Oh. My. Goodness. Rewind to last night. I’m watching CNN’s “Black in America.” Apparently, so is everyone else. :) Sitting on my couch clad in only a matching green bra (1, 2) and panties (1, 2), I balance my laptop on my bare thighs as I drink out of the Vita Coca container. I turn my TV for the first time in months by walking to the big black box and pressing the round “on” button. Only the sweet round-bellied Buddha above knows where my remote is! My phone rings. Yes, dear readers, we have a (gasp, gasp) landline in our home. How very old fashioned, right? ;) In any case, it was Anna-Scarlet calling from down south. “Twanna,” she yells, “are you watching this?!” Of course I am. :)
Scanning Twitter this morning, I eyeball a few random folks’ pages to see what they’re saying about the show. Obviously, I’m going to comment on their observation that nearly half the black adult female population is unmarried — an “alarming” fact according to CNN. More on that later. For now, be sure to check out USA Today’s old story about Twitter if you haven’t already, and take a look at all the random chatter from last night:
makasha: Hey all. Please don’t forget that Black in America airs on CNN tonight at 9
kathrynjones: done with work for the night…going off to watch black in america on CNN
momplaywright: Settling in to watch CNN’s “Black in America”: http://tinyurl.com/5jh68j I live for these kinds of conversations/dialogues. Wanna talk?
revhelix: Anyone else think that CNN’s reports on “Black in America” quite sad in more way that 1. Why does this have to matter still?
anjuan: Planning the watch “CNN’s Black in America” tonight and also checking out http://blackinamerica.com . Site looks good but needs design work
JennTex: Popping the popcorn getting ready to watch CNN Black in America. I can’t wait to see if they get it right.
KristinaBrandy: Don’t forget CNN’s “Black in America” special tonight – http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/
funkybrownchick: LOVE the dramatic tones on CNN’s Black in America. “Up Next … Racial Boundaries … EXPOSED!” as they zoom in on the SBF / SWM pairing. :)
Sarrock84: really CNN? really!? they did a segment on “marry your baby daddy day” but no history of the black family being torn apart by slavery???
Blu_Hefner: If your not watching Black In America on CNN, then your life is in SHAMBLES!!!! Follow Me. Proper.
Villager: CNN-Black in America: Dayum … 1-of-20 peeps in Wash DC is infected with HIV. Dayum … comparable to AIDS stats in Africa…
RushmoreDrive: 80% of new HIV/AIDS cases in Wash D.C. are among Blacks. Another staggering stat brought to bear in CNN’s Black In America program tonight.
cobbap: Watching: Black in America on CNN with Soledad O’Brien
calinative: is it me or is this CNN report not teling me anything I didn’t already know about being Black in America? How is any of this news?
MakesMeHoller: Watching CNN-Black in America with everyone else…
swirlspice: Thinking the tweets about CNN’s “Black in America” may be more interesting than the show itself.
thirtydaes: watching black in america on cnn. been waiting months for this. i wonder how i would feel meeting white cousins whose ancestors owned mine.
skeskali: I really…REALLY… hope someone takes Soledad O’Brien and CNN to task for spending only 30 minutes out of four hours on black women.
MonikahOgando: is reeling from watching CNN’s “Black in America” series.
KacieStarr: Watching the CNN special, Black in America the first series focuses on Black women and the family
qas1981: !!! watch me on CNN!!! Look at the 3:50 minute mark! http://www.cnn.com/video/ ?/video/living/2008/07/23/bia.black.men.respond.cn
jbrotherlove: watching CNN “Black In America: The Black Woman & Family”. confused as to why I haven’t seen any Black Women though…
Alli_Rogers: Loving the Rand Family. Black in America on CNN right now.
chickpea: Watching CNN’s “Black in America” and making dinner.. enchiladas tonight! http://ping.fm/MsolJ
haveAwonderful: Watching black in america on CNN
deeyouareoh: ok “black in america” is on cnn are you watching
harris1123: Watching the CNN special Black in America.
rosepena: Watching the Special: Black in America on CNN
HarlemWriter: Watching “Black In America” on CNN – The Black Woman & Family. Anyone else tuned in? http://tinyurl.com/3e2wgc
THEflyGIRL: Question: Are there only light/caramel skined black folks in america? Cause I just watched this CNN thing & they only showed 1 coco sista…
idmbassoon: did everyone watch black in america on cnn tonight except me?
ABCPublicity: @urbanreporter U didn’t watch CNN Being Black in America – OH MY!
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Some days I’m glad I don’t watch the cable I pay for.
ditto
I bet the percentage of American Black women who married was higher when most of our parents met.
