Source: WorldStarHipHop

Whenever I see something ignorant – be it on television or in real life – my first instinct is to yell out “WorldStarHipHop” – all one word – even if I don’t have a camera.

Seriously, that site is where the pinnacle of debauchery and other questionable human behavior. Yet it is so hard to look away. Yeah I know, I am part of the problem; however according to the 500 million impressions the site owner reportedly says he gets a day, I know for a statistical fact, that I am not the only one. We try to honor our morals and convictions and boycott the site. However all it takes is for someone to post via social networking a WorldStar link with a catchy title like Stripper Eats It Hard When Pole Splits Into Two and you’re like, Oh Hell, ain’t nothing going on at my work desk right now, let me just turn down the volume and see this real quick...One hour and fifteen minutes later, you have just witnessed and perused through hours of videos of a man a chicken; a butt unclothed man tearing up a gas station while another man, recording him, sings very humorously Black Man Don’t Care; and an instructional video on how to have sex on an giant exercise ball.

The videotaped beatings are the most interesting; particularly the sheer audacity and ignorance of some in these videos, who are willing to not only capture these beatings on tape but upload them for the whole world to witness as they, more often than not, commit a crime. Talk about dry-snitching. And what exactly do you get from all this attention besides a nice photo for police and the prosecutors and the fleeting moment of being a world star? I guess it is worth it for some.

For instance, Jaden Ethridge, a high school student, who submitted a video to WSHH of him, “smacking a heaux” after an intense lunchroom argument spills into the school’s hallway. In the video we see Ethridge anxiously arguing with an anonymous young woman, whose face has been blurred. While we don’t know what sparked this argument, what we can gather is that Ethridge is annoyed with his female opponents threats, including daring the young man to hit her, and warns her that, “if I gets mad, you’re going to get smacked.” After a few more nonsensical exchanges, the video fades to black screen and the audio cues to the intro of “Smack Dat Heaux,” in which Soulja Boy, a child himself advises other young men around the world to “pimp smack that heaux…get your respect, you feel me?” The visual portion of the video returns and Ethridge is now knuckling up with who I believe is the same blurry face girl from the cafeteria. In one of his flurry of wild punches, he manages to catch the anonymous girl across the head, which is then rewound and mixed to a chorus of “pimp smack that heaux.”

You would expect Ethridge and his female opponent to receive condemnation for acting a fool in school when they were supposed to be studying. At least that was the normal response from adults growing up when they learned that I was involved in similar schoolyard fight situations. However even with the cautionary title It’s Not Okay to Hit A Girl: This Boy was Fed Up During Argument, most of the comments, which are now disabled, appear to make a joke out of the beatdown. Likewise Ethridge, unperturbed that he has actually done something shameful, revels in all of the attention, even tweeting and re-tweeting messages of congratulations for making it to the site and for throwing a mean right, including this satirical (I hope) message, “Do you have a heaux that needs sum pimp slapping done? Call Jalen at 1-800-SlapAHo.”

Men hitting women, or in this instance, boys hitting girls, is not a new phenomenon. However, men and boys hitting women and girls on camera and then taking bows over the act seems like a relatively newish thing. I don’t know if WSHH is totally to blame for that as some could argue that certain rappers like Too Short have been promoting the “smack a heaux” culture for some time now. However the site does appear to be a clearinghouse for this sort of anti-social and non progressive attitudes around violence towards women.

Perhaps it is the aid of technology like WSHH, which has made us more susceptible to seeing some violent acts against women as a cause and effect problem instead of a blanket condemnation. After all, it was her smart-mouth and needling of him, which caused Ethridge to throw up his fist and basically knock her down, right? Except Ethridge didn’t have to be in that situation. He could have decided to not argue with the young woman. He could have also walked away. And even if he was left with little choice but to defend himself, where is the regret in having to do so? The idea of hitting a woman used to be thought of as an act of last resort (and the work of abusers), certainly nothing to celebrate. Instead little Spike Lee here goes home with his video trophy of his victory, pulled out his windows movie maker, does some editing, lays down a soundtrack and then uploaded to a site, which receives over 500 million impressions a day. I’m pretty certain this was not about defending himself, or even misguided attempt at gender equality. This was about notoriety and fame. This was about going viral on the internet. And more importantly, this was about doing something so daring, which could propel a person to the title of World Star.

