My People, My People

Yesterday, I started this extremely angry blog about how much black people get on my nerves. Fortunately for all of you, I never got a chance to finish that post. However, since I still feel a twinge of anger in my bones, I will commence to blog…just in a less angry manner.

After the debut of For Colored Girls and Black Girls Rock, there was an influx of online complaints from black men and women who feel like brotha's aren't getting enough love and respect in the media. I guess the negative portrayal of black men in For Colored Girls and the deliberate exclusion of men in Black Girls Rock was just too much for some people to handle.

I have a problem with that. Here's why--

Tyler Perry has been an embarrassment to me for longer than I care to remember. Because of him, I've had people of other races ask me if I had a "Madea" in my family (imagine that) or if I had an uncle like Mr. Brown (oh, lawd how embarrassing!). And to make matters worse, Oprah, the black queen bee, America's favorite daytime colored girl, cosigns on everything this man does. Tyler Perry has literally been feeding the masses a boatload of craziness for almost a decade in the form of a she-man named Madea. Insanity.

So, in appropriate form, the Talented 10th of the 21st century complained and petitioned for Mr. Perry to stop the madness. But he didn't. It seems like we just added fuel to his fire.

However, on Friday, November 5th, Tyler Perry fooled everyone and came out with a movie of substance. He gave us just what we wanted; a black movie with character and realness- minus the stereotypes present in his previous films. He took heed to our requests.

As soon as the movie came out, the critics went a-chirping. Facebook, Twitter, blog sites, news shows, talk radio, and every other news outlet utilized by Black America, went crazy with conversation about Mr. Perry's new movie and its negative portrayal of black men.

Wow.

When Tyler Perry finally gave us what we wanted, we took it, chewed it up and spit it out at his feet. Seems like all we know how to do is complain.

Then on Sunday November 7th, BET, the Don Juan of garbage television, decided to put their trash to the side and provide its viewing audience with graceful and respectable television programming. BET debuted their highly anticipated show Black Girls Rock in appreciation of black girls across this nation. After years of complaining about the degradation of black women in the music videos played on BET, Black Americans were finally able to turn on BET and see something positive and uplifting. But what did we do after the show debuted? We complained.

Black folks, men and women alike, spoke out against the exclusion of black men from Black Girls Rock. As it seems, black men want the same love that black woman are now receiving. They too need to combat the negative portrayal that they receive in the media.

Oh, please.

Is there ANYTHING that will make black people happy? Is there anything that will make you all simply appreciate the great strides that we are making in society? As a people, we are socially retarded when compared to White America. We started behind and have had to deal with institutionalized racism that was put in place to keep us behind. However, despite our inopportune position, we have accomplished much and have made a significant impact on society. We are changing, we are maturing and we are making a major difference in this world. When we accomplish a goal or make a move closer toward positivity, we must embrace our hard work and continue on our journey to success. Complaining gets us nowhere.

Back in 2002 when I first saw Tyler Perry dressed as Madea, gallivanting across the stage at the Merriam Theater in Philly, I thought he was kind of funny. Yet, I knew that in a social sense, no good could come from that bizarre she-man character (except for the employment of black actors and actress in Hollywood).

To say the least, up until this point, a large majority of Perry's plays/movies have been pure buffoonery. They have turned the rich culture of Black America into a joke. But now, with the creation of For Colored Girls, Perry stepped into the world of filmic beauty, and I am proud of him. You should be too.

In addition-

I worry about BET and the people who watch it. Clearly, BET has a LONG way to go before they are able to redeem their pre-Y2K image. However, despite the long journey ahead of them, I can truly appreciate the little things that they do to shed a positive light on the black community. While I do believe that black men need love and respect just like black women, I refuse to demean a show that shows love to black women without specifically addressing black men. You have to start somewhere and for BET that 'somewhere' was with black women. I can dig it. I will not complain nor will I criticize because positive change, no matter how small or exclusionary, is worth my acceptance.

I am sure that there are many people who disagree with me…leave a comment and let me know how you feel. 

Mz.Jonezy