Freedom Ain't Free...and Neither is Speech?!

The First Amendment. Perhaps one of the most quoted and most valued right in the minds of Americans; also happens to be one of the most controversial. For reference the First Amendment is as follows:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  

Pretty straight forward, right? You should be allowed to say and write whatever you wish. And the government cannot restrict, suppress nor silence your right to speak out. But here is where things get a little hazy. As I am sure you have heard, Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-Fil-A has been under fire for his comments on marriage. As a result the Mayors of Boston and San Francisco have issued statements saying that the restaurant chain is no longer welcome. In addition the company the makes the toys for Chick-Fil-A has announced that it will end its relationship with them as well. 

What was said that got everyone so upset? A July 16th comment in the Baptist Press. These are his words directly from the site (http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=38271).

Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.

"We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.

"We intend to stay the course," he said. "We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles." 

Nothing about hate, nothing about refusing service to any one group. Just his thoughts and religious belief. Because we may disagree with his comments does that all of a sudden make his right to free speech irrelevant? Take Don Imus, who's comment about the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team, "nappy-headed hoes" basically cost him his career. 

But on the other side you have Ozzie Guillen who was briefly suspended for saying that he loved Fidel Castro and the always infamous and often racist lips of Rush Limbaugh (list of his top 10 racist quotes here http://newsone.com/16051/top-10-racist-limbaugh-quotes/). Why weren't these two fired? What makes it okay for some people to have the freedom of speech no matter how hurtful and offensive they may be and others are publicly ridiculed and resented to no end for doing the same?

I am not here to defend or advocate for anyone on this list. But I am here to tell you speech may be free...but is isn't fair. 

Funny or Foul: When Tyler Perry Became the Hero

Understand that this is important to me, nay critical to every fiber of my being that I say this here and that I say this now. I am a teacher, an entrepreneur and its 5:06am in Houston, TX and if I didn't feel the way I do now I wouldn't say the following. Hear me out:

Every morning I wake up at 4am to give a wake up call to my friend in Atlanta. On most days following our brief talk I check my notifications on Facebook, shower and find myself back in bed waiting for my day to begin. Today though, started off much differently. After our call I saw a YouTube link on my page entitled: Beauty and the Beat. From a previous conversation this viral video was supposedly hilarious and I was ready to start my early morning off with a good laugh.

But my 5 minute and 6 second experience was far from hilarious. With my eyes on the 10 inch screen of my netbook I couldn't help my disgust for the images shown. Following the video I confessed my truest gut reaction in the small white box of my status, clicked submit and attempted to wash off the feeling of ignorance, self-denial and pity that the video had drowned me in.

In short, the video was not racist. Racism can be defined as "a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination" (Dictionary.com). But it was certainly derogatory, degrading and defiled each and every person who has tried to fight against the uniquely degrading stereotypes of African Americans. This was a 5 minute 6 second onslaught of negativity disguised as comedy. 


Let me also say that the creator of this video, I am sure did not intend on harm. But also know that his intentions have nothing the effects that his actions will have on world. For hundreds of years now African Americans have been the subject of murder in the media. We have been and for the most part still are the only race that has been explicitly told that we are not good enough, not beautiful, not smart enough, and not human. All of these things were evident in slavery propaganda and "research" during colonial times. In the Tuskegee Syphilis study done between 1932-1972 we were nothing but rats in an Alabama lab worth nothing more than the red dirt we now walk on. The list goes well beyond this but you and I both know that the negative images of Black Americans greatly out weigh those of positive ones. Which is precisely why the results the 1940 Doll Experiment were repeated in the early 2000s.  


Videos like Beauty and the Beat aren't funny when its the only image of Black men and women that is available. As a teacher I see first hand the effects of media. All the Black boys want to play sports professionally and the Black girls though some have higher aspirations; too many want to be mothers simply to get paid and/or video girls. All this is because all the people that look like them on TV are doing the exact same thing. It is hard for kids to believe in and shoot for goals that they can't even see and especially hard when the opposite it is so readily available. The Boondocks was funny, The Cosby Show was funny, Everybody Hates Chris (and Chris Rock stand up) is funny. 

Chris Rock and Aaron McGruder (Boondocks creator) were constantly under fire over their racy material. Yet at the end of the day, if you listen you will see that there is a greater purpose and lesson in their chosen medium. 

