CNNs Black in America w/ Soledad O'brien: July 19-27

[knight_shadow]

Bumpity bump.

This popped up on my T_witter. They're showing "Black In America: Almight Debt." Here are the upcoming times:

CNN Thu, Oct 21 9:00 PM
CNN Fri, Oct 22 12:00 AM
CNN Fri, Oct 22 3:00 AM
CNN Sat, Oct 23 8:00 PM
CNN Sat, Oct 23 11:00 PM

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/bla...iref=allsearch

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Bumpity bump.

This popped up on my T_witter. They're showing "Black In America: Almight Debt." Here are the upcoming times:

CNN Thu, Oct 21 9:00 PM
CNN Fri, Oct 22 12:00 AM
CNN Fri, Oct 22 3:00 AM
CNN Sat, Oct 23 8:00 PM
CNN Sat, Oct 23 11:00 PM

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/bla...iref=allsearch

Thanks for giving me a chance to vent.

I might not watch this show because the commercials that aire on CNN are annoying. O'Brien asks "is debt a bigger problem than racism?" Seriously, CNN, is that what every topic involving Black people boils down to? The simplistic question of "how does this compare to racism?" One of the clips for the commercial (I'm sure they edited it to grab our attention for the commercial) responds to O'Brien's question with "racism does not stop Black folks from saving money." Ummm...duh...but the income gap that keeps Americans living paycheck to paycheck is highly correlated with race and therefore not divorced from the structure of race and class inequalities in this country. And the average American (the average American is also white) lives paycheck to paycheck while Blacks disproportionately live paycheck to paycheck. This capitalistic society perpetuates lower wage labor and high consumerism.

Going against that cycle requires a different type of socialization that the average American is not accustomed to and that's especially the case for racial and ethnic minorities. I always tell Black folks to put even $20 in their savings (or the "savings stash" at the crib) if they can. That's better than zero savings and those who can't save $20 "better be" spending that last $20 on an absolute necessity rather than a meal at McDonalds or a bottle of Cognac (yuck @ brandy).

And, no, being a broke ass college student/graduate student/young professional is not the same as being a broke ass Black person who is entrenched in poverty without the educational and networking outlets to potentially rise the socioeconomic ladder.

Here are other commercials/previews that are a bit different than the ones that I have seen on CNN:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsY49Rd7Q14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2i4UrRgXRI