PLEASEN sombody MUST have an opinoin on the injustices of tameka jordon! the girl was ROBBED of her scholarship, now she will probably not attend college!!!!! She had the best film and people finally realized it so she started winning why cant the justice system provail when we least expect it??!! How is this any different from the mel gibson case? They practically took the scholarship from her hands and alienated her from the protection of true reality! This is the recourse we must attack at will.

#54>>>Woode29, I can read very well thank you very much. I read what you said about not condoning what Imus said, but my point is: Who cares if they are attractive or not. Trust me, it’s not about being sensitive at all. You missed my point, dear. My question is what difference does it make whether they are “ugly” or not. What relevance does that have?

Maybe if we stop focusing on shallow, insignificant things such as peoples looks (which, by the way, they had nothing to do with) we might be a better nation. Being mean doesn’t help our society. Take it as you may.

#63>>>I agree. We still give them a pass.

ok crunk ho chill the phuck out! u havin a fit baby cause aint nobody can understand that shit you was sprayin. Yes what they did to that girl was wrong but that is NOT the subject at hand. Wait for Angel or Tianna to post, then u can “attack the recourse at will” all the phunk you want lol!

75. crunktastik said:
——————————————————————————–

OMG how long can we drag this out before its dead?! The black girl from the cozmo scholarship contest was RACIALLY RAPED of her scholarship!! When are we gonna take interest and action on that subject? I feel like this man is doing our community a diservicee because all of our time is consumed with him, what about takesha and her racial battle? We worked hard to get her to the number one spot and theb yts toke it away from us. Whats next are they gonna RAPE YOU NEXT?!!

^ Breathe!

Jamie E, for a young 24y.o. brother, you got it! You are very articulate in your points about what’s really going on. I say keep on keepin’ on in Milwaukee or Timbuctoo (sp?) or whereever your brainpower, heart and common sense take you. Stay committed to change and a change will come.
I also agree, that the firing of Imus was a band-aid resolve to a bigger issue we have in our community. Look very carefully at the interviews with Sharpton in the last few days, watch how he sidesteps the issues of confronting the rap industry with the same fervor.

i am so happy they fired him, what would make him think that was okay to say in the first place.

Also, his racist rhetoric is central as to why Howard Stern can’t stand his ass (although he is no better). In Howard Stern’s book, he goes into detail about how when he and Imus were working in the same building, whenever Imus would pass Howard Stern’s sidekick, Robin Quivers (who happens to be black), he would call her all kinds of racist names.

How can Don Imus, who has been spreading his racist rhetoric for 40 years, just learn of racist words from rap music when rap is LESS than 30 years old?

Some of you defenders of this bastard are amazing….

BET aired a great special tonight about the contreversy and how we use the N word etc, and how we need to stop and look at how we use the word. I hope BET takes a look at themselves and changes some things about the network.

on Thursday, April 12, 2007 @ 7:56 pm

72. crunktastik said:
——————————————————————————–

Bill did you hear that the “A GIrl Like me” documentery was wining only to have the voting takin away? I was shocked when I heard it.

——————————————————————————–
Bill Said:

Yeah..I just found out about that.

She was in first place only to have it taken away from her….

White people ran that contest..They did exactly what we expected them to do

on Thursday, April 12, 2007 @ 8:01 pm

74. crunktastik said:
——————————————————————————–

Anybody upset at the racial degregation of that girl who did the documentary “a girl like me” ???!!!! I mean who cares about this old yt man he is fired and thats that, what about the young sista that is gonna lose her scholarship because yts dont want to see a black girl talk about black beauty?! She was WINING and all of a sudden they want to take it to the judges because “people” were messing with the voting system. Lets be real the only thing that was wrong with the voting system is that THE BLACK GIRL WAS WINNING! we need to leave this yt man in the past and focuss on the injustices of cozmo girl magazine!

Bill Said:

I care and yes I AM concerned….
But you need to know who’s in Power here in America.
Cosmo Girl is a WHITE OWNED PUBLICATION !

THE DON IMUS SITUATION IS JUST THIS SIMPLE…

When you are a DJ on terrestrial radio you a list of things you cannot say or do. As someone who is a verteren DJ Don Imus knows what he can not say or do. He said something he should not have said. His sponsers decided to pul their ads and his bosses decided to fire. This happens to radio DJ’s EVERYDAY, Don Imus is no exception.

Comparing this situation to rap music, no matter how offensive it may be, is like comparing apples and oranges. While I agree we need to raise the standards for rap music, rappers create a product that is packaged and sold to consumers at their own free will. And just like Imus, when their music is played on terrestial raido it is TOO censored.

I think it’s important for us to stop allowing rappers to speak the way they do, however that situation is much more complex than the Don Imus situation. He’s someone who broke the rules at work and got fired…the same way people get fired every day. If we want to fire rappers we can just stop buying their music.

