Sardonic Sistah Says

I am not hating on Oprah.  Actually, I really love her.  She’s an intelligent, black, outspoken woman and an Aquarian to boot (we Aquarian’s like to do things our own unique way) so why should I be mad.  I don’t always like her topics (the James Blount show still makes my skin crawl) or her side projects (Their Eyes Were Watching God) but I respect her for going where no black woman has gone before. 

So when 50 Cent came out last year with the statement that Oprah was against hip hop a host of other black men couldn’t wait to jump on the bandwagon and expand it by saying she had a problem with black men in general.  They seemed to forget that Oprah’s show is mainly on women’s issues (since her core audience is women) and so her focus varies from domestic abuse to cooking to sexy male stars.  Oprah doesn’t necessarily host “race” shows.  She is unabashed in her agenda to make the world a better place and if you don’t agree with her world view you at least have to admire her chutzpah.

But yesterday Oprah did a kind of black male show.  It was about saving disadvantaged children but the guests had an afrocentric male slant.  Black boys are at risk but the onus shouldn’t be on one person, especially when that person teeters back and forth on the verge of having their black card revoked by the Soul Patrol on any given day.  Most black people I talk to claim to not even watch her show, therefore they aren’t even supporting her so why not ask those who do get our dollars to stand up?  How often is P Diddy asked to be accountable?  How much does Jay-Z give to black colleges?  And since 50 is now on the verge of breaking through in a large monetary way can we expect him to also delve into philanthropy?

I’m not sure how other’s feel, but sometimes I get a bit worried about the victim complex a few in our community project.  We encircle ourselves with a blanket of negativity and then become surprised when the worst come true.  A lot of parents believe their children can’t learn in public schools and our schools become the worst in the community.  We don’t think that we can make it out of the ghetto without becoming a rapper, a football player or a hustler and thats mostly what we see.  Its a chicken/egg scenario; we believe the man is out to get us, that he won’t let us up, let s ahead until finally we stop trying because what’s the point?

So, in her own way, Oprah has shown us the way again by broadcasting postive programs and black male heads on her show.  So now lets see if she can definitely lead black men to the promised land or will we be roaming the desert for 40 more years?