Spot on point review. The question I ask is from the 2 hours, did you see one positive story of triumph, success and uplift. Outside of the Rand’s 5 children graduating college/hs, it was mostly the same ole negative spin. And I contributed to this series! If you want to see an alternative to the MSM, rent or buy my film.
JM
Brenz and Pegs: I feel like you’re holding back. Tell me how you really feel. ;)
Lee Coles: And, yep, you’re right. Marriage rates in general used to be much higher when women had fewer economic options. It’s harder to leave (even when you want out!) if your dude is also your meal ticket.
Jynx: The Rands were too cute!!!! Everyone loves that family. :) And, yeah, I agree, most of the stories were kind of sad and depressing.
PS: Give us the link to your film, JM!
2 real 4 words.. caught the ComStat link on the ship… Reality 101…. seeing that
program.. I saw faces of many people that I grew up with.. and realizing that I am
surrounded by this each and every single day….. all colors…. male and female
we must all stop sleep-walking and think, it aint illegal…. yet…
there … for the grace of God…. go I.
lamesabassman……. one step forward, two steps backward…..
once i you mentioned sitting around in your green panties that from those photos look like boy-shorts – which by the way are awesome… if you have a nice booty – i lost focus on the rest of the post. what were we discussing?
You tell me, Twanna — is it any good? This is the first I’ve heard of it, but I just picture some Barbara Walters level of pap. All I know is what I’m reading here.
Digging the site! Would love a guest post sometime….
Just posted our first video response to some of the comments coming out of the Black in America special.
Check it out and would love feedback when you get a chance…
http://ybpguide.com/2008/07/25/fck-the-black-in-america-haters/
Sorry, I’m out of the loop – I didn’t even know this was on until just now. So, anybody have the Reader’s Digest version for those of us who rarely turn on a TV? What’s it like to be “Black in America”?
And anyway, I’m holding out for a “Green in America” show – me and Kermit the Frog would be the stars.
The show repeats this weekend, Baba. I missed it because I couldn’t find the program when I did a search for “Black in America” or even “CNN’s Black in America”. I had to search for “CNN Presents” instead to find it. Part 1 repeats Saturday night and part 2 airs on Sunday night according to my schedule.
I saw all of the Twitter traffic about it. I had to just shake my head on it. Sometimes, I’m glad I don’t have cable too. However, if you do want to check it out, Jay Smooth has it on his site Hiphopmusic.com. Here’s a link: http://tinyurl.com/5oqava
BTW Miss Hines, I liked the ensemble. Does this signal the start of HNT (Half Nekkid Thursday) for you? hmmmm? :)
I watched it both nights. It was ok and it wasn’t something that we didn’t already know. It was intended for a wider audience. I wish they focused more on The Black Man. I think it’s so much harder on them in this country as far as jobs go. I also know that Black Women need to get the respect as well. It has become more of an Social Behavior than anything. Our kids not continuing their education. Most girls and boys having unprotected sex and having kids. At some point we need more and more positive influences. Majority of our black leaders today are more focused on their camera time.
@ lamesabassman: :)
@ dan-E: We were discussing my green panties. ;)
@ Brenz: I thought it was interesting. It wasn’t particularly earth shattering, and I think it was unnessarily slanted toward negative stuff. But, most importantly, I didn’t think it provided any NEW information (you know, that whole “NEW” part of the word “NEWS”) My $0.02. Catch it on reruns and/or watch in online in 20 parts on YouTube. ;)
@ Fredric: And, I’d love to have to guest post!! :) I love your site, too! You’re on my feed reader.
@ Baba Doodlius: Cliff Notes are online everywhere. :) Google: CNN Black in America. Ooh, and, let me know when the green video is up. :)
@ Phoena: THANKS for the details about the show! And, yeah, I soooo don’t do internal site searches on random webpages. I use Google for everything.
@ Roddykat: Jay Smooth ROCKS!!! :) Not sure if I’m gonna do HNT. Desiree has AWESOME HNT on her site, def check it out!! :) http://www.baserinstincts.com [NSFW]. She recently did one with fishnets!!
@ mahoganydymond: Thanks for the comments!! :) I missed part of the second one, but I’m catching it on the rerun!
You know… It’s funny. I thought it was me. :)
I just watched the show(s) last night on DVR. I had heard it was a 3-hour show, but the listing said it was two 2-hour shows, so that’s what I recorded.
I happened to watch the one about the guys first. When I went to the one about the women, and I’m FFing through it, I was thinking “Did I record the entire show?… There’s not a lot about women here.”
First of all, they called it “women and family” and second, they spent the beginning of that show talking about men. I believe they even had a MALE DOCTOR working on a MALE PATIENT and running a support group for INNER-CITY MALES at the end of the women’s show (I could be wrong).
