BET on BLAST!

I am one of the thousands of Africans in America who are disgusted with the leadership role that Black Entertainment Television (BET) has taken in OUR community. Fat asses, big rims, and bottle popping seems to be the only thing that we have going on as Black people….well if you watch BET on the regular that is what is seems. Music Videos and reality shows seem to plague us even in our sleep as they are constantly broadcast on OUR station.

What does entertainment mean to US? Entertainment means hope. Entertainment equals an attempt at a peace of mind. Entertainment has often been the source for which WE are able to rise above our surroundings. Entertainment allows so many of us to escape the pain and the harshness of OUR reality. A reality that we had no help in creating.

Just when I was beginning to give up on BET as a source of inspiration, a light bulb clicked and programming changed. Today as I sit and watch OUR entertainment television, I am delighted inside and out. My Sunday morning has been filled with inspirations on every end. “Heart of the City” is a documentary that looks at Detroit’s educational system and its’ high volume of failing kids. SO? One show is not going to change the 3/10 graduation rate in one of the country’s largest cities. No. It will not. But one show can spark a light in one individual that can become one Russell Simmons. A heartfelt interest can become a Barak Obama!

Shows like Rising Icons, Pressure Cooker and even 106 and Park are becoming major sources of knowledge and the spread of relevant information for US. 106 and Park has run a “BE Successful” week featuring photos of Black graduates and success stories all around the country. What a way to shine! Uplift and congratulate those who are making steps towards the better of themselves and you give encouragement to people who have thought it impossible to better themselves. With the odds that WE as Africans in America face, I believe it is a RESPONSIBILTY of OUR few entertainment outlets (t.v. and radio) to educate, entertain and inform.
Want to check out another responsible source for OUR entertainment. WCSU Radio, Chicago State University’s very own radio station, hosts several shows by rising students. For Us By Us. Listen to me LIVE every Monday from 1 pm – 4pm CST @ wcsu.csu.edu.

Talk back with me. How has BET influenced or affected your life? Do YOU believe that entertainment outlets in the Black community have a responsibility to US?

September 11, 2001.......... Remember?

Today is September 11, 2009. Eight years ago today I was a junior in high school, bored out of my mind, sitting in a class that I don’t remember learning anything from. As I recollect, I can still feel the cold hard seat against my bum and can very much so taste the Flaming Hot Cheeto’s that I was sneaking and eating. (Students had set up black market candy stores, that’s another post about entrepreneurship :) As I drifted in and out of a good nod, my assistant principal announced on the loud speaker that “an airplane had been flown into one of the World Trade Center s’ Towers, keep their families in your prayers.” WTF? As if sataan himself was teaching the class, my professor looked up and said, “Who cares, back to the lesson.”
For those of us who experienced 9/11 outside of New York, at first it seemed as if this was really JUST a STORY on television. As if watching something so horrible, yet being able to turn it off whenever I’d had enough.

It was not until a second airplane flew into the second tower that my professor realized that SHE cared. Mass panic assumed in the following hours. Parents were being called, and students were rapidly evacuating the school. Some schools were put on ‘lock down’ for hours until there was some sort of resolve. There are a couple of moments in MY history that I will never forget where/what I was doing when: 1) Michael Jackson’s death. 2) September 11, 2001. 3) Michael Jackson’s verdict was read. 4) Barak Obama elected was elected the first African-American President of the United States. You know what time it is, shout it out! Share with us moments in YOUR history that you will never forget the place and time!

My First Time....Sweating and Shaking

With everybody watching.

“I cannot do this. Well. This is what I WANTED, right?” But I just feel so, so…… What’s the word?” Oooh, he’s looking. She’s looking. All waiting on me. But what if I don’t do it right? What if it doesn’t feel good to them. I know, I’ll be able to read it on their faces. Oooh that’s my song. I might as well huh? Just start with the hips, move your hips girl. That’s right, just pretend you are at the club with your girls. Just relax and ride the beat, I’m feelin’ it now.

“Ten minutes Naimah.” That’s my cue.

(Music Playing) “Backstage bouncing adrenaline building up.” I feel you on that Mystical. Sweating and shaking, sweating and shaking. Here goes nothing, here goes everything. Well just my dreams, just the culmination of 23 years of schooling, 23 years of dancing in the mirror with the brush as if I’m addressing the world. The world. Will you listen?
Tonight they will. Life’s a game and this stage is my playground.

One step. “Hey girl, good luck out there.” Right foot in front of the left. “The crowd is ready, they waiting on you Na Na.” Bend knee extend leg. “Two minutes to show time.” Breathe. “Naimah your mics on the left, notes on that table.” Breathe, for real. “Curtains open in 3,2,1………”

My First Time………. Sweating and Shaking. (This is the first time I ever hosted a live show. Performer? Artist? Personality? Holla back and let us feel your first time)