Ban the N-Word BN-W eNewsletter #54

Posted in: eNews 2006
By BN-W
Jan 16, 2006 - 2:00:03 PM

Martin Luther King, Jr. – born January 15, 1929 - died April 4, 1968 – would have celebrated his 77^th birthday this year. He was a brilliant intellectual with an extensive educational background who was indeed “the chosen one” with a profound insight on the ways of the human spirit (the good and the bad) that it IS inevitable that many of his words still ring true today and it WAS inevitable that he would be murdered by the truly spiritually powerless and weak-minded because of their fear of the power of his spirit to bring change – not just to the United States of America – but to the entire world. Following are some links on Dr. King, which were taken from The King Center, Nobel Prize Organization, and Time, Inc. A little snippet from his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech: “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant….I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up.” Powerful words that many of us must heed!

An update on the status of the Eyes on the Prize collection is that the copyright/permission issues have been resolved and it will air on PBS’ American Experience in Fall 2006. Yes!!! Last year, in BN-W’s BN-W #25 (2-14-05), we reported the following: “At this point, the 14-part collection cannot be shown legally on PBS or any other media outlet. Eyes on the Prize is considered the most important and most definitive piece of historical documentation on the relentless fight for civil rights during the 1960s in this country.” We all should know what to do this time around – and that is make sure we purchase the DVD and make sure we watch it with our children, digest it, take notes, and let that be the start of an ongoing process of self-educating, especially since we know that most schools aren’t teaching it because they don’t want it to be known. Face the facts and just do what you know you gotta do! The first link is from an 8-31-05 article in Wired News with the cash “infusion” part of the story and the second one is from a 1-14-06 PR Newswire release with official announcement of the Fall 2006 re-airing:

Another important story on America ’s long enslavement history told through one person’s ancestral background is Roots by Alex Haley. That’s another DVD that somehow has turned into a challenge to get. We bought it with no problem when it initially came out, but suddenly it’s no longer available through typical outlets. We did a search and it appears you can still get a copy of it if you go to the DVD section of www.amazon.com.

Kam Williams did an excellent review of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome by Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary. This was one of BN-W’s book recommendations in BN-W #52 (12-1-05). We can’t emphasize the importance of reading this book enough. As Williams states: “You know an experience has been transformational when it repeatedly brings you to the brink of tears….I felt many pangs of recognition as layer after layer of deep-seated traumas were diagnosed and discussed, not as personal neuroses, but as the plausible, predictable, and shared response of many Blacks to the predicament of being raised in a racist society….[Dr. Leary] is nothing short of brilliant in the way in which she approaches the subject, prodding you to place present-day behaviors in a proper historical context….In reaction to the ongoing oppression, Black people developed an identifiable set of survival skills, some of which were self-destructive. And it is these harmful symptoms which Dr. Leary is interested in eliminating in order to put her people on the road to healing….Required reading, or should I say therapy, for every African-American.” And we add that you will give yourself and your family greater emotional and spiritual empowerment if you decide to read and share this book. Dr. Leary is very passionate, very focused, and very clear on this issue; she has made this her personal mission and it’s her labor of love because she truly cares about the progress of her people.

Congratulations to Golden Globe winner S. Epatha Merkerson who won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Lackawanna Blues, which was an excellent film that was executive produced by Halle Berry. It’s also clear to see where the entertainment industry is trying to steer things. Brokeback Mountain is getting a lot of accolades for its stunning scenery amongst other things, but if you look just a little deeper, it’s easy to see the real agenda that’s being pushed. If you want to see some stunning scenery and a heart touching movie, rent The Sea Inside DVD.

