Sports Exploitation: Million Dollar Slaves

This is the third and final section within the topic of TV Imagery.  This discussion will focus on the trials, tribulations, and admiration of the Black athlete and how their treatment both positively and negatively impact the Black Community.

The 3 Questions

1. Do you believe Black athletes are exploited, why or why not?

2. Do you believe Black athletes have to be role models, particularly outside of the field of play, why or why not?

3. Should We petition great Black high school athletes to go to Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU)?

FRONT STREET

The speed, power, agility, and stamina are the perfect traits one would look for in a hardworking slave…or athlete.  Often times, the difference between the two is as slight as the description used to define a good one.  I know, seems pretty dramatic.  But I ask you to consider how much money is made off the Black athlete.  How many jobs are dependent on the greatness of a Lebron James, or the skills of a Cam Newton.  How much colleges and universities benefit from the Zion Williamson, with no guarantee of a future in his sought after profession on the field or in the classroom and yet the school will sell his jersey for $25 a head.  Does the Black community, in general, believe one of the only ways out of the desperation of poverty is the biological lottery?  Yes, the sports business can be a dirty game, but does this exploitation of the Black athlete add to the destruction of Our community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on 1/24/2021.

Sports Exploitation [unedited]

Trap Music: Drugs, Thugs, and Automobiles

Trap Music is the second section within the topic of TV Imagery. The focus of this discussion is centered on the perceptions, realities, and the impact of Hip-Hop culture in the Black Community.

The 3 Questions

1. What impact has Hip-Hop had on your life?

2. Is the current Hip-Hop culture toxic or has it always been toxic or is it the same as it ever was?

3. Does the Black community give Hip-Hop culture too much credit/blame for the current state of the Black community?

FRONT STREET

Hip-Hop has become the language of the world.  It has the ability to give voice to political freedom fighters, disenfranchised youth, and the kid just trying to express themselves.  As positive as it can be, Hip -Hop is often portrayed as music for thugs and a thuggish lifestyle.  This portrayal becomes even more problematic when you realize the genesis of this genre was created by poor Black children looking for a way to express themselves in a none destructive way.  So why does both the Fox News follower and some older generation Black people agree that this culture is destructive to the Black Community?  As tired and unfair as this argument seems on the surface, there is something to be said about the glorification of some of the ills talked about in the music.  For every Fight the Power and Fuck the Police there is a Ten Crack Commandments or G’s Up Hoes Down.  So how can We as a community rectify this dichotomy in something so pivotal to Our daily lives? Is Hip-Hop culture, specifically the music, some how contributing to the destruction of Our community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on 06/03/2020 in our Roundtable which is also available on YouTube.

Trap Music [unedited]

TV Imagery: The Hollywood Shuffle

TV Imagery:The Hollywood Shuffle is the first section within the topic of TV Imagery. This issue focuses on the stereotypical roles Black people tend to occupy in media such as news and entertainment such as TV and movies and how it impacts the Black Community.

The 3 Questions

1.Do you believe the news, entertainment, and social media coverage of the Black community is overly critical in your eyes? Why or why not?

2. Does a black actor/actress choice in a role diminish/uplift them in your eyes yes or no and why?

3. Is the impact and influence of TV imagery over stated in terms of its effect on the Black community?

FRONT STREET

When we first created Black Advancement Inc. approximately six years ago, many of the groundbreaking and free spirited shows with Black leads and themes did not exist.  Think about that sentences, no less than six years ago there was no Atlanta, Insecure, Luke Cage, Blackish, or Get Out, Black Panther, or Girls Trip  etc.  Only recently have the executives of major studios believed in what We as a people already knew, We are an ingenious people with a wide breath and depth of experiences and stories that, while relatable to all, are uniquely Black.  Be that as it may, media overall continues to focus on all of the negative stereotypes applied to Black people as often as ever.  Turning tragic situations like the murder rate of a predominantly Black city into an indictment of Our humanity and using it to support the policies that helped create such situations in the first place….but I digress.  We are here to talk about the continued negative imagery We are subjected to in the hollywood shuffle and the news cycle and to see if this TV Imagery truly contributes to the destruction of Our community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on 11/01/2020 in our Roundtable which is also available on YouTube.

TV Imagery: The Hollywood Shuffle