I wanted to write about something from a different angle. I decided I'd tackle gossip and money and how it relates to racism. See, everybody in America comes in contact with some form of media everyday be it TV, social media, magazine, advertisement,etc. We have an idea of the purpose of media and how it works. We know the mainstream media outlets can be very bad, especially if you're Black in America. Black people know the media is racist, but we don't really understand what the point of racism is and how it affects us, and why. I've gone in extensively on the blog regarding supremacy and how it's tied to respectability politics. Now I'm going to tie it in with gossip and money. Take a look at this story, and watch the video.
This video has over two million views. I won't lie. I watched it too. But I noticed two things about videos like this: The first thing is the fact that many people will see this and say disparaging things about her because of her presentation. Some people will turn her into a joke. In fact,this could be why the video has over two million views in the first place. I used to see videos like these and get mad because they serve as joke material for people who express anti black sentiments. Then a light came on and I figured the following:
The people running all forms of mainstream American media are like children on the playground when it comes to Black people. It's like little kids pointing and laughing while huddled around a crude drawing of a penis. The crude penis drawing (which is represented by what they think Black people are) gets televised. If you include money, then this is what the masses will get to see. And that's what gets them laughing.That's why things like that video become highly publicized "stories" . It's the same reason why videos designed to highlight so called 'negative characteristics' in Black people are just gossip dipped in money. That is their main focus. It could also explain why any time a Black person is put in the media for all to see, there will always be racist comments for viewing purposes at the end of the article or video.
This is also the same reason why WorldStarHipHop exists. The person who created it knew what the people want to see, and they wanted to monetize it. And unfortunately, a lot of Black people bought into it (there's that supremacy again!). But the second thing I noticed was that the effect of this video is also the exact opposite of the first: The woman in the video speaks like she's cool with everybody and anybody. She isn't afraid to be herself. So many people are afraid to be themselves, and that's why respectability politics exist. I can respect her for her candid-ness. I can respect anybody who can present themselves as they are regardless of who is in front of them. So I'm glad I got to see the video. It gave me a chance to write this blog and shine some unpredictable light on mainstream American media and what they're trying to do. So if you're tired of negative images of Black people in the media, our only choice is to change our perspective so it doesn't match theirs, question mainstream media's motives, create and/or support our own media outlets designed to mold our own great narrative as a people, and keep it moving.
DISCLAIMER: This blog is chock full of grammatical errors, sentence structure problems, punctuation issues and many other writing faux pas I didn't mention. I've found that writing like this serves as therapy, and gives me a concrete place to put my thoughts. They appear to be all over the place, and my paragraphs are long because I have so much in my head that I have to get it all out in some way. I mentioned in the introduction that I would rant about these things often. As we all know, ranting about things doesn't necessarily get them resolved. Instead of ranting at everybody over and over, I figured I'd put them here. Doing that gives me a sense of resolution, and reminds me that I have put the idea down for the time being. Otherwise, it would re circulate through my mind. Please forgive me if my writing style bothers you. I definitely understand why it would. That being said, I am still open to constructive feedback. Since I started writing these, I have changed the look, the font is bigger, and the paragraph spacing was a LOT less than it is right now. I'm still working on the paragraph lengths, and the grammar has improved since my previous post.
If anybody sees this. Thank you for reading. I greatly appreciate the fact that people are checking out these thoughts of mine. I just wonder if anyone else out there is thinking of the same stuff in the same way I'm thinking about it in my little corner of the universe.
That being said, let me get back to the subject. ------------------------------- Here's an idea:
What if the people who spread the worldstarhiphop videos that had kids in them decided to collectively look for the parents or relatives of the kids in the video in hopes of fixing the behavior in the videos? The reason I said this was because I just saw a very tiny boy (looked to be aged 7) who was smoking weed. It messed me up because the boy was so tiny that he looked every bit of aged 7.
Here's what tripped me out: He was dressed clean, and appropriately for his age, and he was in a car while somebody was recording. He was sitting in the back of the car looking like somebody was picking him up from school.
I mean this boy was so tiny that he looked like was at the age where he finally figured out how to keep his bed dry at night. Needless to say, he was WAAAAAYYYY too young to be doing anything like that or knowing about anything like that. On top of that, it looked like somebody gave it to him, rolled it up and lit it so he could smoke it because that blunt was rolled tight and clean. He couldn't possibly know how to do that at that age.
People were saying that somebody needs to contact the "proper authorities". Why do we as a people have to run to authorities when stuff like that pops up? Due to recent events, it's plain to see that the authorities clearly don't have any interest in showing that #BlackLivesMatter, so sending the kid to them would be a grave mistake. That being said, why can't people work together to find relatives of the person or people in the video that could take care of the kids? I mean, couldn't the kid go and live with family members who have the ability to give him the love and guidance necessary to make sure he grows up? I'm just saying.
Now before you all think I'm on some "extra good" type stuff, I will say this. If people want to smoke marijuana, then that's all them. BUT little kids shouldn't be doing that. And as far as sharing worldstarhiphop videos go: I hate those videos most of the time. I think the fights should stay in the hood where they belong and not be on the internet for everybody to gawk at. Don't get me wrong. If you have to fight, then you have to fight. I'm not against fighting AT. ALL. but maybe it's just me, I find it ugly to be airing out dirty laundry like that. Let the girl or guy get their butt beat in the hood and allow the beating to disappear like they used to. Keep that mess in the hood amongst the people involved, and not on the internet like its a prime time ghetto match on pay per view. But I guess that's just how I feel about it. <Kanye shrug>
For those who wonder which video I'm talking about, I will not share it. If I do so, I would be a hypocrite. I'll have to leave you to your own devices. That is all.
