Madame Noire | Black Women's Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love

Source:People.com and crabsahoy.com

Tyler Perry isn’t the only man following in Oprah’s footsteps with a television network. Today, both Magic Johnson and Diddy announced two new ventures to change the face of television.

We’d heard about a month ago that Diddy might launch a network, but now the word on Revolt TV is official—and Diddy’s pretty excited about it. In a video announcement he thanked NBC and Comcast for recognizing the importance of minority ownership in cable television and invited Time Warner, Cable Vision and other distributors to follow suit. He also outlined his vision for the network:

“I’m going to give the artists this channel. It’s your channel to do what you wanna do how you wanna do it. It’s your opportunity to show your art the way you want to show your art—raw, uncut, uncensored, not destined by the charts and who’s pop. A channel that will give new artists an opportunity to get seen and get get heard…Today is a big day. The revolution will be televised.”

Diddy isn’t the only one Comcast has reached out to as part of its mission to launch 10 minority cable channels by 2018. Magic Johnson also has an upcoming network through the cable operator, and it’s expected to launch June 30. The network, Aspire, will show a mix of acquired and original film, television, music, performing arts, and comedy programming geared toward African Americans, Magic said.

“This is big for myself, for the African American community and the African American creative community. I wanted a vehicle to show positive images and to have stories written, produced and directed by African Americans for our community. Aspire — that’s how I’ve been leading my life.”

Aware of the risks and the issues Oprah has had with OWN, Magic said, “We’ll learn from those who have gone before us. We understand the landscape, and we will run a sound business.”

It’s good to see Comcast making good on it’s promise. Hopefully these channels will give African American viewers what they’ve been wanting.

What do you think about these new networks? Who would you like to see launch a cable channel?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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If and when anyone asks me what I am—in reference to my racial or ethnic background—I always answer black. I never made a conscious choice to choose the label of black over African American, I just say what feels natural and like an appropriate description considering I have no immediate ties to or specific knowledge of my African ancestry, which is as diverse country to country as the seven continents themselves.

But just because I personally choose to use the word black doesn’t mean I take issue with being referred to as an African American woman. If someone were to ask me if that’s what I was, I would answer yes and go on about my day, but it appears I may be in the minority with that outlook. The semantic debate over the interchangeability of the terms black and African American is rearing its head once again, and members of the community who want to be labeled as black are being quite vocal about that preference.

Eurweb.com recently did a write up on 38-year-old Gibre George, a man in Miami who started a Facebook page titled “Don’t Call Me African-American” to openly state his opinion. Turns out, he’s hardly alone. About 1,900 people have liked his page, and nearly the same number are talking about it. The about statement for the page states, “If you have to call me African then you have to call everyone African,” and in an interview with the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Gibre said the term African American “just doesn’t sit well with a younger generation of black people.”

“We respect our African heritage, but that term is not really us. We’re several generations down the line. If anyone were to ship us back to Africa, we’d be like fish out of water.”

“Africa was a long time ago. Are we always going to be tethered to Africa? Spiritually I’m American. When the war starts, I’m fighting for America.”

Gibre’s last point brings up another label of preference that some black/African Americans prefer, which is simply American. I’ve never been a fan of simply calling myself American. I get the point of erasing racial identity and enthusing solidarity as united citizens of the United States, but my ethnicity has always been more important to me than my nationality—maybe that’s why “black” tends to do it for me nine times out of 10.

I get the idea of being heavily removed from our African heritage, but being disconnected doesn’t mean you can just disassociate with what your ethnic makeup truly is. It’s unfortunate that due to our history in this country, we’re not able to call ourselves sixth generation Italian Americans or ninth generation German Americans like many white people do, but that doesn’t mean that some of us do not have that same type of lineage as African Americans though we’re not aware of the specifics.

The strong aversion to the term African American seems to do less with the term not being applicable and more with concern about how that label is intrinsically linked to our slave past and whether identifying as such makes us less American in others eyes.

Reports say Sean “Diddy” Combs is expanding his empire with plans to launch a music-themed cable network reminiscent of the old MTV but for an African American audience. So basically a new BET, right?

