The Genius of the TV Show Empire

The executives at FOX NETWORK ran down the following check list before Premiering the New show "EMPIRE" tonight........ here's that check list...

1.) Black Men killing each other.... "check"
2.) Angry Black Woman going after a Black male "check"
3.) Educated, Successful Black Male with a White Woman "check"
4.) Display of Effeminized Black Males "check"
5.) Blacks committing crimes and going to prison "check"
6.) Two Bitter Black Women going after each other ....one being lightskin, the other brown skin.... "check"
7.) The Promotion of Ignorant ass Crack Baby Rap Music "check"

8.) Overweight Black Woman displaying her self hate by wearing a BLONDE WIG "check"

THIS SHOW IS GONNA BE A HIT !!!!! BRILLIANT

- Taken from John Tank Williams Facebook page

As a writer/author, I felt compelled to respond to the debate about Tank's sarcastic remark about the Fox Network show Empire that went on in the comment section

After viewing the comments in the thread, I’m gonna be impartial because I understand BOTH sides of the coin

Is Empire stereotypical? YES

Does the show exhibit what many consider the lowest, common behavior of Black people? YES

On the flip side, capitalism and media have no moral compass…they’re out to appease the bottom line; to make money…they’re not necessarily for the betterment of the people

Everything has an audience and fan base to satisfy whatever they crave

It just so happens that there’s NO balance when it comes to the representation of Blacks in mainstream America

You got shows and movies like Jackass where white folks act as if they lack common sense…

…but you also have movies that show whites in high regards whenever they make flicks about Egypt, the Bible, Science Fiction, etc.

The representation of whites is more diverse in that manner, and Black people don’t have the luxury to do whatever we want BECAUSE OF the lack of diversity

Boyz in the Hood is one of my favorite movies, and so is Boomerang, which has its share of drama as well as Black people placed in a professional setting

When I was growing up, I listened to NWA…and I also listened to Public Enemy to not only balance my listening enjoyment, but also because they were READILY AVAILABLE for public consumption

People usually eat what’s in front of them

Shows like Scandal, Empire, How to Get Away with Murder, etc. are very entertaining…

…and I don’t think those shows are necessarily the problem…on the surface, yes, but deep down, the issue is the lack of images that’ll show Black people in a different light to negate whatever people may feel is negative

If we want better, we gotta demand better and support the alternative, because it's more than entertainment when the world judges you based on the excess of a stereotype

I mean…

…do we really need Empire when we already have Power?

*shrugs*

On another note, it’s the parents and the so-called community’s job to teach the youth, and each other, the true history of where they came from BEYOND the Trans-Atlantic slave trade so anything what we may perceive as negative wouldn’t affect us

Maybe Black Americans should spark a YouTube revolution and produce our own shows and collectively blast them on social media like they do Empire, but then again, we live in an era where people are more reactive (talking and criticizing) than proactive (doing and supporting)

If you wanna see something other than slave movies, the hood, the helpless negro, shallow comedy, the hyper-sexed, etc, then show love to movies that are the opposite of what you dislike seeing in the mainstream

Hollywood is only giving you what you wanna see based on numbers

Don’t hate the player, hate the game

Anyway…

…the keyword in this discussion should be BALANCE

Aight…

…Carry on

Peace and Afro Grease

Nah'Sun the Great @ www.nahsunblaze.com

P.S.

A lot of people say Black people shouldn't bug out about how they're portrayed on TV and it's "just entertainment"...

...that might be true, but suggestive language is powerful

Why you think companies pay a lot of money to run ads during the Super Bowl?

Let's not forget that Cubans didn't like how they were portrayed in Scarface, Italians told Jersey Shore not to display the flag of Italy on the show, and Arabs were tired of Hollywood portraying them as terrorists in movies

Every nationality are aware of how society perceives them on the strength of how the media broadcast them to the world

Peace

A Message to Black Feminists

Need I say more?

D Wade's Mistress Puts Him on Blast

What’s woody wood, grasshoppers?

Sandrina Schultz (shown above) aka D Wade’s soda on the side (allegedly) had put the homie on blast in a letter she addressed to Gabrielle Union, D Wade’s fiancée

To all the fellas out there, shit, the ladies also…

…if you’re gonna sleep around on your mate, make sure your side piece has SOMETHING to lose

A person with nothin' to lose will do anything to fuck your shit up…they have no discretion…they don’t have a problem with putting your shit on blast for the sake of 5 minutes of fame like myself and other bloggers are giving them

A chick with nothin’ to lose is the type of broad that’ll get you either in a hotel room, or her house, and have a buncha dudes in the closet or outside waiting to rob you clean with shotguns while your ass is naked and defenseless

