I’m know dummy. Much of this stuff I was very aware existed. But it is another thing actually seeing it. It’s like we live in two worlds. The “general” world where a person’s career and reputation can end in a flash if someone believes that you are a racist. As for this “other” world, every kind of offense known to man is not only accepted, but arousing. Calling women “sluts”, “bitches”, “Black hoes”, etc. is all fair game in the world of pornography. Sadly, we have taken these same words and placed them into songs that consistently make it on the top ten charts. What is also acceptable is depictions of women being portrayed as straight up slaves as every sexual fantasy is being performed on them (women of all races). Again, this is “adult entertainment”.

Racial Pride Cannot Trump Sin

We can tell these sistahs all we want that they are queens and the descendants of queens all we want. But that alone cannot stop a woman who wants to engage in this type of activity or a man who is willing to encourage it. So it would be useless for me or anybody else to treat this solely as a racial problem. Because it isn’t. This was Essence magazine’s mistake a few years back when they made the attempt to tie the sexual exploitation of Black women in Black music videos to the dastardly evil White corporations that owned these studios. Oh, they mentioned the fact that Black folks did play an active role staring in and directing these videos. But of course, we were the victims that overall did not know any better. In other words, we need these evil White execs to do a better job at holding the line when it comes to respect. Correct me if I am wrong, but that sounds just like a slave plantation to me.

Recently, commentator Dr. Boyce Watkins said the following: “My daughters all like Nicki Minaj. I don’t necessarily like the fact that they like her, but I figure that an appreciation of Nicki Minaj is not as bad as other habits they could have developed, like smoking crack or voting Republican.” Apparently, Watkins has no problem at all allowing his daughters to be influenced by a person whose stage name means “to have threesomes”. He also spent his entire piece defending Nicki Minaj against...BET. But yet this same cat sees Republicans as the biggest threat against his daughters.

What exactly then drives a woman or man to lower themselves as sexual objects? Let me give you a hint, it is something that has no allegiance to any race or gender.

More to come….

Here’s something you will never see fully addressed in most mainstream publications: the constant wicked portrayal of women in the world of porn, their willingness to participate, and the public’s willingness to fund it. Yet we find it more appropriate to raise pure hell anytime we think somebody said something “racist”. WAKE UP!

Stay tuned…

“My 2 grandsons, the 2 sons and the old man himself”
From “souljha”. He is a member of the African American Photographers group. Click on his picture to see more of his work.

“I have no problem with folks asking me to support the film, especially given the politics behind this particular request. I do, however, take great issue with those who question my Blackness and my race loyalty when I tell them I refuse to see the movie just because I am Black. Given the large number of friends and family members who would not stop telling me how wrong I was/am for not buying a ticket during opening weekend, it is/was hard not to feel racially bullied by, dare I say, the cult of Blackness.

Let me make it very clear: I am not dissing Red Tails in any way, nor am I telling people to not view the film. Do whatever you want. I am illustrating how flawed the Black-people-should-support-Black-films logic is, and I am calling out the cult of Blackness that questions Black folks’ loyalty and very Blackness if they choose not to strategically essentialize around a given movement, even if it is only a cinematic one. I mean, if all Black-people-should-support-Black-films, then we should also pay for all Tyler Perry movies, Soul Plane, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Kazaam, Glitter, The Cookout, Who’s Your Caddy, Norbit, Meet Dave, or any those made for TV BET movies too.”

The more I think about this piece, the more it reminds me of something I wrote about some years ago on the same topic. Except I took it much further.

What I have noticed over the years is that this “cult of Blackness” is not rooted in building true community and economic construction. Instead, these events (Such as the call to support “Red Tails”, voting for Obama, etc.) are linked to proving something to White folks. Black slavery has been outlawed in this country for years. Yet, we still have this thing that we have to prove to White people that we are all not that bad.

I was in one of my favorite Jamaican food spots recently when I spotted a brutha who was sitting in front of the TV chowing down on his jerk chicken while watching a Tyler Perry movie. If I took a picture of that scene in the restaurant, posted it on Facebook, and added the subtitle “Stop feeding the foolishness, Black people”, I would be amen’d out of the building. The reality is that it was the end of a work day for this brutha, and all he wanted was some good food and a lil’ entertainment. But to the Black elite, the chicken should be replaced with a tuna salad, and the channel should be changed to CNN. Why? Because we do not want White folks to get the impression….what impression and why are you worrying about what they think?

