READ A BOOK

How many of us can honestly say we read books? *raises hand* I do...I mean, not very often, but I am reading one now...(embarrassed to say I've been on the same page for about a week due to being lazy). There was a time when I couldn't keep a book out of my hand, would skip meals to read, and write my own stories--pretending that they would soon be published in some kind of series. I LOVE BOOKS!

But As I got older, I started reading less and less, opting to play a video game, talk on the phone, watch TV, and as of late, surf the net. I've picked up quite a few books over the past year and not been able to finish ONE of them. I always get close...but...

Well, there's a recent controversy concerning this very subject and it has a lot of black folks fuming at the intended message and the way it was delievered.

Bomani Armah, educator, activist, and poet is the mastermind behind one of BET's most controversial videos to hit air: READ A BOOK.

The premise is set up like your average "Lil Jon" video, but with a twist. It's animated. There are guns, cursing, animated video girls, and the like through out the video, and it all seems to be pointing back to the prevelance of these kinds of things in todays hip hop and rap videos.

I've discussed this topic many times on the BET message boards, and I will stand by my initial belief that this video is GENIUS, and was NECESSARY!!!...

I will post some of the ignorant comments toward the video, and follow them with educated and open-minded responses from other BET forum users...sit tight and get ready to "read my little book"...on this controversy.

Ignorant response #1: My family and I just watched the "read a book" video and I thought it was the most shocking and offensive video I ever saw produced and programmed by a company that "serves" the black community. HOW did this video ever get the green light. Or was this video designed to shock some sense in us. To shock our kids how about showing rappers like KrsOne,Talib Kweli, Immortal technique to uplift our kids instead what we witness daily on your network. Don't tell me that the above rappers doesn't fit your demographic. Just program their video's down our throat like you do the rest of the videos you play. As responsible adults our job is intelligently stimulate our kids,not dumb them down. Don't blame the rappers blame our weakness as adults, business leaders and community leaders. Thank God for TV ONE.

Open-minded response: The video was great. A reflection of BET. Anyone who found this offensive must not watch BET much. Nothing is more offensive than the trash they show ech day on 106 and BET all together. The 106 hosts can dance and applaud songs that are degrading to women, but they were in shock when a video with a concept was shown. That is sad.

Ignorant response #2: What is really going on on bet today? I really don't understand why we have cartoon type videos talking about read a book with a black female shaking her behind with "book" written on it and a whole bunch of cursing going on in the song. What kind of message is being put across the minds of our black people and the children’s minds for the most part! it is summer time and kids are home from school and they choose to watch bet and they see that provocative video ("Read a book") and some other bet commercial that I just seen about a man in a store naked showing customers two mirrors and moving the mirrors which reveals his private parts. I think that, that is beyond disgusting. This is bringing me to believe why white people look at us the way that they do! Because these people in the commercials represent us as black people! Now I’m only 17 and I feel betrayed by my own people! Imagine what my elders and ancestors feel like? Knowing that they went through so much just to get us to be able to read a book and now look what we have come to?

Open-minded response: Sometimes the truth hearts BAD, and in this case, people rather try and ignore the hurt and fight through it for the perpose of self satisfaction, meaning, these kids & some of the so called grown ups will not accept the fact that the rap videos and some hip hop videos are destroying the culture today. Instead of facing reallity, they choose to call it entertainment and that's it. Now, as far as this video and the perception people have of it, it's confusing, I can't believe how many people say they hated it, when they see it everyday in other forms, Oh, because it uses more curse word? Or should I say BLEEPS. Any record that requires you to have to bleep out words just shouldn't be played. But I love the concept of the video, the idea, and the controversy it is causing. The entertainment business is full of modern day slaves that don't know they are slaves. So like Harriet Tubman says,,," I have freed 1000's of slaves, and could have freed many more if only they knew they were slaves". I stay on these boards, and have been for a whole year telling people that BET is just bad for kids, and getting worst, I thank this gentleman for bringing this message straight to 'em.

Ignorant response #3, 4, 5: WHAT THE HECK!!!!! That is obscene, and pathetic that someone would create a song to get kids to do positive things, but include sexually explicit images and language that shouldn't be in that song, knowing who the song was directed to. The theme was good, but the presentation was trash. This was probably meant to be a good message, but think about the message that was actually sent. Yours truly, Genesis M.

WHAT A NEGATIVE IMAGE! I FEEL THAT IT VERY WAS DEROGATORY AND STEREO TYPE THE BLACK COMMUNITY. ALL THE PROFANITY AND BOOTY SHAKING WAS VERY NEGATIVE. HOW CAN YOU SHOW THAT VIDEO TO KIDS AS BEING EDUCATIONAL? IT REALLY SHOW HOW IGNORANT SOME PEOPLE CAN BE. IT SEEM TO ME THAT THE MESSAGE PORTRAYED WAS THAT WE AS BLACK PEOPLE ONLY ARE EDUCATED IN GUN PLAY, BOOTY SHAKING, AND PRISON LIFE. THAT VIDEO SHOULD NEVER BE PLAYED AGAIN. LYDRELL N, BAMA.