The only think I recall them saying about black women is that y’all can’t get men and should consider dating white guys, but look out for what relatives might say about your kids. :D
Oh… And that y’all might catch AIDS @ 19 years old and then not many people will want to hear you talk about it when you try to do community outreach.
At least they showed y’all lampin’ in nice cars and houses with prestigious filmmaking careers! :D
You mentioned, “The only thing I recall them saying about black women is that y’all can’t get men and should consider dating white guys, but look out for what relatives might say about your kids.” You’re right! That’s exactly what they said. :)
BUT …. Obviously, they forgot some of us are greedy little brown-skinned chicks who date white (Asian, Latino and others along with black) dudes out of PLEASURE not desperation. ;)
@Twanna: No doubt. Long-Story-Short, they spent so LITTLE time on black women that they couldn’t possibly have gone in-depth on ANY of the real issues y’all face.
It seems to me that they couldn’t FIND any black women to interview. It seemed like they found like six of y’all and asked like two questions each, shot some b-roll of a chick driving, chicks toasting at a “girls’ night out” party and a chick sitting at her desk, working… oh, and one black chick that had one date with one black guy in some kind of low-budget suit, and that’s all they could find. :/
Sorry… For a TWO-HOUR-SEGMENT about black women, they should have come up with a whole hell of a lot more than that.
wow…. this feedback is so deep…… that maybe this blog should be sent to CNN
so they can do a re-mix
everyone seems to say that both segments were all hat and no cattle… and sad to
say….. they all just might be right….
lamesabassman… coming up next.. the X-Doodlius Files… it’s not TV, it’s HBO..
@mahoganydymond were we watching the same 4 hours? Because in the specials I watched, out of 4 hours, about 3.5 (3.25 if you’re generous) were devoted to black men and boys.
maybe it’s me, but in a show about “Women & the Family,” i’d expect to see some conversations with WOMEN about their role in the family and what they want for their sons and DAUGHTERS.
i mean 2 hours and they hardly touched on:
* the economic issues women face — that are tied to marriage rates in many cases
* health, beauty and weight issues
* staggering HIV rates despite similar rates of sexual activity (i.e., promiscuity ain’t the problem)
* why many black women are (or seem to be) opting out of marriage and children
* black women’s education attainment relative to men and what this means for marriage
* rates of sexual abuse and violence and sexism
* our dominance in the church pews, but not the pulpits
* how many black women are starting businesses
and in a special about the family, there was NOT ONE MENTION about the decline in black fertility rates.
they basically half-assed the first 2 hours. And only 3/4 assed the last two.
i mean dang, what about rural black poor? lots of negroes in cities in that special. what about black folks moving out of the northeast IN DROVES to resettle in the southeast — and almost never in the west? what about the connection between black men in prison and political power since in many states, ex-cons can’t vote?
hell, we know the stats. even white people know the stats. now take us beyond those statistics and show us something else.
@ bill c.: Didn’t you know that we like to hide?? ;) That’s why (mysteriously) no one can ever FIND black women when needed. I wish someone would pay me everytime I heard, “We could have included more black women’s voices in ___ , but we couldn’t find any.” And, by the way, Tiffany B. Brown for president! :)
@ lamesabassman: I told y’all I love my readers. You guys are all funny, witty, interesting, though-provoking, etc. I should do another Reader Appreciation Day soon.
@ tiffany: GREAT comment!!! :)
i know i’m late to the discussion and all (long ass weekend and week too :( ) but i’ve only seen the first installment so far. i taped the 2nd to watch when i’m free. i have to say that i wasn’t really engaged in it as much as i’d hoped. not to take away from what was discussed, but why didn’t women get a whole seperate section. yes, womean and family are connected, but as tiffany mentioned above there were a plethora of issues that could’ve been addressed. also, a great concern of mine is that colorism didn’t seem to have been brought to light at ALL (again I didn’t see that second portion though). and what about being BLACK but not AFRICAN AMERICAN in America? there are many people of varied international/cultural backgrounds that are “black” (generally of African/Afrikan descent) that have different experiences from those of us who are US born. also, it seemed to me that a lot of those interviewed/contributing believed that economic standing was an overwhelming influence on how we manuever through society. EVERYTHING mentioned was somehow linked to money. what about community? what about cultural history? unity? you know… things that generally instill pride in oneself??? but i guess money is the cause and solution to all of life’s problems, right… shiiiii i’m poor though, so i shouldn’t be talking.
nevertheless, one can’t reallly expect them to discuss the majority of issues we as a people face — even if they tried to focus on the major ones alone, 4 hours just ain’t gonna cut it. still, CNN deserves a clap for tying. i also heard there were discussions w/ HBCU students. did anyone catch that? maybe i should watch that 2nd tape…
I agree with you. CNN does deserve a clap for trying! :)