And speaking of Tyler Perry movies, the real reason behind all the hatred towards his movies is because we do not want White folks to get the wrong impression of us. Now waitaminute! White folks can produce movies like “Jackass”, “Borat”, “Tootsie”, etc. and treat it as such–a movie. But with us, every movie becomes a make it or break it for the entire Black race.

Get off of the plantation. Massa is dead. And just enjoy life for a change.

Click the picture to see more of the work by this great photographer (one of my personal favorites in our African American Photographer’s group)

Comments and statements that can be spliced, diced and remixed are par for the course in the world of politics. That is why it is dang impossible not not to have your words rammed down your throat once you hit the national stage.

The hot quote today is Romney’s comment about not caring for the very poor. The only problem is that it was part of a much larger statement.

“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich. They’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling,” Romney said.

Now I’m not even voting for this man and I see nothing wrong with what he said when taken in it’s full context. This was a broad brush statement that targeted most Americans (who he acknowledged are struggling).

Let’s take a trip back to 2008 when another person was taken out of context.

Following through on its plan to get tougher as Election Day draws near, Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign released an ad titled “Dangerous” on Monday.
The script

The ad uses a quote from Obama taken out of its context. In August 2007 at a New Hampshire campaign event, Obama was asked whether he would move U.S. troops from Iraq so they could be used elsewhere. More troops are needed in Afghanistan, Obama said: “We’ve got to get the job done there, and that requires us to have enough troops so that we’re not just air-raiding villages and killing civilians, which is causing enormous pressure over there.”

It was wrong then, it is wrong now.

My advice? Make some changes to your diet by beefing up your fact intake and stop hitting the drive through for snacks.

I have been following Tavis for some time on Facebook and have never seen him get this many “likes”.

Arizona governor Janet Brewer became the most hotly discussed topic (not the economy, not the sagging unemployment rate, not ways to spark job growth) in our neck of the woods yesterday as a single picture pointing at the president. For most people, it was a clear sign that Brewer showed no respect whatsoever for Obama or the office he holds. Some folks like Melissa Harris-Perry saw something a lot deeper in just 1/8 of a second of time.

Perry is the same woman who said “When birthers accuse President Obama of not having a “real” birth certificate, they’re telling him to “go back to Africa.” So for her, anything short of asking Obama for the privilege to kiss his behind is racist.

Brewer is no fan of Obama. She has made that pretty clear on many occasions. But allowing one moment of time where she is captured pointing at the president was not a good move on her part. Especially when you are surrounded by cameras from all over the world. This next video actually shows a completed view of the incident.

And here is a link to the letter she handed to Obama.

But somehow in Perry’s world, 1/8th of a second of an entire conversation was enough for her to beat Marty McFly’s time machine into the past to one of the most racist periods of American history. Obama’s reaction to the whole incident? “This was no big deal.”

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver recently stood by a comment he made some time ago about how Black folks are too much in love with Obama to criticize him on anything.

So it makes complete sense as to why the Brewer incident became the unpardonable sin to Obama fanboys. Even when it comes to how he is to be addressed. At all times you are to use the word “President” in front of Obama’s name. If you do not, you are disrespecting him. Never mind the fact that every other president in the past was and is still addressed oftentimes by their last name. But I get it. Obama is the first Black president we have ever had in this nation and we want to make sure that he gets all the pomp every other president before him received. I get it. I understand it. But “equal” treatment as a president does include dissension (and in most cases when the cameras are not present, very bitter dissension). It goes hand in hand with the office. We here in the peanut gallery are left with stills, video clips and sound bites to draw sweeping conclusions about these little gods. Brewer’s mistake was being caught in 1/8 of a second demonstrating her dissension.

President Obama gave a rousing speech last night that was filled with broad generalities and recycled promises. That is not too surprising being that this kind of thing is standard fare for any president in any State of the Union address.

But what gets me is that the same people that have repeatedly called Ron Paul to the mat for comments made in a small newsletter some years ago can’t even hold Obama accountable to billions of wasted tax dollars under his presidency TODAY.

