Black media as Mindguards

...........................Genius leaves the building...........................



Now some of you are worried about the demise of black magazines and periodicals, paricularly as a few well known ones have announced that they are on the brink. We have indeed lost a few in recent months, I know that a black newspaper round my neck of the woods recently went into adminstration as they say.

However unlike many of you I actually celebrate the passing of a number of black publications. I wish that a few more would crumble.

'Why?' you ask. Well because for over a decade now, many of these publications have set themselves up as 'mind guards', preventing and disallowing necessary and even critical understanding of what ails us particularly us as black women. These newspapers and magazines would rather push a lie that B is the problem when it is plain to see that A is the critical issue that needs to be addressed. I have talked about how they keep us locked in old conversations here or of my particular experience with a black editor, who guaging the 'liberating' effect of what I was reasoning for black women, decided to ensure their 'fetters' remained firmly in place by ignoring the discussion for something less threatening to the status quo.

Yes it remains important for these folks that black women continue operating in the belief that they have to scramble for black men. You see, many if not most of these magazines are diametrically opposed to our real freedom as black women, so they suppress any information (or doctor them and take away their potency) that would cause eyes to open and cause black women to reach for all they can have. Indeed these folks that are loudly lamenting about how whites are denying them opportuntities and vital information are the same one, only too happy to set limits on the minds of their fellow black people. How they can live with the sheer hypocricy is shocking to me. Indeed some of you are talking about white folks hiding critical information from black people, well I tell you now, that they can be taught a thing or two by the master obscurants that are the black media!

It is black newspapers and magazines that dig past glaring and obvious problems for some manufactured or non-critical side issues which they send black women after. The result is confusion, with many folks doubting and afraid to voice pure and simple and effective comonsense solutions around the issues afflicting black folk because an atmosphere has been created, where comonsense is no longer seen as such.

They have also spread this disengenious way of approaching issues in the 'Black community', so that today, you can actually have seminars and conventions where black issues are discussed and there is deliberate meandering round the the huge elephant in the room and people go home feeling valid dialogue has taken place. Not just that, these 'avoidance discourses' are now the dialogue style of choice for the majority who have become practiced in chasing after imaginary or statistically insignificant problems than face squarely the key issues that are staring us in the face. Yep the big elephant goes undressed while the focus becomes some imaginery or side issue at best.

(too bad I couldnt get an all black version of this picture)

So why would I want such publications to continue to exist.

So called black media have become stepped in and characterized by blatant disengeniousness and feigning ignorance of the real issue, skirting real solutions for non solutions, refusal to highlight real solutions because they fall outside endorsed black activities, solutions and parameters. These rags have serenaded black women in the face of danger and have sold false hope and false security that has kept many black women sitting ducks. They have betrayed the trust of black women who depend on these journals to tell them the truth about what is really going on around them. The best thing these magazines have done is provide a place for black women to complain and blow off steam and then get back to drudgery. They deem this as 'doing something concrete'. On their watch, Aids became a epidemic without check among black women, singleness soared and no real suggestions on a solution is forth coming from them. Catastrophic failure I would say!

So tell me again, why I would want such publications to continue to exist.

And so there was an article in Roots about black women learning from Michelle. Same ol formula; black women are the ones always in need of some adjustment or other, while black men somehow magically remain untouched while living within the same conditions that result in black women needing corrective adjustments. It is indeed amazing isnt it, how black women's character seems to have undergone change but magically black men remain unaltered and unaffected by the same situations that have left black women in need of major preaching and attitude 'adjustment,' well according to these articles that is.

It is clear that many of these publications do not give black women the credit of having complete brains, either that or they feel they can bait and toy with black women without repercussion at this point. I know communtities that would reward such constant disengenuos commentary with 'survival threatening' subscription cancellation.

Yes, this is all deliberate, this is deliberate substituiting of the clear and apparent causes for some drummed up issue. Indeed if these editors and writers can get black women to think that maybe the reason why there is high singleness among their ranks, is because of the 2% of black women who reject nerds, then maybe they can keep them jogging on the spot long enough for some change in winds to headoff the inevitable broadening of black women's relationship search beyond just black men.

Remember this is the objective. This is about sending black women on a wild-goose chase, a stalling tactic keeping black women back from focussing on the real causes and thus from realizing the need to find solutions beyond just black men(clearly the next step open to those serious about relationships and marriage). Yep, this is about at least holding them back long enough in hope that a change will somehow 'magically' occur to prevent them resorting to non-black options.

So indeed, why should these magazines (online and off) that are playing cruel games on black women, continue to enjoy our patronage. This is simply paying to be insulted. I would much rather let these magazines fade away, so that those that have solutions and are willing to honestly deal with black women's issues have a chance to emerge. We need 'truth telling' magazines and newspapers. Being black is just not going to cut it anymore.

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