Long before WSHH, there was television, movies, video games, the world news and even what they saw outside (and inside in more tragic circumstances) their homes, which provided people many avenues to become desensitized to gratuitous violence of any form. However sites like WSHH offer a home for this kind of violence to not only exist but also feel welcomed. But as easy as it would be to condemn WSHH and Ethridge for that matter, there is a bigger message about how none of this culture of violence, particularly violence against women, will ever change as long as we continue to view these acts as entertainment. I mean, 500 million impressions a day?

Twitter and Facebook are going to be the death of black people—in some instances it already has been. And while I know we are hardly the only ones using the social networking sites we are the biggest users and unfortunately too many of us are using it for violent foolishness.

Today there’s a story that’s been picked up about a 30-person brawl of all women in St. Louis that surprisingly only left two people with major injuries after they were hit with bats and required a trip to the hospital for stitches. “Police say one of the women in the group broke a glass candleholder from a nearby memorial and used it as a weapon before heading into the convenience store.” And you know what this was all over? Facebook. And though you might expect witnesses to say something along the lines of, “this is ridiculous,” “I don’t understand what this is about,” or something similar, CBS local news quoted a woman as saying, “People shouldn’t be posting their business on Facebook.” Well, that’s part of it. The other part is people shouldn’t be fighting over Facebook period.

It’s interesting that I came across this story because just yesterday one of my friends asked me if I’d seen the drama that had erupted on his Twitter timeline. I had not and so he filled me in on how he had apparently been talking about some personal experiences from his college years that involved cheating, unplanned pregnancies, and miscarriages (I don’t know if he called himself doing a Twitter testimonial or what) and although he’d left any identifying personal details, somehow someone he knew picked up on the story and twitter hell broke loose. By the end of the day he had gotten a few nasty calls from the friend who’d seen the tweets, the girl he had written about, and Facebook threats from the girl’s current boyfriend. I joked with him that he was a World Star Hip Hop video waiting to happen but the reality is he truly was.

In a lot of ways there’s a need for accountability on both sides of the coin. The “Internet balls” phenomenon is alive and well and many social media users trick themselves into thinking they can say whatever they please online when it comes to real-life circumstances simply because they’re behind the safety of a computer screen (for the moment) and that’s certainly not OK. But it’s also not acceptable to migrate an Internet beef into a brawl in the streets over comments that 1. May or may not be directed at you, 2. No one else probably knows are directed at you, 3. Are just not that serious. Just last week we saw the violent viral video of the teen dragging another girl out of the house and beating and stomping her all the way into the front yard over Twitter. At some point we have to realize what’s more important—our future as a free law-abiding citizen or checking someone over something 25 people probably noticed on the Twitterverse.

Although I’m sure there have been instances of white folks coming to blows over Internet beef we seem to be the main perpetrators of this trend and ironically I think it has to do with some black people’s need to protect their image. It’s interesting because we talk about the negative images we’re tired of seeing on this site all day, but some people are so concerned with defending their reputation and the image people have of them that when it’s disrespected or challenged online it becomes as real as if someone were saying it directly to their face. I think this phenomenon also speaks to the inherent anger people are harboring inside or they’re simply looking for a reason to get into it. If by the time you get through reading someone’s timeline or trying to find their latest posts on Facebook and when you get in your car and over to wherever the other person is, you still feel like beating the brakes off of them over a few words, you may need to sign up for the Tami Roman school of anger management. It’s just not worth it boo boo.

