"Your sons need to read this story and realize that right now they probably can say for sure they’d never sexually assault a woman, but in the wrong environment with the wrong crowd, with the wrong drugs and alcohol, they’re capable of anything. One night of “partying” can bring consequences that will last a lifetime.

Your daughters should read the article too and be warned not to take any drugs or drink alcohol, especially at parties and clubs.  They should always attend functions with trusted friends and never be afraid to report a physical assault of any kind. Tom Joyner"

 

SO let's see if little Johnny is a rapist, he can blame it on the alcohol, but if little Suzy is raped... she can blame it on herself for not using the buddy system. It couldn't be that little Johnny is a morally bankrupt predator. 

There's more wisdom from Tom Joyner:

But when drugs and alcohol are part of the equation, it’s even more complicated because the victim and the person perpetrating the act are probably both doing something they never would ordinarily do - Tom Joyner

Oh wow, the rape victim and the rapist bear equal blame for the rapist raping.

Oh there's more:

It’s more complicated than telling your son “no means no,” because some drugs will cause girls to consent. - Tom Joyner

*head explodes* Oh so an intoxicated or drugged person can't sign contracts and can't get married, but they have the capacity to "consent" to being raped. 

In other words, men are not responsible for their own penises and at no time are men and boys responsible for raping girls. Apparently Mr. Joyner thinks it's either the alcohol's fault for making men  rape or the girl's fault for taking drugs and tricking men into raping her or failing to walk around in public without an escort? No seriously, at least 5 people had to proof this post before it landed on Black America web. Surely SOMEONE was paying attention to the recent Rick Ross controversy and yet, they still published this? 

As you know we've been criticizing Tom Joyner for bankrolling the lifestyle of Genarlow Wilson, a man who along with a few of his friends videotaped themselves having sexual intercourse with an unconscious 17 year old girl before they dumped her body on a random bathroom floor. Mr Wilson then went to an adjoining hotel room and passed around a 15 year old girl as a "party favor."

This article explains a great deal about Mr. Joyner's actions over the past 6 years. 

And of course we did notice that the corporation that is paying to publish this rape culture propaganda is Proctor & Gamble.  Proctor & Gamble Everyday to be specific. Thanks P&G!

P.S. To girls who are reading this post, the person responsible for rape is ALWAYS the rapist. Don't let anyone else make you think that you are responsible for the choices and decisions of a rapist. And yes, rape is a choice- it's not something that a rapist accidently stumbles into unintentionally. 

PPS To boys who are reading,  I would be offended by Tom Joyner basically saying that if you drink and do drugs you become violent predatory sex offenders. 

A hip-hop icon is now the new black higher-ed philanthropy king. We've never seen a donation to rival this from any black celebrity — musician, athlete or actor — and that fact must be celebrated. (WHY??)

But as the president of a black college, it pains me as well. I can't help but wish that Dre's wealth, generated as it was by his largely black hip-hop fans, was coming back to support that community.

USC is a great institution, no question. But it has a $3.5-billion endowment, the 21st largest in the nation and much more than every black college — combined. Less than 20% of USC's student body qualifies for federal Pell Grants, given to students from low-income families, compared with two-thirds of those enrolled at black colleges. USC has also seen a steady decrease in black student enrollment, which is now below 5%. LA Times

You're right Dr. Kimbrough- USC doesn't need the money. Dr. Dre needs USC.

For those of you who are a bit younger, Dr. Dre ushered in the era of gangstsa' rap. Yes, there once was a time when every rap lyric was not about Booty, Bullets and Bling. He cranked out incredibly violent lyrics promoting violence against both Black men and Black women and had a White person written the same lyrics, we would have had no problem identifying what he was doing as racist hate speech. But he didn't just rap about violence against women, he LIVED it. Those of you born in the 90s probably don't remember Dr. Dre's beating of Dee Barnes :

After her 1990 interview with Ice Cube in which the rapper discusses his leaving N.W.A. at the height of their feud,^[2] the group, feeling they had been negatively portrayed, sought retaliation. On January 27, 1991 Dr. Dre would encounter Barnes at a record release party in Hollywood. According to Rolling Stone reporter Alan Light:

He picked her up and "began slamming her leg and the right side of her body repeatedly against a wall near the stairway" as his bodyguard held off the crowd. After Dre tried to throw her down the stairs and failed, he began kicking her in the ribs and hands. She escaped and ran into the women's rest room. Dre followed her and "grabbed her from behind by the hair and proceeded to punch her in the back of the head.

N.W.A.'s MC Ren later said "bitch deserved it", and Eazy-E "yeah, bitch had it coming, and I'm 'bout to rib you." As Dr. Dre explained the incident, "People talk all this shit, but you know, somebody fuck with me, I'm gonna fuck with them. I just did it, you know. Ain't nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain't no big thing-- I just threw her through a door." Barnes sued in February 1991, telling reporter Alan Light: "They've grown up with the mentality that it's okay to hit women, especially black women. Now there's a lot of kids listening and thinking it's okay to hit women who get out of line."^[3] In February, Barnes would file assault charges and bring a $22.75 million lawsuit against Dr. Dre, who pleaded no contest to the assault. He was fined $2500, placed on two years' probation, and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service and produce an anti-violence public service announcement.^[4] The lawsuit was settled out of court.^{[5] Wikipedia}

Dr. Kimbrough is old enough to know about the beating of Dee Barnes...

What is interesting is that Dillard is a school that was founded on Christian principles. And you have to ask how Christ would have responded to a man who brutalized a 5'1 woman--- because he could and then bragged about it.

If we were referencing the life of Christ as an example of what the president of a Christian university should be doing at this moment, I will point you to an episode in the Bible (depending on which one you read of course) where Jesus comes across a group of men who are about to execute a woman on the street by beating her to death with stones.

Jesus intervened and rebuked the violent misogynists. He did not pull out a collection plate and ask for a donation.