Alleged racism in politics is nothing more than an excuse not to have an honest, truthful, and factual conversation about more pressing issues that affect us here on Main Street now. It’s escapism. Yes, call out Ron Paul on his newsletter, question Romney on the Mormon stance on race. But don’t go silent and defensive when someone asks why did Obama choose to stay under a pastor for 20 years who has also said some offensive things regarding race.

All presidents are guilty of wasting money in some way, shape or form. and as Black people, we never held back in letting Republican presidents know how their mess impedes the rest of the country. Underfunded public schools in the hood become the poster child against politicians that put Wall Street above the common man. But when it is revealed that Obama has benefited from Wall Street more than any other politician in the last 20 years, the plight of po’ Black kids with dated school books and dilapidated school houses gets muted.

Tavis Smiley’s ongoing complaint over how he feels this president has forgotten about the poor has become the source of massive criticism and even death threats by the same people who made the same complaints under Bush.

Only the simple minded will walk away from this and think that I am telling you to vote for the Republican party (I have no intentions on doing that myself). You don’t have to leave a comment, or give me a “like” (in fact, give your “like” to Obama).

My hope is that you will break away from the fake race conversations and become an active part in the issues that really drive this country.

White comments, “In the 1940′s and 1950′s, if you went into a barbershop, it was a formal experience. The barbers all dressed respectably, and the customer service you received was honorable. I wanted to bring both of those elements back to a generation who has never really seen that type of environment inside a barbershop.”

“In addition,” White says. “In my barbershop, no cussing or offensive music is allowed.”

Many agree that White’s idea was a great one, noting that most urban barbershops will allow curse words to be spoken and offensive music to be played – even in front of children. Even more, most urban barbershops lack a proper dress code that can offer a formal and professional experience to customers.

“We find,” White says, “that by implementing the ‘Old School’ approach, we end get up getting a more diverse base of customers who end up being more loyal. People are not afraid or intimidated to come inside our shop because the environment is very inviting. This, in turn, adds more revenue to our bottom line.” (read more…)

The one thing I emphasized to my wife over and over again was to provide the best customer service for he customers. Together we sat down and looked a her competition and saw how they were failing big time with providing good customer service. We found complaints of customers getting gypped out of their money, customers were being cussed out, and rarely customers were being thanked for being chosen by their customers.
Our formula was simple: treat customers the way we would want someone to treat us, use social media to stay transparent, connected and accessible to customers, reward customers for choosing our service, never talk trash about the competition while at the same time emphasizing why we are better, and educating customers on our products.
Right now, we can barely keep up with the orders. And the one consistent complement we get is on our customer service.
This brutha with his barbershop is right on track. Treating people the way you want to be treated is one of the most simplist concepts in the world. But unfortunately, many don’t provide it.

Got a favorite Black-owned business in your neck of the woods that provides excellent customer service? Talk about them in the comments below.

REVIEW: “Red Tails” Has Heart But Falls Short

“But the obvious sanitizing of the story of the brave, inspirational men and landmark events on which “Red Tails” is based feels like a disservice to both them and their accomplishments.
Two out of five stars.”

Rotten Tomatoes

“Well, I personally don’t imagine the film will find an audience, but not because it’s about black people. I think people will avoid it because it’s not very good.” (Huffingtonpost.com)

“The movie is so desperate to be palatable, to appeal to everybody that it doesn’t taste like anything,” said Wesley Morris, an African-American film critic for The Boston Globe. The Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips was even less charitable, writing, “Red Tails squanders a great subject, reducing the real-life struggles and fierce heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen to rickety cliché.” (thegrio.com)

The actor lineup alone didn’t really inspire me to declare a movie night for the family. Cheadle, Freeman, or Washington would have changed all of that for me.

With just about every major movie critic giving this movie 2 stars, I wonder just how many of the same people who turned this movie into a cause are going to give their HONEST opinion ONLINE.

My wife told me that a friend of hers on Facebook immediately expressed online how this movie was very good and everybody should see it. Right under her comment someone else said that they just saw the movie as well, but they were going to keep their comments to themselves. Now why is that? George Lucas’ troubles getting this movie past Hollywood’s elite automatically became the latest Black cause, so we pushed it and defended it. With just about every film critic (Black and White major critics for those who need that info) all suggesting that this film was not one of Lucas’ best, will those who just marched on Main Street for Lucas show some honesty?

