When we speak, we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak. --Audre Lorde
Happy Friday.
What a wonderful and marvelous day. I believe that this will be one of the best days of my life. Because whatever I think, I can bring into fruition. I must produce the work in order to achieve the desired results.
With that said, I would like to turn my attention to the topic of the day. Killing me softly. What do I mean by that?
Well first, I will tell you what happened to my relationship with most Black radio personalities. I use to listen to "Tom Joyner", the Black disjocky. His morning show is on in Miami, Monday-Friday, from 6-10A.M. He plays mostly "old school" music and basically laughs all day. However, occasionally, he periodically discusses current events that affect the Black community.
Moreover, these are the people that make up of his program:
Tom Joyner-From small, southern Tuskegee, Alabama, this 1999 Radio Hall of Fame inductee has ignited a sense of pride in the hearts of eight million listeners in more than 115 radio markets, instilling in us the significance of unity and giving back to one's community. (TJMS)
Sybil Wilkes-Today, Wilkes laughs the hardest and the loudest. She no longer leads the way as the smart, informed, news anchor. Instead, she is often the first one to rile Joyner and Brown up with her own highly questionable jokes. The sole voice of reason and wisdom has ceded to the jokey joke atmosphere of the TJMS. Today, Joyner rarely teases Wilkes for using “big A words.”(Sisterdoc)
J. Anthony Brown-Diversity marks the success of J. Anthony Brown. not only is he an accomplished comedian with a unique brand of humor, but he is also a writer, and entrepreneur and most recently has added acting to his resume.(TJMS)
Huggy Low-Down-Known for his hilarious appearances on the HBO Def Comedy Jam, The Jamie Foxx Special, P. Diddy's Bad Boys of Comedy, The Bernie Mac Special, The Whoopi Goldburg Special and for his rounds with the Kings of Comedy Tour. You can hear him every morning on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, sharing his special brand of comedy, celebrity gossip and entertainment news on Magic 102.3FM.
If you read each person bio, a picture begins to magnify right before your eyes. What is the picture? LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL. Most of his personalities are comedians. And they are laughing all the way to the bank, while most Black Americans are struggling to survive.
That is all that appear to be happening on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. It has been reduced to a little more than bafoonery. Everything is a joke.
I do not understand how they can laugh all day when most Black American males are either unemployed, incarcerated, on drugs, illiterate, and have completely abandoned their children. What is funny about this?
I had to turn away from the station it is so bad. My ten (10) year old daughter even asked me one day, while I was listening to the show, "mommy why are they always laughing?"
The most important question to me is why aren't more people discussing these serious ills publically? What "pride" is Mr. Joyner instilling in the hearts of over eight million African Americans, who listen to his show daily? What are they getting? Tell me how lots of laughing will help Black America? Do we need to "think" more or laugh more? Look at our present situation and honestly tell me which is more important.
The show is a joke, but Black Americans are again, being played as the fools. Does this surprise anyone? Anyone?
One listener summed it up beautifully when she wrote:
"I used to listen to the TJMS, but it has been reduced to a modern day "Amos N Andy" routine. I still appreciate some of their philanthropic ventures, like raising money for HBCU's, but the desire to turn every tragedy into a joke must end."
Have a wonderful weekend, and try listening to the show for yourself.
L. for Love
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I have no position to promote. However, we live in a depressing word and people will gravitate to whatever good or bad that will help to ease the pain. TJMS has its good and bad but it seems to do more good than bad. So do we throw the baby out with the bath water? Sad to say TJMS does more than most churches and if people really knew all the facts, TJMS sets a better example than most preachers even though they don't at times act as the Christians they claim to be. TJMS never claimed to be the example all should follow and they are not required to be such.
ReplyDeleteWe should also look to praise the good that Blacks do to motivate others to follow the good examples.
We know the media goes for the lowest common denominator, especially the "minority media". They think we are stupid, and we prove them right when we listen or tune in. People like Joyner are in this to make money for himself, he, and others like him, feel no moral obligation to maintain a certain level of intellectual discourse. But it is still up to us to engage with this garbage we are served everyday. We have the ultimate power, and that is to live the life we choose. It is human nature that some of us who realize the damage that is being done, to educate others about better ways, but in reality, the only change we can perform is in ourselves and with our example, a few people close to us. I'm sure Mr. Joyner had dreams of his own to exert a positive influence on his community, but he chose the easy way out, when he realized that it is also the road to higher profits.
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