The important question is not Why Dr. Dre gave USC 72 Million. The question is why on earth would the faculty, staff and students of USC accept 72 million dollars from a man who beats and then repeatedly brags about beating women? Why would you accept 72 million dollars from a man who has for 20 years engaged in violent hate speech directed at both Black women and Black men? Because I'm pretty sure that the Klu Klux Klan could offer USC 720 million dollars and USC would not accept the gift. 

Apparently blood money from racist misogynist bigots is only acceptable when the person attacking Black people is Black and his primary target is Black women. 

Dr. Kimbrough, I don't have a PhD but I know all money ain't good money. And I don't know what in Andre'slife would ever indicate he had any commitment or concern for Black people. C Delores Tucker tried to tell y'all.  You bet on the wrong horse... and lost.  

 P.S. Dr. Kimbrough, instead of writing letters to the editor, perhaps you need to be writing about why Dillards's graduation rate is 27.5% when the cost per student to attend your university if $45,166? Da Hell?

Kids, I would highly suggest you skip Dillard and enroll in your local community college. It's cheaper and you'll probably graduate with a highly marketable skill. 

No matter how much (two glasses of Cognac) the 17-year-old may have had to drink, no matter how much she may have flirted with those boys, she did not consent to having sex with all of them, one right after the other. Yet it never occurred to the "smart" and "spiritual" Genarlow to say, "Stop it. We should not be doing this." No. Genarlow watched, waited and gladly took his turn. When they were through raping her, Genarlow helped his friends drag the comatose victim to the bathroom. They opened the door, pushed her in, watched as she fell to the floor and closed the door. I guess she wasn't much fun anymore.

Genarlow Wilson's supporters ( primarily Black women journalists and rape-culture supporters) took a victory lap around the bodies of his bruised and battered victims this weekend when he finally managed to make time to go to class so he could graduate from Morehouse College. A feat he could not have accomplished if the Black Elite Establishment had not literally dragged him across the finish line.

One might think that someone who avoided a decade in prison, through no effort of his own- Had a four year college education handed to him- through no effort of his own. Managed to get a job working in LAW ENFORCEMENT despite being a convicted child rapist- through no effort of his own would be as happy as a clam. But no, in keeping with the entitlement mentality that lead Mr. Wilson to believe that he was entitled to have sexual intercourse with an unconscious 17 year-old girl and pass around a young girl as a party favor, Mr. Wilson is whining about all of the people who want to see him fail and don't want him to get a second chance?

Who are these people? Show me the receipts? What I want is for Black women like those who run Ebony magazine to stop lying and saying you're not a rapist, when you are.

What I want is for the Associated Press to stop lying saying your child rape conviction was overturned

 Georgia changed its teen sex laws and the state Supreme Court overturned Wilson's conviction in 2007, calling it "cruel and unusual." Associated Press

It was not- the sentence was reversed, the conviction stands- There is a difference. The question you need to ask is why Mr Wilson's supporters continue to lie about his conviction being reversed. 

Congrats to Genarlow Wilson, from being accused of rape & servng jail time. Exonerated & Now Graduating Morehouse college w/ honors!

— Gladiator Oshay(@HerFitz_HisLiv) May 19, 2013

No boo boo, he was not exonerated- he was and is a convicted child rapist- but don't let the fact get in the way of your throwing confetti on Twitter. 

Here is some language from the Supreme Court of Georgia. Try to follow along to the end where they reverse his sentence, but not his conviction-Mr. Wilson was is and shall forever be a convicted felon. 

In Weems,65 after concluding that the minimum sentence of twelve years in chains at hard labor constituted cruel and unusual punishment, the Court ruled that, because the minimum punishment was unconstitutional and because there was no other law under which Weems could be sentenced, Weems’s “judgment [had to] be reversed, with directions to dismiss the proceedings.”66 Similarly, in the present case, Wilson stands convicted of aggravated child molestation, and, as in Weems, we have determined that, under the statute then in effect, the minimum punishment authorized by the legislature for that crime is unconstitutional. Because Weems was decided on direct appeal, and the present case stems from Wilson’s habeas petition, we cannot direct the trial court to set aside the judgment and to dismiss the proceedings against Wilson. Instead, the corresponding and appropriate habeas relief would be for the habeas court to set aside Wilson’s sentence and to discharge Wilson from custody.

 So no as much as you need him to not be a convicted child rapist... he is. His sentence was set aside- his conviction remains. 

Congrats @genarlow_wilson you took lemons and made sweet, southern Lemonade! Blessings

— Miss Sheila (@Tpa_ismyhome) May 19, 2013

-- Because apparently nothing is "sweeter" than raping two Black girls and getting a free college education out of it. 

So yeah, big shout out to Genarlow Wilson, & everyone else who's going to or ever has graduated against the odds

— Kyle Posey (@The_KP_Show) May 19, 2013

What odds? Having a college education dropped at his feet? Getting a book deal as a reward for raping two girls? Getting a job in law enforcement despite being a child rapist? Having a State senator and multimillionaire radio show host as his primary benefactors? What odds? Genarlow Wilson was going to graduate from Morehouse if Tom Joyner himself had to come take his final exams for him. 

That's right: Genarlow Wilson is graduating from Morehouse today. If you remember his story, you know this is a major accomplishment!

— dstarwriter59 (@dstarwriter59) May 19, 2013

Millions of Black men who do not gang rape uncoinsious teenage girls manage to graduate from college all of the time, what's major about it? 

Special congrats to @genarlow_wilson on graduating ...known him since elem. school&he's such a great dude. God has a plan 4 u, G!

— Jay K Gee (@MizBettyCrocker) May 19, 2013

Absolutely, God plans for ME to use Genarlow Wilson as an example of the Black community's immoral indifference to the suffering of Black girls who are the victims of violent crime.#LookAtGod!

@genarlow_wilson congrats to you on your graduation 2da from #MorehouseCollege You're a big inspiration to more people than u realize! #God

— joan bell carroll (@BrowzMakeupBar) May 20, 2013

Yes, I'm sure he's quite inspiring to teen age boys who gang rape teenage girls- look at what it can get them-- FAME, ACCLAIM and a four year scholarship. #Satan

What I want Mr. Wilson is for your ignorant supporters to stop proclaiming that it's okay to rape unconscious girls.