As you all know, we’ll be monitoring the film Pink Panther starring Beyonce Knowles, which is slated for release in February. The marketing machine has already started and Beyonce’s in full speed ahead mode with following the status quo. So, it’s time to prep ourselves and our kids for the onslaught of long weaves, bottle blonde hair, excessive rump shaking by “B,” and from our understanding, she even kisses old man Steve Martin in the film. So to counterbalance all that’s heading our way from the masterful marketers of what’s subliminally supposed to be acceptably “Black,” we’ve got a wonderful site for you. It’s T’Keyah Crystal Keymah from That’s So Raven, In Living Color, and one of the Bill Cosby sitcoms. Check out her site and purchase her book (Natural Woman/Natural Hair) – both are very much worth the time and money. You won’t be disappointed. It’s great to see a Black woman in a current hit show who clearly loves herself and is – rightfully – a very proud and self-loving Black woman. T’Keyah is so very “there.” We don’t know about you, but we’ve been tired of the images being marketed to us as “acceptable.” It’s what the kids call played out.

We saw an excellent Off Broadway play over the weekend called In the Continuum at the Perry Street Theatre. If you get a chance, check it out. Yes, the N-word is used a few times by the girl who’s supposed to be from the “hood,” but based on what’s marketed to us regularly, are we to expect anything less from someone who comes from the “hood”? [NOTE: Although not indicated on the theatre’s official Web site, this play has been extended through February 18^th.] http://www.perrystreettheatre.com/ OR https://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=INT9 You may be able to get reduced tickets, so also c heck out these links for general and discount information:

Considering Richard Pryor’s use of the N-word during a good portion of his career – and perhaps most of his life – and then his denouncement of its use after his trip to Africa, we thought it was important to pass on some commentary that was written about him after his death last month. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Derrick Z. Jackson, and Stanley Crouch wrote standout pieces on the late comedian – may he finally rest in peace and be at peace.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson: “Pryor said that his fellow comedians, friends, and even some fans lambasted him for going soft, and for selling out. Still others accused him of being a Black militant. He claims that he got death threats, and garbage thrown on his lawn. He took the heat from fans and friends not because he used the N-word, but because he had renounced it. A reflective Pryor was dumbstruck that a drug addicted, paranoid, frightened, lonely, sad and frustrated comedian (his self-description) could draw public bile for his simple, but very personal step toward asserting racial pride.” Read the full story:
http://www.blackstarnews.com/?c=135&a=1834

Derrick Z. Jackson: “As the 1970s wound down, it was spectacularly evident that embracing the N-word did not give Pryor the strength to rise above demons. His dismal childhood among whorehouses and barroom violence in Peoria, Ill., mushroomed into Hollywood drug binges and threats to wives at gunpoint. My Black friends, particularly women, grew weary of his persona and his equally offensive use of ‘bitch.’ I stopped buying his albums….Pryor said he left Africa ‘regretting ever having uttered the word ‘nigger’ on a stage or off it….’ It took Pryor about 10 years to come to his conclusions. It has been 16 years since the group ‘N.W.A,’ short for ‘Ns With Attitude,’ zoomed to the top of the charts….Today Ice Cube [former leader of N.W.A] is 36. Nothing about the N-word or B-word has helped Black people rise above achievement gaps in schools or helped Black males to be respectful to women and responsible to babies they father out of wedlock. Russell Simmons said the use of the N-word makes Black people ‘special.’ Pryor decided 25 years ago that it was stupid.” Read the full story:

Stanley Crouch: “The vulgarity of his material, and the idea a ‘real’ Black person was a foul-mouthed type was his greatest influence. It was the result of seeing the breaking of ‘white’ convention as a form of ‘authentic’ definition….Along the way, Pryor made too many people feel that the ‘N word’ was open currency and was more accurate than any other word used to describe or address a Black person. In the dung piles of pimp and gangster rap we hear from slime meisters like Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, the worst of Pryor’s influence has been turned into an aspect of the new minstrelsy in which millions of dollars are made by ‘normalizing’ demeaning imagery and misogyny….In essence, Pryor stunned with his timing, his rhythm, his ability to stand alone and fill the stage with three-dimensional characters through his remarkably imaginative gift for an epic sweep of mimicry….The idea of ‘laughing to keep from crying’ was central to his work and has been diligently avoided by those who claim to owe so much to him. As he revealed in his last performance films, Pryor understood the prison he had built for himself and the shallow definitions that smothered his audience’s understanding of the humanity behind his work. But, as they say, once the barn door has been opened, you cannot get all of the animals to return by whistling. So we need to understand the terrible mistakes this man of comic genius made and never settle for a standard that is less than what he did at his very best, which was as good as it has ever gotten.” Read the full story:
http://www.chieftain.com/life/1134458050/3

