Black History Month & BET: Antiquated or Necessary?

I think that this is an appropriate topic, now that February is ending. Everyone knows that February is Black History Month, although this year it has gotten a lot of attention regarding whether it should stay or it should go. Earlier this year, Stacey Dash, an African-American actress and FOX News correspondent, made comments calling for the end of Black History Month and television networks such as BET, or Black Entertainment Televison, and also criticized black celebrities who boycotted the Oscars in the #OscarsSoWhite controversy. She claimed that both of these (and other pro-Black organizations/events) encourage segregation, rather than integration and that Black History Month shouldn’t be celebrated because “we’re Americans, period”.

Personally, I think that Dash’s comments were uncouth, and as a whole I have to disagree. It has been 52 years since the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and while there has been some progress on ensuring racial equality, our society is by no means equal for all. Honestly, it’s pathetic how half over half a century has passed and there is still so much work needing to be done. I will agree with her statement about the need to move towards a more integrated society, where people aren’t immediately judged based on the color of their skin, but the situation is more complicated than that and it is a lot easier said than done. BET came into existence as a place to air and celebrate works that are centered around black culture and communities, simply because these stories aren’t acknowledged on other “white” television networks. During his lecture, Kiese Laymon, an African-American author and professor, talked about his struggle with this. His book was a coming-of-age story based on his personal experiences as a black male living in the South. Penguin Books, the publisher, told him that he would have to change the setting of his book to the Northeast and change the main character from a black male to a white female. This goes to show that this “whitewashing” and disregard of black voices in the entertainment industry is still prevalent today. 

In addition, I think that Black History Month is still needed because of this reason. While it would be great to say that we no longer need this because black history is included in our education system and black achievements are celebrated for 12 months instead of just one, the fact is that oftentimes black history is not comprehensive or simply excluded from school curricula. I have seen many comments online that state that it’s “not fair” that only blacks get a month dedicated to their history (which isn’t true) which is frustrating to me because it seems like a situation where you’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. In conclusion, I think that Black History Month, BET, and the BET and NAACP awards are still necessary in today’s context because of this continued lack of racial representation in the entertainment industry and in our everyday lives.

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Video of Stacey Dash on FOX News:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/staceydash/2016/01/i-was-right-today-on-outnumbered-there-should-be-no-black-history-month/

Chris Rock and the 2016 Oscars

On February 28th, Chris Rock hosted the 2016 Academy Awards, and as he did, the eyes of the nation looked to him. People looked to see what he would do, and how he would handle the pressure that so many had placed upon him. Would he address the elephant in the room, or would he ignore it and just host. 

Earlier this year, when Oscar nominations came out, there was an uprising. Many actors, along with other celebrities, came out and stated that the Oscars was showing a blatant lack of diversity among the nominees; some even stating that the award show exhibits racism. As a result, many actors and actresses, such as Jada and Will Smith, boycotted the Oscars as a way to show that they would not support an organization that promoted inequality. 

In his opening monologue, Rock addressed the issue head on, not holding anything back. One of his first statements was, “If they nominated host, I wouldn’t even get this job. Y’all would be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now.” This statement alone shows viewers how overlooked and under appreciated Black actors, as a whole, are. 

Rock then goes on to ask the audience an important quetion: why now? Why all of a sudden is this uprising and realization occurring? Rock poses the point that after all, this is the 88th Academy Awards; meaning that this neglect of Black actors has been happening, so why is now the time to challenge this institution?  Rock answers his question by stating:

 “Black people didn’t protest because we had real things to protest at the time. We were too busy being raped and lynched to worry about best cinematographer. You know, when your grandmother is hanging from a tree it’s really hard to care about best documentary.”

The above quote stunned me, and really left me in awe, because it is absolutely true. Rock is absolutely right, the only reason why this conversation is just happening now is because, prior to this decade, the Black community had been working to achieve more pressing, yet basic rights; such as the right to vote, the right to attend universities, to disband segregation etc. This movement to continue the process of gaining equality is happening now because those basic rights have been successfully obtained. Presently, the Black community is now working to gain equality in the things that were deemed unimportant or trivial in older times, such as representation at awards shows.