I want them to stop saying children can "consent" to being raped.

But most of all, I want you to head to a dark hole of obscurity because you've done nothing to merit any notoriety other than being a vile predator.

Generally speaking Mr. Wilson:

• Child rapists don't get free college educations.
• Most college students don't get the University president as their academic advisor.
• The average Black male college graduates who didn't rape children didn't get interviewed by all of the local news outlets.
• Most child rapists don't have supporters who expect the President of the United States to give them a shout out in a commencement address.

  I wonder if not acknowledging Genarlow Wilson during the Morehouse speech was a conscious decision?

  — RiPPa (@RippDemUp) May 19, 2013

• Your victims are not going to get the book deals you apparently are seeking.
• Your victims have to watch you repeatedly take a victory lap as if you've done something special. 

You lucked out in that you raped two Black girls and became a celebrity and a symbol of the oppression of the criminal justice system. So people have glossed over the fact that you are a sexual predator and an unapologetic one at that. 

It was not a "situation" you gang raped a 17 year old girl.

I love the way all of the reporters keep referring to gang raping a teenage Black girl as "bad decisions." Jay walking is a bad decision. Mr Wilson's actions were evil and predatory. 

So what if you got Ebony.com to pull it's Genarlow Wilson article. Obama is addressing his class. #Morehouse #win

— RiPPa (@RippDemUp) May 19, 2013

Yep. Wilson's supporters are a classy crew. Cheering on the rape and sodomy of Black girls as if they are at some type of sporting event. 

@rippdemup Yes indeed, Congrats to my Morehouse bro #GenarlowWilson and his family on this successful journey. What a future, what a movie

— Dayo & Company (@TENblocks) May 20, 2013

I couldn't agree more- the collusion and delusion of the Black community to prop up this sexual predator would make a very compelling movie which is why this blog is producing one :)

Anywhoo, Black women journalists as you know ar ethe primary producers of Pro-rapist propaganda on behalf of Genarlow Wilson. If you will recall, it was about this time last year when the four Black women who run Ebony magazine ran an outright lie of an article which said Genarlow Wilson was not a rapist.... except he is a rapist. He was conviceted of rape and that conviction was NEVER reversed. He didn't get out of jail on a direct appeal of his conviction. Well WAOD Readers ended that utter stupidity not by reasoning with Ebony.com's editorial team, but by asking advertisers to intervene on behalf of Black women and girls. 

So to be clear, .... a 14 year old girl cannot CONSENT to being Mr. Wilson and his five buddie's sex toy. She doesn't have legal consent. She probably can't CONSENT to getting her ears pierced. Or CONSENT to taking out a $100,000 student loan or CONSENT to join the US Army. She can't CONSENT and Javita Moore knows this. 

Yet despite this, Javita Moore repeatedly says that the 14 year old in this case "consented." And doesn't ask a single question about Mr. Wilson's 17 year old victim. 

And Javita Moore completely erased the existence of Genarlow Wilson's 17-year old victim, who the courts refer to as LM. Let's review what Mr. Wilson did to LM since Javita Moore couldn't be bothered to remind you because it would mess up her Disney-esque fabrication of the Genarlow Wilson story.

Zerlina Maxwell's Inconvenient Truth: L.M. and How Black Media Erased a Rape Victim

Genarlow Wilson, the man, couldn't stand up to their narrative, so they created Genarlow Wilson, the myth, and removed LM from history as if what Genarlow Wilson and his teammates did to her didn't happen and didn't matter. The press threw her in the trash much like Genarlow Wilson and his teammates threw her on the floor when they got through with her. 

LM, went to a party with her fellow athletes and when she fell unconscious, possibly after they drugged her, Genarlow Wilson and his buddies raped her, repeatedly and video taped it. That's not what I say, that's what the Georgia Court of Appeals describes in Wilson vs. State of Georgia.

A group of teenagers rented adjacent rooms at a motel and held a raucous, unsupervised New Year's Eve party.   Among the participants were 17-year-old Genarlow Wilson, 17-year-old L.M., and 15-year-old T.C.   The next morning, L.M. reported to her mother that she had been raped.   Police were notified, and the motel rooms were searched.   During the search, a videocamera and videocassette tape were found.   The tape showed Wilson having sexual intercourse with an apparently semiconscious L.M. and T.C. performing oral sex on Wilson. Wilson v. State. 

But here's the kicker, Genarlow Wilson's defense team tried to use the fact that LM was unconscious to exclude the tape of Mr. Wilson raping her. If she was unconscious, they argued, she could not authenticate the tape. They probably made this argument in an evidentiary hearing outside the hearing of the jury. 

Here, L.M. was a witness who appeared at trial and might have provided personal authentication of the videotape by testifying that it accurately portrayed what took place at the time of the occurrence of the events in question.  She could not, however, provide such testimony because she had lost consciousness as a result of drug and alcohol use.   Although L.M. did regain consciousness during some of the events and did recall Wilson attempting to have sexual intercourse with her and trying to force her to give him oral sex, she did not have any independent recollection of the events depicted on the videotape.   L.M. was, therefore, an unavailable witness under OCGA § 24-4-48, as she testified “to a lack of memory of the subject matter of the authentication.”  ^{Wilson V. State.}

And THIS is why we are producing the Genarlow Wilson Movie--- because of women like Javita Moore who want to engage in revisionist history on behalf of a man who PREYS on Black girls. 

If you haven't contributed towards the fund to purchase a copy of the full trial transcript for inclusion in the Genarlow Wilson movie, the GoFundMe widget is in the sidebar and as always you can use the PayPal button, just indicate you want it to go towards the Genarlow Wilson movie project. 

He and his male-identified Black women supporters may be winning the battle, but they will win the war of history. Future generations will know about this group of Black women who lined up behind this rapist to sell other Black women and girls down river. 