And HOT 97 is at it again. During New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) strike in December, Miss Jones used the term “coconut” to describe a fellow African American. She’s not even educated enough to know that all of our ancestors came from Africa but we just happened to be “dropped off” in different places in the so-called New World during the horrendous Transatlantic Slave Trade (a.k.a. the Middle Passage) – some of us in the Caribbean Islands, some of us in North America (United States), and some of us in South America (Brazil). Somebody please let her know this. The owners of Emmis Communications (according to its Web site, Emmis is Hebrew for “truth”) love having Blacks like Miss Jones who have no self-love, no knowledge of history, and no self-awareness on during prime time hours so Black kids, teenagers, young adults – and the many others that follow them – can soak up the ignorance she’s spewing out as well as the one-dimensional music that’s played, and just keep the dummy factor moving right along. Again, parents – and those that can help the parents – you know what you gotta do. Others don’t care what’s put out there to permeate the souls of our kids. Read the story below on Miss Jones’ foolishness and then read about Emmis Communications and a brief satellite interaction between former President Bill Clinton and Jeff Smuylan (Emmis’ President/CEO and Board Chairman) at the Council of Jewish Federations on 11-19-97.

The conclusion of Part II: Black-Jewish Relations will be included with the Winter 2006 Music Monitor. All we can tell you is that there is SO MUCH info we have to share with you. We’re waiting on the delivery of some books right now as well as regularly “cruising” different sites and opening up all types of cans of worms and dipping our big toe in just to end up diving in so to speak. But it’s all good, it’s all informative, it’s all a great learning experience. As we indicated in Part I, since we’re doing the Black-Jewish topic there is no need to continue putting in the column for “Derogatory Jewish Terms.” We monitored it for six months and out of all the films we monitored, none used a derogatory Jewish term (i.e., kike, hooknose, clipped dick), which is not surprising because so many Jews are in ownership and top management of many media companies, so they certainly won’t allow that to happen to any great extent. But the use of the N-word to all of the people greenlighting these films and music is a different type of acceptability that can – for some reason – be used ad nauseam. And boy is it!! Hopefully you took note of the Ad Age links in BN-W #53 as well, so you know the effectiveness of constant marketing of the same thing over and over. This also plays out with the whole Payola scandal in what gets played over and over on the radio stations. So, the objective of this repeated marketing ploy does work. We can use the N-word as an example. Look at the effectiveness of the marketing of its constant use and how it’s become a way of depicting Blacks not just nationally – but internationally – as “niggers/niggas/niggaz/niggahs” (as we all know by now, the spelling does not matter).

For those of you who missed BN-W #53, we’re going to do a small reminder for you regarding our outlook on ADL: “ We’re going to let you know up front that we’re not afraid of the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) or threats of so-called anti-Semitism and all that hogwash. Anybody, any group, and any organization should expect and look for criticism sometimes….[Craig Horowitz] describes Abe Foxman (ADL’s national director) as ‘a professional noodge who has been sounding the alarm for more than three decades whenever he senses the slightest whiff of anti-Semitism.’ He also states that ‘it is true that immediately labeling someone anti-Semitic because he criticizes Israel is a long-standing, often bogus tactic that has been used by Jews to stymie debate.’”

