Radio Stations Owners Ban Degrading Music
“As an African-American owner of four TV stations and one radio station, I am announcing, effective immediately, that music degrading women and other members of our community will no longer be played on Hot 97.7,” said Michael Roberts, CEO of Roberts Broadcasting Company which owns Mississippi’s Hot 97.7, in a statement to his employees. “The rule applies to all broadcasting operations owned by my brother Steven and me.” (source) You can let them know what you think about their policy feedback@roberts-companies.com. Drop them a note of appreciation. They didn’t have to do it.

Anovelista.com has an excellent article called The Weary (Nappy-Headed Ho) Blues It is an excellent anthology of art, history and news related to the barrage of insults African American women endure. “I really wish the same righteous indignation and fire and energy used against Don Imus were used to refute degrading lyrics and images broadcast all over the world that call black women “hoes,” “tricks” and of course, “bitches.”Excellent chronicle She covers Snoop, C. Delores Tucker, Langston Hughes, Stuart Scott. The whole gamut.

Make Hip Hop Not WarProduced by the Hip Hop Caucus. “The Hip Hop Caucus was established to provide a comprehensive agenda for the Progressive and Hip-Hop community both domestically and abroad. The Caucus’ programs promote social and political equality in the area of Economics, Education, Health Care, Housing, and Justice”

Remember C. Delores Tucker? Well the organization she led is still around. The National Congress of Black Women. I hunted around their website and have e-mailed them to see what they are currently working on. If you want to See what they are doing, you can contact them and visit the site. They are currently raising money for a Sojourner Truth memorial.

Hey YOU. Yes, YOU. YOU who became Time magazine’s “Person of the Year in 2006″. I’m talking to YOU.

I’ve received comments and e-mails regarding DL Hughley’s disparaging remarks about the Rutgers basketball team and Sharpton Watch. I am going to post one of those comments here and address it. An anonymous commenter sums up the sentiments of many of the people e-mailing me privately….

I want to know what’s going to happen to Hughley? No protests? Nothing? Just
because he’s Black and can demean us when he wants to! He had NOT RIGHT
talking about those girls like that! It was irresponsible. But, nothing is going to happen to him. I don’t care what color Imus is, this issue SMACKS
of the DOUBLE STANDARD and THAT is NOT fair!

I’m a realist. We already have enough “leaders” who ply us with symbolism and mysticism. That is not what this blog is about. It is about people who are doing something not just talking about how unfair life is. NO ONE. I mean NO ONE is going to fight our battles for us. Sure there will be people who opportunistically leap in front of the spotlight when controversy erupts to exploit a bad situation, but none of these people have a sustained commitment to battling negative portrayals of African American women , or men for that matter, in popular culture. So YOU who are understandably angry about DL’s comments….

1. How many e-mails have YOU sent to NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, UPI, the AP, Reuters, your local newspaper about this? I have.
2. How many people have YOU e-mailed the DL Hughley YouTube clip?
3. How many times have you used 5 minutes of your anytime minutes to call Viacom or BET about giving DL a new show on BET this fall? I called this morning and got transferred into oblivion, but I’ll researching better contact info after work.
4. How many letters to the editor have you sent to your local paper about failing to cover DL’s comments?

That is just a start. Sure, I’ll occasionally whine on this blog, but ultimately my goal is highlight what people are DOING. If you want to see protests, what’s stopping you from grabbing a poster board and going to your local NBC affiliate and picketing? Sure you might not be effective, but you may. Call your own press conference. Al Sharpton does not have a monopoly on protesting. If you think people should be protesting, then you need to gather up your friends and family and roll down to the NBC affiliate with your placards.

As I have said in the comments. I continue to brainstorm what to do next related to the DL situation. Throw in your ideas as well and while you are at it, send the URL of the YouTube video to everyone in your address book. You can go to YouTube by clicking the YouTube icon on the video that I posted on my site and e-mail it. If YOU do decide to do something then let us know in the comments.

