Chair of the National Congress of Black Women Responds to My Open Letter - Now I feel guilty.

I knew this was going to happen. I was reluctant to criticize anyone that is doing anything. Then I criticize and they respond and now I feel guilty. Hence why I didn't want to criticize them in the first place. Did I mention that I feel guilty now? Although they did not respond to my e-mails when I notified them about the DL Hughley situation, I just got an e-mail in response to my open letter to the National Congress of Black Women from Dr. E. Faye Williams. I could have deleted my earlier post to cover my tracks, but I'll leave it up as my penance. Here is Dr. William's response to my letter. I am thoroughly chastened.

Gina,

I am sorry you feel that way you do; however, I have never received an e-mail from you regarding this matter.

Vanity is not a word that describes our work. We have paid the price for being on this case for nearly 15 years, and when we started we had no help from anyone other than Melba Moore, Dionne Warwick, Dick Gregory and Joe Madison.

I don't know what Ron Allen is talking about. He stood on the street and was not allowed in the meeting. I purchased stock and went into the meeting, spoke and no one drowned me out.

We have never stopped working on this subject, including talking with and getting responses from advertisers. We are not rookies on this subject. We have a coalition of nearly 40 women heads of organizations. We meet at least once per week, and we have on going conversations with producers, promoters, shareholders, artists and advertisers. I have no idea where you're getting your information, but we are working on the issue, and as for me, I don't get paid a dime.

As a matter of fact, I use my own funds. Everyone has a responsibility to work on this issue--not just those of us who work for non-profit groups and those of us who have many issues on which to work for others. Neither of us can give 100% of our time to any issue, but we do the very best that we can on limited resources.

We listen to others moan and groan and complain about what we are not doing right, while they do nothing--right or wrong. We go to jail. We receive the nasty notes. We risk our credibility and reputations--as well as our lives --often with little or no thanks--but we do it because we are committed to our people.

If you know how to do this better than we are doing it, I'm willing to help you, but please refrain from criticizing those of us who are working and giving this and other subjects of interest to our people all we have. Please go to our website at www.npcbw.org to see some of the other work we do, and it you have questions, I will be more than happy to respond. The website does not tell the whole story of what we do for no charge to any of our critics.

If you wish to join our coalition and work, please let me know.

Blessings.

Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.
National Chair
National Congress of Black Women, Inc.
1224 W Street, SE, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20020

Let me take this time to apologize to Dr. Williams for being a little snot. Go to their site and read about the work that they are doing. I may have to pry open my wallet to ease my guilty conscience. Behind all of these organizations are real live human beings with hearts and souls just like the rest of us. They have feelings too. This is what I get for backseat driving. Y'all work with me in my evolution as a responsible blogger. (Did I really say that they held a "vanity" protest? That was harsh even for moi.) What a way to end positive posting week!

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"Civil Rights" Organization Pimping Black Women Too?

A week ago I posted about Rainbow Push and the National Congress of Black Women attending a Viacom shareholders meeting to protest negative portrayals of Black women in popular culture. I try to publicize all efforts to combat negative portrayals of African American women in popular culture without casting judgments about the likelihood of success or the quality of the effort. Heck I tilt at my own share of windmills.

What I didn’t share at the time was that almost a month ago, I informed the National Congress of Black Women about DL Hughley slurring the women of Rutgers AGAIN on the Tonight Show. They never responded in anyway, not even an automated e-mail saying they got my e-mail. Because I don’t expect everyone to do what I ask them to do, I was content to let it go because I had done my part by letting them know about the situation, what they did at that point is on their conscience. The only person that I called out at the time was Al Sharpton. I wanted a focussed campaign and I picked him at random.

However, one of the comments on the post about the Viacom protest asked a simple question; What happened after the meeting? After some research the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Which caused me to ask; Why are they talking to VIACOM anyway? They've been attending shareholders meetings for two decades with NO SUCCESS. Does anybody remember C. Delores Tucker and Time Warner? Why aren’t they appealing to the advertisers that subsidize the degradation of African American women on BET, MTV and VH1? Imus isn't off the air because MSNBC and CBS Radio were good corporate citizens, but because his advertisers bailed.