To all of the employees that work at BET and especially MY BROTHERS AND SISTAS: I just have one question, “Does anyone actually watch the videos before allowing them to be aired on NATIONAL TV????? I mean come on people if that doesn’t scream stereotype I don't know what does. As a proud member of the African-American race I felt very disrespected, embarrassed and most of all betrayed by the only one television station that has the ongoing reputation of representing our race to the highest altitude, but instead you allow this "video" to be aired. TO THE CEO AND ALL EMPLOYEES OF BET I HOPE YOU HAVE RELIAZED THE REFLECTION YOU HAVE INSTILLED ON YOURSELF AND THE REFLECTION YOU HAVE ALLOWED TO BEEN SEEN BY OTHER CONCERNING OUR RACE.

Open-minded responses:

This video was necessary for us to make a change. I liked this video because it got a reaction. The reaction isnt a positive one..but its one that we have to take notice of. The purpose of the video was to bring attention to the idiocy of it all. All it took was a change in medium and some exaggeration to get everyone riled up when in reality we've been watching videos of this nature for some time now. We should be pissed off! Thats the purpose! This isnt who we are! And the truely sad part is.our next generations are growing up to this..Its our duty to change that.
You cannot be mad at the video,..you can only be mad at rappers who created this stereotype because without them this video would not have been possible. There are plenty of videos like this out there. Its all around us!.
All in all..This video is an exaggeration of how hip hop can be. Violence, constant profanites, alcoholism, womenizing, materialism and ignorance. Are we going to let this become the norm?..or will we let the big media kno we dont want to be portayed as people that encourage this? Hate it or love it...the video made its point.

LOL this is causing some uporar eh? first off - this video is nothing but social satire and euphamism done at it's best. second: I loved the video third: why? because i found that d'mite is getting his message accross to the targeted audience. NO not only black people watch BET, and the hegonomy of BET has extended itself to a ridiculous level. Don't restrict or tarnish your arguments based on race. What the video is directed and intended to do is change the hegomony and dominant influence of negative rap and misinformed hip hop "rap" culture. I don't understand why everyone is taking offense to a video that is nothing but a response. Ignorance will breed responses that require adressing. This video is EXACTLY that. Many of you argue that this video is a TERRIBLE way of promoting the virtue of education, because young kids will get offended by the language and profanity. OR that it will do nothing POSITIVE for our community because it perpetuates these "negative" steroetypes about black people. But when 50 cent comes on about his amuesent park singing about Sex using his "magic stick" in euphamism ya'll bump your heads and look the the other way. FACE THE FACTS, BET has done absoultely NOTHING positive to shape the conception of black ethnicity. It is a network, like fox, like BBC, like MTV or anything else = it is designed not to promote ideals, but to MAKE MONEY. ALL these new rappers on here makin money glorifiying false virtue should be directed some attention. But when this guy televises a video (satire BTW) that does nothing but expose the harshness of our realities, everyone jumps on the racist and ANTI black train! if anything, this is the most positive thing to Hit BET IN YEARS! The message is simple; reduce consumerism, make intelligent decions, reduce dependancy, increase productivity, increase self sufficiency and enterprise, and take steps to improving your mind. ANYONE Will know that education sparks informitive decison and thought. As an artist, d'mite can only hope that the audience will intrepret it correctly (just like any other artist). Take what you will, but arguments such as "it's contradicitory to black"; "it's got curse words", "it's bad for kids".....ARE SIMPLY REFUTED; because of the other *73* that BET loves to keep on high rotation. High rotation so they make HIGHER dollars, so that leaks on to clubs so THEY make higher dollars. BET, because it has a network has NO responsibility to promote value, its sole purpose is to create wealth in free market. Think about why you are offended by this video; then ask yourself why you aren't writing letters to BET for misinforming black people or people in general with the BS they regularly air. OH and BTW; 50 cents original's can be find on limewire UNCENSORED. so get off the tip.

