CNN’s Black In America 2 Airs Next Month

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by Lamar Tyler | on June 15th, 2009 | 13 comments

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CNN is ready to unveil Part 2 of their series titled, “Black in America” beginning next month on July 22 & 23. The first portion of the series left a lot of folks like me looking sideways at CNN after hoping that someone in mass media would finally get it right. Unfortunately it was more of the same, stats, images and more stats telling us how our culutre is doomed and nothing good can come of it. For every positive story they had to tell they somehow flipped it so it couldn’t be just that, a positive story. From looking across the blogsphere during the time of the first airing I can remember that a lot of people were left with the same impression as me. Here is a link to the CNN website: www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2009/black.in.america/

BMWK, what did you think of Part 1? Will you watch Part 2? What do you hope to see?

About the author

Lamar and Ronnie Tyler are the creators of the award-winning blog BlackandMarriedWithKids.com . They also are behind the Amazon.com bestselling DVDs Happily Ever After: A Positive Image of Black Marriage, You Saved Me and Men Ain’t Boys that explores manhood in the African American community. The Tylers are also the proud parents of four children.

http://www.theduckwalk.com The Duck Walk

I’ll watch part 2,but part 1 was a waste of a few hours of my life. Exactly what you said…more of the same.
http://www.ICompleteMeBlog.com Felicia – I Complete Me

I definitely was left thinking the same think. I really didn’t feel like they were telling me anything different or telling any other race anything different than what they already perceived. I’m hoping this part is better.

Felicia – I Complete Mes last blog post..Slow Down and Enjoy Your Life.
http://www.scritchandscratch.com/blog VEe!

Nah, not at all.

VEe!s last blog post..HIP HOP NEEDS MORE BIG A** CHAINS
http://adiaha.com adiaha

When are we going to stop asking white America to paint us with a positive brush? Collectively they don’t see us that way. We have got to take charge of our own media outlets and disseminate adn regulate our own perceptions of ourselves. Every other ethnic group in the USA does this. it helps the overall self esteem of the community served.

Just my 2 cents…
http://www.scritchandscratch.com/blog Vee

Lamar, here’s my real response.
I understand CNN has a huge following and they shape the opinions and views of many people. I’m a bit skeptical and pessimistic when it comes to major media outlets defining, explaining or examining African Americans or black folks. So I decided to skip the first program and I wasn’t really surprised about the response from Black in America Part 1.

So knowing that it may or will be a huge disappointment, I would much rather promote our media outlets that we control that tells a better story. After all, most of us are aware of the dire statistics, because some of us see them often. However, I’m a bit more interested in the more African-Americans heading into the middle class, graduating college, Happily Ever After (being Released July 2009), more stories about African American entrepreneurs and positive stories that globally affect us. I know where I can go to get a steady diet of negative stats, stories and a bleak futuristic outlook.

Vees last blog post..HIP HOP NEEDS MORE BIG A** CHAINS
Crystal

I thought part one was extremely dull and typical. I made my 17 year old nephew who was staying with us for the summer watch it in hopes of some kind of divine inspiration . I don’t know what I was thinking. Turned out he hated it and I was forced to watch it b/c I made such a big deal about he and my husband watching. LOL. That will teach me.
http://keith_pyron@yahoo.com keith pyron

I wish that someone would ask me what it is like. Not what the media wants to promote but real life everyday life. Getting up everyday just to go to bed at night knowing that tomorrow we’ll only bring the same
Craig

Soledad Obrien is Cnn’s “Token Black” (so-called black her mom was afro-cuban and her dad was white Australian so of course that drop a black blood gives her the authority to [define]the rest of us blacks in america and not Cuba or australia)
The media(CNN) needs to keep black America in “their” place. Whenever or anytime their heads may get big enuff to start thinking authoritatively.
The rise of Obama brings the fear that blacks may awaken and that may mean the “real end of slavery”. You know how painstaking it was to get us in this predictament? You know how many years it took to destroy our history and make us a blank slate to a point that all we know is white,white ,white and white conformity. We are “supposed” to be dumb and inferior mentaly. Blacks being inferior mentaly is what gives hope
and promise to the other races. The worlds nightmare is to see blacks do mentally what we do physically.
To make a long story short CNN is redefining us so we will be uncomfortable in who we are as a people and destructure any new stucture we may obtained as black people and scatter us blacks back to thinking that white is better more bueatiful more smart and we are just dummmies who are lucky to be amongst whites. They need for us to think like this.
They need for Cinderella to go back to being a ugly maid and not a princess.
What other race of people allow themselves to be defined? Are we that simple? Do we love the lights and cameras more than our integrity?
Frankie

I watched Black in America 1 and left feeling that it was indeed more of the same. It also left me thinking that my segment of Black America never gets covered.The people that I know get up every morning, go to work, struggle with their kids homework or work two jobs so that their kids can go to a better school, go to church on SUNDAY, VOTE , pay taxes, shun criminal activity, never been in jail, do not have aids the list goes on and on but that segment never gets any attention. WHY? It scares too many people of the other race. They want to be made comfortable that they are so much better than anybody on earth. That is disturbing on so many levels.
Lola

As Craig said, I am still wondering why Soledad O’Brien is covering this report. I think her dad was Irish and not Australian though. If a reporter with an Asian mother and white American father who looked more Asian than white was doing a report entitled “White in America” wouldn’t there be outrage in the white community? While she might identify as black, the bi-racial experience (especially for someone who can “pass”–just keeping it real) is slightly different and I’m troubled with her efforts to speak for the black community.
Alicia E. West-Colbert

I pray that this second chance will represent us in a much more positive light than the previous segment. It’s funny that as you live life you realize all of the lies that we have been fed over the years. The only difference is that our story is not allowed to be told in a positive image…African Americans have so much more to offer this world than the image that is portrayed on television. Please for once tell the story of millions of African Americans who love one another, help one another, and support one another. We are unlike any other race of people, we are strong caring and very religious people. Please tell our story as such…..
Virginia

As an African American woman, I was really disappointed with part 1 of CNN’s “Black in America” documentary. Like others here, I thought it was more of the same but because it was CNN I watched (between yarns), waiting for Ms Obrien to go over ground that had not been covered. It didn’t happen for me, or anybody I spoke with. At the office the next day a white colleague asked “what was it (Black in America) suppose to be about?” “What was it suppose to show?” What was on “we” already know! I sat at my desk stunned! I feel and think Ms Obrien is ethnically ill-equipped for a piece of this magnitude. As a result of last year’s colossal disappointment, I won’t clear my schedule and “prepare myself” this time. I might DVR it. What do I hope to see this time? Something different. Something my white colleague doesn’t know.
Anonymous

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