i just love my alma mater and my Spelman sisters. i'm really proud of them right now and i think we all should be
i also have to say, this is just one reason to miss ATL. i would have loved to have been there
New York Daily News -
http://www.nydailynews.com
Taking back the music
Sunday, February 27th, 2005
When Bill and Camille Cosby donated $20 million to the historically
black Spelman College in 1988, consternation went through the black
community because the size of the check was so shocking. No one, even
Bill Cosby himself, could have imagined that within two decades the
young black women at Spelman would spark what is easily the most
important American cultural movement in this new century.
In April of last year, under the leadership of Asha Jennings, who now
attends New York University as a law major, the Spelman women gave
voice to the fact that they had had enough of the dehumanizing images
of black women in rap. They went after the rapper Nelly, who was
scheduled to appear on campus, for the images in his "Tip-Drill"
video.
Nelly hid under his bed and chose to stay away from that female ire.
Maybe it would blow away. It did not.
On Friday, Atlanta was set afire by the emotion and the hard thinking
of black women. Spelman and Essence magazine presented a hip hop town
meeting at the Cosby Academic Center Auditorium as part of their Take
Back the Music campaign. The campaign is a response across generations
that Essence has covered in its last two issues and will continue to
address as long as necessary. One can easily see that many women find
the overt hatred of females and the reductive, pornographic images of
the worst hip hop quite disturbing.
The overflow audience filled three additional rooms. Michaela Angela
Davis, an editor at Essence, was the moderator. The panelists were
Tarshia Stanley, assistant professor of English at Spelman; Moya
Bailey, Spelman senior; Kevin Powell, author and activist; Michael
Lewellen, vice president of BET public relations; Brian Leach, vice
president of A&R, TVT Records, and hip hop artist and actress MC Lyte.
The event lasted three hours. Said Davis: "It was most heated and most
uncomfortable for those representing the companies. Lewellen and Leach
received the most fire from the audience. These women are in pain and
are confused. One woman asked, 'What did we do to make you all
seemingly hate us so much?' There was a great silence, and a feeling
of collective pain filled the air."
This mysogynistic and brutal turn in music is damaging the image of
black American women to the point that they are approached outside of
the U.S. like freelance prostitutes.
The Spelman women made their voices heard and have inspired thinking
young men to fight the stereotypes and question the images. This is no
less than an extension of the civil rights movement. But true change
will only come when white females begin to identify with the dues
their black sisters must pay as this hostility and exploitation
continues to be splattered through radio and television. White women
have to open up on white men, who buy four out of five rap recordings.
Once they declare it uncool for white guys to support the
dehumanization of black women, we will see much more than a sea
change.
I'm an optimist. I think the tide is about to turn.
Spelman, Essence and Hip-Hop
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