Also, I agree with whoever defended Rev. Al. While I sometime disagree with his politics and his showboating, when we have people from our generation like Jay-Z boycotting luxary champaign bottles, at least he’s addressing real issues. Don Imus aside, Rev. Al has been very active in the Sean Bell shooting her in NY and he has built a lot of momentum in the black community here around that issue. That’s more than I can say for a lot of people.

on Thursday, April 12, 2007 @ 8:53 pm

86. chillin in ny said:
——————————————————————————–

THE DON IMUS SITUATION IS JUST THIS SIMPLE…

When you are a DJ on terrestrial radio you a list of things you cannot say or do. As someone who is a verteren DJ Don Imus knows what he can not say or do. He said something he should not have said. His sponsers decided to pul their ads and his bosses decided to fire. This happens to radio DJ’s EVERYDAY, Don Imus is no exception.

Comparing this situation to rap music, no matter how offensive it may be, is like comparing apples and oranges. While I agree we need to raise the standards for rap music, rappers create a product that is packaged and sold to consumers at their own free will. And just like Imus, when their music is played on terrestial raido it is TOO censored.

I think it’s important for us to stop allowing rappers to speak the way they do, however that situation is much more complex than the Don Imus situation. He’s someone who broke the rules at work and got fired…the same way people get fired every day. If we want to fire rappers we can just stop buying their music.

Also, I agree with whoever defended Rev. Al. While I sometime disagree with his politics and his showboating, when we have people from our generation like Jay-Z boycotting luxary champaign bottles, at least he’s addressing real issues. Don Imus aside, Rev. Al has been very active in the Sean Bell shooting her in NY and he has built a lot of momentum in the black community here around that issue. That’s more than I can say for a lot of people.

——————————————————————————–

Bill Said:
Selah & Amen
I coSign 101 %

his ass aint got much time left in him anyway as far as ruining his career

anyway i wouldnt want to talk to him if i were on the team, and they are not kids

48, thats just as irrelevant as imus’ comment

@ 77 Sassyteri, i agree with you. Why should those girls looks matter??? now you see what is wrong with the world. The fact of the matter is that this SOCIETY(I really mean the world) is so shallow and superficial. Not to mention the other problems and conflicts that this world has. Just sit back and look at the world and look at what is happening and what you see on the news. We live in a broken and imperfect system. When God created earth he intended for creation to be perfect and for mankind to manifest itself. Everything wrong in this world and the reason why things are the way they are and people think the way they do is a direct effect of SIN. I keep thinking about everytime I watch tv, or listen to the radio, or go to the movies. The cause of sin and the effect of sin and why the world is the way it is, all go hand in hand. I am not trying to be religious, this does not have anything to do with religion, but the simple fact that when we see conflicts like this or epidemics or social issues, ect. they are all part of a bigger problem.

I may get some ppl riled up with this comment, but I think this issue is being blown waaaaay out of proportion. So if he calls you nappy headed hoes and you know you are not, then what is the problem? I could care less if someone called me that, because I know I am not.

Besides, let’s face it. Many of those girls are butt ugly.

Okay, ppl are going to hate me for this, but ol well. What this man said, is no different than what we say about those who we think are rough looking, or nappy headed, he did not say the N word. The only thing that I disagreed with, was him calling them hoe’s. Other than that Im going to work, and while Im there I’m going to call one of my co workers nappy headed and see if I get suspended and lose my job.

Oh yea and another thing… Rappers degrade females, waaaaaaaaaay worse than this man just did.

Black ppl, let’s pick our battles. We dont need to start marching for every little thing. After a while, no one will take us seriously.

@ #93 Yes, take a look at the Sandra Rose blog and see a pic of Snoop with females on a leash on the red carpet. Now we wanna march? F*ck outta here!

Only the girl in the middle is cute.

@Crunktastic

Are you sure about that because I have been checking the polls from the very beginning and she was always in third place? I don’t recall her ever even making it to second place.

This proves that you should be careful about what you say and do to people because what goes around comes around!

Now lemme say that as a African American, we need to begin “polishing” up our culture. We are a beautiful race! LETS STOP DEGRADING OURSELVES!! WE must be the ones to SET THE EXAMPLE! Lets us stop calling ourselves such low and pathetic names! Lets stop disrespecting our women!

I understand that some of you were angry by this man’s comments. But remember, if we come back at him in a racial manner, then we are doing the same thing he did!!!!!!! IT BEGINS WITH US!! ITS TIME WE UPGRADE.

Glad he was fired

Well, we done f*cked this one all up. If some of those Rutgers girls are from the Brick City, they been called worse.

He got a trach or something in his throat? Why he look so stiff in the neck area? Like he can’t turn his head all the way.

He got what he deserved.

@ 65. Now you know that Al Sharpston and the rest like him basically advocate double standards. When we get a real civil rights leader like the great MLK maybe some of the injustice will fade away. But all I’m saying is if the Duke players had been black and the stripper white, Sharpston/Jackson would have been all over the white girl and the media talking about how everything is unfair. Mmm… For all the good they do, they really disappointed me. I was watching CNN yesterday and I mean when Sharpston was asked why he didn’t go so hard on the RAPPERS who use this kind of language, he danced around the question and gave some formal speech he’s likely to give, never gave a real answer.

Now I appreciate those guys trying to help solve the Imus situation because what Imus said is intolerable BUT you can not just stick him with it. You must include others. You can bet if Imus had been black, this whole mess wouldn’t be such a huge…mess because that’s what the black community seems to be now (or what the media puts out there). I don’t get how it’s not OK for Imus to do it but it’s OK for blacks to do it. Why because we’re black? Then we really don’t want to be equal at all. If we wanted everything to be equal like we’re always complaining about, then we’d have 50 and Luda and Kanye off the radios forever just as we’re TRYING to do to Imus.

