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Image is everything.

Whoever said that was apparently right, especially in the Los Angeles area, home of the movie industry, the recent Academy Awards and the annual Wadsworth Elementary School Black History Month parade. All have been in the news lately highlighting the continuing controversy over representations of blackness. The controversy is centered on one thing — image.

While billions of eyes were focused on Tinsel Town for Hollywood’s biggest night, a debate raged in the black community and beyond on Precious, the big-screen adaptation of the gritty and popular novel, Push, by Sapphire. Everyone seems to have a visceral reaction to the film and the African American images it portrays. NewsOne.com hosted an online debate between NYU film professor Sheril D. Antonio and social critic Stanley Crouch. Even former First Lady Barbara Bush hosted a special showing and strongly endorsed the movie in Newsweek.

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Days before the award show, three white teachers were suspended for having several students carry pictures of such “questionable” African American figures as O.J. Simpson, Dennis Rodman and RuPaul in the school’s Black History Month parade. These controversial personalities were added to the celebration by three of the school’s teachers and were widely viewed as racially insensitive acts, and a slap at the African American community.

For some, so was the mostly white Academy’s celebration of Precious. Numerous critics, like Professor Antonio, felt the movie –while well done– contained numerous and problematic images including the fact that the more benevolent roles in the movie were played by black people with lighter complexions. Once again, African Americans were left to wonder if the Academy was recognizing the film for its merits or if they were further promoting negative images of African Americans by rewarding us for deviant roles, as some people said they’d done previously with Training Day and Monster’s Ball.

Whatever we believe, the votes are now in and folks have made their choice. The three teachers were suspended and Precious won two Oscars. And I can live with these developments as long as African Americans continue to actively monitor, speak out and hold folks accountable for the images of our community in the mass media – and if they serve as an impetus for further diversifying media images of black people.

The Black experience is multi-faceted.  We may have people like Precious in our community, but we also have people like Ursula Burns, the black woman who just assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer of Xerox Corporation.

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It is well past time for us as a community to insist that media images of black people reflect the richness and variety of our experience.

Stephanie Robinson is President and CEO of The Jamestown Project, a national think tank focused on democracy. She is an author, a Lecturer on Law at the Harvard Law School and former Chief Counsel to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy. Stephanie reaches 8 to 10 million listeners each week as political commentator for the popular radio venue, The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Check her out at stephanierobinsonspeaks.com. Visit her online at www.StephanieRobinsonSpeaks.com

Tags: Black Achievement, Black Actors, Black Celebrities, Black Films, Precious
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  • http://www.blackplanet.com/SoularFlarez/ SoularFlarez

    the only thing that I could see topping this would be a movie about…

    Lil Kim & Flavor Flav getting married, with ‘Madea’ hooking them up together

    on sum real s**t…

    if negus knew our REAL HISTORY, not that post-1492-Inquisition, Willie Lynch, Jim Crow, Co-Intel-Pro, Boule’ Uncle Tom stuff…. but our REAL HISTORY…. our GLOBAL HISTORY having GLOBAL EMPIRES….. once you went outside for a walk around the block…you might go crazy or wanna tear some s**t up once you see how far we have fallen from what we used to be.

    you would feel like you are walking thru the valley of dry bones full of zombies….. but I digress

    PRECIOUS is a spit in the face, especially to the MOTHER OF CIVILIZATION

    TODAY they call the black womban, B***h, Hoe, S**t, W***es, etc etc….

    YESTERDAY they called the blackwomban….Auset, Yemaya, Kali, Al-Lat, Oba, Ochun/Oshun, Oya, Ma’at, Sekhmet, Ishtar, Urzulie, etc etc…..

    those goddess names (attributes/qualities) may remind you of the GOLD deep within you, underneath the layers of lead and rust….

    #1 the first school is inside you womb, where the children are nurturted and grown, feeding off the mothers PHYSICAL nutrution and also her MENTAL EMOTIONAL and ENERGETIC nutrition…..

    #2 the womban CHOOSES who will re-produce thru her……

    if SHE is full of confusion and venom, what will she produce?
    if SHE is full of wisdom and compassion, what will she produce?

    man if she seed and the sun, womban is the soil and the moon/ocean. we balance each other

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    [...] OPINION: The Image Of Our Blackness Is “Precious” | News One [...]

