BV's wonderful television critic, Marcus Vanderberg recently blogged about the video "Read a Book" by artist Bomani "D'Mite" Armah. The video is a satire of the destructive aspects of mainstream hip-hop.
Jesse Jackson, among others, denounced the video which also played on BET. Here's Rev. Jackson's official statement:
If Benjamin E. Mayes challenged us to reach for the stars, the not-a-rapper video "Read a Book" on YouTube takes us into the abyss. Billed as a satirical look at popular culture, a viewer is left with the distinct impression that nothing matters, that life is futile, knowledge fruitless, manners meaningless.
A common definition of satire is witty language used to convey insults or scorn. The video is plenteously scornful and insulting, but not of crassness. The video insults reading, personal hygiene, family values and frugality. "Read a Book" heaps scorn on positive values and (un)intentionally celebrates ignorance. The narrator is obviously illiterate, unkempt and disrespectful. So who takes his advice seriously?
The best Hip-hop is clever, with allusions to politics, history, great music and literature. Part of the fun is finding the hidden meaning. I was prepared to forgive the crude language and lack of creativity if there was as message encouraging viewers to read and otherwise conduct themselves responsibly. I was disappointed. The simplistic repetitive rhyme and tune made it clear that the creator had not taken his own advice, i.e. to Read a Book.
Above is a clip of Armah responding to the criticism of the video on Rev. Jesse Jackson's radio show "Keep Hope Alive." Jackson mentions Michael Richards' racist tirade when discussing his issues with "Read a Book." Apparently, context is not a consideration.I think that Armah makes some very valid points. But is it me or is the generational gap loud and clear?
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By: TellingItLikeItIs on 9/04/2007 1:53PM
I agree with Jesse Jackson. No matter what context the words N***A, H**, B***H, etc. are used, they are not words to be used. No matter what rationalization young people have in saying these words they can't give a good reason why they should be used. I keep hearing they are taking away their power everytime they say them, but my belief is power is given to these words everytime someone says them. Shouldn't the concept be NOT to use these words? THAT'S taking away their power. Mr. Jackson is right, you can't use these words in Church, at work, or in school. I can't come into work saying "Hey N***A" to any of my co-workers. I would look like a fool. So why continue to embrace them? The point of self-improvement and self-awareness is to look at the negatives and turn them into positives and I just don't see cursing and swearing as a means to getting a point across. All I see them is making someone look like an uneducated fool.
***This is coming from someone who grew up in the hip-hop generation.
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By: Destiny on 9/04/2007 2:08PM
I was sadden & disappointed to brothas you got to do better than that why would you do something like that that's not nothing you or anyone should watch. Be a shamed be very ashamed. You are making us look really bad bet why did you allow this oh yeah white america is running bet now.
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By: T. Watkins on 9/04/2007 5:57PM
I found the video to be totally offensive. It was disgraceful, ingnorant, belittling and a number of many other things. After seeing it I immediately emailed BET in outrage. I was pissed at them for giving these simple-minded low-budget "entertainers" air time that could have been used for something a lot more constructive then this. With the current controversy taken place about America's Black music, this just goes to proove what so many activits are have been saying and it also gives decent entertainers in the rap game, a bad name. But then it makes you wonder, what has happend to music and rap in general. It's at a point where anything goes. It has to be a point where some things just cannot be allowed to cross the line and that line is not visible enough for many people to see. And what makes it worse is the fact the creator of this peice is black himself. As African Americans we have struggled and fought hard for the respect we've gained. That respect is not 100% perfect, but it is better then it was. A video of this such says that we don't value ourselves or our people. It also says that we are ignorant and I don't want my people clarrified this way. We already know that our people behave the way the images were protrayed, but it makes no sense to animate it and make it appear to the young that its something to gloat about. If anything he should be doing something constructive to persuade children to read instead of condoning negative behavior. I saw it before my children did. But all I could think of was what if. What if they did see if, then what? BET is the only station that offers children the music they like to hear and during family viewing times, negative images of this sort should not be allowed to show. The contents of this video should have been shown in the BET late night special and not during the day.