–ok im done.

I DON’T THINK IMUS IS SORRY FOR WHAT HE SAID, I THINK HE IS JUST SORRY HE SAID IT.

F*** him he’s not even sorry for what he said ol oogly ass

A jounrey fo a thousand mile start with a single step. Balck folks, that the first step taken to rid ourselves of these racists.

“of”

HAHA..THATS WHAT HE GETS…HE SHOULD’VE ALREADY KNOWN THAT WE,AS WOMEN,WOULD’VE GOT OFFENED…*SMH* AND THE CAUCASIANS CALLS US DUMB.THATS WHY HE GOT SUSPENDED FROM HIS JOB.

@ 52, Jessica Spears,
Girl you beat me to it. I swear I was about to post that up!!! I couldn’t believe what I was reading. That is some MAJOR BS right there. How convenient. SMDH @ the fact that she really might not even get a fair shake in front of the “judges.” I mean CosmoGirl is still run by Hearst Publications right? So let’s see. This is also the same publishing giant that puts out Town and Country, Redbook, Esquire, Seventeen, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, etc, etc…and oh yeah, that lone publication with that black chick on it. I think it’s called ‘O’ or something like that.

Oh yeah, Kiri is definitely got this contest sewed up.

#90>>>Salty, thank you. You are so right. I cosign with you 100%. We live in a fallen world. It was predicted in the Bible (not trying to sound preachy), but it’s true. We do not live up to higher standards anymore and it’s “to each his own.” What happened to decency and treating people with respect.

I guess we haven’t seen anything yet. I hope this is a catalyst to come together.

@ 104 - You are right.

86. chillin in ny said:

THE DON IMUS SITUATION IS JUST THIS SIMPLE…

When you are a DJ on terrestrial radio you a list of things you cannot say or do. As someone who is a verteren DJ Don Imus knows what he can not say or do. He said something he should not have said. His sponsers decided to pul their ads and his bosses decided to fire. This happens to radio DJ’s EVERYDAY, Don Imus is no exception.

Comparing this situation to rap music, no matter how offensive it may be, is like comparing apples and oranges. While I agree we need to raise the standards for rap music, rappers create a product that is packaged and sold to consumers at their own free will. And just like Imus, when their music is played on terrestial raido it is TOO censored.

I think it’s important for us to stop allowing rappers to speak the way they do, however that situation is much more complex than the Don Imus situation. He’s someone who broke the rules at work and got fired…the same way people get fired every day. If we want to fire rappers we can just stop buying their music.

Also, I agree with whoever defended Rev. Al. While I sometime disagree with his politics and his showboating, when we have people from our generation like Jay-Z boycotting luxary champaign bottles, at least he’s addressing real issues. Don Imus aside, Rev. Al has been very active in the Sean Bell shooting her in NY and he has built a lot of momentum in the black community here around that issue. That’s more than I can say for a lot of people.

THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK
THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THATHANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANKNK U THANK THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANKTHANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK U THANK

kind

WOAH
4. Jamie E. said IT ALL!!!!

Everyone’s so quick to blame or wanna go after the rappers..Any person with common sense knows there a difference between a black woman,and bitches and hoes..2pac made some of the most powerful music hip hop has ever heard.But even he way sayin bitch and hoe as well..If you’re gonna call out the rappers,u might as well call out the film directors,just ban the words all together..It’s no different than women calling men dogs,or what have u..There are plenty of rappers that do spit positive shit,but that’s not whats getting the play..These white owned labels and cooperations only wanna push the negative..I admit there’s alot of dumb ass songs out right now,but we’re the ones dancing to it and supporting that shit,so of course they’re gonna keep doing it..If more support was put int othe more positive rappers,then everybody would start rapping positive after while

I KNOW DON IMUS AINT TALKING ABOUT THEM BEING “NAPPY HEADED HOS”, WHEN HE HIMSELF NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT DAMN BIRDS NEST ON TOP OF HIS HEAD.

I MUST say! I own Ludacris’s “Release Thearapy” Album. The album has many REAL MESSEAGES besides sex, money and jewerly. But at the same time, he’s saying the n-word.

I really like the CD but it’s still the same thing going on that we are talkin’ about here! I refuse to be a hypocrite!!! I probably sound like I have issues, but what should I do with my albums.

Its more than just a cd. If I am willing to make a change it has to be 100%. Not half way! The problem is that it really is a good cd with important messages! Any Suggestions with what I should do?

Well, Imus was wrong for calling the young ladies hoes HOWEVER…y can’t women of color be HAPPY to be NAPPY?!?
When a white person says something about blacks, we get so upset and so outraged that we are willing to protest…y not protest the rappers and singers who do the same???
IMUS is an old white man who probably thinks what a lot of white people think about blacks, the only thing is he VOICED it. Now that he’s fired, it will be talked about for another week and then its over until another white person says it again, just like Kramer-he said what he said, and now its over. BUT REALLY ITS NOT OVER! Imus should be accountable for his actions, leave him on the air and make him respond to people who have questions about it. I just don’t get it! GO buy the latest c.d about “US” nappy headed hoes but let a white man say it and all HELL breaks loose?!?!?!