Originally I felt Tyler Perry was an engine working in the wrong direction. I felt he too often put Black people in a box of being an angry woman, angry male, mono-religious and placed men as the cause of all Black family problems. You can debate it if you wish but his depictions did always have an a message. He may not have been moving at the speed I felt he should as a media titan but even baby steps in the right direction is progress. At the rate things are going I may not have the option to be picky about what helps and what harms when it comes to media. Comparing the two, clearly Beauty and the Beat puts the cape of Tyler Perry. 


Given our position in the country and the things we still have to deal with. We don't have the time to fulfill or entertain this type of "comedy" it gets us nowhere. We must constantly question ourselves and the things that we watch. Are they helping our hurting us as a people? Do I want my kids to think like this? It this portrayal a reality or a stereotype and how do I know this? Does this keep us at the same state and same frame of apathetic state of mind of "its all good"?


What we must realize above all is this: No one person or video will define you, or me. But you an I are but a small percentage of those who's options weigh heavily on us. The George Zimmerman's of the world and others may only know this video and other popular media outlets; and that's dangerous. As we already saw, ones perceptions of the innocent can be lethal. In that call he said he looked like he was on drugs, that he was up to something. What does a thug look like? A gangsta? Where do you think he got that image from? Do you really think he made that up or was he subliminally subjected to believing that through something else just like the children in the Doll Experiment? 





The video in question:

Questions to ask yourself while watching:

If you are upset about the video, if Bell was Black would you have felt the same?
Why weren't there any "decent" Black people?
What message does this send to others? Black people aren't the only ones watching.
If she were strolling through a trailer park with all White residence would it have gone viral? Or is the "hood" more appealing to make fun of? If so why?



Something else to think about...

Miss Independent, Get Off Your High Horse and Let Us Carry You

The marriage rate in the U.S. is already bad but believe it or not the newly popular "Miss Independent" is making it much worse. No, this isn't an attack on women nor is it to say that Black men haven't done their part to hurt the Black family but one of the above has become an accepted trend. And that trend is the overly-independent-in-your-face-Tyler Perry-type-woman which, sadly actually exists. Is she the only obstacle in forming strong families? No, not even close but it is the only one we gladly hold up as if it has no negative side effects. And they are as follows:

#1 According to John Gray author of Mars and Venus, men have a primary need to be need by a woman. The overly independent woman needs no man and boasts it proudly. She has her own car, house, money, etc. On its own that's fine, there is nothing wrong with being a grown woman. The problem comes in when a man, a real man needs to be a man. Which includes opening doors, paying for dates and being the provider. When she does not allow him to do that he becomes a boy and boys have no business with grown women.

#2 Recently BET and the Tom Joyner Morning Show have open congratulated and awarded single mothers. By doing such it indicates that single parenthood is a trophy, something that should be obtained and it shouldn't. Yes single mothers can raise children, my mother did before she remarried but that is not something we should hold up. Why don't we award young couples that have been married 5-10 years or married couples that put their kids through college. If that were the case don't you think more people would strive for it? Yea, 50% of all marriages end in divorce but that also means 50% succeed so these couples do exist.

#3 Currently there is no balance in the media. As it stands we are so caught up in up lifting Black women with programs like Black Girls Rock that little Black boys have nothing positive in the media to strive for. It should be equal. I liked the idea of the program but couldn't help but wonder, "Does anyone appreciate Black men enough to say that we rock too?" Think about it. According to Wall Street Journal last year there are only 900,000 Black men in college to 1.4 million Black women and we won't even get into the discussion of graduation rates. Black men need encouragement too because without it, these strong women will end up with weak men and the cycle will continue.

We must realize that there is a cause and effect to everything we buy, watch and listen to. None of the conditions that we face today are by chance alone. When we start to pay attention to the causes of our dilemma rather than the effects, perhaps then we can be more proactive in ending them altogether.

Treat the cause, not the symptoms.

                                                     My beautiful sister and I.

The Real Reason This Generation Doesn't March

What happen to our resolve? What happen to all the passion and pride that African-American's once had in the 1960s? Are we less powerful, sedated or just apathetic? Or have we reached a point where marching and protesting is no longer necessary?

The answer is both simple and complex. Notice the picture to the right? Symbols like these were the physical barriers that demanded protesting and marches. The issues that we face today are much more intricate...but more importantly they are invisible.

