Imperious Entertainment

I truly believe that problems with black men start when they are black boys. While we are children, our personalities are being developed. Our belief systems and morals, start from the nursery. Very importantly, our work and study ethics are formed at a young age as well. If young children are instilled with a diligence then they are more likely to grow up with the same strong work ethic.

Our guardians are out working more than one job just to keep our low-class income flowing, dad is missing from our lives, and the baby sitter, if we are lucky enough to have one, just does not care enough. So our young children sit in front of the television and learn. Bakari Kitwana notes and I agree that we are “…exposing children too young of age to inappropriate situations”. From early ages our children are watching music videos filled with violence, sex, and drugs. They are shaping ideas on male/female relationships, black masculinity, and materialism. Our children are being influenced by rap music before they even know how to write their names.

I interviewed several black men about the influence of rap music/artists on young black boys. One interviewee remarked, “The teachers of our generation? (Laughs). (Young) Jeezy, (Lil’)Wayne. I work with middle school students and all they do is quote rappers all day. What happened to aspiring to being a doctor, a teacher? Those days are far gone. Now kids want to be what they see on TV, a rapper. Add a bit more ignorance to that and it’s a recipe for disaster”.

Another interviewee responded to the same question, “Unfortunately they are athletes and musicians. The community has been replaced by television. Pop culture is now raising our kids. Human interaction has been replaced with voyeuristic media covering the lives of these celebrities. We can now see Diddy brush his teeth on myspace. And wouldn’t we all rather see a millionaire brushing his teeth than our own father”.

In the 50 Cent and T.I. press conference I mentioned in my previous blog, T.I stated:

“It all starts at home. Are you a father? (He asks a reporter) You’re not a father. Ok. I’m a father of five ok. And my kids watch BET…they listen to music…but when my children look at the videos I don’t care how impressionable it is. They know they not gonna have to deal with 50. They gonna have to deal with daddy. And I think that’s where it starts. I think we lookin to rappers, athletes, and actors to raise our children…people blaming hip hop when they really should be looking in the mirror and blaming themselves.”

T.I. voiced the exact point that I am trying to make. The problem is in the home. Yes, these videos may be impressionable and children may want to mimic them. But if they had someone at home telling them what is right and wrong, in other words raising them, they would not have a chance to act out what they see. Furthermore, they would know that is the wrong road to go down. They would have a parental figure telling them that life is much more than what they see on BET or MTV. Many problems in the black community start at one nucleus- the broken black family.

This idea could be explored much deeper, but for the length of this article I stop here. (Although you can catch my deeper exploration in my forthcoming book, Money, Cars, Hoes: Exploring Black Masculinity in Hip-Hop, cough cough.). I end with two quotes. One from hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco and the other Minister Farrakhan urging hip-hop artists to take a stand:

Comments (11)

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written by dominiquef , July 24, 2007

rappers are the role models because there has been a shift in morals and priorities. Teachers are mocked. Rap artists are cool. Young kids want to be them, as they admire them with thier "bling bling", expensive cars, and lots of women. Compared to your average teacher, who used to be the role model, driving around in a beat up geo prizm, which one would a child want to be like? The rappers are raising our kids because we let them. We have to go back to the basics, teach them about family, community, morals, respect. Good article.

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written by Jean , July 24, 2007

Jasmin, you make a lot of sense. I have long thought that the problem in the black community is the black community. Our generation takes the sacrifices of our forefathers for granted. We don't have to deal with extreme overt racism, nor do we do have to struggle for equality anywhere near the way they did. That’s not to say that racism is dead, but we’ll leave that for another conversation. It’s unfortunate that television is so much of an influence in today’s society, but it’s even more unfortunate that parents allow such a thing to occur. Like you said, children are very impressionable at a young age. Their parents should realize this and not allow so much of their lives to be dictated by what they see on TV, specifically BET and MTV. Speaking of White Entertainment Television, I have a problem with everyone claiming that hip-hop is to blame for the gangster, hustler lifestyle that so many of our young men try to emulate. For every 50 Cent, Young Jeezy or Lil’ Wayne out there, there’s a Talib Kweli, a Lupe Fiasco or the Roots flying way under the radar. The latter artists capture the true essence of hip-hop, but for some reason they can’t seem to get any significant mainstream exposure. No surprise there – you can’t expect a white-owned network conglomerate to focus on promoting positive black images.

