BET's Cita

[Soulful Soror]

Hey y'all...I've been away for a minute, but am back & wanted to comment on the Cita/dark skin-light skin/BET thang...oh, wait...CONGRATS, Soror Akatude on starting your new life as a married lady ...Ok, now back to my comments...I'll admit it--Cita has said things from time to time that tickled me...but, I think overall she isn't a very good representation of us...especially, when it's probably mostly impressionable kids (K-12th grade), who think it's HOT to be GHETTO FAB , that's watching her...However, on another note..I think that show "Oh Drama" totally contrasts with what some of us are saying about how light skinned/dark skinned sistah's act on TV...Lawd, that KIM , does she EVER act like she got some d@mn sense? And, can she shut up for 2 seconds?!! The other chile (with the ringlet hairstyle)..I don't even know her name (that's how memorable SHE is--I know she's been in movies & on other shows)...she just seems like a dang groupie that slept with the right man in charge to get on the show...Now, Soror Vanessa (yes, I'm biased)..but, even if I wasn't an AKA...or if SHE wasn't an AKA, I'd still look at her as the only somebody on that show with some class! And, look-a-dair (there)...she dark skin-ded! Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there shouldn't be some comedy on the show (Kim), but you don't see Oprah acting a d@mn fool...constantly interrupting her guests & just being an overall distraction..this is just the $.08 of a dark complexioned sistah-soror..

[This message has been edited by Soulful Soror (edited June 10, 2001).]

[ChaosDST]

Just stopped in to see what was going on This is a good topic. Black Enslavement Television is a huge disappointment. It was less of a travesty back in the days of Video Soul and Video Vibrations (you all remember those shows). The images were more well rounded and positive--the problem is that they ONLY showed videos.
NOW, BET shows raunchier videos (making our people look like uncontrollable animals who do nothing but bop our heads to beats and hump one another)...BET shows more news oriented programs...and,of course BET still shows Bobby Jones Gospel (praise the Lord). But, the trade-off for shows like Lead Story, BET Tonight, and Bobby Jones is that we are being pimped.
95% of the time, we are fed stereotypes and debauchery...the remaining 5% there is an attempt to uplift us----at a time when they KNOW that an overwhelming majority of our people under the age of 30 will NOT be viewing. BIG PROBLEM!

Greek Love!
DSTDeuce
Spring 98

[KnowledgeEternal]

Just for the record BET is owned by Viacom. The same company that owns:

MTV
MTV2
Nickelodeon
VH1
TNN
Showtime
The Movie Channel
Comedy Central
Paramount Pictures
UPN
CBS
Infinity Broadcasting
Blockbuster Video
and many more..

Judging by the other channels that they own I highly doubt that the uplifting of the African American race is high on their to-do list.

BTW, Viacom is not a Black owned company, and they are the reason why Tavis Smiley is no longer on the air. I could go into it but I don't think anyone wants to read one of my ridiculous rants about how these Oligopolies are controlling the media and how powerful they are when it comes to influencing the populous and how they are basically above the law. I know no one wants to hear about that.

[This message has been edited by KnowledgeEternal (edited June 11, 2001).]

[AKA2D '91]

Did you all know that Essence Magazine sold some of its shares to a non-AA conglomerate?

I heard Bob Johnson say this on C-Span when he was discussing BET and all that "stuff".

[shida25]

Well, I agree that BET wa a bit out of line about how ghetto and project that Cita is. Yet, what can you expect? As long as people think that the lighter the better, then that's what will happen. I am a medium skinned african american woman and I love my skin color. I love all skin colors. I also believe that Black comes in all shades, and black is black. Stereotypical or not, blacks must learn to bond toghether to end the racisim in our own culture before we expect anyone else to. Just my thoughts....

[Kimmie1913]

I also feel Cita is a terrible representation of Black Womanhood no matter what her complexion. I do wonder, however, whether or not complexion played a role in her design.

The question of BET and its use of light skinned v. dark skinned sisters is not a new one. As a freshman in college, (1991) a BET representative came to my campus and was basically blasted by the students over this very issue. At the time all of the females on the station were more light except one. I am not surprised that the issue continues today. In most mass media, light skinned women have been favored. Only more recently has it been considered "in" by the media (the media, not me) to be dark skinned. African American complexions are treated like a fad and a trend. It is cool to be dark or light depeninding on the year and has come and gone like stillettos and micro minis. I think it is horrible that something so fundamental and unchangeable as complexion is treated as a fad. It demeans us as a race and jeopardizes our children's self esteem.

Another quick observation- In the media, they almost always pair a couple in advcertising so that the nman is darker than the woman.

As a very fair skinned Black woman (fair enough that people ask who is the White girl in the chapter when I step- ignorant a@@es! Don't they how diverse this rainbow is? Can't they see this kinky hair up here?) I used to pray to go to sleep and wake up dark when I was a child. I think we damage each other on all sides of the spectrum.

Bottom line- I think America and Black Americans are still very colorstruck. I also think BET has gone far afield of its potential and is not likely to ever get back on the right path. And if the creation of Cita was not a red flag about that, I don;'t know what is!


3 BMAC Sp 99

[mccoyred]

Watz up, Soror Kim!

I must say that this observation is right on point. The media seems to think that the light-skinned woman/dark-skinned man is the ideal representation. You rarely see the opposite pairing like me and my husband. In fact, in real life, I observe the brown- or dark-skinned woman/light-skinned man more often.

I also have observed that when two Black females are paired as buddies or even sisters, the 'good/nice/rich' one is light-skinned and the 'bad/mean/poor' one is dark-skinned. One of the most glaring examples is "Martin" (or any other show/movie w/ Tisha Campbell!).

We cannot let the media define who we are and how we should view the beautiful range of hues in our race!

Originally posted by Kimmie1913:

Another quick observation- In the media, they almost always pair a couple in advcertising so that the nman is darker than the woman.


3 BMAC Sp 99

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