All of this is coming from a person who not only loves a good movie with a lot of action, but movies that can equally tell (or re-tell) a great story. I am no fan of Alice Walker, but I thought Steven Speilberg did an awesome job telling the story. ‘A Soldier’s Story” was also a very great story. ‘Glory’ was a great film I thought did a great job re-telling history (Denzel and Freeman in the same flick! I mean, come on. What else should I expect?).

Did Lucas do a good job telling the story? Please tell me why I have to see this movie.

Like most Black films, I am always very hopeful that they will perform well at the box office. But the reality is that some do very well and others flop. But isn’t that the case with all films?

My biggest complaint against all of this ‘call to arms’ buzz over George Lucas’ latest film is that there have been MANY Black filmmakers that have made the very same complaints as Lucas in the past. While many do manage to get some support, none of them have generated this amount of buzz in the Black community this quickly and this wide. As I mentioned on Facebook, all throughout the year there are many Black film festivals and all of them combined can’t even buy this type of buzz in our own community. George Lucas? That’s a different story. And ironically, some of the very same American Negroes who constantly make the case that White folks can’t tell OUR story are front and center for Lucas.
Adam Howard for thegrio.com wrote the following~

“Red Tails won’t attract audiences because it was hard to finance. The film will have to deliver dramatically or it will have been all for naught. The Tuskegee Airmen’s story has potential for a compelling melodrama, but if this film falls short it will be the fault of the filmmakers and no one else.”

Howard is telling the truth. What is ultimately going to make or break this film is going to be the film itself and the people who took part creating it. Recently, I debated a guy who was just hell bent on making this whole thing strictly about race. While I am in no position to deny Lucas’ claims, I do know that a movie staring Cuba Gooding Jr., Terrence Howard, and Ne-Yo (uh..Ne-Yo????) isn’t exactly a lineup that has traditionally brought out massive crowds. Gooding and Howard are very good actors, but they are marginal when compared to the likes of Denzel Washington, or Morgan Freeman. And the box office numbers are going to reflect that fact. That is just the honest truth that many of these folks don’t want to admit. These actors just do not generate the kind of buzz folks are suddenly expecting.

Here at Blackinformant.com, I always tell readers to check out the Black indie films I advertise here and be sure to give these filmmakers your HONEST opinion. Don’t just support them because they are Black. Applaud them for their efforts and tell them how they can do it better.

The article I linked to earlier quoted a few Black film critics who are less than thrilled about this movie (and yes, they have seen the film).

Please go check out this film if that is what you want to do. But don’t do it out of some racial duty.

theroot.com
thegrio.com
blackweb2.0.com
Blackenterprise.com
atlantapost.com (which apparently is now bundled with madamenoire.com
Blavkvoices.com (Mobi
le)
This is perhaps the BIGGEST story

when it comes to how we use the Internet. Out of all the sites mentioned above, only blackweb2.0 mentioned it once. All others haven’t even touched it. Why? Is it because they did not get the memo? Is it because none of them found the story interesting enough to just mention it? Is it because it is too complex beyond stories with a race angle?

Throughout the day, I will be posting some links about this very important issue (both pro and con) and leave it up to you

to decide. This issue would have a serious impact on many of the popular sites owned and made profitable by us, and nobody’s talking about it???

Throughout the day, I will be posting links (both pro and con) on the blackinformant.com Facebook page.

Stay in the loop.

“Appearing on MSNBC’s Now with Alex Wagner, TheGrio columnist Joy-Ann Reid lambasted Mitt Romney for handing an impoverished black woman a wad of cash at a campaign stop. ‘As an African-American woman, it galls me,’ Reid exclaimed. ‘I don’t even like to watch it. I felt like it plays into every sort of patronizing stereotype of black people.

‘Oh, here’s this little lady, let me give her 50 bucks!’ Reid snarked. ‘I mean, this is the guy who offered a bet of $10,000 on stage, you know, to another candidate, but, you know, here, let me lay off 50 bucks on this woman. And I think it plays into that conservative meme that you don’t need actual programs that the government puts in place to help people in need, we’ll just give them charity. The church will take care of them, I’ll give them 50 bucks.”