I’m certainly not about Internet thugging but the violent manner in which these situations are being handled—and increasingly by women—just isn’t worth it. Internet beef needs to be kept and squashed online so you can go about your real life sensibly.

Why do you think so many people are quick to fight in real life over things said over the Internet?

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

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Source: Vibevixen.com

Yesterday, one of my friends asked me If I’d seen a World Star Hip Hop (WSHH) video of some girl beating up another girl over Twitter and as soon as I said no, I looked at my feed and it was lit up with tweets on the fight.

After watching the brutal clip, all I could think was one, if someone came to my house questioning me with another person videotaping it, I would close my door with a quickness. The second was are these people not afraid of being caught showing their faces on-camera? If they’re not, they should be because police have increasingly been using WSHH to find criminals and the perpetrator in this fight, Tashay D. Edwards, is now added to the list.

The viral video didn’t lead to Tashay’s arrest but it ruins any chance of her denying the altercation. According to the Chronicle-Telegram newspaper in the Cleveland suburb of Elyria, “Tashay D. Edwards, 19, 100 block Spring St., [was] arrested and charged with assault and violation of a temporary protection order. A woman, who said she has had ongoing problems with Edwards, said Edwards repeatedly punched her and ripped her shirt off.”

The arrest actually happened a month ago on March 19 and that’s exactly what’s shown in the WSHH video as Tashay approaches the victim, questions her momentarily over “being disrespectful on Twitter,” and then punches, stomps, and drags her off of her porch into the yard. It’s odd that the video just made it’s way to WSHH yesterday, but it definitely caught on quickly. By the afternoon 2 million people had viewed it. Hopefully this video makes the assault charges stick. I think I speak for most people when I say viewers will sleep better knowing this girl has been arrested.

Watch the clip at your own risk. Definitely NSFW (or much else.)

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

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A little over a week ago, a friend sent me a video of two teenage girls in Gainesville, FL, going on a 14-minute rant about black people and everything that’s wrong with them and I wondered how long it would be before they were attacked for the things they were saying. Last week, eight police officers were brought to the Gainseville High School campus where they attended due to death threats they’d received in response to the video, and now principal David Shelnutt says the two are “no longer students at the school.”

The principal didn’t go into specifics about the disciplinary action taken against the students, but he did say, “There’s no place for comments like that here at GHS…there’s no place for that in the Alachua County Public School System, and my opinion, no place for that in society in general.”

The girls admitted to being harassed  for making comments about why black people talk, act, and dress the way they do, and they said they feared for their lives, with one girl reportedly hiding out at a relative’s home. The girls and one of their mother’s issued a formal apology in the Gainesville Sun, saying:

“I am one of the girls who were in the racist video that got posted. I’m writing this so that I can tell people how truly sorry I am. I could never, in a million years, have pictured this happening with me involved. I wasn’t raised to hate people for their race, and I still don’t. I made a horrible decision in being a part of this video … “

The second girl’s mother also attempted to make a plea for her daughter’s safety, but I’m curious where either parent thinks their child learned their hateful ways. She said:

“While we can never take back the words and actions that these two children have said, we have to start to heal and forgive IMMEDIATELY. Stop the violent threats to our homes and our children, stop the anger, because this will solve absolutely nothing, and most importantly, look at yourself for change and love.”

The high school is expected to wear orange this week, which is the color of racial tolerance, as a sign of solidarity against the hatred portrayed in the video. Meanwhile those two should be looking into other schools or considering home schooling as an option.

Check out the video here and tell us what you think. Do you think the school was right to expel the girls?

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

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At the beginning of the year, a video of an uncle spanking his nephew for his gang involvement went viral on the internet. But just last week, the teen in the video, Michael Taylor, the recipient of his uncle’s lashes was found dead, not far from the apartment complex where he lived in with his mother.

The Times-Picayune reported that Taylor, 16, was found dead at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Michael’s mom, Kimberly Ward, told the newspaper that Michael received a text message from one of his friends and  stepped outside the house at around 8 p.m. to talk.