and the mother of them all:

not only have seen the READ A BOOK video, I was around for the inception of the song. First let me say, that the artist Bomani Armah is an EDUCATOR, ACTIVIST, ARTIST, FATHER, HUSBAND COMMUNITY LEADER AND OVER ALL EXTREMELY INSIGHTFUL and INTELLIGENT brother who I would tell ALL young men to listen to, learn from and emulate. He is also a CRITICAL THINKER. Which clearly most of the people on this site are not. I am not shocked by this after all these are folks who regularly watch 106 & Park. However, as a friend of Bomani's and his family I have to say I AM BAFFLED at the lack of insight we have. The fact that we are appalled by cursing but not appalled by the low aspirations of our children who only want to emulate these rappers, athletes and N*gg'as who make it RAIN on B*thces is saddening. Children who spend the entire day after school (if they went at all) staring at THESE VIDEOS. If your child were not spending every waking hour tuned into BET this video would probably be a lot less interesting them. IF YOUR CHILD IS WATCHING BET UNSUPERVISED, YOU MIGHT BE A BAD PARENT! IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO SEE THAT EVERYTHING AIRED on BET NOT ONLY CONTAINS THE SAME “LANGUAGE” AS READ A BOOK BUT ALSO INSTRUCTS YOUR KIDS TO NOT READ A BOOK BUT "BUY HER A DRINK, GET HER DRUNK AND TAKE HER HOME" OR POP, DROP AND LOCK IT OR MAKE IT RAIN ON SOME *27*ES IN A STRIP CLUB, YOU MIGHT BE A STUPID PARENT. IF YOU ARE WRITING ABOUT THIS VIDEO AND HAVE NOT HAD A DISCUSSION WITH YOUR KIDS ABOUT IT, YOU MIGHT BE AN IRRESPONSIBLE PARENT.
The video was meant to shine a light on the contradictions we embrace as a community. The point was, " How unfortunate that the only way to infuse a message of substance in our culture is to wrap it in HO's, *27*es, and Rims. But we have created that. We have allowed it to permeate our televisions, our radio stations, and our children’s brains. Now if we want to teach them the alphabet we should line up some strippers, bend them over and spray paint it across their bouncing asses! OF COURSE, IT IS SATIRE. Let me define SATIRE for those who do not know what it means:
Satire: the use of wit, especially irony, sarcasm, and ridicule, to attack the vices and follies of humankind
People who are taught to be critical thinkers, understand subtext; understand what something is saying without them actually saying it, understand this point. The video wasn't for them it was FOR YOU! School teacher who doesn't even get it. The reason our kids listen to the current crap that exists on the radio is because we have failed to teach them CRITICAL THINKING skills. They don’t understand subtext. Which is why you can’t say I need Sexual Healing, like Marvin Gaye. You have to say, “I want to *8* you, On the Floor” like Akon or the following excerpt from the Number 4 song on Billboards HOT 100 “A BAY BAY:
She Trying To See Where Imma Be.You Gonna Let Me Get Up InYour Mouth Well Dats Where Imma Beyou gon let me get up in your mouthwell thats where imma beI Don't Pop Trunk Wit Lights DatsWhere Dey Choppa Be. Straight To The HotelDone Fell Out In Da Dance FloorAnd Now I can't get upJs On Your Feet But You Cant Get TheseLouis Vatton brown White, And Yellowtrick pleaseIll Go To Saint Louis Let My Chain Hang LowCanary Yellow Diamonds Mixed Wit Rose GoldI Shine Real Bright In Da Light Because Im A Star8 Shots Of Patrons Now I'm Standin' on Da BarProbably Get Drunk as a skunkN put da keys in da wrong carAll Da Bad Chick Followin' Me
Now let’s ignore the fact that I haven’t seen English dialect like this since the first slave learned to write back in 1798, nevertheless, good sweet kind Hurricane Chris never curses but he has by the end of this song fellated the girl or several girls at the club, purchased a small home worth of jewelry (at a cost that the average LEGAL income does not allow for) and then proceeds to get very drunk and drive home in the WRONG CAR! BUT THANKS FOR NOT CUSSING CHRIS!!!!! Way to go!
PLEASE PEOPLE, teach your children. Teach them what satire means. Teach them to be people who are capable of ANALYZING THE WORLD THEY LIVE IN,THE VIDEOS THEY WATCH, THINK CRITICALLY ABOUT THEIR LIVES AND WHAT THEY ARE BEING TOLD TO BELIEVE ABOUT THEMSELVES, THEIR CULTURE, and THEIR COMMUNITY. Puppets only listen and don’t think. Stop raising puppets! And in the words of my favorite NOT A RAPPER. READ A BOOK, READ A BOOK, READ A FUTHAMUCKIN BOOK!!!

myspace.com/sonyareneeisreal
www.sonyareneeis.com

Big ups to Sonya for keeping it REAL for REAL and dropping that knowlede. My comments only reiterate their statements. But people need to stop bitchin and moaning and realize that a mirror is being put up to our faces...and like I told this one girl..."Just like kids are watching READ A BOOK, they are at the house watching 'Buy U a Drank', 'Shawty', 'Amusement Park', 'Coffee Shop' etc....you tell me what's the difference..."

For those of you who haven't seen the R.A.B. video, I'm pretty sure it's on Youtube (and not goin anywhere any time soon). It's also on BET's webpage and I believe there may be a link to his myspace page in Sonya's response.

And with that...I'm OUT!