The Souls of Black Girls

The Souls of Black Girls is a provocative news documentary that takes a critical look at media images--how they are instituted, established and controlled. The documentary also examines the relationship between the historical and existing media images of women of color and raises the question of whether they may be suffering from a self-image disorder as a result of trying to attain the standards of beauty that are celebrated in media images.

Taken from soulsofblackgirls.com...Click here for full article

CNN Presents Black In America

CNN Presents: Black in America continues with "The Black Woman & Family." Soledad O'Brien explores the varied experiences of black women and families and investigates the disturbing statistics of single parenthood, racial disparities between students and the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS. O'Brien reports on the progress of black women in the workplace and the status of the black middle class.

Taken from CNN.com...Click here for full article

25 Things That Killed (and are Still Killing) Urban Music

In the midst of everyone's declarations that "Hip Hop is Dead" we somehow forgot the slow death that is spreading across all aspects of "urban" music, as the legacy of Soul and its close cousins has devolved into a writhing mass of commercialism, homogenization, thuggification and overall laziness. Now, in no particular order, we present to you the "25 Things That Killed (and are Still Killing) Urban Music" because you love lists and SoulBounce isn't afraid to say what you're thinking. Keep in mind that there will be some overlap, as certain items gave way to others that deserve their own spanking.

Taken from SoulBounce.com...Click here for full article

National Urban League report delves into economic, societal ups and downs

NEW YORK - This is a triumphant time for black women: Condoleezza Rice in the global diplomatic spotlight, Michelle Obama captivating campaign crowds as a potential first lady, billionaire Oprah Winfrey playing political kingmaker.

It’s also a traumatic time: Rutgers University basketball players disparaged by radio host Don Imus, a black woman kidnapped and tortured by whites in West Virginia, the home-owning dreams of black women disproportionately dashed by foreclosures.

That remarkable mix is the focus of this year’s State of Black America report, issued Wednesday by the National Urban League. It features essays looking at the array of challenges faced by African-American women: economic, social, psychological and medical.

“The one thing that is certain is the need to hear and amplify the voices of black women,” longtime civil rights activist Dorothy Height writes in the foreword. “Too often, our needs, concerns, struggles, and triumphs are diminished and subordinated to what is believed to be the more pressing concerns of others.”

Julianne Malveaux, the president of Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, N.C., contends in the report’s opening essay that the image of black women in popular culture has barely improved in the year since the Imus incident.

White men continue to dominate on TV’s Sunday morning news shows, she writes, while “the gyrating, undulating image of African-American women in rap music videos and, by extension, on cable television is as prevalent as ever.”

Taken from msnbc.com...Click here for full article

Radio talk show host Warren Ballentine had guests ad executive Ken Smikle, president and founder of Target Market News (Ken Smikle Info) and attorney David Honig, executive director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, discussing a new FCC ruling on “ Non Urban Dictate” or "No Urban Dictate” (NUD), and "No Spanish Dictate.". Every black and Hispanic person, and anyone else who disapproves of this practice should take note of this issue.

As I understand it, Non Urban Dictate in the advertising business, occurs when a company indicates to advertisers it does not want to advertise with broadcasters or media, whose target audience is primarily urban (black and/or Latino). This practice is now against the law. his is a civil rights matter. I urge folks to check out the documents and follow the links in this post before arguing "companies have a right to advertise where they want." Sure they do, but what many are practicing (NUD) has been classified as discrimination.

What you can do as a consumer? Follow the jump!

Listen to the show segment audio link to find out from industry executives what is going on.

Get a pen and paper and note who is advertising on urban radio.
Follow who advertises in black and Latino magazines, newspapers and see if they are buying ads on urban stations. Check other non-urban stations and see if those same companies are advertising on urban stations. If not, what can you conclude?

You, as a consumer need to contact the FCC to find out if they intend to enforce this rule. This is a big deal and we need the FCC to enforce this law.

FCC CONTACT INFO:

Phone: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)
Fax: 1-866-418-0232
E-mail: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Website: http://www.fcc.gov

Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554

If you contact the FCC, send a copy to Warren at The Truth Fighters.
Folks, this is reality not a conspiracy theory.

If you could not listen to the show audio, as it says much more than I can type, go to www.thetruthfighters.com. Warren will be setting up a blog where you can tell your story and exchange information. Warning: You may be angered after listening to this conversation. The segment breaks have been edited out.

Here is a link to a recent post by Mr. Honig on Harlemworldblog.wordpress.com, which briefly notes how NUD was discovered through a memo from a radio group to an ad agency requesting no ads on urban formatted radio stations.

E-mail David Honig at MMTC for more information:
mmtconline.org
info@mmtconline.org

Read the MMTC Press Release on this ruling MMTC Press Release.pdf.

Attorney David Honig stressed John Kerry, Barack Obama, Phil Nelson, John Conyers from the U.S. Congress and Senate were instrumental in getting this ruling passed.