Today's racial barriers center around affirmative action, standardize testing, the relationship between public school funding and the tax code, the prison industrial complex, and suggestive media just to a few. Notice that none of these are concrete barriers. In the 1960s you didn't have to explain the problem, you saw it. You knew where you could and couldn't sit and eat. You knew what door you could enter though and you knew where not to be after dark. And because of that it was much easier to get thousands of people to stand up.

To even accomplish that today we'd first have to explain what and where the barriers are, and that's no easy task. Today's issues require research, "relatability" and imagery. We need the last two more than anything else. Why did Troy Davis and Trayvon Martin stir up rallies within the younger generation? We could relate to it and we could easily see it. Skittles and Arizona Tea sales shot up as we rallied around a common concrete purpose. You didn't have to do intense research just understand what happen.

But its what we didn't see that emphatically proves my point. Kelly William-Bolar and Tanya McDowell lied to send their children to better school districts earlier this year. One was convicted of a felony while the other was charged with first degree larceny. Why were there no rallies, no uproar and no attention from the NAACP especially when most who people commit this crime are just asked to withdraw from the school? We shouldn't be too concerned with the two women in this case but we should be more concerned about their motives. Why were their school districts so bad? And how many other children are suffering in those bad districts? And what affect will that bad education have on the future of those kids and this nation?

To find out the answer to that question you would have to do, A) research. To make people care about it enough to do something, B) make it relate and C) make it painfully visible. And this ladies and gentlemen is why my this generation doesn't march, we can't. It is hard enough to even summarize how public education isn't doing its part let alone relating that message to thousands of people. The things in which we fight most passionately for are inherently simple though their consequences may be dire.

It didn't take an essay or national study to explain why segregation was wrong or why African American's should be allowed to vote. But can you do that with the problems in the education system? Can you explain how test scores are used to build prison cells or why we spend more on national defense than education? Maybe you can, but can you do it while making it simple enough and vivid enough to make everyone move in the same direction and conviction? That the biggest problem. Most of can't even see what we should be fighting for anymore.

The Little Rock Nine

Wake up.

The Tim Tebow Effect and Why MJ May Not Be the Greatest Ever

Quick, what do Tim Tebow and Michael Jordan have to do with the Confederate flag? *Cue Jeopardy music* If your answer was, "Both played college sports in the South". Your answer

was...incorrect. Take a good look at the image below. 

Does it make you think of racism, hatred or bigotry? For many this image above is just as offensive as the Nazi Swastika. But why? This is not, nor has it ever been one of the three official flags of the Confederacy during the Civil War, yet so many people including myself a few years ago would become instantly irate just at the site of it. 

Ladies and gentlemen may I introduce you to the immense power of media. Because of textbooks, t-shirts, rallies and uproars this one false image can easily offend and cause debate. Why was this particular image chosen to represent the Confederacy today? I don't know. But I do know that media has fueled us into a misguided frenzy. Which brings me to one, Mr. Tim Tebow the most overrated athlete in the history of sports. 

Without getting too technical for my non-football readers, Tebow is a quaterback. And like all football players and all athletes in general they are evaluated by their performance on the field. Nowhere else. So it only makes sense to look the "on-the-field" stats. In his career (23 games) he has thrown for 2,382 YDS, 17 TD, with 47.3% accuracy. To be fair lets put this in perspective, Tony Romo just LAST SEASON, not his career threw for 4,184 YDS, 31 TD with 66.3% accuracy. It doesn't take a math major to tell you that Romo nearly doubled Tebow in these categories. But get this, Tebow was voted as on of the top 100 players of 2012 and was just 4 spots behind Romo at 91 (Tebow #95). With just four spots separating them and Romo being clearly superior, do you feel Tim belongs on that list or have crazed fans prayed him  among the top players?

If the truth really sets us free then Tim shouldn't even be on the provisional top 100 players list. He is a terrible NFL QB (currently) but his name comes up because of his faith and everything that he as done off the field. Yes, he is a great role model, more players should be like him off the field but what you do off the football field on mission trips and in the Philippines while saving little kids does not validate him to be among the best players. The fact the ESPN even covers a Tebow topic Monday through Friday is absurd, he's a backup QB. In what other sport do 2nd team guys make SportsCenter? Not to mention First Take, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption and the myriad of other shows that make him ubiquitous.