Holla at someone who wanna keep their dirt as low as you wanna have yours…simple as that

I swear, man…Scandal got these side chicks gassed…I can’t hate the game, tho…it is what it is

Anyway, peep the letter that shorty had served Gabby Gab below:

“So its only right i put Dwayne Wade on blast. First and foremost i’d like to thank ***** Wade, his cousin for booking my numerous of flights. Ohh yea, hi Ms. Union. Good too see you stuck around and have a few more pieces of clothing inside of his house. The kitchen looks great by the way. I love the new counter tops. I would also like to thank Rich, the chef for his amazing breakfast. His cookies are the best. And last but not least I’d like to thank Dwayne for always making me feel comfortable on your side of the bed. Hiding pictures in your drawer. You know the night stand next to your side of the bed, the one with the two drawers. Think the picture is the one with you and Sanaa Lathan in it. Also Gabrielle you are a little to old to be making Valentines day Photo albums. Leave that to the young girls your man cheats on you with. Dont believe me, i took a picture of the picture. FYI your man likes fat asses you might need to get you one. Last but not least. I will send you a picture of the bags your man left in the hotel room i f*cked him in. lol”

Peace

Nah'Sun the Great @ www.nahsunblaze.com

Click here to watch the interview with shorty from your phone 

Scandal Hates Black Women

What’s woody wood, grasshoppers?
 
Before I go on vacation, I wanna touch on a popular show…SCANDAL!...yep, the show that got Black women under hypnosis on Thursday nights and beyond
 
It’s funny because when I criticized Scandal about stereotyping the Olivia Pope character, I got BLASTED by other Black women for “hating” on Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the show…I was told that I have the “crab in the barrel” mentality and should be happy that a Black woman, in real life, and another Black woman, on the show, are making moves with their high positions
 
First off, just because I criticize Scandal doesn’t mean I’m “hating” on Shonda
 
When you can make wrong right, and right wrong, (like fans of the show rooting for Olivia to finally get with the murderous Fitzgerald), I tip my hat to your writing and good psychology by knowing your audience. Now that Shonda had grabbed the Black audience's attention, I wanna see her create another show with Black, positive and strong characters

Secondly, I’m not over-analyzing…I think the problem with society today is that they take everything for face value instead of looking at certain scenarios and situations from different vantage points
 
Lastly, Olivia Pope is not as strong or positive as many people think regardless of working for the White House

It's almost as if Black folks are obsessed with titles and accomplishments with nothing else besides the materalism of a career when it comes to defending Scandal

The character Olivia does nothing to destroy the negative images of Black women, and plays so many stereotypes it’s not even funny...she’s known as the public relations “fixer,” or what I call “the magical negro,” a negro with special powers who’s always there to help white folks in time of need. Olivia is like the "mammy" that fixes the plantation when things go wrong, snaps at others, but tucks her tail when massa (Fitz) puts his foot down…or sleeps with him so he won't punish her when she steps out of line

I’m not necessarily on some racial shit because I think the show is more about what the white man stands for as opposed to a white man in itself (which is also a factor, but I'll get to that later). It's about the ultimate approval. The subconscious (the back of your mind) vibes that the show gives off is racial. It’s like Olivia has won for all Black women by getting a white man to drop his white wife when he's the President of the free world (a man of power is also part of the equation)
 

It’s the forbidden fruit of Olivia and Fitz's relationship that a lot of viewers are eating, but the point that many viewers fail to realize is Olivia had “won” Fitzgerald over, but at what cost? Dignity for one considering Olivia was on some Monica Lewinski shit by fuckin’ the President when she didn’t have to 

It's crazy how a Black woman that holds some sort of power in a TV show is still scandalous (no pun intended) on some high class hoodrat shit

She could've hooked up with Harrison who was there for her, or even Senator Davis who wanted a relationship, but instead she goes after the bigger fish…Davis is the “nice guy” who finishes last while Fitz is the “bad boy” that gets the girls

That's actually a jewel from the show that dudes gotta peep…LOL 

Olivia is a sista in charge, but when a powerful white man checks her by telling her to “stand down,” she does what she’s told…that’s not exactly being strong

Why can’t we have more Black love on television with all the talk of “niggas” and “bitches” ain't shit that's heavily circulating in the current stage of World War 3 between Black men and women???