Genarlow, you and your henchwomen can click your ruby red slippers a thousand times. President Obama, the Pope, the Ghost of Tupac and anoint your head with olive oil and a fig branch and a feather from a phoenix- it matters not- You are an unapologetic rapist. You can try to erase LM from your narrative all you want, but we all know the truth... You ought to try telling it sometimes, it might set you free. 

Our Genarlow Wilson Coverage:

There is an US. There is a THEM: Solidarity is NOT an Excuse to be Stupid

Your Genarlow Wilson Refresher Course: You're Not Entitled to Your Own Facts

Zerlina Maxwell's Inconvenient Truth: L.M. and How Black Media Erased a Rape Victim

Their Silence Speaks for Itself: Zerlina Maxwell and Ebony Magazine's Rape Culture Hypocrisy

Follow-Up To: Zerlina Maxwell and Ebony Magazine's Hypocrisy on Steubenville Rape Case- Will Tom Joyner Give Steubenville Rapist Ma'Lik Richmond a Free Morehouse Education?

 Lessons from the Ebony 4 Debacle: The End of Plausible Deniability for "Journalists" Who Cover Genarlow Wilson

The Grownups at EBONY Tell "The Ebony 4" To Have 5 Seats: PullGenarlow Wilson Propaganda and Promise 3-Part Series.

Clear Ultra Shea Responds to Your Concerns About Ebony.com on Facebook - Genarlow Wilson Articles Disappear (AGAIN) From Ebony.com

Ebony Magazine Editors Don't "Condone Rape" -- Except When They Do! (Ebony Editors' Idiotic Statement on Genarlow Wilson)

UPDATE:Ebony.com's Editors Renew Their Support of GenarlowWilson- Issue "Official Statement" of Apology

Allstate and Tom Joyner Indoctrinating Young Black Children to Revere Sexual Predators?: Genarlow Wilson Refresher Post!

Making Goliath Bleed: Allstate Creates "Genarlow Wilson" Rule in Public Rebuke of Tom Joyner

We Know Ebony Magazine Refers to a Convicted Child Rapist (Genarlow Wilson) as "Glorious"

Morehouse Man? Genarlow Wilson, Rapist and Child Pornographer Gets a Fresh Start- -What About the Girls

Where's the Outrage over Kelly? Genarlow Wilson? ( Yeah, I went there)- UPDATE Where's the Outrage Over the Florida Gang Rape???

Zerlina Maxwell and Ebony Magazine's Hypocrisy on Steubenville Rape Case- Will Tom Joyner Give Steubenville Rapist Ma'Lik Richmond a Free Morehouse Education?

I've been mulling over the idea of how sexual purity is used as a weapon to persecute women and girls for almost a year now. I've discussed this in some of my public speaking engagements because it is impossible to discuss these issues here  on the blog or the Facebook page without the extremists on both ends of the spectrum tap dancing on my very. last. nerve. 

The sexual puritans don't want to relinquish their rights to persecute girls who don't comply with their sexual mores and the pro-sex industry people want to treat the human body as if it is an inanimate object like wood or plastic. I think they both are wrong and elect to avoid engaging with them anymore because it usually ends with me banning them and them sending me a 15-paragraph single-spaced diatribe professing how they don't care that I kicked them out... because you spend 35 minutes writing a stream of consciousness manifesto to people you don't care about. 

The Universe/God put this idea of purity as a weapon against women directly in view when I put up a video of the former video model, Buffie the Body in a post about Black women's wellness. She's remade herself into a fitness and wellness expert and I can't deny that she's a good instructor.

I've been blogging for 7 years, but some of the most vile and hate-filled comments I have ever deleted were directed at Ms. Carruth. I'm talking EVIL seeping through the screen. And all of these people claimed to be long-time WAOD readers-- much to my sadness. In any case, right then and there I realized I didn't want to be in anyway connected to that kind of hatred and it caused me to evaluate the way in which I viewed and treated "fallen" women and "fast" girls in the past. 

Over the months, I saw stories about women and girls being executed in parts of the world after they'd been raped because their "virtue" was no longer intact. I've seen multiple stories about teenage girls who have committed suicide after their sexual assaults were videotaped and spread around school and their classmates basically stoned them to death. 

This idea of the idiocy of basing the character and value  of a girl on whether her hymen is intact returned last week when I read this quote by Elizabeth Smart in response to the recent discovery of three kidnapping survivors in Cleveland:

When Smart  at a Johns Hopkins University panel last week, she explained one of the factors deterring her from escaping her attacker: She felt so worthless after being raped that she felt unfit to return to her society, which had communicated some hard and fast rules about premarital sexual contact.

“I remember in school one time, I had a teacher who was talking about abstinence,” Smart told the panel. “And she said, ‘Imagine you’re a stick of gum. When you engage in sex, that’s like getting chewed. And if you do that lots of times, you’re going to become an old piece of gum, and who is going to want you after that?’ Well, that’s terrible. No one should ever say that. But for me, I thought, ‘I’m that chewed-up piece of gum.’ Nobody re-chews a piece of gum. You throw it away. And that’s how easy it is to feel you no longer have worth. Your life no longer has value.” Slate

There has to be another way to teach girls AND BOYS to make responsible decisions about their sex lives without telling them that if girls break the rules, they are used and worthless. 

I was at North Carolina A&T in February presenting The Black Woman's Guide to Coping With Kim Kardashian and here is the portion of my presentation where I ask the students why we feel the need to label other women as whores. 

I asked the students some questions:

1. Why is it important that we label a woman a “whore”?
2. Any other reasons why we want to label women as whores?
3. Has anybody ever grown up with a girl that got labeled as a whore in the Black community?
4. Does she have the privilege of being able to escape the consequences of being labeled a whore like Kim Kardashian?
5. Does it serve Black women to label other Black women as whores?

I don't have all of the answers, but I know teaching girls that they are like chewing gum is NOT the answer. Neither is tormenting them or in some cases executing them. 

I will not persuade the extremists on both ends of the spectrum. Not even interested in having a dialogue with them. Because of their zealotry, however,  they will attempt to shoehorn their way into a conversation uninvited. There has to be a way to say your body is not a commodity or object to be sold while simultaneously saying that you are not your hymen or your sexual history. 

