40 years ago in Memphis

Almost 40 years ago in Memphis, the great man that was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. passed out of this world and into the next. Hearing his widow speak about the details of her experience on the day of his death nearly brought me to tears.

We will always remember Dr. King's dream, the idea. The idea is immortal, our children, and our children's children will know the idea, they will teach it to their children, and they will live for and because of it everyday. But, What about the man? Not the activist, or the pastor, or the legend; but the man. Mrs. King is no longer with us, and one day their children will join them. When they are gone, who will remember the man?

The man who played in his father's pulpit as a boy. The man who kissed his children goodnight and told them how much he loved them. The man who despite his human flaws, developed the immortal idea.

So every third Monday in January, I will be of service to my fellow man. I will observe the ideals of Freedom and Equality, the idea that will always be with us. But every January 15Th I will weep for the person, the mortal, the man who was taken from his family.

The Price of Freedom

I was not surprised to find that the subject of the round table discussion, though filmed ten years ago was still relevant today. I think that since the mid 1980's the overall growth and achievement of the African-American community as a whole has seemed stagnant from what I have been able to gather through reading literature from the past and present, and talking to my mentors and professors. It seems as though the quality of life has improved ten fold for a select few in the black community, declined ten fold for a few, and remained the same for the great majority of black Americans.

We all know the problems, but where are the solutions? Though the round table panel did an excellent job outlining the problems among African-Americans and the root of those problems, only 30 seconds per participant was allotted to discuss what they thought were the solutions to those problems. I feel that this speaks volumes. I feel that this lack of being solution oriented as opposed to problem oriented is one of the reasons we have been bogged down under the weight of tradition, lack of motivation, and short sightedness in the black community. I would love to see programs where we discuss what we think are the solutions to the biggest problems among African-Americans.

I would also like to see black Americans become proactive instead of reactive. We do not have to wait until a problem puts our backs against the wall to begin solving it. For example many people feel that jobs are leaving the U.S. That is not true! In fact the number of jobs in this country are on the rise, and have almost always increased, but these jobs are in service industries not in manufacturing. Seeing this trend we as black people should as a community try to educate our youth so that they will be qualified for these service jobs. We are always crying about how there is nowhere for an honest man to work anymore, but that is a fallacy. There are plenty of places, but Cone Mills or the Ford plant are not on the list. We better get prepared before we find ourselves as a community not qualified for any of the jobs available.

Dr. Calvin Mackie, did a great job, in my opinion tapping into the spirit of young people and motivating them. Unfortunately, as some of you who were there may have gathered while we were watching the video, I heard him give that speech verbatim at an event last year; therefore, it has lost some of it's magic for me. I will conclude by saying that everyday, we should "wake up running" as Dr. Mackie says; but every night we should decide to what place we are running. Plans change and people must change with them; yet if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

On the up and up at the N & O

News and Observer crime reporter Stan Chambers had an intriguing presence, with his aviator style sunglasses and leather jacket featuring a popped collar, as he shared his brand of wisdom with the class Wednesday. Chambers displayed a love for his career and an enthusiasm to answer our questions.

As an African-American man who works a crime beat, I wonder if he ever feels any uneasiness in writing about the usual suspects? Do the families of the victims he writes about tend to look like him? If only I had asked.

Facebook Dot Com

Mark Zuckerberg, former Harvard student and architect of Facebook was painted as the new fad of the tech world. Christened the "Toddler CEO", Zuckerberg seemed to be condescended to and belittled by Lesley Stahl. The angle from which 60 Minutes choose to cover this story gives further credence to the idea that the established forces of any profession, or area; fear and therefore dislike anything new and different.

Maybe Facebook is just today's hot topic and tomorrow will be yesterday's news. Maybe Facebook will be around 100 years from now, and the way we use it today will pale in comparison to the future. Whichever the case my be Facebook is here right now and making a big impact on the way people communicate; and CBS, Google, and MySpace must just get used to it.

Shock TV Still Shocks Me

After Strange Love led to Flavor of Love, and Flavor of Love led to I Love New York, one would think I would no longer be surprised by the shows networks will put on television. But, when it came to my attention that Steve the long time head of security on the Jerry Springer Show, is now the host of his own show where he takes "Springer Like" guests to task for their questionable behavior to say the least; I must confess I was shocked!

Now I will watch anything at least once, just so I can say I've exposed myself to as many things in the media as possible, but I am finding that the older I get, the less TV I want to watch. For most people this would not be a problem, and a stranger reading this would say at this point "if you don't like it, don't watch it, and shut up", but the dilemma I find myself in is caused solely by the fact that I aspire to make media my profession. So to that end, I'll continue to watch Bill O'Riley until I've screamed so much I've lost my voice. I'll continue to watch Tiffany Pollard's search for love until her theatrics make me question if BET's Un Cut was more kind to the reputation of African-American Women. And, due mostly to the writer's strike, I'll even watch Steve hand out his brand of "Dr. Phil like" advice with an extra dose of assertive attitude.

Despite media programing habits and American viewing habits, my greatest enigma where media is concerned is how does Tiffany Pollard feel when she is watching herself on Television? How does Bill O'Riley feel when he's walking the streets and overhears people commenting negatively on his brand of news? And how do I feel when my peers and mentors criticize a song or show I know I love, but choose to keep quiet about at the time because I am ashamed its misogynistic lyrics or negative images entertain me? How much of ourselves have we given up as viewers, consumers, actors, and industry professionals to the media? Is that piece of our self, no matter how slight, a small price to pay for money, ratings, advertising, products, and escape from reality?

What performers are willing to do, viewers are willing to watch, and advertisers are dieing to pay for; now that is really shock TV. And although I am just as big a part of it as everyone else, it still shocks me.

Why I'm Taking Mass Media and Society

I decided to take this class for several reasons. Beside the fact that it is required for my major, I desire to gain as much knowledge as possible, particularly in the Media Field. I am always looking to expand my horizons, and I have heard that Mr. Brett Chambers is the type of instructor that will assist me in my quest.