Olivia and Fitzgerald's relationship not only reminds me of Thomas Jefferson’s relations with Sally Hemings (Jefferson had an affair with Sally who was a slave and reportedly fathered her children), but also a book by Dolen Perkins-Valdez entitled Wench  

Wench is about a slave owner and a Black mistress slave named Lizzie...the owner bought Lizzie books, educated her, and even though she’s afraid of him (like Olivia is fearful of Fitz), she sleeps with him regardless because she’s vulnerable and doesn’t know what she’s getting into, just like Fitz pressuring Olivia to keep the affair going, and desires to leave his wife to be with her
 

The Olivia/Fitz scenario reminds of that scene in Harlem Nights when the mobster had called his wife to tell her he was leaving her to be with the Black call girl that got him sprung…LOL
 

Anyway, I digress
 

Lizzie in the book Wench still spends time with the owner and eventually views him as her “man” when other female slaves tells her that he's not her man…she's just a sex servant
 

Slave owners in general would take enslaved Black mistresses to resorts in northern states like Ohio for intimacy...some of the mistresses were afraid to break off intimate relationships with slave owners because they felt powerless to do so. In turn, the female slave used her control and authority over friends and family
 

Hmmmm…looks familiar?

For the record, I’m not race baiting…The Bodyguard with Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner was a dope movie to me…I’m just not ignoring the historical parallel between Scandal and slavery…point blank
 
I was told that Black men don't wanna see sistas with white men on screen, but let's not forget Black women lashing out at Tyler Perry when he chose Kim Kardashian to play a part in Temptation: Diary of a Marriage Counselor...let's keep it funky, people

And to keep it even more funky, a lot of Black women fantasize about sleeping with white men, so let’s not kid ourselves…it’s no different from brothas fantasizing about diggin’ out Asian and Latin women...real rap...it is what it is
 
Scandal capitalizes on the funky white boy with swag fantasy whether Black women want to admit it
 
Scandal is a fun television show…I don’t doubt that…I wouldn’t have a problem with Scandal if there were better representation of Black women on television…it’s bad enough that the world gotta see the ratchet shit that goes on in reality shows, urban novels, Worldstar and YouTube
 
It’s about BALANCE, baby…a BALANCE…I don’t see anymore shows like A Different World, The Cosby Show, Living Single, The Fresh Prince, and Family Matters to show Black folks in a light other than the regular hood shit
 
Stereotypes do exist, but for every movie like Pretty Woman, Fatal Attraction, and Indecent Proposal that shows white women wild, crazy and over-sexed, you have joints like Erin Brokovich, Ms Congeniality, the TV show Cybil or even the "help the negro" movies like Sunset Park, The Blind Side, Dangerous Minds, Losing Isaiah, and The Help that show white women as Samaritans or heroes
 
Shit…even Kill Bill showed a white woman kickin’ ass by using martial arts…LOL

With Black folks in movies, you’re either hyper-sexual, submissive to authority, a funny man, or a gun-crazed criminal…then you wonder why when Oprah traveled to Africa she was called a “nigga” by one of the natives without knowing if she was cool with it considering that “nigga” is acceptable in many Black American circles in the US
 
Speaking of words, let’s take the word “gangster” for example
 
Jews, Italians and the Irish are the original gangsters in America…they controlled the vices in American cities in the early to mid-1900s whether diplomatically or through violence like drive-bys, something you’ll later associate with Black gangs…a Black man hated if someone called him a gangster in the Jim Crow days because the image of a gangster was a white man…a Black man who dealt in the underworld in that era was a SPORT, because he didn’t have the muscle nor the political connections to live as a gangster
 
He needed GAME (pimpin' or hustlin') to get what he wanted in the criminal lifestyle
 
But now…
 
…the whole world thinks the AMERICAN Gangster is the Black man
 
It’s funny how things change…then again, I’m over-analyzing, right?

It’s easy for someone to say “it’s just TV,” but never underestimate the images that programs people to subconsciously perceive a person, place or thing…hell, you got folks thinking ALL of Africa is underdeveloped when that’s not the case…an imbalanced view of anything is dangerous
 
If an alien came down to America from another planet and turned on the TV, read a few books, and listened to the radio without first hand interaction with Black folks he’ll probably think they had no sense at all
 
He or she (or "it"...LOL) would think that art is intimating life than the other way around…so sistas, don’t be surprised when a foreigner sends you a picture of his dick on social sites because he thinks Black women are loose based on the imbalanced images he sees on TV
 
Thank God for Michelle Obama
 
And with that said, I’m Audi 5000
 
Peace
 
Nah’Sun the Great @ www.nahsunblaze.com

P.S.

The Oakland branch of the Black Panther Party had FORCED the filmmakers of the classic movie The Mack to have Black consciousness in the joint

The Panthers didn’t allow Hollywood to film the movie in Oakland UNLESS a positive Black man was also portrayed in the film…Goldie's (The Mack) brother, Olinga, was placed in the movie as a Black nationalist who worked hard to get rid of the pushers, pimps and prostitutes in the community

Olinga was the opposite of Goldie in the movie 

  

Balance, people…Balance