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Her perspective of the Black experience in this country has evolved because of the evident hue of her color, something that even if she wanted to, couldn't deny. So in her conversations with Black folks that surround her in journalism, I'm sure she has been schooled on being Black in America even if you don't want to believe it. For Cubans many of them aspire to whiten up their Black families and look down on anything perceived as Black. In Miami many Cubans could not understand the pride that Black Americans had in our accomplishments and often reacted in hostile ways, such as her reaction when reporting on MLK.
I said all that to say, the report last night was nothing more than a string of commercials and upcoming attraction previews for other shows with a few snipets of Black life thrown in between. Those so-called segments were so short and pieced together without any indepth coverage of the causes of the negative aspects of these folks lives, with only a short segment at the end showing the resilience and preserverence of Black folks in this country in spite of. This was a failed attempt and was not substantive or edifying at any point.
A hugh disappointment.
The reality is that the vast majority of Black folk are ordinary citizens who are neither newsworthy nor documentary subjects. That being the case, why then does CNN want to air a series on Black America other than for entertainment value.
And let's face it; if we've learned nothing about TV in the last 80 years, there's nothing more entertaining than dysfunctional Black folk.
Thanks but no thanks, CNN.
Say it again.
Also, It's not until I read business magazines do I find out we are starting businesses more than any other group out there.
What's important about this program is showing the inspirational privately driven solutions, like that of Harvard Prof. Roland Fryer. Now the key is finding a way of networking the private efforts, to church / social group solutions. The other issue I have is the detractors from academia to some of the novel trials in education in particular. I am a supporter of Teacher unions and their causes, but I think we need to integrate the union causes with the novel approaches to education. Nice thought I know.
Single parent, fatherless families has got to stop. Black women need to look beyond their race, and broaden their standards in terms of culture. A good, respectful, complimentary mate can come in many colors and backgrounds.
If there trying to get other races to understand us, why show them only one aspect, and have it 90% negative.
I mean if I were someone who had no idea of what blackfolk went through and saw this, I'd assume were all sexually active, highschool dropouts who are raised in single parent homes. Maybe I missed something.
How many parts are in this series? All of what I have seen bascially discussed, AIDS in the Black community, achievement gaps, teenage pregnancies, etc.
The title of the program is "Being Black in America". The above social ills although real and are/have reached epidemic proportions in some areas, are not exhaustively representative of "being Black".
They even had Campbell Brown's doing a little segment prior to tonight's airing.
The percentage of single parent households and two parent households are 50/50...while one should also take into account that just because a parent is non-resident, does not mean that they are not taking care of parental responsibilities. Now that shrinks it even more.
The majority of AA's are middle classed.
Lastly, I refused to watch this series...REFUSE! No thank you.
White people have always had a fascination with "dysfunctional black folks" or what they consider to be dysfunctional or "the other" from cinematic stereotypes to sociological myth-we as a race are constantly reduced to the lowest denominator.
You see, while other blacks participate in it, I refuse to. Its all racist at best.
I will wait to see the "Latino in America", "White in America" , "Asian in America", "Arab in America" etc...etc...until, my theory stands.
Well, here's one black family we like on this board...
My father wasn't always yelling like James Evans, though. But what would we expect from the Clinton/Klanton News Network?
Listen, they need to show the diversity of the black community that includes the Evans and the Huxtables and whatever you will see on Menace II Society.
I SO wanted to have our roots genetically traced, but we couldn't foot the bill.
I co-sign with the "negroes on display" feeling.
I
Katy...
No he doesn't look completely white.
Diahann Carroll (pictured recently on your blog) has been nominated for an Emmy!!
It's for her guest role in Grey's Anatomy: Guest Actress In A Drama Series, ABC ยท Diahann Carroll as Jane Burkev. (Sandra Oh's (also nominated) potential Step-mother, i think. Only one word can describe this: FABULOUS!!! Even at 70+ (what is her age anyway? Black don't crack, that is for sure!) Diahann Carroll continues to demonstrate excellence, dominate scenes and practice her craft to the delight (and recognition) of both peers and audience.
I LOVE myself a true Blacktress!
PLUS, Ms. Diva Carroll just released a tell-all book and basically said 'so friggin' what?' to critics of her biography of life with Vic Demone
Is one of only 7 African-American actresses to receive the Best Actress Oscar nomination.