As a Black female who actually attended and graduated from Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, I was offended by Imus’ comments.

The offended me as a woman, a Black person, and a member of the Rutgers Community.

1. Rutgers hasn’t done well in sports in ages, so this was a great moment that was tainted by Imus’ ignorant comments. As a Rutgers alum, it’s offensive because the moment of bittersweet glory (although they lost, they came VERY far) was severely detracted from due to Imus’ comments.

2. The sexist and racist parts are pretty apparent.

3. Imus, unlike the rappers, etc. (who deserve to be chastised for their ignorant messages and further perpetuating stereotypes) has been revered by many in the media as a bright intellectual commentator….

4. Don’t think for a minute that Al Sharpton or the feelings of black people had anything to do with Imus being fired. Rutgers is a very old school and the connections to the Good ‘Ol Boys network are tight! There are some deep pockets and serious connections. Point number one is a major issue. By default, Imus cast Rutgers in a poor light and the big boys weren’t having it. Know that. Al who?

73. Onthe Inside finished with:

Lastly, everyone continues to complain bitch moan etc. about these rap acts and what they do. Then who the hell is buying the records, watching BET, supporting the radio stations and paying to see the concerts? I can tell you with absolute certainly that the majority of black people who work for BET, Universal, Atlantic, Jive, Sony, Vibe, The Source etc, would love to have better quality artist and projects to promote and sell. If the public did their job and stopped supporting this bullshit, then more of us inside the industry would have the ammunition we needed to create some change.

I AGREE 110%
I stopped working in the music industry because I lost interest in promoting acts like Ja Rule, Christina Milian etc (Def Jam UK circa 2001). HIP HOP is dead but HIP POP is alive and kicking…& is tearing the black community apart as music is a HUGE part of our cultural expression and major aspect of our visible contribution to WESTERN society!

The Don Imus story is a scratch on the surface of a much deeper and complex issue that has its roots in hundreds of years of history. I don’t think any one individual has the answer but can we at least try to come up with something? Whilst I’m not a fan of Al Sharpton et al., I appreciate their efforts. What in the world is going to happen when he and Jesse Jackson exit planet earth? Who is going to accept the baton, cause we haven’t arrived yet and the relay race (no pun intended) for equality will be going for some time.

Why are young people looking at hip hop videos to shape how they define themselves? We definitely need to promote alternative perspectives and promote education and cultural awareness and pride in being AFRICAN!!! Yeah I said it!! There is an AFRICAN in African American. If you look at the typical black woman on TV, she takes little pride in looking like he AFRICAN herself! (c.f. A Girl Like Me) Long Weaves, blonde highlights…anything to look like her Western counterparts. I understand why it happens, the more you look like the white majority the more accepting they will be of you (& the less likely they will be to call you a nappy headed ho) which make you more population thus financial viable. However the crazy thing is that black people are more accepting or find value in those of us that look more European than African!!! *shudders*!!!! Shit I’m guilty of it too but I am aware of the reason why and check myself when I revert to that way of thinking! Yes if I had to say who was more beautiful Beyonce or model Alex Wek, I’d say the former!!! You probably would to, that would be fine if the vote was split but it would probably be 90% in favour of Beyonce! We are all ACCOUNTABLE and until we decide to free our mind of the mental shackles which still remain, the legacy of slavery will continue. Black America and blacks all over the western world need to strip themselves naked because everything we do is defined using Western/European standards and as we are neither there is always going to be a disconnect in how we relate to the world. The materialistic nature of black people is a symptom of the problem we don’t find value in ourselves so we need weaves, designer clothes and jewellery to make us whole. Instead of developing our wardrobe or mp3 collection how about we develop our attitudes towards one another. People in general should have more pride in being a positive member of their communities, then being the flossiest!

I could go on forever but I won’t because I too am only scratching the surface but I’d like to thank all those contributing to this post because it’s good to know that we aren’t all happy with the current status quo and big props to those who identified that we need to address the problems in the Diaspora, because getting one white guy fired is hardly a victory in uplifting an international community of millions because like it or not young black people across the world are heavily influenced by African American culture. I am and I live 4,000 miles away from the US.

& I’m out.

yes “A girl like me” was in the lead last nite (by like 10-20 votes). I think thats what ticked off the white folks at cosmo cause she went from bein waaaaaaaaaaaay behind to bein the first. When you think about it you shouldnt be surprised cause lots of black blogs and websites have been posting her movie and telling people to vote. I first voted at “nappturality.com” and that site gets thousands of hits, not to mention concreteloop and other people who were emailing friends and such. Im guessing that cosmo doesnt think its “fair” because so many people online were promoting her, but really I dont see how that goes against the rules.

And crunktastic please calm down. You are makin this out to be more dramatic than it is, devote all that negative energy to something positive sweety.

meant to say I first voted when I saw it at nappturality.com

Aye concrete loop, why don’t you make a statement by not featuring whack music on your blog, poisonous “artist” and be apart of a new advancement of our people. I think if we want a change, we have to do it ourselves, cause they aren’t going to give us an opportunity, and that’s real. I know some don’t wanna hear that, but you just too comfortable with being just another negro. If you agree with me, make the point. It has to start somewhere. Enough voices can be heard.

