I’m done, move it along people

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I was cruising along, minding my own business (OK, I was being nosey) when I came across this news feed on Facebook (my version of Fox News): “Jada Pinkett Smith responds to Chris Rocks’ Jokes at the Oscars.” Let me fill you in… she has moved on.  Time to come out and play.

I am done.  All this hype of about boycotting the Oscars, which I was going to boycott anyway.  My reasons were different from Jada’s reason.  I think that the Oscars have been a little bit over the top in recent years, and to me, I will always have my favorites, and no little statue can tell me any different.  I am going to see my favorite actor no matter what they are in (except anything that is against my values), even if I am the only one in the theater or wait until that movie comes on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or On Demand.  It does not matter if the actor is black, white, blue, or green though I tend to have a little more favoritism towards the black actors.

I have read the comments on how Will Smith is not that good of an actor to deserve a nod on the carpet for Concussion or any movie that he has done in the past.  That is a matter of opinion.  Some say that he, Jada, and the kids are weird.  Come to think of it, most people in Hollywood (or Hollyweird) are strange.  You have to be strange and open to new things and people, in order to play someone or something different from your personality. 

To that, I say I blame the writers and producers in the industry.  They are out of touch and have no concept of the make-up of people in this country or this world.  They go by what sells. 

Take Zoe Saldana.  She was recently picked to play Nina Simone in an up and coming movie.  I have no doubt that she is a good actress.  She can play a wide range of movie role based on her looks alone.  Nina Simone, who was a dark-skinned poet and Jazz singer, is best known for her song, “To be Young, Gifted, and Black”, and the subject of my last post (as well as my pastor’s sermon last week), is being played by Saldana, who is light-skinned and mixed.  Now, I have a slight problem only to ask the question, “were there no dark-skinned actresses who were talented enough to play Ms. Simone?” My other question is, “Why are we playing the race card again within our own race?”  For years, as far as I remember hearing about, there has always been a fight among ourselves, “light-skinned V. dark-skinned”.  It was even during the time of slavery.  Please stop this once for all.  I never had a problem because I am in the middle.  I was born, what I like to call, “milk-chocolate”, a combo of a dark-skinned father and a light-skinned mother and having a severe case of eczema as a child.  If it wasn’t for eczema, I could actually go either way on the issue.  This skin condition darkens the skin.

Ok, I have now gotten to the point of rambling so I will end this post.  The conclusion to all of this and my further thoughts… who cares.  Jada has moved on, and so should we.  We all know how America thinks about Black America in the first place.  This should not be news, but we (including me) make a big deal out if a situation, which goes beyond a little statue that to me is a glorified door stopper.  In fact, some actors say after the first 2 or 3 statues they win, they do not know where to put them in their home, so they rent out storage. It is kind of that sports trophy you won as a child.  Yes, if you have that statue in your hand, producers and directors will consider you for more roles, and writers will want to write characters with you in mind.  The problem is that they think that black America has nothing to offer but violence. 

This is probably one of the reasons why Bill Cosby (haters, sorry I brought up his name) created The Cosby Show, which shows that the black family is like the average American family, BUT he does not define the family.  Besides that, I hate to say this, but Caucasian America, you have some crazy stuff going on in your families, too, which most back families would not touch with a 10-feet pole.  It is happening now in our families, only because we want to be like you, and we want this thing called equality.

So now we are back to the Will Smith family being weird.  They are only weird because they want to blend in, and black people are not used to that.  They do not want to see the movies and shows they are in because black America has felt segregated for a long time, and the closer we get to “getting ours”, the further white American pulls away. 

It would be nice if everyone had equal arrests (preferred no arrests), equal opportunities of employment, getting loans, housing in the same neighborhoods, friendships, marriages without judgment of the couple, but until that happens, there will always be that inequality among races, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation.   The best way to combat this is to turn towards God and love yourself so you can learn to love others,

Trying to avoid this subject

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Over the past few months, I have had my share of #blacklivesmatter, #policebrutality, and other subjects like this.  Although as a black person I feel the pain, although I have not gone through the problems associated with being an inner city black, I cannot help but think that I could have gone through everything that Urbanites, especially in cities like Ferguson, MO have experience. 

This is humorous in a way, but it has to be said.  I saw an SNL (Saturday Night Live for those not from the United States) clip, featuring a group of white people in an uproar because they just found out that Beyoncé was black.  It caused a national crisis for everyone, and even though the skit was meant to be funny, it shows how an innocent halftime show at the Superbowl can start a firestorm.

OK, let me back up for a moment.  This all started with Oscars and ended with Beyoncé. Everyone thought that she was saluting the Black Panthers.  To me, it was really about

promoting her new tour.  Everyone was wondering why she pick this time period to promote the tour.  If you were performing in front of a crowd of thousands, won’t you promote your new tour?  Kind of bad timing, but smart move on Bey’s part.

Next, comes the criticism of her video, Formation (which by the way is the name of the tour).  Folks are not happy that she capitalized off Hurricane Katrina.  Ok, I was only in New Orleans once, and it was not during that time.  I watched the news, and I feel bad that after all these years, everything is not as they should be in the 9^th ward and surrounding areas.   I am not inside of Bey’s head, so I do not know what she was thinking at the time of the creation of the video, but I think she was trying to show that one part of her is from that area (her mom), while the other part is from Alabama (her father and ironically both my parents). 

I do not think she capitalized off of her roots and this tragedy.  After all, they are. Her. Roots.  This is something that Beyoncé cannot deny.  My question is why does a black person has to forget where they came from to get ahead, to be successful, but every other race in this country can carry their roots to the boardroom and in the entertainment industry, and not get criticized for it.  It is no wonder when we go visit family and friends, some blacks say that the person has “sold out.”  There is nothing wrong with talking (or singing) about where you came from, if that is all you have known since you were “knee-high to a turtle” (baby).

Beyoncé did not become “Queen Bey” overnight.  To earn a status like that take hard work and dedication the craft.  I read a Facebook status from one of my Facebook friends, which she criticized the way Bey carried herself at halftime.  She wanted to know why can’t Bey use her talents to empower young girls.  She also said that Bey was not a queen but an ordinary person.  Not sure what her purpose for the comment was except this Facebook friend was not using her own Christian values by criticizing Bey on her actions.  I want to criticize her on the comment, but as a Christian, I would be doing the same thing to that Facebook friend.  God will deal with Bey in His own time.  You do not know until you walk a mile in their shoes.  So, while this friend is welcome to her own opinion, she is just a white woman who does not understand Bey’s journey as a wife, mother, Christian, and entertainer.

I hope this dies down soon.  Sunday after this Sunday will be the Oscars, and I have already said my peace about that little fiasco.  People need to get it together, get along, and have something for everyone, because I did not see hardly no love at the Grammys either especially for Natalie Cole.  Don’t get me started on that one.