Are you kind? Do you have compassion? Do you feed the hungry? Shelter the homeless? Heal the sick? Help little old ladies cross the street? Those are far better determinants of your character. I'll keep mulling this over, but I've been meaning to start talking about this on the blog. And now I have. 

I did a Playboy tour, and I had a bus follow me with ten bitches on it. I could fire a b-tch, f--k a b*tch, get a new h-: It was my program. City to city, t-tty to t-tty, hotel room to hotel room, athlete to athlete, entertainer to entertainer. Rolling Stone

And then there is this tidbit. 

As a kid I dreamed of being a pimp, I dreamed of having cars and clothes and b-tches to match. I said, 'F--k it -- I'm finna do it. Rolling Stone

This man has a daughter. Poor child.

Sex trafficking isn't cute or funny. 

I finally relented when this video showed up in my Facebook timeline about Olivia Pope telling her married lover to “earn” her. Brooke argues that he doesn't have to "earn" much because any woman who is sleeping with a married man does not value herself very much. 

And here is the scene from Scandal she's talking about:

So we got into a Beyonce-like debate on the WAOD Facebook Page this weekend. Here's what I realized. Everybody is lying!

Scandal haters don’t want to come right out and say that what they hate most about the show is that the lead Black character is the object of desire of a powerful White man. The second thing they don’t want to come out and say is that a Black woman who is not asexual has no business on broadcast television. If Olivia Pope was sitting at home every night eating a TV dinner and praying to the LAWD to send her a man, then they would perfectly fine with that. 

Scandal lovers don’t want to come out and admit that broadcast television is a powerful driver of culture - good and bad. An entire generation of Black girls is going to see their place in the world differently because of this character - in ways microscopic and massive. Much in the way that Top Gun increased interest in becoming a fighter pilot and Clair Huxtable increased interest in becoming a lawyer with a fly brownstone and A Different World increased interest in HBCUs. So yes, it is entertainment, but it’s also is a powerful driver of culture.  In a world where there are so few images of Black women on broadcast television that look, sound and act like Olivia Pope, it’s reasonable that people would want to psychoanalyze her role and discuss potential impacts. That doesn’t make them hateful oppressors trying to keep the professional Black woman down. Get a grip!

Here are some Facebook Comments and my response. 

I DESPISE IT AND ALL IT REPRESENTS. Wonder if our community would [like] Scandal as much if the prez was Black and Olivia a blond? -

What exactly does it represent? Also, I don’t know if the Black “community” loves Scandal. I know most of the Black women in my social circle love Olivia Pope. She’s their Carrie Bradshaw. Do you despise Nashville or Dallas or Revenge or 90210 or Dynasty or any other soap opera on television. What makes SCANDAL particularly loathesome?

A man shouldn't earn you, but he should demonstrate some level of commitment, loyalty, and show you he can put in the time and effort before you even start dating him: 

Dating shouldn’t be this high stakes. That’s probably your problem. It’s dating, not an engagement. And I think Olivia and Fitz are well beyond dating. 

All of my friends are raving about that show. Maybe I'll catch an episode. I don't really have patience with soap opera type writing. Plus I am not a fan of "she of the perpetual pout."

--Kerry Washington does pout a lot. 

Pope does act needy. And that white man playing Fitz looks like he is in pain when he has to hug/kiss her.

--- Yes, Olivia has issues. You want a protagonist who is flawed. Otherwise she’d be boring. I don’t know what’s fogging up your glasses, but from the short clips that I’ve seen of Tony Goldwyn looking at Kerry Washington he doesn’t look in “pain.” He looks as if he wants to devour her. I’m sorry, but I’m seeing major chemistry. But let’s get to the more important issue. WHY would you, a Black woman want to send the  message that a man would not find another Black woman desirable? How does that benefit you?

I do watch the show, but find the whole Olivia/President love story problematic at best (and enraging at it's worst). Let's talk about how entitled Pres acts towards Olivia's body, while being completely dismissive of her personally. Ugh. (Full disclosure, I am a white/mix woman, and probably don't have any business here, but I LOVE your work and share it with many of my friends and students. I'll keep reading, even if I'm not the target audience.)

--- Thanks for reading. 

Okay, I'm a big fan, but none of my friends see it my way. I think that the Prez is a weak man who is manipulated by his wife, his mistress and his chief of staff. As far as Olivia, I think the interesting quote from her is, "I want a painful, difficult, devastating, live-changing, extraordinary love." She said that to the man who wanted to put a ring on it. Love should not hurt or be an endurance exercise. Liv needs therapy.

--Yep. Television soap characters are usually a mess. I used to watch Dallas and the entire Ewing family was a mess. 

The thing liberating thing that I find about Olivia is that she has evolved beyond perfection, is ok with being flawed, and does not feel any need to justify or defend herself to anyone. Her sexuality does not define her. It's only a small facet of who she is. We have had to be concerned about our images for long enough. 

 

I don't know how many of us were old enough to remember Diahanne Carroll on the show Dynasty, but she was also a beautiful, flawed, black woman who had affairs with white men. She gave Joan Collins a run for her money as the first 'black bitch' ever on prime time. Ratings soared..

 

Anyway it's ok for us to do something out of the box from time to time to liberate ourselves. Olivia has already squashed all of the basic stereotypes. Let her do her thing...

--- Ah yes, but when Dynasty was on, television was a lot more diverse--- ironically. We have more channels than ever, but the depiction of Black women is narrower than ever :( 

Scandal is a soap opera tv show first & foremost. However, the reason why I and many bw like it is for once a bw is not portrayed as a mammy/mule/sister soldier. Her crew will lie, cheat, and fall on a sword for her with no questions asked. The angry/ guard dog bw role is played by a ww. The Olivia Pope character is shown as feminine, vulnerable, desirable and intelligent. I support the show because the main character is an unambiguously bw who's not being presented as filler/sidekick/comic relief/whipping post/mammy/mule/manly bw character. THIS representation of a NORMAL acting bw is a good thing. No neck rolling, eyes bucked finger snapping, stereotypical sassy bw behavior. Again, it's a soap opera and infidelity has been the crux of soaps since they started up on the radio in the 50s. Olivia Pope is definitely not a Tyler Perry caricature of successful bw. The show is my weekly cotton candy and I like it. Apparently, so do a lot of other folks and not just bw. Never cared for Grey's Anatomy, but I give Shonda Rimes mad props for this show. I'll take Scandal over anything on BET, TVOne, & Tyler Perry any day.