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written by Tyeshia , July 24, 2007

I often find myself wondering about the same disturbing issues. What is happening in the lives, more so the homes of our young people that causes them to behave in such destructive manners. While the media, and the hip hop culture are extremely influential and are often the blame, I too, would personally like to point the finger at the parent(s), or better yet lack there of. As much as I love Beyonce, I know that she is not my role model, and it is not realistic to role around in gold. Thankfully, that understanding came from my role model, my mother. I would be foolish to assume that every child is experiencing the same type of powerful upbringing as myself, but I am not a fool to believe that although there is an overwhelming increase in the absenteeism of a parent or two, there are strong forces of teachers, coaches, family members, neighbors, etc… stepping up to fill voids for the sake of our communities. Our children do not have a sense of self, pride, or fear. Masculinity amongst our males seems not to be defined as being strong and independent, more so tough and fearless. I’m not suggesting young boys should be punks by any means, but unfortunately, tough leads to irrational acts of violence and unexplained disrespect. But why? What triggers this unpleasant behavior and consequently leads to self destruction. I can’t grab every kid in this world and shake some sense into them, but I can keep them in my prayers, and only hope that their parents, or guardians wake up and smell the coffee before, the priceless life of a child is wasted.

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written by Vaughn , July 24, 2007

this is so true. i could write a mile in response to this article, but i wont. i'll only say this: it all starts in the home.

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written by T Pickens , July 24, 2007

I agree that the problem is the home, but I think what maybe left unsaid by many of us is a description of what type of home would replace the one that already exists. For some of the commentators it seems that the ideal is two parents who work, who spend time with their children, talk to them, explain things to them, promote education and don't allow certain forms of entertainment.

Perhaps its just me, but I think this would place most of us in the same realm of thought as Bill Cosby. Someone please remind me why his ideas were so rejected in the first place? And, why Michael Eric Dyson's books are not seen as a way to excuse the poor behavior that pervades?

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written by zamaih , July 24, 2007

Everyone agrees that the problem starts at home...Parents should teach their kids the values they need in life to make "good" decisions . The problem is that a lot of minority kids either don't have parents (foster children) and/or their parents are just as ignorant as they will eventually become because of their lack of guidance. It will take an unmeasurable amount of time for this viscious cycle to end. It starts by us coming together as a community to help our kids. But in the meantime, these rappers ARE responsible for the type of material they put out. In reality, even kids that do come from "good" families are still influenced by rappers and athletes. This is just the world we live in. White girls want to be like Lauren and Kristin from Laguna Beach. I love hip hop and I take it with a grain of salt because luckily I was raised to be an individual and a leader, most kids do not have this luxury. So we need to 1. get in our communities to give these kids new role models, teach them the importance of education, and show them that there is a whole world out there that doesnt invlove drugs, hoes, and gangbanging. 2. We need more rappers that understand they are influencing kids and therefore explain their lyrics, create programs for children in the community, and once they have made money, stop making MTV AND BET a mentrual show. THey should know better. People think Jay Z has changed, well I'm glad he's changed because now he's showing kids they dont have to resort to violence because they're on "resorts and islands." The same goes for the embarrasing Video girls, why do you have to be so thirsty and want fame so much that you will give a strip tease to all of america? It's really not that serious for 125 dollars. We are corrupting little black girl's idea of beauty. There should be a disclaimer on the tv screen that most men don't want to marry these women, only sleep with them.