This is only 10 minutes of the discussion in the YouTube audio clip, and the full 48 minutes (which you really ought to listen to) is on this audio link. Get Full Audio

Radio talk show host Warren Ballentine had guests ad executive Ken Smikle, president and founder of Target Market News (Ken Smikle Info) and attorney David Honig, executive director of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council, discussing a new FCC ruling on “ Non Urban Dictate” or "No Urban Dictate” (NUD), and "No Spanish Dictate.". Every black and Hispanic person, and anyone else who disapproves of this practice should take note of this issue.

As I understand it, Non Urban Dictate in the advertising business, occurs when a company indicates to advertisers it does not want to advertise with broadcasters or media, whose target audience is primarily urban (black and/or Latino). This practice is now against the law. his is a civil rights matter. I urge folks to check out the documents and follow the links in this post before arguing "companies have a right to advertise where they want." Sure they do, but what many are practicing (NUD) has been classified as discrimination.

What you can do as a consumer? Follow the jump!

Listen to the show segment audio link to find out from industry executives what is going on.

Get a pen and paper and note who is advertising on urban radio.
Follow who advertises in black and Latino magazines, newspapers and see if they are buying ads on urban stations. Check other non-urban stations and see if those same companies are advertising on urban stations. If not, what can you conclude?

You, as a consumer need to contact the FCC to find out if they intend to enforce this rule. This is a big deal and we need the FCC to enforce this law.

FCC CONTACT INFO:

Phone: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)
Fax: 1-866-418-0232
E-mail: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Website: http://www.fcc.gov

Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street SW
Washington, DC 20554

If you contact the FCC, send a copy to Warren at The Truth Fighters.
Folks, this is reality not a conspiracy theory.

If you could not listen to the show audio, as it says much more than I can type, go to www.thetruthfighters.com. Warren will be setting up a blog where you can tell your story and exchange information. Warning: You may be angered after listening to this conversation. The segment breaks have been edited out.

Here is a link to a recent post by Mr. Honig on Harlemworldblog.wordpress.com, which briefly notes how NUD was discovered through a memo from a radio group to an ad agency requesting no ads on urban formatted radio stations.

E-mail David Honig at MMTC for more information:
mmtconline.org
info@mmtconline.org

Read the MMTC Press Release on this ruling MMTC Press Release.pdf.

Attorney David Honig stressed John Kerry, Barack Obama, Phil Nelson, John Conyers from the U.S. Congress and Senate were instrumental in getting this ruling passed.

This is only 10 minutes of the discussion in the YouTube audio clip, and the full 48 minutes (which you really ought to listen to) is on this audio link. Get Full Audio

Erykah Badu considers herself an "analogue girl in a digital world."

"What inspires me is the damn Internet," she quips, "it's amazing how these kids keep the music going with this platform. I see so many stars now where it was cloudy before. Now the programmes allow us to see more of each other (in reference to Myspace and YouTube etc) I can send out a song or a video to a whole city, or the damn world in one touch."

This new Badu is miles from the head-wrap-wearing mystic who first gained the attention of media and music aficionados in 1997 with the then revolutionary album Baduizm. Today, she is a mother of two: eight-year-old Seven (fathered by Andre 3000 of Outkast) and a three-year-old daughter Puma; an artiste in all respects and an accomplished business woman to boot.

Despite the various lifestyle additions, she has changed very little - she is still the petite honey brown siren with the hazel-eyed stare. "I have three albums coming out this year, the first one will be released on February 26 (her birthday) and it's gonna be called New Amerykah," Badu says, adding that the next, Return Of The Ankh is scheduled for a July release.

"The other one's gonna be called New Amerykah II and it's gonna be a totally digital experience." Removing an ebony puff of her larger-than-life afro from her face, Badu explains the meaning of "totally digital experience".

"You'll purchase (instead of a CD) a USB stick, each will come with a specific code that you punch in. That way you'll get to upload a new song every month for the next 10 months."

Her digital ideas, however, don't stop there! "I'll also be starting a magazine called Freaq, it's gonna be dedicated to arts, politics, beauty, fashion, photography and technology," shares the 36-year-old, adding that she also manages her own Myspace page.

Taken from JamaicaObserver.com...Click here for full article

Music lyrics have been blamed for everything from teen suicide and school shootings to racism, sexism and immorality. But who’s really to blame—the artists, the audiences, the industry or all three?

Hip-hop lovers reminisce about the “golden era” of hip-hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when a diversity of music makers included conscious rappers, party rappers, gangster rappers and more. But today, with the onslaught of media conglomeration and hip-hop’s full establishment into the mainstream, commercial rap’s lyrical content has grown increasingly limited and one-dimensional. Hip-hop, which began as a form of cultural expression in marginalized communities and was once poised to become a vehicle for African American empowerment and political activism, is today stereotyped as misogynistic and homophobic, glorifying violence and racist caricature.
One explanation might be that labels simply refuse to put out anything else—commercial rap simply sells more, especially now that media corporations are involved. Former Def Jam label president Carmen Ashhurst says, “The time when we switched to gangsta music is the same time that the majors bought up all the labels. I don’t think that’s a coincidence…. We went to Columbia, then the next thing I know, our producers for Public Enemy were over producing an Ice Cube album and then… we’re pushing a group called Bitches with Problems.”

Taken from Independent Lens: Hip-Hop Beyond Beats & Rhymes..Click here for full article