  

Because of Tebow's faith we were introduced to "Tebowing"...

which caught caught fire and spread to the NBA.

If you haven figured it out by now, the media can severely alter your thoughts and what you believe to be true. Millions of people believe that the "Confederate" flag we see today was the original and official flag that flew during the Civil War. And the followers of Tebowmania believe in their heart that Tim Tebow is the greatest QB to ever play. Because of these facts I often wonder if Michael Jordan was the greatest player ever. 

Was it the games we watched at 7 and 8 years old or the Tebow Effect that let us know how great he was? Or is it the commercial we saw at 17 and 18, it was maybe the shoes we lined up to purchase. Or was it simply Nike and Gatorade that told us that he was the greatest? Just like Tebow's off the field church trips and saint-like celebrations, what if everything around us, not Jordan's actual game that makes him better than what he was. In no way am I saying MJ wasn't a great player but would there be such a unanimous decision if he didn't have is own wildly popular shoe line among other products? 

Answer this: What NBA player has 6 championships, is all-time leader scorer in NBA history, made 10 NBA-1st Teams, lead the NBA in blocks 4 times, rookie of the year, named one of the NBA's 50 greatest all-time list and made the NBA All Star Team 19 times. 

Kareem Abdul-Jabar. He is tied with Jordan in titles, also won rookie of the year, has more All Star appearances and tied in NBA 1st teams. I am not making a case for which of the two was better and I am certain not asking for a 1-on-1-in-their-prime-game. 

I'm just asking you to consider the source. Try and remember who told you MJ was the greatest and who reminds you in a series of 30 second highlights with dramatic music that he was the best. Then admit that Jordan could just be your favorite player and not the greatest player because they are two completely different things. 

Just a thought. 

Let Us Begin/Social Suicide

Welcome to the inner confines of my mind. From here on out you will receive the purest form of honesty, an unbiased opinion and an educated spin on some of the most polarizing topics in today's society. I am a recent college grad with a BS in Economics, an author and entrepreneur hailing from the Sooner State. I am an absolute fiend for college football, a lover of the NFL and NBA. And I have a proud unhealthy addition to books pertaining to yet not limited to personal finance, psychology, and African-American issues dating from the post Civil War-present. If you want to follow me I am @MayorOfOctober on Twitter. Now, with the pleasantries out the way let us begin.

In case you haven't figured it out yet...George Zimmerman won. He won the moment he pulled the trigger on that Black kid, who's name we've all seemed to forget. Contrary to what you may be thinking Mr. Zimmerman didn't win because of Florida law or because either party in this horrific encounter could be deemed innocent. He won because as a people African-Americans continue to see themselves as inferior. There are Black on Black crimes and killings happening in every corner of this country yet it takes a man of another race every few years (Rodney King-1992,  Amadou Diallo-1999) to remind us that we may not be anywhere near a post racial era.

We have come to expect these things from our people. We expect less than, we expect violence and we expect inadequacy. So when someone of another race commits the exact same heinous act we are shocked. "How could they stoop to our level. I thought they were better than us." Sounds harsh? Yes, but the truth hurts. If we are so numb to the countless other Black deaths what made Trayvon's so different? Perhaps it was the color of the hand holding the gun. Those that disagree claim that it was Trayvon's innocence that made this case so huge. And to those who say that I ask how many times to you even look into Black of Black crimes and question whether one was innocent and unarmed or do you automatically assume (as George did) that because the victim was Black he couldn't be innocent.

Below are the search volume trends from Google. You weren't the only one who forgot about the case.

Rank by   trayvon martin

If you think I am trying to convict Mr. Zimmerman or make you feel guilty about letting the story fade from your memory, wrong again. I want you to think outside the box. I want the entire African-American community to stop looking for acceptance by other ethnic groups as if we need their approval. Stop comparing and asking comparative questions as if we're inferior. As a graduate of an HBCU there were many debates about whether our education was better than that of a predominately white institution (PWI). The fact that we even asked ourselves that question proves that in our minds we are inadequate because certainly they don't ask themselves that question. When we can stop that, we can stop the subliminal social suicide that occurs on a daily basis.

"The perpetual quest for acceptance as parts of the social machinery is a form of psychic self-destruction." 

-Gerry Spence

Wake up.