"S.O.S. - Saving OurSelves" - BET telethon
Today BET is hosting it's own telethon, in response to the lack of meaningful progress for Hurricane KAtrina victims. This makes perfect sense. I finally understand a role for BET. No more Lil' Jon videos, at least not while the television is filled with black people who aren't there to tell us about how much money they have. It is vice versa.
Imagine being a black person in America for a little while. Yes, this is hard. You live in a country that for years has claimed to have removed all barriers of progress to you. Your roles models really are hip-hop stars for the most part. Those who actually demonstrate financial success through hard work in the workplace come back to their home communities to face criticism that they haven't done enough to open the doors for other young people. Meanwhile the man driving a Bentley and wearing a battery of diamonds is raised as a hero, and faces no such similar criticism.
Blame BET. They've been disconnecting this relationship through shear assimilation for years now. As a result of the lack of social conciousness in hip-hop for many years now, because people think it won't sell, has caused to skip this channel. Imagine my suprise at the telethon today.
You can't help it. Black people have seen people who look like themselves on the other television channels and outside situation comedies, and have come back horrified. Further yet, they see other African Americans completely abandonned by their fellow man and hence government. Suddenly, BET gets it. They don't even care where money from the community goes, just that it gets there. Self promclaimed artists come out of the woodwork to share their social conciousness. Even Kanye West is given a reprisal role in the promo spots for the telethon. Now if we (as in all Americans) can just carry this momentum into improving the lives of all people....
oh wait. is that profitable?
next step - the benefit mixtape. collaborations always welcome
Imagine being a black person in America for a little while. Yes, this is hard. You live in a country that for years has claimed to have removed all barriers of progress to you. Your roles models really are hip-hop stars for the most part. Those who actually demonstrate financial success through hard work in the workplace come back to their home communities to face criticism that they haven't done enough to open the doors for other young people. Meanwhile the man driving a Bentley and wearing a battery of diamonds is raised as a hero, and faces no such similar criticism.
Blame BET. They've been disconnecting this relationship through shear assimilation for years now. As a result of the lack of social conciousness in hip-hop for many years now, because people think it won't sell, has caused to skip this channel. Imagine my suprise at the telethon today.
You can't help it. Black people have seen people who look like themselves on the other television channels and outside situation comedies, and have come back horrified. Further yet, they see other African Americans completely abandonned by their fellow man and hence government. Suddenly, BET gets it. They don't even care where money from the community goes, just that it gets there. Self promclaimed artists come out of the woodwork to share their social conciousness. Even Kanye West is given a reprisal role in the promo spots for the telethon. Now if we (as in all Americans) can just carry this momentum into improving the lives of all people....
oh wait. is that profitable?
next step - the benefit mixtape. collaborations always welcome