A serious look at ourselves: a message from the president & ceo

Where do we go from here? After the controversy following the disparaging remarks made about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, the degree of outrage in most of us dictates that we take advantage of what could be a watershed moment.

It's time to look at ourselves and what we tolerate. We'll have to see if the Imus episode will serve as a real catalyst for change, but, if nothing else, it certainly has opened the door for a. serious and critical conversation about the denigration of Black women, particularly in music and images.

There are at least two sides to this debate: Those who view the language as pure artistic and creative expression, tightly wrapped in the context that "it's just music, a way of keepin' it real"; and the other side who sees it as demeaning, degrading and hurtful portrayals that incorrectly paint a picture for the world to shape its concept of Black women.

How did we get to this point? How did we allow musicmakers, comedians and others to rebrand negative stereotypes and turn them into what some view as a cool, acceptable phenomenon? This is a situation that has no easy answers, no easy approaches, no diagrams for an easy solution. In fact, this is a complex social issue, one that requires some deep internal evaluation, especially since there are many Black women who embrace the language--and even use it themselves, reveling in the derogatory descriptions to the point that they accept them as a badge of distinction.

This is by no means only about rap and hip-hop, TV and movies; it's about race, class and desensitization; it's about self-esteem and self-respect; it's about taste, tolerance and responsibility; and it's about some everyday language that is inappropriate but has become an acceptable part of the lexicon. It has gotten to the point that even gradeschoolers who are still playing with Barney and Elmo are spewing adult-sized and offensive words--using them with the same cadence, purpose and intent as adults!

In this issue, in an effort to further the dialog, we have created a special section to focus on the bigger picture and to listen to people on both sides who feel very strongly about this culture of disrespect.

Our effort is not a new one. For example, the late activist C. Delores Tucker spent the latter years of her life loudly protesting sexually explicit and misogynistic lyrics that, in her view, threatened the moral foundation of the Black community. During her crusade, Tucker was able to generate some attention to the problem, but, ironically, her sustained efforts prompted some rap artists to use some of their harshest--and most vile--lyrics to describe her in song.

Now that this problem is prominently at the forefront of society's consciousness, we can't afford to let this opportunity to initiate change slip through our fingers. This controversial situation is an open, lingering and aggravating sore in the Black community, one that we must begin to heal. And we must begin to heal it now!

COPYRIGHT 2007 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning