If you were bored on Sunday night, or slightly interested in seeing just how many times Lady Gaga could change clothes in a 2 hour period, then you were probably part of the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards viewing audience.
Before the official show began, Nicki Minaj wreaked havoc on our television sets and robotically lip synched some random song that I never heard before and wish to never hear again. And beside Ms. Minaj was the highlight of her performance---Will.I.Am.
Will.I.Am appeared on stage in true black form, with all black everything---including a black face. Facebook and Twitter went bizurk with posts and tweets about Will.I.Am's choice attire, with many going as far as to blame him for setting his race back "100 years".
Despite the fact that I am far from a fan of 19th and early 20th century blackface caricatures, I found Will.I.Am's costume and black face to be quite amusing. His clothing was super-futuristic, his performance was completely 2010, and his face was blackitty-black-black.
Was I offended by any of this? No.
Instead of thinking of Will.I.Am as being "in blackface" at the VMAs, I would rather think of him as performing at the VMAs with a "blackened face"---and, trust me, there is a huge difference between "blackface" and having a "blackened face". Will.I.Am's appearance was, *ahem* different, but should not, in anyway, have been taken as racially offensive. A black face does not necessarily equate "blackface" and anyone who knows even a little bit about African American history should know that. Will.I.Am was not a red lipped, bulging eyed 'coon' shuckin' and jivin' for massa. He was onstage performing with makeup that accentuated his already dark skin tone. And he was performing on his own terms for white people who LOVED and ADORED him. That, my friends, is not "performing in blackface". Instead, that is a very wealthy black man "performing his black ass off with a black face." If you don't understand that then I don't understand you.
Do you disagree with what I've said? Do you agree? Leave a comment and tell me what you think!
Mz.Jonezy
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