The channel, called Revolt, is expected to launch 12/12/12 and is being promoted as a music and music news channel with an urban skew, and sources say the venture which former MTV programming chief Andy Schuon is involved with is well funded. Comcast will provide distribution as part of its commitment to the FCC to help launch minority owned networks. The company plans to launch 10 channels over the next eight years, including eight Hispanic or African American owned ones.

A Comcast rep didn’t confirm Diddy’s involvement but he said the company hopes to make an announcement soon. Previously, Comcast did announce plans to launch an African American-owned channel by January of 2013 so Revolt could definitely be it. Time Warner is also expected to get in on the distribution which means Revolt could land in 18 millions homes when it launches.

It will be interesting to see what the Bad Boy can do with TV.

What do you think about Diddy and this new Revolt channel? Could it be good for African American media?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Welcome back to my LDC Black Women In Tech profile series.  I’m happy to bring you an interview with a hot entrepreneur named Kimberly Dillon, founder of House of Mikko, a “personalized recommendation engine that helps customers discover the best haircare, skincare, and color beauty products for them, based on their unique features and beauty goals.”  She is quite a trailblazer and certainly one to watch as 2012 kicks off. Here’s a peak inside my  recent conversation with a fellow player in the digital space:

LDC:   I see you’ve been covered by certain mainstream tech/media outlets.  We rarely see the brown face of a tech entrepreneur profiled in these types of outlets.  Why do you think that is, and how did you overcome that hurdle?

As a woman who has both Southern and Caribbean roots, I’m often caught in tug of loyalty as friends or relatives from differing backgrounds lament about the other — especially women. Of course I’d love for us to all get along. As women of the Black Diaspora, we have a lot more in common that we think. Most important, if we want to thrive as a race — particularly since “others” don’t differentiate between our cultural backgrounds — we must learn how work together. Here are some tips on how to ease tensions between African-American and Caribbean women:

1. Stop dealing in generalizations. We must stop assuming we know every person’s back-story. For example, all African-Americans aren’t connected to welfare and all West Indians don’t have multiple jobs. Take the time to get to know a person.

2. Understand the role oppression has played in our worldview. I find Caribbean women quick to say Black American women are lazy, or lack ambition. But they omit a major component: People of color rule most Caribbean countries. (Though, white imperialists still rule the world.) Growing up with a Black prime minister or owner of an oil company reinforces the notion that hard work can lead to success. African-American women have a different experience. Many are grappling with classism and racism, a hope-killing combo.

3. End the jealousy. I’ve heard so many African-American women call Caribbean women uppity. In addition, I’ve been party to a few tirades from West Indian women about how “lucky” Black women here are. The bottom line is simple: Our cultural backgrounds do lend themselves to different perks. For example, many countries in the Caribbean don’t offer credit cards or student loans. So Black American women do have the ability to do things that Caribbean women don’t, such as, finance education. Still, hustling does evoke a sense of pride. That said some West Indian women who have worked their tails off to make through school or to start a business might carry themselves with a sense of accomplishment.

In sum, there’s only one reason African-American and Caribbean women don’t get along: ignorance. If we took the time to embrace each other we’d find that overall we have many cultural similarities. Most important, we have one major thing in common. We are all Black women.

As a Caribbean or African American woman, what stereotypes have other black women projected onto you?

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by Makula Dunbar

When thinking about advertising, the process behind showcasing a great product or service to mass consumers seems simple. First off, it helps to actually have a great universal product. Second, it’s strategizing and creating either a funny, identifiable or emotional message. Lastly, it’s placing the ad on TV, radio, print or the World Wide Web. Sound about right? Not exactly.

In actuality, advertising can be complex. Add a cultural approach to the equation, even more so. Unfortunately, a three-part checklist won’t do the trick. If only each and every consumer was one in the same, what an easy task it would be to get messages across. However, with an estimated U.S. Asian population of 15.5 million and a Hispanic population of 48.4 million, there’s no denying ethnicity and culture is a prevalent staple in everyday life—that deserves recognition.