But apparently, Reid and the publication she helps manage had nothing to say when word got out that the Black woman Obama promised to hook up due to her housing issues already was a homeowner in the first place.

Honestly, when I heard that Romney did this, I also rolled my eyes. Not for any racial reasons. But because this is just more political dog and pony show to gin up some votes. I get it. It’s phony and fake.

The problem I have with Reid is that she, like most Beltway Black Folks always make this claim that they are “offended as a Black woman/man” at any action by someone outside Alpha Jackass Alpha (Democrats). But these same people will excuse and completely ignore the very same mess right in their face. A recent study concluded that Obama has taken more money from Wall Street than any US President in the last 20 years…including both Bushes. But people like Reid and her publication will ignore that and literally turn their publication into something that should be called “Cc’d by the White House Dot Com”.

I was fortunate enough to have “the talk” with my own father back in the day. But that talk was regulated to just one talk. My dad came from a time where honestly, that is all there was when it came to this kind of stuff. But having a son on my own has reminded me that it is not just one talk, but a lifetime of “talks” and guidance. Especially in this day and time where sexual references can be found in popular music, commercials, popular websites and YouTube videos, and in some cases programing supposedly geared towards children. That is a lot to digest for any child (let alone, any adult).

Not too long ago, I cam across this sistah by way of an online friend of mine. In short, God saved her out of a life of sin. In her case, it was lesbianism.

Now let me stop here for a moment. SIN IS SIN…PERIOD. If you are liar, you are a sinner. If you see no problem with lust, you are a sinner. If you are a heterosexual and see no problem with having sex outside of marriage, you are a sinner. So forth and so on. Romans 3:23-24 states “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” So if you are a Christian, don’t allow people to entrap you in these conversations where God is portrayed as only hating the sin of homosexuality. HE HATES SIN! But he loves the sinner and wants him or her to get it right.

Check out her video.

One of the things I have told my son is that as long as he lives, he is going to be confronted with thoughts in the area of sex. Sex in of itself is not bad. It is a beautiful gift from God. But most of the imagery that children like my son is confronted with on a daily basis do not reflect God’s original intent for this gift. I can talk, and talk, and talk to him all I want. But eventually he has to learn how to process these curve balls on his own. I tell my son all the time that he is going to see to wild stuff come across the plate, but don’t beat yourself up because of it. It is nothing more than a pitch. Now when you take ownership of it by asking for the same pitch over and over again, that is where you get in trouble. The second part of 2 Corinthians 5 says “…and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” At times it is going to be a bit challenging, but having a mind that is sexually pure (not sex free) is worth it.

Kiwi’s road to deliverance in her case did not come from a single alter call. Instead, it was a DAILY process. A process that she still admits is taking place in her life. But she is no different than any other person that has been saved through Jesus Christ.

For a good part of last year, I had to fight off depression. Things seemingly were not going our way no matter how hard we tried. All kinds of crazy thoughts were going through my head. I needed to do something. So I hit the gym. 6 days a week I ran, biked and climbed. During all of it, I would encourage myself. Not only that, I grabbed a friend of mine to come with me. We would talk things out and encourage one another. While I was working out, I noticed that my drive and determination started coming back to me. Losing weight became symbolic of the overall progress that was taking place in my life at the time. After months and months of being kicked to the curb, my breakthrough finally came.

Godly manhood is not a single conference experience, a single Saturday morning men’s breakfast experience, or even an alter call experience. Instead, it is a process that has to be walked out every day of your life. Young men like my son are learning this valuable lesson right now. I’m just so glad I am there to run with him.

Now here is a question for you. If this report is as accurate as it claims to be, WHY THE HECK DO WE CONTINUE TO FIGHT AGAINST PUBLIC SCHOOL BUDGET CUTS (especially for low-performing schools)?

Solution – Adelanto parents p.ull ‘trigger’ to upgrade school

Here you have Black and Hispanic parents working together to take over their failing public school. The want to turn it into a charter school that is opereated by the parents.

As expected, I see that the Beltway Black elite has only picked up on the first story. The second story is something I have seen on Main Street USA all the time.

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