I WONDER WHEN THEY WIL FIRE ISAIS WASHINGTON??

Hi and thank you everyone for voting for Kiri. I sent an email to the company and you can send one too. Lets make some noise! Copy and email my letter if you want.

Dear CosmoGirl,

Would you please issue a statement to the Internet Community about the nature of the tampering that you have reported concerning the Take Action Hollywood film contest? Many of us worked hard to distribute and promote Kiri Davis’ video and the contest over the internet and we would like to know what has happened and why you are not counting the votes we worked so hard to obtain. According to recent voters, Kiri Davis was in the lead with votes and we would like a detailed account of the alleged tampering and why measures had not been taken before hand to prevent such tampering. This is surely a disappointment to all of the girls involved because instead of listening to the voice of your readers and the public, you have decided to ignore us and use a panel of judges who you have chosen. Furthermore, we would like to know who the judges are, their credentials, and if members of the African American community will be represented. We, the Internet Community look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Bronze Trinity

To send an email to our Editor-in-chief, Susan Schulz, please send an e-mail to susan@cosmogirl.com

For questions about cosmogirl.com, please email webmaster@cosmogirl.com.

I”M SURE EVERYONE HAS SAID SOMETHING ABOUT ABOUT MINORITIES WOMEN I KNOW PLENTY OF BLACK DJS THAT TALK ABOUT WHITES AND ARABS ALL THE TIME SO IF HE GOT FIRED WE ALL SHOULD GET FIRED>

FIRING HIM ISN”T GOING TO SOLVE THE UNDERLYING PROBLEM JESSE JACKSON AND AL SHARPTON NEED TO SIT DOWN THEY TRYING TO BE GREAT BLACK LEADERS OR WHATEVER

NOW PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO GET ISAIAH WASHINGTON FIRED AND TRYING TO STIR UP THAT WHOLE ORDEAL AGAIN.

THE FIRST AMENDMENT IS FREEEDOM OF SPEECH AND IT MAY OFFEND PEOPLE BUT AFTER A WHILE WE WON”T BE ALLOWED TO SAY ANYTHING> THAT”S SCARY.

To me, this whole episode is counter-productive to the Black Community’s argument for personal and professional equality. It’s the equivalent of trying to kill an evil tree by chopping of a leaf, when the tree itself is rooted deeply within the Black Community.

Okay, so now what? Will there be any American or Chinese intervention in Darfur? Will Bush, or any future President, even bother to mention New Orleans in their speeches? Will the troops come home from Iraq? And most importantly, will we stop allowing Black people to stop disrespecting and humiliating Black people? And most importantly, you can’t blame white people for 90% of your problems when you give them 90% of your money. Be honest, we’re 90% of our OWN problems but we’re 100% of the solution if we choose to be!

Do yal even pay attention to how this country really operates? How many people do you think will get ANY punishment for their crimes against the American people and their crimes against the world from the Bush administration? Do you really think Imus won’t resurrect his career within a year on another station our on satellite radio? Yet, within one year, how many people think the Black community will be better off in one way, shape of form?

I hate to rain on your parade, but Imus was wrong for calling those young ladies a bunch of “nappy headed ho’s”, but our community reaction to this just made another million white people think we’re nothing more than a bunch of Ignorant N!ggas. We love to complain a lot about THEM, but do very little for OURSELVES, BY OURSELVES, and WITH OURSELVES.

Why? We’re totally reactive and over-sensitive to what someone says, but we’re totally tolerant and passive to what someone does, especially within our own race. I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the past three years, we’ve had two Black children mob beatings where 15+ kids have killed two grown men on two separate occasions over stupid stuff. A group of 20+ black youth from ages 12-22 (and one 40 year old man) gang raped an 11 year old Black girl. Just a few weeks ago, a 14 year old black kid shot and killed a prominent white boxing coach at a gas station in broad daylight trying to rob him. And that was a week after another young black teen killed a black woman in daylight in front of a daycare center. Per capita, we have the lowest graduation rates for blacks in the country with the highest incarceration rate. We have an all black neighborhood where the annual household income is $8,000 while five miles down the road in River Hills, there annual household income is nearly $300,000. Milwaukee is less than 80 miles north of Chicago, but I haven’t seen or heard Sharpton, Jackson or Farrakhan grandstanding about the madness that’s occurring here (and I’m sure it’s worse in other places). We won’t be reactive, let a lone proactive, within our own communities, yet we think it’s a VICTORY for Black People when O.J. gets off or a White comedian or radio personality goes without a million dollar paycheck for six months? Get real, neither Don Imus nor Al-Qaida is in the Black populated “hoods” throughout America doing what we do to ourselves.

I’m a 24 year old Black man and I can officially say I’m DONE trying to excuse the inexcusable. Beyonce gets more headlines and comments within the Black community than Bush. I only heard lyrical responses from all of four rappers (Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Juvenile Mos Def) about what went down in Katrina, and only Jay-Z and Juvie had a full song about it on a commercially successful album. But Camron and 50 can make like three or four diss videos within two weeks?