--And there you have it. Professional Black women are an underserved market and Scandal is resonating with them because they see a reflection of themselves on screen-Olivia is flawed, but so are they. 

She is fashionable!

I’m not going to start watching the show now. I’ll wait until its all over and watch a marathon in a few years. I kinda like saying I don’t watch it at this point. 

And a final thought from a WAOD Facebook Fan:

not my cuppa, but at least it's a popular show with a black woman who isn't a maid, crack head or best friend...

Hmmm and folks, I guess we can call that progress "At least the Black lady is not a crackhead!" Rosa Parks must be overjoyed at our standard of excellence. -- I may not agree with you about the show, but I understand :)

I used to shoot potatoes on the front porch with a pellet gun until my Daddy commented that that might not wise as I could shoot a neighbor if I missed. :) Notice he didn't take the gun away, he just mentioned that pointing a gun at my neighbors house while trying to hit a tiny target might not be wise. Aren't Daddies the best?

I mixed Comet and dishwashing liquid all the time ( don't do that kids- it's dangerous). We popped firecrackers and actually put fire crackers inside of things and blew them up ( don't do that kids, it's dangerous). I played with fire ( Don't do that kids, it's dangerous). I used to catch bees ( don't do that kids... not dangerous, but quite painful when the bees sting you). Basically dumb stuff that children do.

Severa of you have forwarded this story about Kiera Wilmot to me. The Blogmother is buried right now, so I have not done extensive research, but I did find this post which contains the police report. Hopefully the prosecutors will use their discretion in this case. It appears that the felony charge is the work of law enforcement. You should continue to watch to see if the prosecutors take up the charge. They may not. The school expulsion is an entirely separate matter. I'm glad people are speaking out about this. She's not disposable. She mixed some type of cleaner with aluminum foil and made the top come off of a plastic bottle. Scared to see how they would react if she got her hands on some baking soda and vinegar.

The school district says she needs to learn that there are "consequences." Well there are consequences and then there are CONSEQUENCES. There is a national problem with young Black girls being dealt with more harshly in the school disciplinary systems than our White counterparts. Consequences would be a suspension, possibly an expulsion. But jail and a felony.. that's a bit much.

There were other ways to deal with this:

The real problem is with the school and the police. When a kid makes a mistake that’s not severe, it can be easily turned into a teachable moment. How about suspension instead of expulsion, with the requirement of a lab assignment based on the very experiment that was tried by Kiera? How about requiring a presentation by her to the class and/or principal to show mastery of the subject? This solution combines a reasonable punishment with additional academic work to help Kiera learn the proper way to conduct experiments. It also gives the adults involved another way to gauge her understanding of the scientific method. The penalties should go up for repeated offenses, up to and including expulsion. Shareef Jackson

I'm UnChilded, but if I did have kids, they would be members of  #TeamHomeSchool.... which is why I don't have kids- - - they are a lot of work.

Let's get back to the Associated Press. On last Monday, the Associated Press published a widely-reprinted article “Love & Hip Hop’ Overcomes Backlash. It was a glowing review of Mrs. Scott Young's triumph over good.  Jonathan Landrum Jr. didn't mention a single quote from a single critic of Mrs. Scott Young despite the fact that THOUSANDS of articles and possibly millions of social media status updates have criticized Scott Young's anti-Black woman hate speech. If I didn't know better I'd think Mrs. Scott Young wrote the article herself and Mr. Jonathan Landrum, Jr. just pasted his byline next to it. 

I was troubled by the lack of balance and the one-sided nature of this article so I emailed info@ap.org to point out the overt fawning by Mr. Landrum.  I sent this letter to the Associated Press:

I am deeply disturbed by an article the Associate Press published on Monday, April 22, 2012 titled, Scott-Young’s “Love & Hip Hop’ Overcomes Backlash. The article was “written” by Jonathan Landrum, Jr. If I didn’t know better, I would think that Jonathan Landrum, Jr. merely placed his byline next to the text from a press release issued by Mona Scott Young’s team. The headline of the article appears to suggest that Mrs. Scott Young overcame a backlash, yet there is not a single quote from any of Mrs Scott-Young’s critics. 

 

Many people believe that she is a peddler of filth and an exploiter of drug-addicted, emotionally unstable, possibly developmentally disabled Black women and the abusive men they are entangled with. Yet despite the fact that thousands of articles and perhaps millions of social media status updates have been written to criticize Mrs. Young, Mr. Landrum managed not to include a single quote from any of Mrs. Young’s critics and it is for that reason I think the Associated Press has failed.  If the Associated Press wants to become the publicist for Mrs. Scott Young, fairness and I would think “journalism” requires that critics be given at least a sentence to respond to Mr. Landrum’s  glowing profile of Mrs. Young. 

 

And the editors responsible for the headline should also be asked, what exactly it is that Mona Scott Young “overcame.” She was an incredibly rich Black entertainment executive who is now richer and more famous and the only challenge should could have possibly have overcome would be her conscience... if she had one.

 

I ask that you review Mr Landrum’s article to determine if it meets the standards of the Associated Press and hope that in the future if you decide to promote Mrs. Young’s work, that you also report on the destruction she is unleashing on Black women and girls across the planet who have to contend with the mass character assassination she is carrying out in collusion with VH1.

And that about says it all. Mona, you're not getting a redemption arc. Your children and your chlidren's children will know that their mother and grandmother did everything she could to destroy other Black women with her anti-Black woman hate speech. 

