Friday, September 10, 2010, 6:41 am
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From Community to Collective Complacency
Posted On: Aug 07, 2009
Under Category: IE Articles, News
My elder teachers once taught me that community was the crux of black life in traditional African societies. Responsibility belonged to everyone. When we were responsible for one another’s well-being, we were all taken care of — period.
I recently received an e-mail from Paul Porter, co-founder of the media industry think tank Industry Ears. The subject line simply read “responsibility.” In the e-mail was a link to a video that had been posted on the radio blog “Radio Facts: Urban Entertainment Education.” The video shows youth in, what looks like, a school auditorium watching a young hip-hop group perform a rap song.
Teenagers were on the stage dancing and gyrating and somebody’s little man (a small child being egged on by teenage boys onstage) was getting his dance groove on with a fierceness. It was a hip-hop groove in full force.
I sat in stunned silence. In rhythmic repetition, these children chanted their desire to perform oral sex in the most explicit and graphic terms imaginable. As a lead vocalist stood on one of the chairs in the audience, he explained that he would need a napkin on his chin because, well … think “colonic” without the irrigation. As I sat there, listening to this child rap about what he would do if given the chance, I thought, “Ummm … excuse me?! You most certainly will not!”
Now, I may be particularly sensitive to the degradation of black girls and boys so prominent in what we continue to call “entertainment.” I am a community advocate for women and youth. I help create and develop media literacy initiatives that empower youth to take their image, lives and genius back from the oft-destructive forces of exploitative media.
But what angered me as I watched this video is the fact that — even with the drastically high rates of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases among our black youth, and even with the chronic levels of dating violence — we are so hard pressed to find individuals who accept responsibility for challenging the mental/emotional pollutants that plague our community.
Community. We have gone from collective responsibility to collective complacency. In the Black America of today, responsibility is now akin to placing blame and pointing fingers. We say, “It ain’t my fault.” We say, “Look at those ghetto children; somebody ought to do something.” We say, “Look at those rappers, look at those producers, look at that industry, look at this society.”
But not often enough do we say, “What can I do?” And in the meantime, the mental, emotional and physical well-being of our young girls and boys continues to disintegrate — rapidly.
Please understand that when I speak of responsibility, I am taking “blame” out of the picture. I am doing that because too often we place blame as an excuse to not do anything about the travesties that we see. The definition of responsibility that I am using here is our “ability to respond.” Do we have the ability and the capacity to do something to bring about improvement as a community? Yes.
Below are some of the collective complacencies — excuses — we lean on to avoid responsibility for dealing with exploitative media and its impact on our youth. My suggestions for how we are able to respond are:
Collective Complacency One: It’s too big of an issue; I don’t have the resources to deal with this.
Able Response One: Put your money where your heart is. Seek out and purchase music that supports a healthy, positive and accurate view of black and urban life. When you’re out dancing and a song with misogynistic, degrading lyrics start to spin, get off the dance floor and make your feelings known about the song selection. Change the station when offensive material comes on.
Collective Complacency Two: This is really not my problem. This is just the way of our society.
Able Response Two: This issue belongs to all of us. Studies show that sexually degrading music influences the early sexual behavior of youth. It impacts their socialization, their mental health and, eventually, their physical health. Know what’s on your child’s iPod playlist. Speak with your children — or someone else’s children — about the meaning of the song lyrics they listen to. How would they feel about inserting their mother’s name into the lyrics of the song? Stop making excuses when sexism comes wrapped all pretty in a song with a funky beat sung by people of your own hue.
Collective Complacency Three: I don’t believe in censorship. Why are we trying to limit the artistic expression of these artists?
Able Response Three: Vile lyrics about various forms of oral sex is not the height of artistic expression. Authentic expression comes from a place of creativity, a deep center inside of each of us that is sparked by inspiration. We actually want to uncensor those artists that are putting out quality content that do not get the recognition, financial backing, and airtime necessary to succeed. Start a call-in campaign to your local radio stations suggesting local artists whose music you want them to play.
This list is just a beginning. It is a beginning to Paul Porter’s simple but potent call: responsibility. It is a beginning to shake up our collective complacency and return to what our elders have taught is the root of our origins: community.
Shaunelle Curry is executive director of Mother’s Day Radio (www.mothersdayradio.com), a community-driven initiative designed to take direct action in challenging and expanding current media portrayals of womanhood. She can be reached at info@mothersdayradio.com.