Why doesn’t CL and all of these other blogs highlight the genocide in Darfur and it’s purely political and economic why the U.S. and China won’t do more to support the African Union? Why doesn’t CL and all of these other black blogs mention the fact that more people went into poverty last year to bring it to a record high even though these Republicans are saying we have a strong economy? What about income disparity between blacks and white, or imprisonment disparity between Black/Latino non-violent offenders and our White counterparts?

Yep, I’m done. I don’t expect or want ANY other race, culture, or ethnicity to respect Black Americans as long as we don’t respect ourselves. Yeah, WE won a small victory today, but we LOST the war when we laid down our arms, left the streets, and went home to watch BET after MLK died.

——————————————————————————–
Wow! You took every word out of my body! I 110% absoloutely agree with you. Shit they might as well shut this particular blog down because you killed it! On point! Good Night!

MUSIC IS ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH THEY SHOULDN”T HAVE TO MONITOR WHAT THEY RAP ABOUT.IF YOU DON”T LIKE IT DON”T LISTEN TO IT>

ITS OKAY FOR US TO MAKE RACIST COMMENTS ABOUT OTHER MINORITIES AND WHITES AFTER A WHILE EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE AFRAID TO SPEAK THEIR OPINION BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE MONITORING WHAT YOU SAY

SO WATCH WHAT YOU SAY ABOUT ARABS

SHOULD ISAIAH WASHINGTON BE FIRED???? WHEN THAT HAPPENED NO ONE ON CL CARED BUT WHEN IT IS A BLACK PERSON EVERYONE IS ALL UP IN ARMS??

I sent a letter, Bronze…. hopefully there will a reply.

I told my White friends that whenever a Black DJ say something Offensive about Whites or ANY other race GET HIM FIRED>>LOL.

*cart wheeling, somersaulting, jumping up and down in the air*

Good riddance Imus! Good riddance!!!!!

Puh LEASE He’ll be on Sirius Satelite

1. While I agree with 99% of what JAMIE E. said, I believe Imus deserved to be fired and that is not counter-productive. Hadn’t he been fired, what would have happened? People would have witnessed another case of “this is ok to call them hoes”, and let’s get clear, they weren’t called hoes cause “he call women hoes”, HE CALLED THEM hoes because they were black. That’s racist in itself and he got what he deserved.

2. A lot of y’all downing Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, I have a question for you, what the fuck are you doing? Are you doing something better for your community? Have you started a movement? Have you protested? What have you done? Show me a list of the things you’ve done before complaining.

3. About Darfur, although this is an entertainment blog, could CONCRETELOOP.COM PUT A LINK TO SITES ABOUT THE GENOCIDE (like the one that my name links to) LIKE ONE OF YOUR ADVERTISEMENTS ON THE SITE??? Black people are being exterminated by arabs only because they’re black in Darfur, it has been going on for almost FOUR FUCKING YEARS, GEORGES CLOONEY HIMSELF went there with his father to shoot with cameras what’s happening and ask the government to do something, what are WE BLACK PEOPLE DOING FOR OUR OWN PEOPLE?

4. RAP MUSIC. What yall need to do is STOP watching their videos on BET, STOP requesting them on HOT 97. STOP BUYING THEIR MUSIC. STOP BUYING THEIR CLOTHING LINES BECAUSE YES you’re putting more money in their pockets to spend it on producing another album. Stop going to their concerts. But I’m wondering, if 80% of gangsta rap consumers are WHITE aren’t we already boycotting somehow? The 20% non-white need to boycott. And if we are already boycotting something who doesn’t seem to die, how can this movement die? >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Look, we’re MILLIONS OF BLACKS. If all of us concentrated on COMMON/TALIB/MOSDEF and all those productive and positive cats, they would top the charts ad outshine the others. Common’s “Finding Forever” comes out THIS YEAR. If 5 million of us bought ONE copy (no bootleg) he would outsell ALL THE GANGSTA RAPPERS, think about it, and it would start a movement, the media would be all over him. If you don’t find the copies in stores ORDER THEM ONLINE! Request him on RADIO stations and on MTV/BET. If you bought 2 copies, one for you and one for your teenage cousin/child/niece, the album would sell like crazy!! That would open doors for more conscious cats!

Lauryn Hill is a movement we started, as a conclusion she sold over 20 millions worldwide with Miseducation. Let’s do this with COMMON, start THE MOVEMENT NOW!!! Black blogs bombard your blog with ads about COMMON, Have you read is interview with Bellafonte?? HE IS WHO CAN SAVE THE GAME. Don’t let it die but resurrect it by giving all your attention to the positive cats.

COMMON “FINDING FOREVER” IN STORES JULY 1Oth!!! GET THE MONEY READY.

Woode, that comment about their looks was just plain uncalled for. Not once did you mention what they accomplished in the championship game. Those young ladies have handled themselves wit dignity, grace, and chose to puit their INTELIGENCE on display, NOT their looks.

Hey, Bill, did you hear about Gov. Corzine getting into a very bad accident on the way to the Imus/Rugters bball team meeting?

One thing I think people forget is that Don Imus has done alot more good even w/ though he made stupid comments it wasn’t meant to be racial , he disses everyone black , white , green yellow, he doesn’t just target one group. If you don’t believe Imus has done good just check the Tomorrows Childrens Fund and the support groups he got to WFAN to save many childrens lives, read up on that before you comment on him like he is Satin.

As a black man I don’t believe in Sharpton or Jackson , they also have yet to apologize to the Duke Lacrosse team but were the first ones to push for a major trial. Those 3 students are currently schooless and have lost valuable time in college education. They also now have a rap sheet for a crime they were proved that they didn’t commit, where is the apology the I’m sorry for getting Duke to kick you out of school. And to everyone on CL I’m not defending what Imus said and I believe he should have been suspended then his show needed new employees but w/ his firing it will affect the sponsored events that benefit the childrens fund.

What does his firing really do ? You still have gangs that’s not Imus’s fault, we still have crimes again not his fault, what happened here is freedom of speech used to make a bad punch line then it turned from a bad punchline to an injustice, then from an injustice to the Lady Rutgers to racial slurs and no one gave a damn about it or even acknowledge it until Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson started blowing smoke to the fire created. Atleast if you are happy about this understand there is a bigger picture tonight and please make a donation to the Tomorrows Children Fund.

http://www.aolcdn.com/aol...-003b2-04a89-c7bcbccd.jpg

WHO LOOKIN LIKE A MONKEY NOW….NICKA ????

Jamal….is not black…

Sorry people we give these name calling too much power to tell you the truth the sh#t is funny. You know deep down those girls look like hell this is going too far why go threw all this with the mans job? He looks like he is already on deaths door. When i got the news even still today I was falling out my chair laughing look at them makeup anyone perms anyone did they even win the game lol

*intelligence…my bad

oh my fault because I don’t curse when I discuss shit , cause I actually listen to that station, since this is a sensitive subject I wanted to talk about it in an educated way as the college student I am, would you rather I talk about it Brooklyn style? the Bullshit that I got to hear w/ this topic and my fault if I actually know some people from that foundation that were given support by that company, I also know Sharpton and Jackson just be lookin for the camera, my fault famz if I got a damn heart , that’s as far as I’ll go I ain’t getting into back and fourths debate w/ you about my blackness.

If you want to make an issue of who’s black look in the mirror because it sure as hell ain’t bullshittin’ me. I’m outz anyway make a donation if you give a damn.

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton didn’t say ANYTHING about ISAIAH WASHINGTON.

DONT THE FIRST BLACK GIRL ON THE LEFT LOOK LIKE JAY-Z LOL LOL LOL…. JUST TRYIN TO MAKE LIGHT OF A SERIOUS MATTER

A nationally syndicated show that reaches millions of listeners and viewers daily with a host who interviews the people who enact the laws of our nation, important people, has clout with the everyday folk. When he, and his dispicable staff (who are really vile with their jokes and frequently cross the line) disparage and belittle a women’s basketball team that finished second in a national college tournament by slurring them, he negates an accomplishment that should’ve been celebrated/congradulated. He belittled blacks with a slur based in racist stereotyping, and he belittled women’s endeavors in athletics. If you ever listen to sports radio (a white male dominated industry) you will eventually hear opinions insulting to the women who compete in any field of athletics, women who take their efforts as seriously as any man does. The thing is these women are not public figures, they don’t have a forum with which to defend or respond to the insult, they have no means to fight back. That makes Don Imus a bully, which IMO is a typical trait of a lot of white men.
Don Imus and his crew do things like this as a matter of habit, and it was his turn. To compare his position to the likes of Isiah Washington, rappers is simply stupid, said by people who are picking one aspect without the full context just to make their idiotic points. Those who have a problem with Al Sharpton’s and Jesse Jackson’s involvement due to their past indiscretions, I say if not them, then who would satisfy you then?

THE DON IMUS SITUATION IS JUST THIS SIMPLE…

When you are a DJ on terrestrial radio you get a list of things you cannot say or do. As someone who is a veteren DJ, Don Imus knows what he can not say or do. He said something he should not have said. His sponsers decided to pull their ads and his bosses decided to fire him. This happens to radio DJ’s EVERYDAY, Don Imus is no exception!

Comparing this situation to rap music, no matter how offensive it may be, is like comparing apples and oranges. While I agree that we need to raise the standards for rap music, rappers create a product that is packaged and sold to consumers at their own free will. And just like Imus, when their music is played on terrestial raido airwaves it is TOO censored or better yet not played at all. Secondly, Black people aren’t the only ones buying rap music. I can’t tell you the last time I bought a rap album. I find the shit a lot of rappers say offensive as do many of my black friends. Contrary to popular opinion MANY black people don’t condone what is said in rap music. Especially those from my parents and grandparents generations. There is outcry on the black community against hip hop…it just doesn’t make front page news!

Don Imus is someone who broke the rules at work and got fired…the same way people get fired every day. He’s a big boy, he’ll be fine.

JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN HAPPENING (ie Imus attacking blacks, women, etc.) THE FACT THAT SOMEONE PUT A STOP TO IT MEANS SOMETHING!

DO YOU FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT SLAVERY? SO IT WAS A PRECEDENT LETS KEEP IT GOING. YOU CAN CHANGE THINGS WHEN YOU HAVE THE POWER TO. THE BLACK DOLLAR (BILLIONS) IS MORE POWERFUL THAN IMUS’S AND HIS GROUP OF SUPPORTERS WHO FEEL IT IS OK TO DEMEAN WOMEN WHO ALREADY HAVE IT HARD ENOUGH TO BE HERE.

