April 24th, 2007 | | Posted in Uncategorized
That is what I am calling the latest campaign organized by both the NAACP and the HSAN to bleep out certain words within hip hop music when they are broadcasted on the airwaves. (read what I just said again and let that sink in)
What happens when someone purchases the album? Or how about the “uncensored” video?
(tvweek.com) Upset about the way African Americans and especially women are portrayed in music and music videos, the NAACP is unveiling a campaign to get cable TV, radio and music companies and recording artists to “stop demeaning African American images in the media.”
[…]
Stefanie Brown, national director of the NAACP’s Youth & College Division, said the yearlong campaign will attempt to work with artists, recording companies and the media. She said the portrayal of women in rap music was a big target, suggesting they “objectivize” and demean women.
Mr. Hayes said the NAACP wasn’t blasting media companies because it hopes to work with them and with artists. NAACP wants the artists, record companies and media companies to pledge to do a better job of portraying African Americans. (source)
#
(myhot105.com) In a joint statement, rap mogul Russell Simmons and Benjamin Chavis of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network said the group of business and community leaders is concerned about the growing outrage over the use of offensive words by both musical performers and on-air personalities.
“We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words ‘bit**’ and ‘ho’ and the racially offensive word ‘ni**er,’” they said.
“Going forward, these three words should be considered with the same objections to obscenity as ‘extreme curse words.’”
The two said the recommendation wasn’t about censorship.
“Our discussions are about the corporate social responsibility of the industry to voluntarily show respect to African-Americans and other people of color, African-American women and to all women in lyrics and images,” they said. (more…)
Translation: “Whitey, we are asking you to censor our demeaning behavior. Because if we were to FULLY admit that we are the originators of this material, we will not be able to hold perpetual guilt over you.”
This whole thing has taken a very sickening turn. As I have said many times before, while we regularly boast in our ability to “tell it like it is“, when it comes to confronting the dark side of hip hop we cannot accept blame unless Whites are portrayed as EQUAL co-conspirators. That is the equivalent of a grown, rusty, dusty behind man stating in court “Well, he made me do it”.
I say, let’s put the moniker of “strong Black man” or “strong Black woman” to the test. If we are serious that we want to rid the airwaves of “offensive” music, let’s stop listening to it (that includes legal and illegal copies of these CDs)! And please don’t bring up the partial statistic about how more Whites than Blacks listen to hip hop music. Of course they do because we only make up 13% of the population. Do you really believe that our kids are listening classical music instead? Of course not! Our lil’ 13% is right smack in the middle of the listening audience. If we are going to be real about this issue, then let’s boycott any radio station that plays this type of music or stores (INCLUDING ONLINE MUSIC STORES) that sell this music. How about stop going to concerts where this type of behavior is glamorized? Or how about comedy shows where the same ills of Black America we consistently and angrily blame White America for becomes bust–yo–gut, roll on the floor, holla’n material? The sad reality is that many of us lack the real guts and courage our parents and grandparents had when they boycotted against White establishments during the civil rights era. They were willing to face police dogs and fire hoses while this generation begs the White establishment to help US to stop demeaning ourselves.
[exhale]
I think what really sets me off about this issue is that I know that there are many of you out there who agree with what I am saying here, but you prefer to be a fence sitter on the issue–lest you are accused of “beating up on your race”. So in your conversations on and offline you say just enough to stay “safe”. Occasionally you may chime in related conversations by admitting that we as Black folks have been wrong for falling asleep at the wheel when it comes to our kids. But you quickly have to follow it with a jab at the White man, lest you sound like the “heartless” Bill Cosby. Having worked with at-risk kids for a number of years, the one thing they appreciate is when grown folks like me would tell them the truth STRAIGHT UP! They did not want a social commentator–they wanted someone that not only love them enough to tell them the truth, but will show them how they can become better human beings. One of the worst things we could do for our kids in this situation is to lead them to “whitey” for a demonstration on how to censor OUR behavior. This is EXACTLY what both the NAACP and HSAN are doing with this latest campaign.
Well at least they have free medical care, right?
As promised here is the very first blackinformant.com podcast. This is an interview that I had last week with mortgage industry expert Christopher Cruise (click 
TYREEK RAYSHEEN LEE
The Naked Truth About Sex
New York, NY (BlackNews.com) - Carlton Brown, COO of Full Spectrum NY and developer of Kalahari, the sustainable luxury condominium in Central Harlem, will be featured on Sundance Channel’s original series “Big Ideas For a Small Planet: Build” on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 9:00 PM EST. A specialist in sustainability and urban renewal, Mr. Brown will highlight Kalahari and his vision as a green design leader for projects spanning the nation. The evening is hosted by Brown’s protégé, Executive Director and Founder of Sustainable South Bronx, Majora Carter.
The 50 Million Pound Challenge
—and she is )