I also take offense at the editors who decided to use the word "overcome" in the title. Rosa Parks overcame. Fannie Lou Hamer overcame. Barbara Jordan overcame. Sojourner Truth overcame. Mona Scott Young just rolled into the mediocrity that is niche programming for cable television in the digital age. Anybody can get 2 million people to tune into something on cable. 2 million people would tune in to watch live executions or toddlers fighting with alligators, but that doesn't mean those things get aired.

Six years ago today, I launched What About Our Daughters to encourage Black women to "Stop Funding Foolishness" and defund the War on Black Women. Today I launch the latest phase in our advocacy- the Genarlow Wilson movie. A copy of the trial trial transcript is an essential element of the script development. 

No case that we have covered over the past 6 years quite exemplified the treachery of the institutions of the Black community more than the Genarlow Wilson case.   Some of the most powerful and well funded institutions in our community threw Black girls under the bus-- for no reason at all. They wanted to make a folk hero out of a sex predator who happened to get caught up in a seventh amendment argument about Georgia's sentencing scheme. While the Supreme Court of Georgia decided that Mr. Wilson's sentence was longer than the legislature had intended, his conviction was never reversed.  We've written extensively about Mr. Wilson's morally reprehensible behavior. Far more troubling are the views and attitudes about rape and sexual assault espoused by his supporters. 

They have repeatedly lied, omitted, mischaracterized, attacked, and abused. Most disturbing was the decision of the editors of Ebony.com to print an erroneous headline declaring Mr. Wilson to be "Glorious" and lying to Ebony.com readers about the fact that he remains convicted of child rape. 

The time has come to correct the record. We've created a campaign on Go Fund Me to raise money for a copy of the transcript and to cover the cost of me getting out of dodge and away from distractions to finish a shooting script. 

Our tentative timeline is to have the shooting script completed by the end of Summer. Select the crew in early September. Cast in late September and shoot in October. We hope to be able to make WAOD reader-hosted screenings available throughout the country by February 2014. 

Thank you again for your support. We would never have made it this far without you. 

Our Genarlow Wilson Coverage:

There is an US. There is a THEM: Solidarity is NOT an Excuse to be Stupid

Your Genarlow Wilson Refresher Course: You're Not Entitled to Your Own Facts

Zerlina Maxwell's Inconvenient Truth: L.M. and How Black Media Erased a Rape Victim

Their Silence Speaks for Itself: Zerlina Maxwell and Ebony Magazine's Rape Culture Hypocrisy

Follow-Up To: Zerlina Maxwell and Ebony Magazine's Hypocrisy on Steubenville Rape Case- Will Tom Joyner Give Steubenville Rapist Ma'Lik Richmond a Free Morehouse Education?

 Lessons from the Ebony 4 Debacle: The End of Plausible Deniability for "Journalists" Who Cover Genarlow Wilson

The Grownups at EBONY Tell "The Ebony 4" To Have 5 Seats: PullGenarlow Wilson Propaganda and Promise 3-Part Series.

Clear Ultra Shea Responds to Your Concerns About Ebony.com on Facebook - Genarlow Wilson Articles Disappear (AGAIN) From Ebony.com

Ebony Magazine Editors Don't "Condone Rape" -- Except When They Do! (Ebony Editors' Idiotic Statement on Genarlow Wilson)

UPDATE:Ebony.com's Editors Renew Their Support of GenarlowWilson- Issue "Official Statement" of Apology

Allstate and Tom Joyner Indoctrinating Young Black Children to Revere Sexual Predators?: Genarlow Wilson Refresher Post!

Making Goliath Bleed: Allstate Creates "Genarlow Wilson" Rule in Public Rebuke of Tom Joyner

We Know Ebony Magazine Refers to a Convicted Child Rapist (Genarlow Wilson) as "Glorious"

Morehouse Man? Genarlow Wilson, Rapist and Child Pornographer Gets a Fresh Start- -What About the Girls

Where's the Outrage over Kelly? Genarlow Wilson? ( Yeah, I went there)- UPDATE Where's the Outrage Over the Florida Gang Rape???

Zerlina Maxwell and Ebony Magazine's Hypocrisy on Steubenville Rape Case- Will Tom Joyner Give Steubenville Rapist Ma'Lik Richmond a Free Morehouse Education?

It's their annual tech issue and were highlighting Texas-based tech entrepreneurs. I was selected as the founder of the Blogging While Brown conference. We'll be in New York this year, June 21-22nd.  You should register to attend. 

I just launched a second conference called the Black Social Media Summit and it was the best. conference. ever! It was so awesome that they convinced me to hold another one in Houston in November. 

I love bringing brillant Black people together. The nice thing about launching a second conference brand is that I get to learn from all of the mistakes I made with my first. We're having fun now.   

I'll be speaking tomorrow at the Black Social Media Summit in Austin. It starts tomorrow at 9:00AM. You can still register. When you use the code:Blogmother, you get at 50% discount on late registration. There are a few seats available. You can register at www.BlackSocialMediaSummit.com and check out the full line up of speakers. 

Next week, I'll be announcing HUGE, HUGE news in celebration of our 6th Anniversary. Yes, it's been six years. It feels like just yesterday I put up my first post.... THAT'S A LIE! Blogging years are like dog years. I feel as if I've been doing it for 40+ years. HA! I think I just made it through my midlife blogging crisis. 

Much like Genarlow Wilson and his friends, four boys in Canada gang raped  a young girl, video taped it and spread it around school. 

The girl was ostracized, taunted, and bullied. The police refused to prosecute the four boys. Rehtaeh Parson died after attempting suicide. 

In 2011 when Rehtaeh was 15, she went with a friend to a small gathering with other teenagers and started drinking vodka.

Parsons said Rehtaeh only remembered bits and pieces of the night, but does remember throwing up out a window.

While one of the guys was allegedly having sex with her another yelled, “Take a picture, take a picture.”

“That picture began to circulate in her school and community three days later,” said Parsons. CBC

And then the her schoolmates and friends turned on her. 

“She was never left alone. Her friends turned against her, people harassed her, boys she didn’t know started texting her and Facebooking asking her to have sex with them since she had had sex with their friends. It just never stopped,” said Parsons. CBC

As I stated on Facebook- you have to assume that a great deal of the bullying and taunting came from other girls. 