Ward, concerned that her son was outside too long, called him back inside. Michael told her he was just talking and stepped back outside. Later, Ward’s daughter received a text message saying that her brother had been shot and then another saying that he was dead.

The Times-Picayune:

Ward said she rushed from the house, driving around the neighborhood looking for her son, but didn’t find him until she was coming back to her apartment complex. That’s when she saw his body on the cold sidewalk clad in the red sweatshirt she’d noticed when he left the house.

“I came home and saw my son on the ground,” Ward said.

The Picayune reported that Ward was trying to figure out where she went wrong in raising her child.

Losing a son at 16 is an unfathomably devastating loss. She said that her son was “guilty by association” because of his involvement with gang members. Naturally, we didn’t know Michael’s life or what factors contributed to his death; but, I’m inclined to think the video of his uncle spanking him may have had something to do it.

When that video hit the web, people applauded his uncle, claiming that Michael needed that physical intervention. I understood the sentiment behind the uncle’s actions. He was trying to save his nephew’s life. Scare him straight.

But Stacey Patton, founder of the web site SparetheKids.com told Black America Web that after that video, she’s not surprised that Michael’s life ended violently.

When I saw the video, I kept thinking that by beating this youth, the uncle was setting him up for some kind of tragedy, either prison or an early grave.

I, too felt like Michael’s uncle was setting him up but not because of the spanking itself. Many of us have caught a spanking, beating or whooping or two in our lives and it didn’t cause us to turn to violence. The difference between us and Michael though, is the fact that his spanking was broadcast for the whole world to see.

If you’ve ever experienced corporal punishment at the hand of a parent, you know that there is a feeling of embarrassment afterward. Sometimes it’s because you recognize that you’ve acted a fool; but most of the time, it’s because being hit, by anyone, especially someone you can’t hit back, is a very…humbling experience, an experience that should remain private.

When I first saw the video I thought, ‘ok, you’re trying to teach your nephew a lesson but what is the point of uploading such a humiliating video onto the internet? Are you the one trying to be seen?’

You remember how hard it was being a teenager, how image was everything, how we spent excessive time and energy trying to appear cool. What do you think a video of you getting your behind tore up would do for your image?

Now, consider the fact that Michael was a young, black male already involved with gangs! For the better part of this year he was defined by a video so detrimental to his image and self confidence. If anything this downright embarrassing video probably propelled him even deeper into a life of crime, trying to prove his strength and street credibility.

WTF was his uncle thinking about?

With new technological advances comes greater responsibility. If you want or need to discipline your child or your family member, fine. But keep that in your house. We strangers don’t need to be a part of that. I can’t help but think that Michael’s uncle was trying to get a little shine from this whole incident. Clearly, this is not the way to do it. Becoming a You Tube/ World Star Hip Hop sensation is cool, but at what cost?

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When the FLOTUS told Sasha’s friend that she was going to appear on iCarly, the little girl didn’t believe her. I guess she doesn’t understand the gravity of the position she holds. She’s the first lady of the United States, wife to the president. But to that little girl, she’s probably just Sasha’s mom.

We know that Michelle Obama is the first lady but we can’t help but feel like we can relate to her. She’s smart, she’s classy, she’s authentic and judging from some of the behind the scenes footage of her time at iCarly, she’s fun!

Check out the video from her appearance on the show below:

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(Eurweb) — *50 Cent took credit for the sudden shutdown of popular rap blog World Star Hip-Hop yesterday morning…although it was back up and running hours later with the tag, “Website Officially Open for Business.”  According to theboombox.com, many in the hip hop community attributed the site’s temporary disappearance to the Department of Homeland Security’s fierce war on piracy that shut down hip-hop sites like OnSmash and Rap Godfathers in an online raid last fall. But then 50 Cent sent out a tweet that took credit for World Star Hip-Hop’s sudden pause.

Read More…