Rock goes on to ask the question that so many people have been recently debating: is Hollywood racist? Rock states that he believes that Hollywood is in fact racist; however, it is not an ‘I hate you because you are different’ kind of racism, but an ‘I don’t acknowledge you because you are different’ kind of racism: 

“Is Hollywood racist? Is it burning cross racist? No. Is it fetch me some lemonade racist? No… it’s sorority racist. It’s like, we like you, Rhonda,  but you're not a kappa.”

This statement shows that, unlike what some media sources have been saying, no kind of racism is better than the other; all forms are just as awful, inhumane and oppressive.

Rock wraps up his opening monologue in the best way possible. He states that this movement and conversation is “…Not about boycotting, it’s about opportunity. We want Black actors to have the same opportunity as white actors— that’s it.” Equal opportunity, is something that is endowed to us by our Constitution, (“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”), and the fact that people today are still struggling to obtain equality is ridiculous and tragic. While this is tragic, I have so much respect for Chris Rock for reopening this conversation that desperately needs to be continued. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBadiCVY-tk

Fear or Trust?

After watching an episode of ABC’s television series Blackish, in which they discussed and addressed America’s justice system from different angles and perspectives, I am forced to ask myself: do I trust it, or fear it? In school growing up we are all taught the nuances of our supposedly fair justice system, and hear nothing but good from it. We understand that it was created not only to bring justice to those who do wrong against the law, but also to protect all American citizens. We are all protected under the law, which is enforced by officers, who are specially trained to get it right. If brought to trial, we are given fair treatment, and are seen as equals with a jury of our peers. The verdict is determined based on simply the facts and neglects other factors and variables that may conflict. All of this sounds good, but is it reality?

            After seeing case after case of blacks gunned down or tazed repeatedly for whatever reason, I can not help but see the reality in conflict with what I was taught to be the truth. Watching the trial of George Zimmerman, and witnessing the uprisings of the deaths of Mike Brown and Tamir Rice, I can only look in the mirror and see a young black male whose life could abruptly end just like many of my fellow black brothers and sisters. My parents and other mentors continue to teach me to always submit to the instructions of the authority, and do not be easily provoked, but should not that already be understood? I should not have to be told that there is an automatic target on my back, and I am guilty until proven innocent. I should instead be given the same fair chance that my white friends and all other races, and not be automatically profiled.

            In the episode of Blackish, they focused on the generational views and the conflicts that have remained the same. Although the different generations have their separate leaders and advocators, such as Malcolm X or Ta-Nehisi Coates, the same narrative of a young black girl or boy being killed by authorities remains constant. With the separate generations ranging from a 60 plus year-old grandfather to kids less than ten and different economic backgrounds, they struggle with how to handle the issue. They do not know whether they should grow to trust that the system would get it right, or fear it as they continue to see cases where it simply does not. As for myself, I remain in a state of confusion, and can do nothing but to simply carefully, yet confidently live, as I struggle to either live in a state of fear or trust the system that is designed to get it right.

"And the Grammy for Album of the year goes to..."