How about a post on behalf of this Glorious Diva!?
In the nearly 2 hrs that have passed, they have had 1 segment on proffesional blackfolk and that was single sisters..And rather then speak on tryin to make it in a white male driven worforce, they focused on them being single.
The other segment about the white-mobley construction family only served as a segway to the johnson family..
I think CNN didnt really focus on all aspects of being black, rather they took the easy way out and hit what some see as problems in the community.
Anyway I didn't hate it overall.
I'm just counting the hours! :-P
they could have done better by us, much better
If you didn't like it tonight, tomorrow is going to make you sick - Black men in America.
sigh, i'm sure it was. thanks for the reviews, i don't feel so bad now about having no cable. the olympics is coming though, i'm going to have to splurge on that. LOL
That's it.
I won't be buying the DVD.
OBAMA'S SPEECH IN BERLIN
So I found out that Obama's speech is scheduled for 7pm Berlin time, which I now know, thanks to my handy new timezone calculator (thx google) should be 12 noon CST.
It's the one I think some people have been saying is not a good idea, but I think it's okay.
I hope it's a barn-burner. Let's place bets that all 3 cable networks will broadcast much of it. I would bet FOX news cuts away first though. MSNBC might broadcast the whole thing, but 12noon is usually the time that Andrea "rattlesnake" Mitchell does her show.
And you do know that her political lean is so to the "right"!
Whew! (Deep breaths)!
BTW, I can't stand that Tara woman. If she is the sista with the long hair who talks out of one side of her mouth, then she is the conservative shill that they use now instead of Amie Holmes. I just realized that Amy Holmes was all over CNN, now she's gone. What happened to her? Is she in "Token Black" Conservative witness protection
I Goggled her name to get information.
I'm a bit of an Amy Holmes lover/hater, so I keep abreast of such things.
blogging venture! Like the title - good stuff! :>)
Something about that particualr topic being broached on CNN just kinda...just like discussing of usage of the "N" word. I just prefer certain topics to be moderated/hosted/ whatever by those whom actually care.
The voice over announcing "Being Black in America" every five minutes drives me crazy.
Whew! (DEEP BREATHS!!)
For example, there is a segment on a "controversial" issue related to PAYING children for getting high test scores in an effort to close the "achievement gap". That is ONLY ONE strategy for motivating students. BUT, there are OTHER just as EFFECTIVE, NON-MONETARY strategies. As an educator, if I were asked about whether to spotlight this strategy - I would say NO! It could be listed as ONE strategy BUT NOT a major focus. I would highlight a spectrum of strategies.
Whew! (Deep Breaths).
MarryMyBabyDaddy.com
In the clip, they actually showed a brotha dancing down the aisle, to marry his baby momz... All that was missin was the group of newly weds doin the Harlem Shuffle...
The Kennedy family story was moving. Here is a black father taking care of his children.
A REAL show of what it is really like being Black in America would be based on the true dichotomy that exists when you are Black in an America that was created to be solely based on white supremacy as the rightful norm in society.
That REAL informative piece would not have Soledad O'Brien as the journalist and also no Anderson Cooper trying to intelligently discuss something for which he has no reference point... which shows!
That would indeed be a real look at what it means to be Black in America. Unfortunately, they are not going to tell that story, nor will they let us tell it.
Topics I would have liked to see discussed:
1. black youth (millenials)
2. the political aspects of the black community (why we vote democratic and why black republicans are self-haters)
3. the split b/w the older generation and the younger generation on civil rights
4. the success stories of everyday black people who make a difference in their communities
5. the black family (not single-parent homes, but about how blacks discipline their children compared to other races)
6. health in the black community
7. how the economy and housing crisis is affecting the black community
8. the nuances of black people and culture in different areas of the country (for example: black ppl in Atlanta have a very different mindset than black people in Los Angeles, etc.)
I mean we all can come up with a list of things other than, single moms, AIDS, high school drop outs, and poverty/welfare. I give this "documentary" a C-.
3, 5, and 8 would have made my night. Just one of them.
1. How Black women feel about living in a society with Eurocentric beauty ideals that they either accept or reject?
2. How do Black people feel about living in a country that eslaved them, stole their names and history, called them less than human, etc?