“Sharpton Watch” was a cynical exercise on my part. I could have easily focused on Jesse Jackson, Oprah, Al Roker, Ron Allen, Gwen Ifill, Media Matters, NOW and any of the other people or organizations who spoke out during the Imus situation. I didn’t expect the National Action Network to respond at all and thus they would have made my point by their silence, but they DID respond, however tepidly. The point remains that they haven’t mobilized their resources in the same manner that they did in the Imus situation. It is their organization. They can do OR NOT DO what they want. But the Imus situation was never about African American women to begin with. It was about people who wanted him gone for YEARS using the Rutgers team as pawns to carry out their mission. They don’t really care about OUR DAUGHTERS. Hence the immense SILENCE on DL Hughley’s comments. This evening I will be discussing some of the things we might be able to do together to DEFUND DL. Stay tuned. The site is called What About Our Daughters meaning you have a stake in the outcome of the War on Black Women. We can’t contract out our responsibility to combat negative portrayals of African American women in popular culture to someone else.

Just what young black children need… a HIP HOP toy line.( From crunktastical.com). “With Baby Jamz, we’re going after that hip-hop mom.” Let us all hope that this hip hop toy line and accompanying CD collection stresses that the letter “Z” generally does not indicate the plural form of a word. This wonderful idea is being brought to you by Beyonce’s daddy . You know the former IBM executive. I hope this is not yet another case of rich black folks taking advantage of the huddled masses. AGAIN. We’ll reserve judgment, but we might have to march on Toys- R-Us.

Knowles pointed to a lack of children’s toys that reflect urban society as the main impetus. “There is a real opportunity for us to make a benchmark here, with Planet Toys making the toys and Music World making the music,” Knowles said.YahooNews

MY PEOPLE. MY People! Am I the ONLY person that sees anything wrong with a toy that reflects urban society? Just what exactly IS urban society?

Monday, May 21st Morning Update: Some of you may continue calling the National Action Network about this DL Hughley situation. That is your choice, but might I suggest a different use of your anytime minutes, Viacom, Mr. Hughley’s new employer. DL has a new show coming out this fall on BET. You can call Viacom at (212) 258-6000 read them DL’s quote and ask them if DL Hughley is the best they have to offer to America. Let me remind you that Rev. Sharpton doesn’t own any networks or comedy clubs. While calling the National Action Network may make you feel better, calling Viacom may actually be a more effective use of your time, talent, and treasure ( anytime minutes). (212)-258-6000, just go ahead and save it in your cellphone. ( I called and got transferred into oblivion, so I will have to regroup after work.)

Folks Sharpton Watch is over. I got an e-mail from Tamika Mallory, Director of National Action Network Decency Initiative at 5:13 PM Friday. The following is Rev. Sharpton’s statement regarding the D.L. Hughley Situation. We’ll be talking more about this on the Black Women’s Roundtable Saturday at noon.

It has recently come to our attention that D.L. Hughley has made
disturbing comments about the young women of the Rutgers basketball
team. Let me start by reaffirming the position of the National Action
Network. We do not accept or find humor in the denigration of women or
any other group. It does not matter whether the person making the
statement is black, white or from any other race. Nor does it matter
whether the intent of the comment is a lame attempt at humor, a racist
attack, or in the case of Mr. Hughley, an obvious attempt to create
publicity for himself. It is sad that after a very successful career in
comedy, Mr. Hughley would stoop to behavior that is disrespectful to
women as a means of self promotion. We hope that the entertainment
industry will see through this feeble attempt to gain publicity in order
to find his next job.

In Progress,

Reverend Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network & Tamika
Mallory, Director of National Action Network Decency Initiative

Yes. I know some of you will think it is not enough but if you remember ALL we asked for was ANY response to DL’s comments, and we got that. It was a small victory for a blog that isn’t a month old. Stay tuned for our big summer effort regarding Black Exploitation Television. Thank you to those of you who called and e-mailed and urged me along.