“The number of corporations that do specific ethnic advertising is still relatively small,” says Burrell Communication co-CEO Fay Ferguson. “Making communications programs beamed at these audiences is not only necessary, but critical.”

McDonald’s Corporation —one of Burrell’s long-standing clients — is an example of one that outsources, allowing the agency to create advertisements for the African-American community.

Hard to Reach

With recent studies, advertisements and agencies pushing cross-cultural communications, it’s a blur as to what multicultural tactics are even effective. Should agencies stretch one message or slogan across cultures without alteration? Should advertisers reach out to individual ethnicities tailoring their brand so that’s it’s culturally relevant? Is it absolutely necessary for advertisers to reach out to every market?

“It’s definitely important for companies to understand that the Latino community is growing. The Asian community is growing as well and if they don’t tap into these communities, they’re going to find themselves in a very small segment in the actual market,” said Alfonso Covarrubias, creative director at multicultural advertising agency Maya.

A Mississippian with HIV/AIDS is almost twice as likely to die from the virus than the average American, and if you are an HIV-positive African-American in the state, the chances of dying are 10 times greater than a white resident.

An article on Salon.com charges that Mississippi not only has the highest new infection rate and greatest percentage of people living with HIV in the country, but also the least interest in helping them, particularly due to racist and homophobic attitudes. Representing only 37.5% of the population, African Americans make up 78% of new HIV infections in Mississippi. Out of a $4.9 million budget, the state only contributes $750,000 to HIV/AIDS programs and an abstinence-education statute bans any programs offering information about condoms to demonstrate how to use them. A lack of anti-discrimination laws also leaves infected individuals vulnerable to discriminatory employment and housing practices.

Advocates are hopeful that the state’s new STD/HIV director, Nicholas Mosca will bring about the necessary change to turn Mississippi’s HIV/AIDS statistics around, but what can a public health advocate do to change the bigoted attitudes underlying the lack of care for these patients?

Are you shocked at the HIV death rate among African Americans in Mississippi? What do you think the state can do to turn this issue around?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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by Charing Ball

Normally I frown upon that kind of dismissal of my passionate soliloquy.  But even the historical plight of the natives has to take a backseat to macroni and cheese and collard greens.  And that folks is probably the number one reason why we celebrate Thanksgiving: we love food. But not just any food but comfort foods like soul food.  How can anyone resist the delicious plates of ribs, candied sweet potatoes or yams, collard greens, fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese, fried okra, oxtails, rice and beans, potato salad, chitterlings and pigs feet, hush puppies, black eyed peas, warm cornbread and grandma’s famous sweet potato pie?  Are you hungry yet?

These soulful meals have become the backbone of the black cuisine. So much so that nutritionists have decided to create a special modified version of the standard food pyramid, called the Soul Food Pyramid, so that it is tailored to the African American diet. For many of us in the black community, soul food speaks to the sordid history we have in this country, but in some instances, acts as a connection we as American Blacks have with the African Diaspora. Foods such as yams, okra and greens can be traced back as early as 4000 BC on the African continent. However, even with all of its historical significance, the Soul food meal has not escaped the scrutiny of health and medical professionals, who blame it for the downfall of the health of the black community.

“Soul Food is a modern day slave diet,” that’s what your cousin Raheem, a recent convert to veganism will tell you.  “Keep eating that fried food and grease and see how long you live,” he says, while side-eying your plate at the family dinner. Raheem has a valid reason to be concerned: black folks are outpacing other groups in the rate of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. But is it fair to blame Soul Food for the all the health ills of our community?

In order for the “it’s the Soul Food” meme to work, we would have to establish first that this is what we eat every single day of our lives. And we know this is not true as the time and energy needed to make a complete Soul Food meal makes it impractical for everyday consumption, which is why it is looked upon as a traditional celebratory meal or occasional meal reserved for big family functions like holidays, reunions and repasses.  For instance, back in the day, the preparation for our soul food inspired holiday dinners would begin at least two days in advance, when my granny, grandmother, mother and I would sit around in the kitchen tearing the collards from the steams, peeling potatoes and snapping peas.  Nothing we prepared and eventually ate during our family meals came from a can or a bag, with exception of the collards, which would be hauled into the house in a trash bags, picked fresh from a local farm.