3. How often do they get discriminated against, what incidents occured, how do they feel?
4. How do they feel about having light skin or dark skin (self-image)?
5. What do they think about their media representation and about Black celebrities?
6. How do they feel being a minority in predominantly White schools?
7. What do they think about race as it is described in the Bible (e.g., that stupid Ham curse)?
8. What do they know about how racism against Black people began and why it exists?
9. How do they feel about Africa?
10. Why do some date interracially and why do some prefer Black partners.
11. What is it like working in predominantly White settings.
I think thats a lot. These topics would really help others to understand where we are coming from and why we are the way we are.
Verbatim:
"The Black Woman & Family", (2008), Soleday O'Brien examines the black female experience in America, including single parenthoold, classroom disparaties between blacks and wites and the HIV/AID epidemin in black communities.
In closing,
I think what bothers me most about these type of programs and syposiums, is that you have a bunch of so called experts , politicians, and intellectuals pontificating on these issues. However, rarely do I hear actual solutions. When someone does have a solution, it is criticized . For instance, I believe there is a Harvard professor on the program who is paying students as an incentive to do well. May not be the best idea, but hey he is in the trenches. Also, there was another guy on the earlier who started a school I believe for males only. He espoused the idea of gender specific schools.
Roland Friar, he's pretty terrific in what he's doing. He got a little pushback from Julianne Malveax on the earlier special. She said she wanted to see "empirical data" on whether his program would be successful in the long term. It felt like a swat...ah, that pesky biology again.
I was thoroughly disappointed in this show. I thought Part 1 would be a story of triumphs of black women and families. Instead, we got more of the same. This show could have been made with any race in mind...just show the most troubling parts of anyone's culture and then fade to commercial.
I was expecting to see stories of triumph, and how sisters used their ingenuity and deep down resilience to make it in this country. I think of people like my Mother, who started out in the projects of North Philly. A single mom, she actually moved us to the worst apts in the suburbs so I could get a decent education (after pulling me out of school mid-year). Was it fun to be essentially integrating a school district? No. But I learned in a great environment that help me get to where I am. She raised 3 college grads (and one soon-to-be grad). My best friend's Mom was a crackhead but he got a Masters and is a sought-after teacher. Ish like that...not this nonsense that I see.
And I'm not condemning every single segment, but I guess I'm frustrated y'all. CNN had a chance to transform coverage of Blacks in the media, but they opted for the easy way out. With their unlimited level of reach and resources it's a damn shame that this was the result.
Has Soledad even seen a movie like "The Pact?"
This show set up back years with respect to media perception. Fortunately, Barack will be on TV for the next 8 years as Prez and make people forget about this show.
It would be nice if someone did a special telling the untold history of blacks in America. You know, the stuff our ancestors were doing before the Civil Rights era? The contributions blacks have made to this country since the colonial days? Enough of this "noun/verb/MLK" shit. Tell somebody who Frederick Douglass is every now and then.
http://rainbowdharma.com/festivalscreening/thea...
"Marry your baby daddy day"???? That was the precise moment I decided to have a beer.
(P.S. I agree)
LOL
"On to lighter topics! The reception afterward was delightful and everyone was all smiles as servers passed trays of delicious samosas, grilled shrimp and dipping sauce, chicken quesadillas, spinach-and-cheese mini-quiches, mini-burgers and mini-crab sandwiches. Oh and battered mushrooms. Mmm. We have pics below, from the party and the doc, but in the meantime, here's who was a-mingling, in no particular order: actress (and Oscar nominee) Cicely Tyson, academic Cornel West, activist Malaak Compton Rock, wife of Chris, Bishop TD Jakes, Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons, CNN prez Jon Klein, Oprah pal Gayle King, Essence exec editor Angela Burt-Murray , CBS News correspondent Michelle Miller, CNN arts and culture correspondent Lola Ogunnaike, NBC's jolly "Today" show co-hostess, Hoda Kotb, Abyssinian Baptist Church pastor Dr Calvin Butts, actresses Lynn Whitfield (the Josephine Baker Story) and Janet Hubert-Whitten (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - "Oh, Philip!"), author/former CNN producer Jim Miller, who co-wrote "Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live," Essence Communications president Michele Ebanks , TVNewsers Chris Ariens and Steve Krakaeur, plus author/commentator Keli Goff and FishbowlNY co-editor Glynnis MacNicol, aka ETP's dates. We roll with a posse, yo."
