Concluding Now that Imus is gone...
Any institution that serves the public has a responsibility and morale imperative to not disparage the public. Commentators are not allowed to say anything they wish in a discussion, television broadcasters (public and cable alike) cannot show movies and films of any content at any time to every viewer without discretion, news media cannot report anything they cannot justifyably confirm. There are limits to what can be done, as there should be. Even in the 1950’s and 60’s when parents were outraged by Rock ‘n Roll, with its mantra of sex and drugs there was still limits. There were boundaries that the society and the corporations abided by. In breaking those boundaries record companies, media corporations and entertainers have violated a trust the public has placed in them. Rather than rewarding this breach of unwritten laws with our money we should protest and deny them our funds.
The good and bad must be taken when appropriate. The Black community has failed its children, just as the record companies, radio stations, and gansta rappers have failed the public. This is not something that cannot be resolved, in fact it must be. We have shown the fact we have power, and we need to use it. We must use it in a positive manner. We need to change the Black culture from the commodity it has become to something greater. We are born Black, to sell that off as a cheap triffle is no different than shooting ourselves in the foot. It’s just stupid.
We must also recognize the failures and positives of some of our more recognized figureheads. I say figureheads and not leaders as at this moment there are no leaders of the Black community. There has been no leader since Mr. Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, with perhaps some argument made for Minister Louis Farakhan or Rev. Jesse Jackson for a segment of the community. While Rev. Al Sharpton was helpful, as was Rev. Jackson, in bringing this recent incident to public attention neither are leaders in my mind. They bring baggage and questionable motives to every arena they enter.
Rev. Sharpton is particularly in question. He has a long history of inflammatory actions who’s main motive seems to have been the promotion of Rev. Sharpton primarily. We need to accept that those that would claim to be leaders of the Black community are accountable for what they have said, positive and negative, and when they are in the wrong they admit to this. I say this as the credibility of serious issues that plague the entire community are lessened and placed in question when public figures of questionable motive jump into the limelight. As an example I pose the fact that several of the pundits on television questioned the seriousness of the demand for the removal of Mr. Imus on the sole basis that Rev. Al Sharpton was asking for it. Leaders are followed because they are credible, because they bring a somber tone to the subjects they deal with. To accept less is to weaken the causes, no matter how worthy, that are being pursued.
Again I say that we must change the nature of rap music as it stands today. In doing this we bring ourselves into full accountability for our community and the Black culture as a whole. We are more than just pimps, ho’s, drug dealers, ganstas and other riffraff. In reclaiming and redirecting one of the most popular and prevalent formats that the society and world views us by, we gain in all aspects of our lives and futures.
This is what I think, what do you think?
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