However our daily diets outside of family dinners where completely different.  Granny and grandma weren’t around and my mothers, who spent most of her waking hours rushing from one job to the next, didn’t always have the time to prepare meals, let alone meals with a bit of soul in it. In essence, our appetite for sweet potato, potato salad and fried chicken were often soothed with Cheetos, Tastykakes, KFC, Burger King, Pepsi and a bunch of other quick and easy dessert foods, which had become so prevalent in the community.

In fact, study after study has shown a direct correlation between one’s poor health and the distance to the nearest fresh-veggie purveyor. Likewise, the cost of fresh ingredients like fruits and vegetables, which is five times as much as processed franken-foods, has made eating healthy a luxury in many poor communities. Matter of fact, I was in the supermarket the other day and gasped when I saw them selling three lemons for $1.99. I could get a 48 ounce bottle of preservatives-laced lemon juice for half the price. Whether we like to admit it or not, those little discrepancies in prices add up. And as such, the overreliance on fast foods to fill daily dinner plates as well as the lack of access to healthier foods has made the average person  more vulnerable to food-related death and disease than grandma’s made-from-scratch ham-hocks and black eyed peas ever could.

A few years back, The Root ran a story about instant soul food and how mass production and distribution has basically diminished the quality of some of the black community’s most beloved comfort foods with things like salt, processed oils, taste enhancers and chemicals to prolong shelf life along with all the advertising costs. Add all these details in with the overall lifestyle shift from intensive physical labor to more sedentary existences and you can certainly see what is truly at the heart of our health crisis.

In the long run, getting back to our family-style Soul Food dinners may do more to ensure a healthier, well rounded diet than all the diet food and tricks in the world.  Not only are we forced to sit down, eat and converse together as a family unit but also forced to prepare and cook meals from scratch – without the fillers and added taste enhancers. There is a reason why Aunt Carol’s brought-from-the-supermarket apple pie never gets touched.

Charing Ball is the author of the blog People, Places & Things.

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by Ramona X

When someone always brings something up, you know it’s a sore spot. Like your friend who is sensitive about other people mentioning their ivy league degrees. Yeah, you know she’s always bringing it up for a reason. On another somewhat related note, I don’t trust rappers who make a point of making a song about the beauty of dark women (ahem, ahem Mos Def). The point is if it’s not an issue, why talk about it all the time? Although differences in shade is a sensitive subject in the Black community, the way to get over it is to be conscious of keeping an open mind to all people. Right?

While the following celebrities may be coping with their hangups by talking about their sensitivity to colorism, we think they’re trying to communicate something different.

Who are the Versailles models of 1973?

Pat Cleveland, Bethann Hardison, Billie Blair, Jennifer Brice, Alva Chinn, Norma Jean Darden, Charlene Dash, Barbara Jackson, China Machado, Ramona Saunders, and Amina Warsuma.

These eleven models took part in the legendary Grand Divertissement à Versailles fashion show held in 1973 at the Palace of Versailles. The show was organized to raise money for the restoration of the palace. It was designed as a true fashion throw-down between five American designers (Halston, Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, and African-American designer Stephen Burrows) and five French designers (Yves Saint Laurent, Christian Dior’s head designer Marc Bohan, Hubert de Givenchy, Emanuel Ungaro and Pierre Cardin).

Since American fashion wasn’t the powerhouse it is today, this was the perfect opportunity for the American designers to make a big impression. And they did. By making a conscious decision to include black models in their presentation (while the French used none) the designers sent a clear message through their clothing and the diverse women modeling them that American fashion was a force and not going anywhere. In addition, the eleven African American models served as an example of the beauty of diversity and ultimately paved the way for black beauties such as Iman, Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks to emerge as supermodels.

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