There is no double standard. DOublel standard? Where are all the black socialites? Oh yeah our grandfathers were probably picking cotton while the Hiltons and FOrds were building empires for their herpes infested generations to come.

Blacks are still making small strides…

WE DONT EVEN CONTROL WHAT GETS PLAYED ON THE RADIO. THERE IS PLENTY OF GOOD POSITIVE MUSIC OUT THERE THAT RADIO EXECS CANT MAKE MONEY OFF OF. SO JUST AS RADIO EXECS PUT THAT IGNORANT RAP OUT IN THEIR BEST INTEREST IMUS WAS PULLED IN THEIR POCKETS BEST INTERESTS. mOST BLACKS DONT USE THOSE WORDS THAT I KNOW. WE DONE CONDONE REPUSIVE MUSIC. WE DONT BUY IT. BUT WE IN NO WAY HAVE THE MANPOWER TO CONTROL THE MAINSTREAM AND WHAT THEY ARE FED

Just because a few black women allow themselves to be disrespected doesnt mean its a race issue. I am a black woman , I have black friends, coworkers, family, and we dont condone it! That is a handful of people. Just like all white people arent white trash like Anna Nicole or Pete Doherty. Dont generalize and say black people allow it. US black people are not the bigwigs. A few of us have come up and made a name for themselves but in no way are we at a level where we can control how the media manipulates and portrays us and how FEAR of black people is used to make people feel uncomfortable and ok to demean us. So just becausre you see rap videos with girls shaking their booty and BECKY wants to copy donth think that represents us a a people. Becky needs to watch a Jill Scott or Indie Arie video or look at Raven Simone and other black women who arent that way. OUR community is hurting and we NEVER had a chance to heal so dont DEFEND acts of racism because our community is still behind economically, spiritually, mentally,….willie lynch was a cold son of a byitch and so is American History. Educate yourself before you go saying its ok because some idiots of a particular race do it. THEY DONT REPRESENT THE WHOLE RACE

DOES every white MOM LIVE IN A TRAILER? WELL DIDNT EMINEMS? THAT TYPe OF DUMB GENERALIZATION IS HOW U SOUND…I MEAN THATS HOW STUPID YOU SOUND MAN!

i pray things go good for ol’ man imus, he’ll land on his feet….maybe rutgers’ needs a new head janitor or a cafeteria worker, OR….. he can be one of those street performers who yells @ everyone for no apparent reason, has a cat and dances on a flat cardboard box for spare change

From Chante: “Lauryn Hill is a movement we started, as a conclusion she sold over 20 millions worldwide with Miseducation. Let’s do this with COMMON, start THE MOVEMENT NOW!!! Black blogs bombard your blog with ads about COMMON, Have you read is interview with Bellafonte?? HE IS WHO CAN SAVE THE GAME. Don’t let it die but resurrect it by giving all your attention to the positive cats.”

I vow to do this but I need people’s help. I don’t have a list of rappers who do not degrade women but I am not sure which ones don’t use the N-word. If you know of rappers who have positive lyrics, please let me know and I can get other bloggers involved in promoting them for free. We can brainstorm some ideas like choosing 5 positive rappers and having everyone agree to buy 1 or 2 to keep or give as gifts to young people. We can do lots of things so lets keep this going.

@#73 ON THE INSIDE

I Co-sign with a difinitiveness! Pardon the new word…

Dong dong the brick is dead, but to paraphrase an earlier comment, you can cut off a branch but another WILL grow in it’s place. White people are saying these things because we say them to each other, and although they know it’s not alright to say it, they will and they’ll use that as an excuse. and throw it back at us. Clearly, it did not work in this case, but believe me, it there are many cases where it just might. AND KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE MEDIA!! I don’t know if anybody noticed, but the day after the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS had humiliated Imus on the its front page, they splashed a picture of the black woman who accused the lacrosse team of rape with the title, DUKE LIAR, or something to that effect. Remember, there will ALWAYS be some sort of backlash effect; that’s just how the media game is played.

There are too many contradictions and mixed messages within the black commmunity, and we have to make a definitive stand. Either we support banning these words and terms (or at least stop glorifying them in public forums), or stop bitching.

You hear Hispanics running around calling themselves spicca, or Asians referring to themselves as chinkas, do you. And no, putting an “a” at the end of the n-word doesn’t change the meaning of the word no matter how hard anybody tries to convince me otherwise.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have on occasion used the word publicly and as recently on these boards used the term “nucca”. Is that just as bad? The jury’s still out on that one, and it’s obvious that I have my own issues to work out with regard to this matter. But it’s clear where we’re headed as far a celebrities paying the price for shooting off their mouths when it comes to race.

I was personally SHOCKED that Imus was fired. I really didn’t expect that one. But as it had been posted above, he was fired for a combination of reasons, not the least of which was FINANCIAL. I am an optimist though, and will hold on to the fact that he was fired because he was being an insensitive, racist son-of-a bitch and got what he deserved.

Nevertheless, we are biggest perpetrators of negative self image in our community, especially in the music and video field, and we MUST take a look at that. Today, that is where we are actions MOST accessible and visible to other cultures.

So where do we start………..?