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By: J. Evette on 9/04/2007 5:49PM
I actually thought the video showed-up how vile and ignorant, as well as well-received the average hip-hop video that is shown on TV today is. I also thought it brought great attention to how we will let our children listen to this disgusting and disrespectful rap on the radio, TV and concerts with the same cussing and ill-mannered language, but now that someone has put that same spin on things that our kids SHOULD be doing, it brings great debate and arguments to the table, which is actually a good thing.
It also shows that the only way to get teens and young adults to listen to music today is to have all of those negative words in it. So what does that say about the parents, caregivers, guardians and role models of these children? Don't blame the person who is bringing it to everyone's attention, blame YOURSELF for allowing these kids to purchase and listen to this foolishness. Becasue guess what, if no one is buying it and is boycotting and demanding more quality music, guess who has to produce it if they want to make money? The artists and producers don't drive this crap, they are merely giving the public what they want. Prime example, I had my friend's son come over to the computer and watch the video. If it had a different beat, he would have been bored and left. However, when I showed it to him and he heard the beat, cussing and vile language, he was interested. If this artist did what I thought he meant to do, he did an excellent job!
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By: Gerald A. Whitt on 9/04/2007 8:11PM
I really thought times were bad when I was a teenager in the sixties. Compared to present day I am afraid that we are headed for destruction. Rap & Hip-hop music is only part to blame. Our youth grow-up at an alarming rate. There bodies grow and their minds seem to be like a sponge that absorbs only things that interest them. It appears that this video glorifies and encourages all the horrific things in our society. Unfortunately these horrible things interest some of our youth. Many of our children have had an excellent home structure, good father image,(present),
caring mother, good schools, church, and etc. but some of them still choose to do wrong. It hurts me to say it, but I truly believe that most of the rap, hip-hop,
and music videos are a serious and dangerous influencement on our youth.(and a few of us old geezers too)
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By: satch on 9/06/2007 3:33PM
i agree everywhere i go whether it,s mississippi ,atlanta, baltimore etc. i see tons of unmotivated young men walking aound in oversize white shirts nappy hair pants dragging on the ground.do they realize how bad they look.they had a article in sunday,s paper here in st.louis talking about the mexicans.black and white businessmen said they can,t get the unskilled young americans to take 8-10 dollar a hour jobs,even the convicted felons don,t want to work.a lot of us did not teach these guys crawl before you walk.so they hire the mexicans
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By: Ace on 9/05/2007 12:03PM
I am failing to understand why so many people have become outraged by this video. When I first started watching the video, I wasn't sure where it was going. But, once it became clear, I thought that the video worked as both a critique of our current generation's ineptness at grasping what is important in life (education, not being in jail, etc) and an implication on the culture which bred such aimlessness and nihilism within our youth.
To address the first idea, the video in its demands to read books, use a toothbrush, use deodorant, and take care of your children is making a simple demand to the core audience of the music. A lot of kids that are listening to hip-hop aren't reading, aren't using good hygiene (I'd also like to note hear, there was actually a song about using good hygiene by Del called if you must. That song didn't cause any outrage. Why pick on this one?), and/or being responsible parents, shaking their asses at the club all night and making more baby drama.
The video is just asking us all to be more responsible, to sound like we have some intelligence and to prove that we are not the ignorant idiots that mainstream society (which includes mainstream, commercial hip-hop) wants us to be. When did this community become against self-accountability? I thought that's what all of our cultural luminaries always preached.
The vehicle in which that message is conveyed is the most appropriate one possible. Crunk is the dumbest music ever as it is crass and vulgar, two synonyms for hip-hop to many both within and outside of the Black community. Hip-hop videos, as most everyone will agree, can also use those adjectives as its gaudy displays of wealth, privilege, and sexuality offend most everyone except the ones who need to be reached by the satirical video. The creator of the video vacated all of the negativity and inserted a positive message. This action allows the audience to get an important message along with question the reasons for why they watch, and accept, the current state of the hip-hop video without asking for change.