Until Part II comes out, we’ll be filtering stuff out to you so it won’t be too overwhelming and you’ll have a buildup to Part II’s conclusions. If you missed this link that was in BN-W #53, please take a moment to read it: http://www.natall.com/who-rules-america/wra.pdf. Yes, it’s a White nationalist Web site that hates Blacks too (what else is new) but out of the many such sites we’ve visited since embarking on this campaign (in May 2004) and the research we’ve done ourselves, we can tell you that this “research report” is well written and is quite accurate in terms of name and company information. Many of the White supremacist type sites are poorly written and very factually challenged – they’re pretty much like the FOX News channel, which consists of a lot of people giving their own opinions with no to very little facts. But, please, we highly encourage you to do your own fact checking and you can start by double checking the data through

With our new monitoring format, we will no longer put the range for the number of times the N-word is used in a film because once is too much, especially if it’s unnecessary and/or excessive usage. If you missed any other BN-W monitors, just send an e-mail to bannword2@yahoo.com and request that it be sent to you. It’s very hard not to give any content critique on the films we monitor, so we will no longer even attempt to abide by that statement. But we definitely do continue to highly encourage you to see these films for yourself and, if applicable, make your own judgment call on the N-word usage – appropriate/inappropriate? necessary/unnecessary? sensible/nonsensical? does it add to or take away from the film’s concept? does the N-word have to be used at all? is there a valid reason for doing so? is it mandatory for the scene(s) to be effective? what are the circumstances/situation that necessitate any use of the word? is it just thrown in for humor, fear, crime, insult? are other culturally insulting slang terms used as much as the N-word in the film? Lots of questions and a whole lot of reasons to wonder what’s the real purpose and thought process behind why these actors, writers, directors, producers, executive producers, distributors, and studios/studio heads and executives give the “greenlight” for these crews to liberally use (or allow to be used) the N-word.

L A S T H O L I D A Y

Starring Queen Latifah, LL Cool J ; screenplay written by Jeffrey Price, Peter S. Seaman; directed by Wayne Wang; produced by Laurence Mark, Jack Rapke; executive produced by Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey, Richard Vane, Peter S. Seaman, Jeffrey Price; studio – Paramount Pictures

NONE [0]	LOW TO EXCESSIVE [1+]
XXXXX

NOTE : A basically pleasant movie that would have been better if the focus was more on the relationship between the Latifah and LL characters. For that once in occasional while, here’s an opportunity to show a positive Black relationship and you get only a slither of it at the tail end of the flick. Come to think of it, should we expect the greenlighters to want to show too much of a positive Black relationship? Probably not!

G L O R Y R O A D

Starring Derek Luke, Josh Lucas ; screenplay written by Christopher Cleveland, Bettina Gilois; directed by James Gartner; produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; executive produced by Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Andy Given; studio – Walt Disney Pictures

NONE [0]	LOW TO EXCESSIVE [1+]
	XXXXX

NOTE : Although many of the reviews criticize this film for taking major factual distortions, we liked the fact that the deeply entrenched racism – that was then and continues to be now – is brought out and not smoothed over. The N-word is used, but it’s used as it should be, which is by racist, jealous, hate-mongering, and insecure Whites – and not by Blacks using it as a ridiculous term of so-called “endearment.” Of course, plenty of those racist people continue to exist today (might we even have a new one on the U.S. Supreme Court soon?), and the 21^st Century racism is done with a smile and a signature on a marketing campaign (some of it is paid for but a good amount is through the news in the media) allowing massive marketing of an extremely negative Black image to dominate the marketplace.

BN-W Monitor Coming Soon: “Freedomland” [Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore]; “Idlewild” [Andre Benjamin, Antwan Patton]; “Annapolis” [Tyrese Gibson, Chi McBride]; “Big Momma’s House 2” [Martin Lawrence]; “Something New” [Sanaa Lathan, Blair Underwood]; “Pink Panther” [Steve Martin, Beyonce Knowles]

Also Coming : Part II: Black-Jewish Relations; Winter 2006 Music Monitor; Spring 2006 Music Monitor; Summer 2006 Music Monitor