Yes. Rachel Sklar rolls with a posse. Yo.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/16/black-...
I attended an Undoing Racism workshop last week with mixed group of educators and non profit organization folks. In talking about racism it was obvious that white people have great difficulty in knowing their own privilege. It is in essence why Katie Couric can say that sexism is more pervasive than sexism. As the saying goes, the fish has great difficulty in describing what is wet as it has never known what it means to be dry.
That said, in the spirit of revisiting Peggy McIntosh's list in her article "Unpacking the Knapsack" http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~mcisaac/emc598ge/U...
I would like to recreate the list from the perspective of people of color. I just saw the clip of Soledad O'Brien talking about how white people never sit their sons down to talk about what to do if they are stopped by the cops. I was privy to the same conversation when it was had with my nephew and son of a friend.
Help me make a list. I will then use it as a resource when I do my work (diversity education,) helping highlight the parallel universes we live in.
Here's one; My son was given a "ticket" around 10 P.M. for ---drum roll please --
SPEEDING ON HIS SKATE BOARD!!! I KID YOU NOT!!!! I saw a record of it!
Only in America! :>)
The other article was talking about the "achievement gap" in test scores. The author pointed out that all the other "achievement gaps" between whites and blacks have been bridged, and this one will too. For example, the literacy gap was bridged between 1865 and 1900; the elementary school attendance gap was bridged by 1940; the high school attendance gap was bridged by 1960; and the high school graduation gap was bridged by 1990. The author suggested that those other gaps had to be bridged first before we could tackle the test score gap, and indeed, the gap is declining, just not as fast as we would like.
Meanwhile, if they want an example of a black family, let me propose my own. I have a large extended family, and we are not rich; we are middle class and working class. I have only one non-black relative, the wife of one of my cousins. We're descendants of American slaves, and are not recent immigrants, either. Yet none of us grew up without our fathers; none of the men in the family has ever been to jail; all of us are gainfully employed; with one exception, no one is addicted to drugs or alcohol. Not everyone has been to college, but all who are old enough have graduated from high school.
There are a few negative statistics that affect our family. A few of the men have children out of wedlock, but they are all involved in their children's lives. Only one of the women has a child out of wedlock - a baby born last year - and I don't count her as irresponsible. She is a 39-year-old doctor, and I think she made the decision because she wanted a baby before her biological clock ran out.
The biggest one, however, is that a lot of the health problems that disproportionately affect blacks - heart disease, stroke, and diabetes - are very present in our family. Most of the men have had one of the above, and several of us, myself included, lost our fathers when we were young to disease.
Black Production Intern: I know a family that has four children, the parents are married, all the kids have 3.5 and above GPA'a and they live in a four-bedroom suburban home.
CNN BIM Lead Producer: I've never heard of that. They must be the exception, that's not realistic.
Soledad O'Brien: Well, I know a family like that but the black man is married to a white woman.
CNN BIM Lead Producer: Now that's what I'm talking about Soledad. Do the kids look like those cute little curly-haired mixed kids on TV, you know like the kid from Heroes?
Black Intern: I know a young couple who brought a house in the inner-city, live on a block with other young professional couples and just had a baby. They were registered at Tiffany's and everything?
BIM Producer: You said they live in the INNER CITY? Is he a drug dealer?
Intern: No, I think he's an IT guy and his wife's a doctor. They restored a historial home and --
BIM Producer: There are no historical homes in the inner-city! You said they're married? And no one's selling drugs? The girl is of legal age and she's a doctor? That's not realistic!
Soledad: Well, I do know one black married couple. He's a rapper, and they have four kids. You know who Snoop Dogg is right? He's a rapper and he had that show, "Fatherhood?"
BIM Producer: Great, Soledad, that's why I'm glad we had you do this special. What about that football player Deion Sanders? They have a nice house, and his wife is very attractive....
Black Intern: Well, you could include a story on the black 14-year-old who enrolled in college...
Soledad: Oh, that's great....was it Harvard?
Black Intern: No, I think it was an HBCU.
Soledad: A what?
I am so through!!!! The LEVEL [LOW] of DISCUSSION {???} at this meeting EXPLAINS IT ALL!!!