But, on top of all its positives, the video is actually quite funny. I think the fact that this humor was lost on the commenters and some of the luminaries is just an example of how large the generational gap has grown within the Black community. You don't have to get hip-hop music. You don't have to love hip-hop music. I don't know how you old heads listened to those singing groups all of the time, but I understand. The youth just wants you to understand that this is our music, our expression just like the drifters and the o'jays are yours. Place critique where critique is due, but also understand that the whole culture is not tainted, is not a moral wasteland, and is not an intellectual desert. There are only a small section that have to be corrected.
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By: shell on 9/05/2007 2:07PM
I saw a small portion of the video, and I'm not sure what all the ballyhoo is about. Black folks cannot seem to stand the truth when it is presented to us (even when presented by our own people). We don't need mainstream television or yte folks to make us look ignorant. We do a fine job of it on our own. Perhaps the message is too concentrated for some, but why dilute the truth. Black folks - we need to take a long look in the mirror and reassess our standards of existence. What is important to us? Is it making a quick buck with our "instant gratification" mentality that gets so many young black people killed (by our own people mind you)? Is it shaking our rumps in a club, flossing and faking the funk about the material possessions we have (that amount to no real wealth)? Is it the perpetuation of a cycle of raising children in single parent households, assuring the continuation of young black people being raised in our streets or in this country's many prisons? Or is it picking up a book, learning to stop decimating and butchering the English language, gaining an education, and earning our way (instead of taking from one another and demanding someone hand it to us)? People, don't be appauled by the video. Be appauled that we are continuing to fall behind while everyone else is steaming ahead. If we had more two-parent households to combat the brainwashing images being shoved down our children's throats, perhaps we could win the battle. Truth hurts.
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By: T. Watkins on 9/05/2007 2:39PM
My reply is aimed at the writer Ace. Are you really serious to say that you don't see what the big deal is and why so many people are outraged? Well just in case your comment was not a joke and you were really serious I'm gonna explain once again why I am upset. The message in the video does not give a possitive message to the generation that is already highly influenced off of what they see on tv. The creator of the video said that he was trying to create a possitive way to get children or young adults to pick up a book and read it. But please tell me how the phrase "Read a book, Read a book, Read a MOTHER F***** Book" screams possitivity? It doesn't. There are plenty of ways to get the attention of today's generation without going to far at making your own self look like a fool. If he was trying to get them to read a book, I didn't get that point at all. Ignorance does not capture the intelligence of ones mind. All ignorance does is capture's ones lack of intelligence.
The lack of intelligence in the black community is nothing to joke about or make fun of. If anything we should all be doing something to help the individual that knows no better then to behave this way. Making a cartoon video with people shooting, using profanity, and throwing dice is not possitive to me.
And its a disgrace that this video is still being allowed to get airplay. It's rediculous!!!! By focusing on the title you would assume that this was a possitve message/song aimed at getting the youth to read, but when you see the images your left stunned with your mouth open wondering how in the world this was allowed to come on...
If you feel that there is nothing wrong with the contents of this video then you must be young and ignorant yourself. And please believe that my intentions are not to name call, but the truth is the truth and a ignorant mind is the only mind that will stand my and support such garbage.
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By: ellen snipes on 9/05/2007 4:28PM
You know I Saw this guy on 106 Park last night. He said that he is a councelor for young people. At the time I had'nt seen the video. I thought well good, he's putting out a positive message to the young generation. I thought, he's trying to point this generation in the right direction, and it starts with reading. Then I saw the video, and my mouth fell open. They need to ban that video as soon as possible and make him give whatever he profits from it to the children. Mainly the children he is suppose to be counceling. If he's got any common sense to go along with the college education, that I hope that he has, brother know that this just aint nothing to be teaching the kids of today.
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