Remember Rehtaeh Parsons the next time Zerlina Maxwell, Chandra Thomas Whitfield, Amy Dubois Barnett, Kierna Mayo, Genese Cage, Jamilah Lemieux and Geneva S. Thomas give aid and comfort to Genarlow Wilson and LIE and say he is not a rapist. What he did to LM was illegal and morally reprehensible and you can click your ruby red slippers and wish it wasn't so, but it is. 

Stories like this are why we need to hold  the women who enable, aid and comfort these predators accountable. The facts are eerily similar and they are occurring over and over again. 

And so I will repeat myself because I really can't ask these questions enough:

• Should the Black community and it's institutions have turned Genarlow Wilson into a folk hero?
• Should they have given him awards?
• Should they have given him a free college education?
• Should they have paid for his publicists (yes he has them- they've whined to me)?
• Should he be rewarded with a book deal?
• Is a man who rapes an unconscious girl worthy of this kind of status in the Black community?
• Should advocates of survivors of rape and sexual assault be cheering Genarlow Wilson on via the same twitter account that they pledge solidarity with Jane Doe in the Steubenville case?
• What kind of message did the Black Elite Establishment send to LM and other girls like her? Do they even care?

Rehtaeh's mom created a Facebook Tribute Page.  

Beyonce and crew KNEW exactly what they were doing by taking a  trip to Cuba to celebrate her anniversary. Does anyone want to wager money on the likelihood of two of the current President's most visible supporters and fundraisers facing  sanctions from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control?  I'm going to go out on a limb and say they will face no sanctions.

For those of you living under a rock. Beyonce Knowles Carter and her drug dealing husband Jay-Z decided to take a vacation in Cuba. One small problem, most American citizens ( and the last time I checked, they were) apparently need a special license from the OFAC:

But while U.S. laws and regulations allow Cuban-Americans to make unlimited trips to the island for “family reunification” visits, U.S. residents and citizens who are not Cuban American face a tangled web of OFAC restrictions.

They can travel under “specific licenses” obtained in advance from OFAC, for instance for educational trips known as “people to people travel.” Or they can go under “general licenses” for purposes such as journalism or cultural research, which do not require prior approval but can be challenged and punished by OFAC afterward. Washington Post. 

Now, I've got good money that their trip will be challenged AND the Republicans who control the House would love nothing more than to drag Ms. Knowles Carter in front of Congress to explain her reasons for flouting the laws that apply to the rest of us.  They won't be fined, but I just want to hear her try to string together a complete sentence or two explaining the cultural or educational purpose for going. 

I understand why the President had to associate himself with these two bottom feeding grifters during his campaign, but I hope this means I won't have to see these two putting their ankles up on the table in the White House Situation Room again. The sooner the singer and her drug dealing husband are expelled from even the most tangential vestiges of national political power and history, the better. 

And don't get me started on her deluded rantings about being a "modern feminist" while calling other women "bitches" and telling them to bow down. #gurlbye!

P.S. I'm sure the geniuses at PEPSI are overjoyed that she decided to pull this stunt right after they started blaring her new commercial dancing with herself. 

PPS. Y'all think I'M harsh in my Beyonce criticism... I think not- looks like the Republicans are going to let her have it. And they also have a Black belt in throwing SHADE!

Diaz-Balart noted that Beyonce performed for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2009 at a private concert attended by Jay-Z and others in the Caribbean. “She [Beyonce] has a history of not being too concerned about human rights,” Diaz-Balart said. Miami Herald

OUCH! Well technically she started it. 

I have not seen the movie and will not see it until you pay me a fee of $25,000. I originally was only charging $250 to see it, but the write-ups and editorials have been so traumatic that I had to increase my hazard pay. 

As is now the custom, after every single tyler Perry movie, we have the first wave of negative reviews followed quickly by the social impications of the widespread dissemination of Mr. Perry's faux-theological propaganda. 

Some people are upset that Tyler (once again) uses HIV as a plot device to punish villains in movies. 

Some people are upset about how Tyler portrayed what some are describing as a rape in the movie ( haven't seen it- don't know)

And then there's this latest gambit with Madea teaming up with Miss Sophia from the Color Purple- Paging Alice Walker!

My advice is that we all collectively quit our bellyaching!

None of it matters!

None!

Your outrage is irrelevant. 

Your disdain and derision are for naught.

Tyler Perry's winning and there is nothing you can do to stop him. He's going to be making movies as long as there is breath in his body and your children's children's children's children will be watching his work. In the same way that I stayed up for 6 hours to watch The Ten Commandments during Easter weekend. 

Nope, Tyler's winning as long as he's producing what he wants.

The only way to beat him at this point is to join him. Flood the market with movies based on contorted interpretations of the bible and prey on the soft squishy minds of people who go to church and never quite manage to read any of the Bible verses they don't like. Target the Black folks who resent other Black people who went to college and got degrees. Target the Black women who think that they are single because God hasn't "sent" them a man yet- KEEP WAITING! Target the folks who think they've been ignored and marginalized and give 'em what they want.  

No seriously. It's the only way to end this scourge across the land you so lament. And it's happened before. Roger Corman was cranking out kooky low budget scifi movies and then Steven Spielberg and George Lucas took the same concept and threw bucket loads of money and production value at the same concept:

In the ’70s, the era of the blockbuster emerged with filmmakers who took Corman’s formula to the next level by adding big money and more refined talent to the mix. “Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were obviously influenced by Corman when they made Jaws and Star Wars,” Stapleton says. “And James Cameron, who started his career working for Corman, has consistently proven that you can make epic films that are based 100 percent on the structure of Corman-style genre pictures.” Wired.

The thing is that if Tyler Perry is as horrible a writer as we all think he is, it shouldn't be THAT hard to co-opt him. Except while we're on the sidelines criticizing him, he's still producing content... which means he wins. 

So there is your Tyler Perry post. I have now cross this one off of my To Do list- until next month when he releases his next movie.