Brainwashed

In 2003, Kumi Rauf, then a student at UC Santa Barbara, decided to do something about the rise of racial tension and the social dysfunction and economic decline that has resulted from centuries of untreated race-based trauma. Rauf’s personal solution to the problem was the creation of a social media site simply titled “ilovebeingblack.com.”

Taking the power of four words mainstream, ilovebeingblack.com, offers a web space for productive dialog, complete with related links. The business end of Rauf’s brainchild is an eclectic line of apparel & accessoriesthat include “I Love Black” buttons, tote bags, hats, dresses, T-shirts, baby wear, jackets, sweat suits, undergarments and more.

Late last month, Rauf’s site reached the enviable one-million-fans mark on Facebook. In an interview with FB’s “Black Report,” Rauf explained the mission behind his clothing line: “I Love Being Black apparel is a reminder to the community – and the world – that yeah, I DO love being Black. I wanted to establish an outlet to combat self-hatred and negativity from inside and outside of our community, and to do it with style,” Rauf said.

Recently, I’ve reminded audiences that “the revolution will be televised and digitized.” Social media models like “ilovebeingblack.com” remind us that we can use savvy, new media methods to promote positivity. Equally important, these models serve as viable avenues for creative entrepreneurs, like Rauf, to turn their passions into products for national and international consumer markets.
– Tom Burrell

Ilovebeingblack.com web site: http://ilovebeingblack.com/

I braced myself to watch BET’s annual awards celebration. As I wrote in my book, BET 2009 offered a barrage of negativity that overshadowed the positive attributes of the program. Take for instance, rap artists Lil’ Wayne and Drake’s performance of a sanitized version of Wayne’s song, “Every Girl,” a little ditty in which Wayne (in his words) wishes to “fuck every girl in the world.” Accompanying the rappers on stage were young girls who appeared to be 15 years old or under.

I was not the only one appalled at the embarrassing spectacle. In my book, I shared the comments of social entrepreneur, writer, and editor, April R. Silver, who blogged about her reaction to the hip-hop duo’s routine at clutchmagonline.com:

“I was hoping that a hunched-over stage manager would bust through from back stage to scoop up the children, rescuing them from harm’s way…from being associated with this song. But instead, what those girls witnessed from the stage was hundreds and hundreds of adults (mostly black people) staring back at them, co-signing the performance.”

I ended that chapter with an appeal to those sick and tired enough to let BET know that they were fed up with age-old “Studs and Sluts” stereotypes of black folk.

Apparently, the network received similar pushback. As The Root.com recently wrote; “BET execs must have heard the sound heard round the blogosphere — angry viewers who were disappointed in the 2009 BET Awards.” Although there was room for improvement,” as the commentary pointed out, the show was much better. I’d even go so far as to say that the traditional masochistic chest-bumping fodder was overshadowed by empowering and inspiring messages, images and performances.
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Kudos to Black Voices’ BVX Team for its blog on TV ads that reinforce negative black stereotypes. As I illustrate in my book, nothing is more damaging to the African American psyche than mass media’s subtle and not-so-subtle projection of blacks as buffoons, servants, brutes, over-sexed vixens and illiterate urbanites. All five stereotypes are alive and activated in the five ads spotlighted in the BVX blog. The posting is the sort of media-savvy response we’re advocating at stopthebrainwash.com. Let’s keep applying the pressure. Let us know what television, film or radio promotions you feel cross the line and we’ll post it here, start a discussion and see what can be done to seen the advertising industry a message that we will not tolerate old-time stereotyping in the new media age.

To go to Black Voices: http://www.thebvx.com/2010/06/02/5-black-ads-that-drive-us-nuts/3#comments

By Sylvester Brown, Jr. / for stopthebrainwash.com

This week, in honor of Black Music Month, author Tom Burrell officially launched “Positive Push,” a social media campaign aimed at promoting positive music, images and culture. The movement evolved from Burrell’s book, Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority. In the book, Burrell encourages “enlightened thinkers” to use “New Media” to alter negative projections and project positive images and messages about black people.

In order to explore the challenges of promoting this campaign we interviewed Chicago native Malik Yusef, one of the few spoken word poets, including Mos Def, Kumasi Simmons and Talib Kweli, who have found mainstream success in the entertainment world.

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“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

The old philosophical riddle speaks to the challenge many musical artists face today: If they produce positive music and most people ignore it, will it still have an impact?

The answer doesn’t have to be “No.”

In honor of Black Music Month, we have officially launched “Positive Push,” a social media campaign aimed at promoting positive music, images and culture. The first video selected for this campaign is the new single, “Tightrope,” by singer Janelle Monáe. We chose this young artist because her album addresses mental and spiritual restrictions, while the single for the video pays homage to artists like Jackie Wilson, the Temptations and James Brown in an evocative, hip and culturally positive way.
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