Educate2Empower

Thank you @Troy for your thoughtful words. I appreciate that we can all have slightly varying opinions yet stay respectful. I've worked with children aging out of foster care so can appreciate @Mel Hopkins work with at-risk children. I can also appreciate the wisdom and life experience of our elders and retirees such as @Cynique. And much appreciation for @Delano and "keeping it reel." Wishing you all a great day!

@Mel Hopkins I definitely appreciate your spirit of keeping the positive alive! But having plenty of corporate CEOs, educators, upper management executives, etc. does not take away from the fact that COLLECTIVELY we aren't striving as we could be because too many in certain positions don't want to risk what they've gained to take on the image pushed globally through music. Heck, many don't even want to demand more from schools (curriculum in particular) when we are paying property taxes for the school systems our children are attending. As for the music, if you take a look at Billboard magazine charts, long ago they combined R&B and Hip Hop and now you mostly see the Top 20 filled with hip hop that uses foul language, promotes violence and materialism, and is often misogynistic. Again, all BY DESIGN. As I'm sure you've heard, hip hop is now considered the top genre in terms of sales but have you read the lyrics? Again, all BY DESIGN. Young people can't even go to a school dance without hearing Black males use the n-word (even if it's "blocked" out all students know what the real lyrics are - they Google/YouTube it). I've got young people in my life as well and they deal with this issue on a constant basis in some form. Nevertheless, if those of us in positions of power and/or importance can do more COLLECTIVELY to empower ourselves as a group, we will definitely be a powerhouse. Right now, we're puppets because we don't claim our power because we don't really know how. No other group of people allows a derogatory racial slur to be promoted globally because it doesn't strengthen the group. The image of your females carry weight too and when there's an imbalance, a price will be paid. Thanks for the interaction and promoting the positive in us. People of African descent definitely have a history of doing amazing things for this world so we'll be back!

A lot of interesting POVs here but based on our (Educate2Empower) monitoring of the entertainment industry over the past 15+ years, it's clear that those in power WANT the image of Blacks to be just as it is today. No empowerment on a global scale. We look like fools overall. Yes, many in the entertainment industry as artists appear to be making money. But what are most doing with it and encouraging others to do with it? You got - spend, spend, spend. Very little push to build our communities, our schools, our entrepreneurial ventures, our businesses, etc. The industry's promotion of Cardi B types is BY DESIGN because that's the language that keeps Black women weak ("money moves" like how she's spitting it, mean very little in the big picture, especially with all the F, B, N, P, H words she's using all throughout the song). Do you really think Blacks in general - and Black women in particular - are coming through with an image of educated, powerful, and empowered with that song?!? We're not - we're not supposed to - and that's BY DESIGN! @Mel Hopkins talks about the success of Black women and some of it is true but if we can't COLLECTIVELY (with group power) get a better image out there, then what power is there really? Are our schools flourishing with all of these women she speaks of doing their thing? Are our Black kids getting a "helluva" education out here with all of these people who are doing their thing (or shall I say "making money moves")? Let's deal with what and how we're doing COLLECTIVELY? Right now, the record industry, including the companies that control what gets radio airplay, are the ones who are basically dictating what image gets out. The Cardi Bs, Jay-Zs, Kanyes, Rick Rosses, Lil Waynes, Drakes, etc. are all BY DESIGN because they represent no threat to the establishment with the music they put out and that's ALLOWED to go global. Really tune into what the lyrics are saying. The E2E video posted in this thread ("The N-Word's Multi-Layered Power Structure") touches on it. Unfortunately, we have our elders such as @Cynique blowing up the n-word too and that's been part of the problem with the global escalation of this derogatory racial slur. Whose advantage does it work to ultimately to have Black folks being programmed while running around calling ourselves Ns all day, everyday and jamming to it at parties, walking down the street with Beats headphones, while driving, etc.? Certainly not ours. Anyhow, how we progress COLLECTIVELY and what we gain COLLECTIVELY is what matters. One group of us doing well and a handful of entertainers making money (or "money moves") will NEVER make a successful group of people who are empowered and really running things within their communities. We've got a ways to go but if we really pulled it all together and stopped standing for/defending nonsense, then it would take no time to re-route things where it's heading to COLLECTIVE success.