WHEW!!!! MAJOR DEEP BREATHS!!!!
over the cukoo]. And as much as I like subtle humor - I missed that one! :>) Thanks,
EVERYONE for bringing me out of the STRATOSPHERE back to EARTH. Now I'm
JOINING you in the humor! :>) :>) :>)
Come ta think of it, I did ask if anyone could get those "notes". Oh well. I'm just going to
enjoy the day that Mr. Obama had in Germany with e'rrybody else. :>) :>)
see comedy. :>) :>)
Tonight's installment of Deep Bottomless Black Sadness should be a hoot.
Don't even let me start on how irresponsible and sensationalistic is is to show opinions from scholars who have no scientific evidence behind their claims. Why have Michael Eric Dyson say he was treated better by his family because he is light skinned and his brother did not because he is dark skinned? That's just an anecdote. He's a social scientist, couldn't he have cited some research that supports this phenomena? Also, why focus on that school who is paying students for test grades as though this is the revolution in education that will save Black people? What about all the charter schools that work? What are they doing differently? What about Black students who attend predominantly White schools? Why do they do better? How did the three kids in that one family stay in school and get into college? How is their life different from the drop-outs? And don't even get me started on that stupid salt sensitivity idea? Why were they wasting our time with something that has no research evidence behind it when there is research that supports fact that it is harder to find healthy foods in inner cities (yes they did a little clip about that but there were no statistics or research findings) and that unhealthy foods are cheaper than healthy foods so poor people are more likely to buy unhealthy foods?
I think that PBS would have done a much better job because they base their documentaries on a lot of research and that guides the presentation. This special was based on what they could get a select group of Black people to discuss and government statistics without the background and context. It would change things if they explained why inner cities are the way they are and why Black schools are the way they are (i.e., lack of funding, lack of investment, lack of jobs, unqualified teachers etc).
This was not a presentation meant for Black people. It was meant for people who don't know much about Black people. Something about it is kind of objectifying as if they are anthropologists observing "The Black Man" in his natural habitat. It wasn't meant for us. They hyped this thing WAAAAY too much and I've seen PBS and HBO documentaries about Black people that were so much more informative. It didn't provide solutions other than the unusual one about paying students because they wanted to cause debate or something about the experiment.
NO ID -- can you imagine what the conversation was when they were planning the episode about Black men? God help us! Lock up your virgins, those mandingos are coming to get you!
Nothing will be said about the beautiful Black man, whose sensual walk alone seems shivers down a sister's spine. Just watch a Black man walking and you will see why so many "others" feel threatened, not an educated Black man, an intelligent Black man, a wealthy Black man, a family-loving Black man, a GOOD Black man. Just watch a Black man walking, even with all the attempts to emasculate.
Do I love Black men? You think?!!
BIM Producer: So, Soledad, who do you know that we could put on the show?
Soledad: Umm, I mentioned Snoop right...do you think Barack Obama is available?
Black Intern: I think he's probably pretty busy preparing for the White House right now.
BIM Producer: What? He's not going to win! Now, who else do we know - Will Smith is doing a movie, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are playing basketball, hey what about that guy my kids like Wally, Woozy, Weeble?
BIM Intern: You mean L'il Wayne? But what about black stepfathers, grandfathers, doctors, bus drivers, lawyers, corporate executives, weekend golfers, college professors, writers, artists, software developers and IT guys, uncles, fighter pilots, fireman and grass roots in the trenches working in the community guys?
BIM Producer: Soledad, do you know what he's talking about?
Soledad shakes her head.
Soledad: I don't know anybody like that.
You are hilarious.
-Where all the white wimmen at?
It seems like alot of people are embarassed and I think that's sad...
I'm going to call bullshit on that. First, the majority of comments have addressed the paucity of critical thought--embarrassment has nothing to do with it. The so-called documentary failed to put any of the statistics (these well-worn, oft-tossed-out statistics) into any sort of perspective, the reporter failed to actively critique any of the people she interviewed (especially TD Jakes' assertions that women so desperately craving male attention to the degree that they will "do anything to get the love of a man"), and the segment that was supposedly on "the black woman and the family" failed to proceed with any clear thesis or objective (other than presenting black people en masse as a some form of pathology to which successful, well-adjusted black folk exist as an anomaly).
Were they actually talking about Black women, I mean it was really hard to tell?