Black entertainers pimp themselves

By Revolution Mary / Commentary

At first I just shook my head in embarrassment when I saw this year's Academy Awards. Recap: Three 6 Mafia performs "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" from the movie "Hustle and Flow." Then they win the first Oscar in hip-hop history for it? Performance aside for a minute, all those black folks giving a standing ovation, Terence Howard, John Singleton, Jamie Foxx, and every other Negro, you need to be called out. You owe Black America some answers. For one, what exactly were you so elated about? And please do elaborate in detail.

Furthermore, Taraji Henson needs to be psychologically profiled. Are you asking Hollywood to cast you as the female coon from now on? Was that the statement you were making by becoming complicit in the degradation of black women? How have you, in this performance (in the film and at the Oscars) built upon the sacrifice Hattie McDaniel made for you? The key word there is 'built', because I see no advancement whatsoever. What example have you set for young black female aspiring actors? Blaming the unavailability of positive roles and scripts is not an acceptable excuse. If those roles are not there, then make them. If you can't get a positive, or at least balanced, and therefore accurate, story about black people told in Hollywood, then build another industry where you have the power to do so.

If that is easier said than done, then simply bow out; choose another profession that will not make you such a far-reaching part of the problem. Could we have at least seen one black person in the audience looking uncomfortable? Is every black person in Hollywood this uncritical? Are they all so blinded by the financial gains afforded when white people accept you, even when they only accept you as a joke, that you join in on the laugh? This is why public figures: actors, musicians, and yes, Kanye West, are not leaders. Get your praxis up, then we'll see about donning you with such a title. Praxis, by the way, is the combination of reflective thought and action. In other words, what you KNOW is who you ARE because what you KNOW (or don't know) determines what you DO (or don't do).

Get right! When awards show host Jon Stewart did jokes about the war, you could see (white) people consciously trying not to show expression on their faces...because they know the political consequences of their response, and they chose the less threatening (although weak) response. But when black folks get on the stage, all such political awareness goes out the window and they go all out with their kool-aid smiles, not thinking to themselves 'what statement will my reaction to this make to my people, as well as to people in power?'

I'm so embarrassed to be black today, I don't want to show my face in public. My people are idiots! We're the most politically manipulated group within this country, yet the least politically savvy. When will we wake up and do the math? I know folks will say that this is a huge stride for the integration of blacks into the Academy, and that we're making huge strides in being formally recognized for our contributions to American cinema. News flash: the civil rights movement is dead. The days of being happy just for letting us 'in' are over. It's time to raise the bar. Black folks need to be saying, 'forget the Academy for giving Halle Berry an award for that degrading role in 'Monster's Ball''. Forget the Academy for not awarding Denzel Washington for 'Malcolm X', but honoring him for playing an absolute monster in 'Training Day.'

Forget the Academy for accepting Three 6 Mafia into their history books as the misguided definition of what hip- hop is all about. Everyone who considers himself or herself hip-hop, everyone who considers himself or herself black, should be literally up in arms. Black people make the executives of Hollywood and the music industry too rich to simply accept what they'll give us. Destroy and rebuild! Rage against the machine! And stop being so grateful when Massa throws you some scraps for sowing his plantation. It's time for some accountability, and first on the list are black people in entertainment. You must be held accountable for your cultural, political, social, and economic irresponsibility.

Stop being niggerized by Hollywood and the music industry. It's time to step up and start being thinking, strategic, powerful, self-owned, self-respecting black people. This year's Oscars show was indeed historic. It was the day black people and Hip Hop culture got pimp-slapped by the film academy, and said to all black entertainers in one fell swoop, "you better keep bringin' me my money".

How does it feel? No, it ain't 'hard out here for a pimp', because who in black Hollywood is really pimpin', and who's really being pimped? What's hard is being a real thinking black woman, but being mistaken for somebody's bitch. Black folks, we've let that word permeate our culture so long that our 'entertainers' have unknowingly turned into the ultimate example of what it means, Ludacris, Latifah, and all the rest included.

You can contact Revolution Mary at revolutionmary@ hotmail.com.