Jena 6.. @ The BET Hip-Hop Awards!?
I know I’m late, the BET Hip-Hop Awards were over a week ago, but I was out of town and I just caught the re-broadcast this week. I was surprised to see two of the Jena 6 brothers (Bryant Purvis and Carwin Jones) decked out, on the red carpet like some overnight celebrities! Was anyone else disturbed by this? On one hand, it seems the Jena 6 contraversy has had a profound impact by igniting a dormant militance within communities of color. Black folk marched on Jena in Civil Rights numbers to protest the gross injustice going on in Louisania. But the other side of Jena 6 has been it’s appropiration by the mainstream. Jesse Sharpton and Al Jackson were on the first thing smoking to Jena, once the issue started picking up momentum. For a while, you couldn’t turn on the TV or radio without hearing about it. Mainstream media has been all over it, and now it’s a part of the BET Hip-Hop awards!? What’s next - is Megan Williams up for a Lady of Soul Award? I’m all for raising conciousness, but as you can see in the picture, these brothers were more worried about soaking in the limelight. BET did not do anything meaningful to address the issue of Jena 6, or any other significant issues facing the Black community. Purvis and Jones’ only function in the Hip-Hop Awards was to serve Viacom as a superficial figurehead - a convienent place keeper to put between a Soulja Boy Tell’um and a commercial break. Rest in Peace, integrity.
Published on October 23, 2007 at 3:10 pm.
19 Comments.
Filed under ridiculousness, mainstream culture, television, entertainment.
