Although I make it a point to avoid watching 85 percent of the award shows on TV (including the MTV Video Music Awards), I did learn two things about Sunday’s show from my friends on social media. First, the VMAs were pretty lame until Beyoncé shut the show down with an amazing performance. And second, Blue Ivy Carter stole everyone’s heart with her incredible cuteness.
Post-show, everyone from ABC to TMZ had nothing but positive things to say about the much-maligned Carter-Knowles family. These predominantly white media outlets actually had little problem promoting the concept of Black love, all while showcasing a beautiful Black girl confidently rocking her amazing Afro. But in the midst of our collective adoration for the “First Family of Black Entertainment,” ignorance, as always, reared its ugly-ass head in the form of ridiculing and shaming a probably-oblivious Blue Ivy for her “unkempt” hair. But here’s the real joke: The comment came from Black Entertainment Television — the network that’s suppose to represent and advocate for African Americans.
Honestly, I haven’t watched an episode of “106 & Park” since Free and AJ left, and I don’t follow talentless “celebrities,” so I’m not sure why Karreuche Tran would have been featured on the show. I don’t understand what the point of that segment was, and I definitely don’t get why Tran was hosting it, especially since her sole claim to fame is being Chris Brown‘s on-again-off-again girlfriend. But, what I do know is that making fun of a Black child’s natural hair was NOT the intellectual creation of Tran. It was a decision made and supported by the staff at “106th & Park,” and BET in general.
Look, if you want to throw a solar eclipse of shade Tran’s way, go ahead. All I ask is that you remember that she is nothing more than the vapid vessel used to communicate a joke about a Black child’s nappy-headedness, which was written by Black folks and displayed over the airwaves of “our” Black TV channel. While Tran read the offensive joke, there’s a sea of Negroes — from show-runners to producers — who wrote it, approved it, and made sure it aired. Instead of honoring Bey’s incredible performance, discussing the power of seeing America’s major white media displaying a Black father’s love for his daughter, or just simply basking in Blue’s adorableness, we get picky-head jokes from the station that is supposed to have OUR backs.
But, it also must be said that we play an important role in shading Blue Ivy, because there are far too many Black folks in our community who degrade their hair in its natural state, as well. Hell, the reason BET even felt comfortable making that joke on “106 & Park” is because we made this young girl’s coils a topic of conversation — which is absolute bullshit.
To some people, this is a non-issue about some airhead getting on TV and making a stupid joke about Beyoncé, but to believe that, is to miss the larger issue at play here. Right now, Blacks in America are on the precipice of achieving real societal change based on the fact that we are angry, fed up, and ready to be fully involved in making a difference in our communities. Men and women, young and old, are now using words like revolution, and changing their past apathy to action. The importance of major Black media outlets has never been more apparent than right now. The need for keeping revolutionaries informed has never been more relevant than now. Yet “our” major TV network is dedicating its time to bullying young Black girls for their kinky hair, as opposed to promoting positivity and helping us in our fight for equality — and that’s a big deal.
LAB
Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.