All of this has made me wonder; do “civil rights” organizations really want to end the degradation of African American women in popular culture, OR are they merely exploiting the War on Black Women to garner attention and additional corporate donations. Based on recent actions by Rainbow Push, the National Congress of Black Women, and Rev. Al’s National Action Network ( He's collecting soap >;(), I can’t tell if they are deliberately tanking the fight or just inept and inefficient. If that is true then maybe it is time to shutter their doors.

These are hardly organizations selling fried catfish dinners to keep the doors open. Most of these organizations take in millions of dollars from dues, corporate sponsorships, and taxpayers in the name of addressing the needs of people of color. So we as Black folks have a right to expect competent leadership and effective advocacy from organizations that are taking in money IN OUR NAME.

WhatAboutOurDaughters.Org calls on traditional “civil rights” organizations to abandon seeking redress from media companies and speak directly to advertisers. We call on them to approach the top five advertisers for Viacom and appeal to those advertisers to pull their advertising from all Viacom networks. Viacom has no incentive to change its policies and programming until they have an economic reason for doing so.

The only explanation I can come up with for why these organizations haven’t focused on the likes of Proctor & Gamble, State Farm, T-Mobile, and other large advertisers on BET and VH1 is that it isn’t in these organization’s financial best interest to do so. Are they afraid of approaching advertisers for fear of losing their own corporate sponsorship? IF that is the case, we need to call them on their crap.

Hold Rainbow Push and the National Congress of Black Women Accountable! Ask them why they keep going back to Viacom when they should be going after advertisers? We can't afford vanity protests.

I don't think they actually know how to access e-mail so I am sending e-mails and snail mail. Take time to spend $0.41 and send them a note or call and leave a comment after you do it to let us know the response you received:

National Congress of Black Women, 1224 W. Street, SE, Suite 200, Washington, D.C. 20020 Phone 202/678.6788. E-Mail: info@nationalcongressbw.org

UPDATE: Make sure you read the reply from the chair of the National Congress of Black Women to my open letter.

Rainbow Push, 930 East 50th Street Chicago, IL 60615-2702 ph: 773-373-3366, fx: 773-373-3571.

See my open letter to Rainbow Push and the National Congress of Black Women.

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Prayer for Hip Hop???

And be not confirmed to this world but be ye transformed by renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God

In the words of Carrie Underwood, " Jesus Take the Wheel." I don't know what to make of this. (source) I am conflicted. Part of me thinks that these are folks who are claiming to be people of God conforming to the world. I'm not proselytizing ( I'm a regular attendee of Bedside Baptist.) I put this quote up there because these folks are apparently Christian hip hop artists. WWJD? Would he pray for Hip Hop, or throw the money changers out of the temple? I am not so arrogant as to presume to know WWJD?

Here is a description of the event from their publicist.

A Prayer 4 Hip Hop”, in the making for two years, is poised to address the issues facing the Hip Hop generation today. “A Prayer 4 Hip Hop” is being produced by Life Media along with its national media partners Vibe Magazine and GospelCity.Com. In addition the concert providers have teamed up with the National Minority Quality Forum and its Test For Life campaign created to educate minorities on the importance of being tested for the HIV virus.

So again, I like the message of educating Black folk about getting tested for the HIV virus, but I don't know that Hip Hop can be healed. FYI, this event is taking place at a night club. Something about this just seems odd to me. SPEAK ON IT!

UPDATE: One of the visitors had this response to this post -"It is interesting that you find it weird that people who care about Hip-Hop would gather in a club, I find it strange that in a discussion of Black women and the urban community you would quote Carrie Underwood."

MY RESPONSE: I find it interesting that you find it interesting that I occasionally will catch wind of a Top 40 song that was played into the ground. That's like finding it interesting that I might quote that Celine Deon song from the movie Titanic. You can read the rest of my response in the comments. Keep it coming!

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"Respect Me Coalition" Marches on Interscope Records

I was a little disappointed that I couldn't make it through my positive post week, but sometimes in battle, you can't control what the enemy is going to do. I was having a Clark Sisters moment. With a little help from my friends, I had to be reminded that all is not lost. Therefore we end "Positive Posting" Week with an actual positive post, courtesy of Bronze Trinity.