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written by KDevonne , July 24, 2007

sadly...i believe that the media has such a large impact upon our children due to the fact that we are living in an increased digital age, and our society as a whole has developed an unhealthy dependency on the internet, television, tivos, videogames, and everything in between. technology did not play such a huge role in our lives, in the lives of our children, and in the lives of our communities before...simply because it was not available. in 2007 the average child in this country (not just black or white) watches 5 hours of television per day. now add on top of that the fact that everything we see on tv, or hear on the radio, is negative, violent, and detrimental to the black community........and you have a disaster. i think that there are two separate issues that need to be addressed: #1 - as a whole, the dependence on technology needs to be cut back. technology is a gift, and a curse, and needs to be monitored before people in america, especially in black america, lose the ability to even communicate face-to-face with one another. televisions should not be raising our children. if this cut-back occurs, then families and communities can get back to spending quality time with one another, and raising their children with some type of ethical grounding and sense of integrity. #2 - we don't need to blame bet, mtv, or vh1 for playing rap music that spreads negative and hateful messages....we need to focus on ourselves. we fuel the hip-hop industry, so we have the power to change the hip-hop industry. this is a capitalist society...and if we don't consume it, they won't produce it (at least in theory). we all need to make a conscious effort to ignore the ignorance broadcast on television that we don't want our children to see, and to stop requesting songs on the radio that we don't want our children to hear. if we can stop the production of negative portrayals of black people...then we can stop the negative influence that the media has on our children. last but not least - there are SO many successful, educated, and motivated black professionals in 2007...more than ever before. if you are an aspiring doctor, lawyer, techer, accountant, writer, or whatever, you have a duty to be a mentor to a child, and to go into the black community to show children that they can aspire to be more than just a drug dealer, or a rapper, or the things that they see on tv...so go do it!!
p.s. great article jasmin!

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written by ??? , July 25, 2007

Home. Home. Home. There is no concept of home anymore. Sure, it used to be two parents, 2 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence. At least that was the American dream. But now, how many people even grow up with both parents? There are a lot of problems in our society, and yea I do believe the root is in the family. But how do we fix that so children arent looking to 50 Cent to replace the dad they never had?

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written by T Pickens , July 25, 2007

1) 50% according to statistics
2) Tell people to quit making babies

I think that part of what people don't want to recognize is that changing 'the community' doesn't just take hard talk and activism, it will take self control on the part of men and women: to set a standard of excellence and respectability.

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written by ...... , July 27, 2007

To piggy back off the above comment...the problem is kids having kids and people who arent ready to have kids popping them out like there is no tomorrow! Damn, I am so tired of seeing a pregnant teen or hearing some ghetto story of ill prepared parents. If someone whose life is not together, doesnt know how to take care of themselves, has a child, then how the hell are they going to take care of a baby? They arent...and that baby/kid will become one of the kids that learns through videos. So yes, the problem is the family...but in the family the problem is all these babies from people who dont PLAN the pregnancy. There is too much technology now to get pregnant on accident. Get with teh program. Can we talk about that?!

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written by Danyelle Johnson , July 30, 2007

According to many civil rights leaders younger black Americans look up to rappers and drug dealers because the old leaders are media and controversial seekers instead of guiders. Many blacks who were raised in the ghettos are obtaining money and instead of giving back or helping other blacks reach this level they turn their backs. But when the causcians threatens to ruin their fame and success they turn to the black ghettos for support. We need more positive role models/leaders for this future generation inorder for all blacks in general to prosper. But noone is willing to step up to the plate and take on the challenge once again causcain are the ones who focus on higher education and poverty throughout the black communties (ex: Community Uplift, Big Brothers and Big Sisters etc.). I hate to criticize hip-hop but where is the rappers and singers when needed everybody don't listen to John Legend, India Arie, Nas and alot of those old school rappers who know the struggle? If the hip-hop community really says that the rappers rap about what they see than obviously they haven't been introduced to the projects in Southeast Washington, D.C.

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