From Blackprof.com

Oprah's Imbalanced Depiction of Black Men

by Shavar Jeffries

I love Oprah. She's a historic figure in Black America. Not only for her pioneering role both in front of and behind the camera, but more importantly for her legendary efforts to uplift some of the most dispossessed people of the world. I'm especially proud of her work to expose and undermine the patriarchy that too often confines the potential of women and warps the self-image of men.
But advocacy for women doesn't require denigration of men. If all I knew about Black women came from the Oprah Show, I'd believe they were strong, intelligent, beautiful, sensitive, caring, compassionate, spiritual, and selfless. In short, I'd know truths about Black women that are infrequently told by mass media. Yet if all I knew about Black men came from the Oprah show, I'd suspect they were lazy, womanizing, criminal-minded, predatory, and irresponsible. In short, I'd know stereotypes about Black men that are routinely signaled by mass media.Brothers, of course, have problems, and those problems should be discussed and challenged. But the world already knows that. The world doesn't know about the good, decent, hard-working Black men of character who struggle every day to do right by themselves and their families. Let's hope that Oprah can be a more meaningful part of balancing the depiction of Black men.

Legend or Sellout, You Decide..........

Legend or Sellout, You decide…


I can remember when I fell in love with Michael Jordan… the basketball player not the Icon. It was while watching the 1982 NCAA basketball championship. The way as a freshman, he calmly knocked down that jump shot from the corner in the waning seconds of that game led me and others to believe we were on the verge of seeing greatness take its course. And it did. Not only did he go on to become one of the greatest college ballers of all time, he went out and totally dominated NBA to the tune of 6 championships and countless awards. His prowess on the court led to numerous endorsements off the court as well. One of his endeavors was his endorsement of Nike, which later created Jordan Brand in his likeness. This is where it gets tricky with me. While people (mostly people of color & minorities) suffered through robberies, theft and death from wearing his brand shoe, Mr. Jordan never addressed theses instances resulting from the purchase of his shoes. Mind you that the price tag is 30% of some peoples rent; Mr. Jordan kept on selling his soul… I mean his shoes to people who reveled in his basketball legend. Unlike Shaq, Stephon Marbury, and many others who broke endorsement deals to create fiscally priced shoes to release to the public, Mr. Jordan continues to peddle his shoes to the masses at up to $200 dollar a clip and in the minority neighborhood sometimes death. My question to you Mr. Jordan is: Is the pittance you receive from Nike to use you likeness worth all the death and destruction it has caused the minority community? I’m just asking, what do you think?

F@ck The Bling, What About Martin Luther King!!!!!

You Goin Down!!!!!


Look at this shyt right here!!! Apparently, this albatross of accessories cost between 100-200 thousands of dollars. Why am I on His case? This is why. If you aren't crazy or been in solitary confinement for the past couple of years, you are aware that the "Man" has finally given its approval and has put aside some land in order to erect a monumental memorial for non other than, the martyr of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King sacrificed so much for our people that it gets on my last nerves to think that while these ringtone rappers run around in there blinged out whips, wearing $100,000 chains, and popping thousand of dollars champagne, the memorial fund is still in need of money. Yeah I know what you are going to say, "Have you donated?" and the answer is yes. But let me tell you this; If I was running around with enough money to spend on a big a$$ chain like my man over there, I would have donated more. Stop cooning Negro and chip in.