Sunday, May 6, 2007

I feel like slappin somebody today...


The Don Imus-fueled controversy over misogynistic rap lyrics surrounds Ebony magazine’s recent decision to pull rapper Ludacris from the cover of its June issue on "the New Black Fathers" and replace him with actor, Boris Kodjoe, reports Journal-isms. "Something has changed in America in the last few weeks," Bryan Monroe, editorial director of Ebony and Jet magazines, told Journal-isms, without disclosing the identity of the rapper. As president of the National Association of Black Journalists, Monroe led the movement to have Imus fired. "I think the media is being called to account in these areas," Monroe said. There is an opportunity to "transfer the conversation around language, race, inclusiveness and diversity," as he said in his NABJ president's column. --[Source]
This isn't exactly current news, but then again I never promised anything like that in this blog, however it's current enough for me to 'feel some type of way' about it. I can see where Ebony is coming from on this (from a business perspective) but the move really doesn't jive with my sense of morality. Luda says alot of innapropriate things but to remove him from the cover in a father figure issue is pretty cold-blooded to me. [soapbox] In my opinion the average new black father was raised on hip hop and would relate more to Ludacris, someone who somehow supposedly personifies everything thats "wrong" with black people these days, then sissy ass Boris Kodjoe. I say ho, Luda says ho. I think i'm a decent person, he's probably a decent father. My logic trumps all, and I demand that those Ebony stop actin like Bill O'Reilly and Oprah give a damn about their raggedy ass magazine and put Luda back on the cover. [/soapbox] Or not, I don't even read that magazine. But the gesture would be nice. I guess I just don't like the idea of criticizing the average black person, black men specifically. Yes, there are problems, but can't they get a break, a pat on the back every now and then? Dag.

1 Comment:

Anonymous said...

ha...ha...i feel you on this post. I think Ebony went a little overboard with this. And actually, when I think of it, Ludacris has sort of evolved a little from his "hoes in different area codes," stick. But, I will acknowledge that he still says some fucked up things every now and then. I don't read Ebony that much either, so I don't know if they've ever featured R-Kelly on their cover. But, if they have and they've done it before he caught that case, then that's really messed up and would surely contradict what they're doing now with Ludacris. But, on a lighter note, you're going to have to slow your roll with "sissy ass Boris Kodjoe." Did you ever watch "Soul Food,--" he's no sissy!!