I found Kendrick Lamar's performance at the Grammy's profoundly relevant as many people have said in the below posts. What gets me most frustrated about the entertainment industry and this performance is that he is making relevant statements in one of the most viewed award shows across the globe and moving people socially and politically in ways that most artists can't and choose not to do and yet he still does not win album of the year. Let's talk about Taylor Swift's opening performance for "Out of the Woods" a song that did well this year but it's a metaphor for a relationship being "out of the woods" not about racism and the power to move people socially and politically. She wears a glitter jumpsuit with a wooded background behind her as she sings about a complicated relationship and she is praised for her "stunning opening performance" while Kendrick Lamar is criticized for bringing such a serious tone to the award show. In my mind music is about changing people's mind, having them relate to something, and/or making them think. While I think Taylor Swift is relatable to white, middle to upper class women below the age of twenty-eight, that's all she is. Because she represents and relates to this population, however, she controls so much of the music and entertainment industry. Even in her acceptance speech for album of the year, she talked about her fame and the power of the female celebrity and her voice specifically targeting a lyric Kanye West had written about her on his new album. In these circumstances, she is incredibly selfish and self-serving in an agenda that I think DOES need to be spoken for (feminism) but she doesn't represent a large population like Kendrick Lamar does. He represents marginalized and targeted people in our society and that must be recognized. I have to go ahead and thank Adele because even after her performance that was filled with sound mistakes throughout, she uses her influence to recognize the genius that is Kendrick Lamar and specifically all that he has done for the music industry this past year. Yes, he won hip hop/rap album of the year but it is not enough until he wins album of the year for a work of art filled with many genres and understanding the lives of many different marginalized peoples. He has a voice that has spoken for so many people that his popularity has stretched through white populations which is just one step forward in moving toward the progress that whites think they see but cannot actually prove.

Why are the #OscarsSoWhite?

With the 88^th Academy Awards to be presented tonight, I wanted to bring up a topic that, for better or worse, has dominated cinema-related news ever since nominations were announced in January, and will likely be a main point of emphasis throughout the broadcast, which is the fact that, for the second year in a row, no black actor was nominated for the the Academy's top honor.  In fact, no black actor or actress was nominated for any of the awards for either a leading or supporting role. It seems shocking for an organization with as many members of color as Hollywood to have as wide-stemmed a problem with race as is being claimed, but the facts certainly seem to lead that way.  And, with many of their most prominent faces badmouthing them on Twitter and boycotting their premier event this year, the Academy must figure out a way to make the Awards more representative of their population.

            When the nominations were announced, they were immediately greeted with howls of protest. #OscarsSoWhite shot to the top of trending topics on Twitter, with celebrities such as Spike Lee, Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Whoopi Goldberg all announcing they would not be attending the ceremony.  Among all of the commotion, the central question arose: what can be done to ensure this doesn’t happen again?  In some small attempt at fairness to the Academy, and not commenting on movies I haven’t seen, I would have made only two changes to their dock of nominees, inserting Idris Elba in the best actor ranks for his performance in Beasts of No Nation and Jason Mitchell for best supporting actor in Straight Outta Compton. However, the fact that not only neither of these men but any of the other black actors and actresses with worthy performances last year were nominated points to a deeper problem within the ranks of the Academy.

            I believe the problem starts with the fact that the Academy is 94% white and 77% male, with a median age of 62.  Regardless of who more populates Hollywood, the face of an ever-evolving Academy should not be an old white man.  The inclusion of a more diverse decision-making group at the top will not only appease those who protest their award shows, but will result in more opportunities more minorities, women, and all other types of people who may not have those opportunities now. The ability to be fairly represented is key to the solution of Hollywood’s race problem. 

But the phrase that is used in situations like these, especially in the politically-correct society that we have become, is “diversity for diversity’s sake.”  We obviously want to give blacks, Hispanics, women, LGBT, or any other person the same opportunity, but also want to reward those who legitimately do the best job.  If white actors represent the five best performances of the year, social norms shouldn’t dictate that one of them is replaced by a minority actor with a lesser résumé. Surely more of the high-level cinema jobs belong in the hands of minorities, but simply awarding those jobs to people because of the color of their skin is not the way to go about fixing this problem.  It may be happening now in the opposite direction, but simply flipping the script and declaring the problem solved seems hypocritical at best and disingenuous at worst.  But how, then, can blacks gain the experience needed to gain such positions if they’re never awarded the opportunity in the first place?  It’s a tricky situation the Academy finds itself in, but one which it must soon resolve, else it risk losing an already alienated portion of its community.