An now from the WAOD mailbag.. here are some of the things WAOD readers think y’all need to know or wanted me to address this week.
Smooth Magazine Hit’s a Rough Spot
Folks are in an uproar about Smooth magazine's "Black History Month" issue featuring Trina's backside. What did you expect? We don’t have any sense of what is decent or blasphemous. We have no values other than to do what feels good, and why are you reading Smooth magazine anyway? I actually think that Smooth's cover reflects a pretty accurate picture of the status of the "history" Black folks are making right now. Isn't this whole era about Black folks without boundaries-The objectification of Black women's backsides- the mainstreaming of minstrelty?
Smooth magazine should offend you every month so what makes a stamp with Black history month on the cover any different? I mean this is a magazine that has featured Ice-T’s “wife” Coco crouching with her assets plumped up on the cover and DeeLishish (orwhateverintheheckhernameis) butt naked. But guess what? I ain’t paying for it. I don’t subscribe to it. I doubt that any consumer goods companies advertise inside its pages and after reviewing their website, I didn’t spot a single advertisement. The magazine and the site are subscription based which means the people who want to look at the offending material are paying for it.
Is it tacky tawdry or unseemly to have a Black History Month Edition of a nudy magazine? Yeah, but seeing as how they have wisely inoculated themselves from free market pressures, it appears you are left only with the weapon of free speech. So talk about it. Condemn it loudly! Then take the magazine cover, blow it up into a poster and show it to some young African American woman and explain why there may be something wrong with the cover. You could always launch your own magazine called UnSmooth and mock them into submission.
Religious Leaders Rally Around Precha’ Accused of Violent Sex Crimes
Over at Black Sapience, they wanted the world to know about a gathering of religious leaders supporting a Precha’ accused of being a violent sexual predator.
Idid a small feature on the Rev, Sherman Allen of the Shiloh Church Ministries. For those of you who are unaware or simply refuse to acknowledge the truth, Rev. Allen has been accused of abusing, raping, and beating 35 women during his tenure as pastor of the Shiloh Institutional COGIC.
In the past few weeks, I have concluded that throwing Rev. before your name is about as common as throwing Mr. or Mrs. Or Ms. in front of your name. The title "Rev."is meaningless to many who hold the title. There is nothing to “revere” about these people, but how is it that they continue to grow and thrive? Well, because of blind faith. People like to say you're not supposed to question God, I don’t ever recall reading anything about not questioning the Pastor.
An old soldier said it best:
There are too many religious soap operas among false teachers and hypocritical leaders to keep track of. When it comes to this kind of stuff, I believe in letting "the blind lead the blind". Sheep who follow wolves have no cause to cry when they are eaten.Who are you following?
WAOD Readers Creeping on Craigslist ( What were you doing on there in the first place?)
Somebody thought it would be interesting for me to view this Craigslist ad purportedly placed by someone the long-time readers of this blog are familiar with. Good luck to her. I am sure she will find someone to monetize the degradation of other African American people. It is an American pastime after all. Really folks. Let us move on. I am so tired of talking about THAT SHOW. I am assuming the show is not coming back based on the craigslist ad.(if it is even true)
Jewel Strong
Several of you have sent me this email about a missing three-year-old girl. The email always has a list of family member emails. The email always appears urgent as if the little girl went missing yesterday. The little girl is named Jewel Strong. You can learn more about her disappearance at snopes.com. This isn’t an urban, legend, but it is a tragic story. Deidra from Black and Missing broke this down:
With this case it's confusing. The child technically is "missing" but law enforcers are saying she drown back in 2006. They had witnesses that say they saw her drown (therefore the case is solved) but the parents refuses to believe that she did drown (since they didn't find her body). Last year in September somebody thought they found the girl (there was a tape) but later they discovered it was a different girl - not Jewel Strong. Anyways, it's a case of hopeful parents and law enforcers trying real hard to convince the parents that their daughter is dead. The law really don't want to spend any more time and resources trying to find Jewel. It's really sad.
Megan Williams
There have been indictments and guilty pleas in the Megan Williams case. Hat Tip to Over Analyze it.
One of several white people charged in the suspected kidnapping, torture and sexual assault of a black woman has been indicted on a hate crime count, and two others have entered guilty pleas in the case. APMegan also received a 40,000 scholarship.
Dunbar Village
You can keep up with the latest on the Dunbar Village blog. The bloggers have gotten some press you can read the articles here and here.
Jena SIX Member in trouble Again ( I’m Shocked)
Bryant Purvis, 19, was busted on the misdemeanor charge following an 8:30 AM altercation at Hebron High School in Carrollton,Purvis assaulted a male student he apparently suspected of vandalizing his auto. Along with choking the 18-year-old victim, the 6' 6" Purvis allegedly slammed the teenager's head on a table. Smoking GunNow y’all the attempted murder charges in Jena got dismissed, but this young gentleman (*cough*) is facing a March trial for aggravated battery and conspiracy and could face a maximum of 20 years. What is sad is that his lawyer was in plea negotiations with the DA in Jena and gave the impression that the charges were going to be dropped in Louisiana. To all who say that this latest brush with the law is much ado about nothing, tell that to the kid that he choked. You can read the police report at The Smoking Gun. Purvis basically confessed in writing so clearly his lawyer needs to give him a primer of what to do when the police come to talk to you…you don’t have to answer their question ya know.
There is a problem with making African American criminal defendants the centerpiece of our modern social justice movements(Genarlow Wilson, Jena Six, Crack Cocaine Sentencing, Nathaniel Tate). Not to say people should not have mobilized. Too often the criminal justice system views African Americans as disposable… Heck too often, we view ourselves as disposable seeing as how half of all of the people murdered in this country are Black and 94% of them are murdered by other Black people. The social justice issues in the Jena 6 “movement” have been addressed as far as I am concerned. The courts rapped the DA on the knuckles and the most severe charges have been dropped. Is it the supporters goals to have all six absolved of any responsibility for their actions? If so, what lesson does that teach them because clearly based on this latest incident, the whole “don‘t fight at school” lesson was not learned.
What About Our Daughters?--Why Lord Why ?
Finally, this week Sandra Rose featured a number of videos that hammer home the fact that we have about three generations of Young women who have grown up in a stripper culture. What is beautiful and glamorous is all wrapped up in how well you can contort and undulate your body to stimulate male interest. Well that would be fine if you were a piece of steak, but you are a human being with a brain and a heart and a soul inside that undulating and gyrating body.
- Why Lord Why has someone video taped two young girls, one of whom is in pampers acting as if they are running a tip drill? If you find out where these young women are located,, call CPS. I have serious concerns about the person who filmed this. The pedo-vibes are all over this.
- Why Lord Why have these children decided to engage in sexual acrobatics the likes of which would put Cirque Du Soleil to shame? What is worse is that they intended for this to end up on YouTube.
We might as well hop in the hand basket because clearly the world is going straight to Hell.
Valentine's Day Podcast ( Can You Feel the Love??)
Don’t forget to send you “Love Bytes” to whataboutourdaughters at gmail dot com. We’ll be reading them on the air next week on Valentine’s Day for a special edition of the Black Women’s Roundtable. Tell your sweety you love them or whatever! Be sure to make “Love Bytes” your subject line.