The Respect Me Coalition marched Interscope Records. Of course Interscope did not respond. However, Akon's enablers, the United Music Group offered a statement. ( People focus on Interscope records, but the real enabler its the parent company UMG. Interscope is like a McDonalds franchise in comparison). Ask me why YOU shouldn't be buying a copy of the DVD for DreamGirls.

This is why I do this site. The next time you think that people don't care about what is happening to Black women in popular culture, you hear about something like this. Keep it coming.

Tomorrow, on my radio show, I will be reviewing When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost by Joan Morgan. You don't want to miss it. Come hear why I think Diaries of a Video Vixen (gasp) was a better book. Tomorrow at noon CST on The Black Women's Round Table

I was having a Clark Sisters moment this week, but this was a good way to end the week. For those you you who have been fighting the good fight and wondering if it is worth the effort, I give you the Clark Sisters circa 1982. Y'all have a good weekend.

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Take Time to Warn Canadian Immigration about Akon-

Some of you might have heard that Canada denied entry to Winnie Mandela recently. However, our favorite felonious misogynistic, convicted armed robber, Akon apparently is not going to have any problem entering Canada this week to perform. According to his website, he is scheduled to appear in FIVE Canadian cities with in the next ten days. Probably on the "Sweet Escape" tour. According to the spokesperson for Canadian immigration, when asked about Mandela being denied entry, "people convicted of serious crimes" are not allowed entry into Canada. Well hearing this piece of information I figured there was an oversight so I took time to alert the Canadian immigration minister of Akon's impending entry into Canada.

The Honourable Diane Finley, P.C., M.P.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1L1

Dear Minister Finley,

According to Karen Shadd-Evelyn, spokesperson for Citizenship and
Immigration Canada (CIC), "people convicted of serious crimes" are not
allowed entry into Canada.

I wanted to alert you of one such individual who is planning to
perform in your country shortly . The American Hip Hop artist Akon,
whose given name is Aliaune Thiam is scheduled to appear in concert
in Canada on June 7,2007 at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario,
The MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 10, 2007, Rexall Place
in Edmonton, Alberta on June 12th , Calgary, Alberta on June 13th at
the Pengrowth Saddledome, June 15th at General Motors Place on June
15th in Vancouver British Columbia. All of these dates are based on
the artist's published concert schedule.

Akon was convicted of armed robbery and drug charges in the United
States (See http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/City_Supplements/Bombay_Times/My_time_in_prison_was_critical_to_my_music/articleshow/1142775.cms
) He served several years in prison.

In the past month Mr. Thiam has been involved in several onstage
incidents involving members of the public attending his concerts that
may pose a public safety concern for Canadian officials. The most
recent incident occurred this week during a public performance at a
music festival in New York. Thiam threw a 15 year old boy from a
concert stage into the crowd during a concert last weekend in upstate
New York. (See http://www.mediatakeout.com/6732/tossed_fan_comes_forward_akon_to_be_charged.html).
When you review the video which is readily available on the internet,
a reasonable person could conclude that Mr. Thiam endangered both the
teenager he threw from the stage, but the members of the public the
young man was thrown at. He is currently under investigation by
police in New York.

In a previous incident on April 12 , 2007, at a concert in Trinidad,
Akon was videotaped simulating sex with a15-year-old girl onstage.
That incident is also readily available on the internet. You and the
parents of children and teens attending these concerts in Canada
should be aware of the possible dangers associated with joining Mr.
Thiam on stage. If you have any questions, video, or the links to
videos are available on my site, WhatAboutOurDaughters.blogspot.com.

Sincerely,

Gina
WhatAboutOurDaughters.Org
"Combating negative portrayals of African American women in popular culture."

Cc:news@ctv.ca , news@citynews.ca , newsroom@herald.ca, city@thestar.ca,

Take time today to warn our neighbors to the north that a menace is headed their way and they should lock away their children! You can e-mail the Minister Finley at Minister@cic.gc.ca.

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