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/aLightNrg/ aLightNrg

    Precious represented ONE image of black. White people depict “poor white trash” but they don’t feel that they reflect on them personally so why should we be so negatively embarrased by trhe portrayals. I very proud to see Precious’ and Monique’s performance and achievement. Stop knoockin we people and look at the POSITIVE You have to be in it to win it

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/aLightNrg/ aLightNrg

    Yeah ok SoularFlarez, but it’s US that call each other niggas b***hes n hoes etc, its OUR artists that keep producing the boobs n bumper vids/dvd’s denigarting our females, and then set themselves up with a white women. It’s US that appear to think that bling elevates us to raise our noses and look down on our peeps. Like charity begins at home, Change comes from within. Our people still have much to learn, especially about this ridiculous notion that we are inferior!!! Bless up

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Gail_Brooks/ Gail_Brooks

    @ soularflarez

    yes i agree this movie was a spit in the face…period…same stereotypical bulls**t…it’s either..we are drug dealers, drug addicts, w***es, welfare recipients and grossly obese…..considering the positive movies out there this movie was ridiculous…and monique is just so ignorant to me now….nothing has changed…it would have been great to see tyler perry win an oscar…

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/CaliFemme23/ CaliFemme23

    aLightNrg, No, Precious did not represent ‘one image of black’…It SHOULD have represented things that can happen to ANYONE…But you prove a point about media. Even YOU think this movie represents us in some form or another and that is exactly what they want you to think, that this movie is US. My friends, family and some co workers have talked about this movie/book and NONE of us has ever come across this in life nor known anyone who has. I can almost be sure that if you asked every black person you come across or know personally has the premise of this movie ever happened to them or someone they know, the answer would probably be ‘no’. This is not the alpha of the black community. You see, had this movie been full of white actors, it would have been just that…a MOVIE…But because it was full of black people it is automatically a way of life…

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    [...] OPINION: The Image Of Our Blackness Is "Precious" | News One [...]

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/soultry-soul/ soultry-soul

    This movie was dynamic in it’s representation of all that affects every race. The best thing of it, was it was represented by black actors. Back in the 70′s “Sybil” was dynamic to show society the adverse affects of having multiple personaties…and we blacks said, “Only in WHITE folks households”. Now look at the world, you have every race of people with mental issues. Let’s stop bashing the fact that this movie did what it did and celebrate that it is doing the dayum thang “WINNING GLOBE and OSCAR AWARDS”. It’s putting our folks to work in a very race dominate industry, it’s sending messages to everyone, it’s possibly helping our young sistah’s and brutha’s. Let’s stand up and applaud the fact that the script writer (BLACK MAN) won and Oscar for his outstanding writing talent…come on!!! (Feel me, without touching me)

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Gail_Brooks/ Gail_Brooks

    one more thing i wanna add…how monique got up there and said ‘this isn’t about politics was almost comical!’ that bulls**t was nothing but comical…the welfare recipient abusing and letting her child be abused only to have the white woman come and save the day…i just don’t look at oprah in the same way…why do all of her movies either have lesbian scenes, slaves that beaten and raped or both,children that are beaten or raped or both, women that beaten and raped or both…with a very negative depiction of the black man…what is her problem? i would have loved to see tyler perry win…because at least he shows both sides of the spectrum…meaning: THERE ARE ACTUALLY BLACK MEN THAT ARE PROFESSIONALS IN THIS WORLD: doctors, lawyers, scientists, astronauts, engineers, educators, advocates…i just don’t understand what she tries to say in her movies…i’ll say it again…thank god for angela bassett, gabrielle union, jada pinkett smith…and a whole list of black actors that turn down roles that are stereotypical…

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Gail_Brooks/ Gail_Brooks

    @ soultry-soul

    you continue to support and celebrate that s**t on your own…we as a race have moved past the stereotypes and indignities …not saying this doesn’t happen to a very small percentage in the community…but the positives, especially with the black male are never shown…at least tyler perry shows both sides that yes there are crackheads, w***es, drug dealers, and an abusive mother, but the other side of the spectrum there are lawyers, business owners, supportive fathers and mothers, doctors, and very educated people…i just can’t get past monique said it wasn’t about ‘politics’…wow…that was nothing but politics that night!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MR_NANASTROKER/ MR_NANASTROKER

    Much Respect 2 SFlarez & CaliFemme
    “This is not the alpha of the black community. You see, had this movie been full of white actors, it would have been just that…a MOVIE…But because it was full of black people it is automatically a way of life…”

    What trip me out is nlggers and they affirmation that because it’s “BLACK” its alright and that right there enlies the fairytale of them all

    add those with the notion of “so what they f**ked up, at least they rich!”
    nlggers and they oppressively abused mentality that you were raised with and the same sorry azz mentality you have been inherited……sickening none the less

    “many will fight for freedom, and lose
    many will search for freedom, never 2 find it
    few will know self-worth, freedom will be attained”
    -mr_nanastroker

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    [...] OPINION: What “Precious” Tells Us About Images Of Blackness Share with Friends! [...]

  • Andre R.

    Why does it appear much easier to get a movie of degrading, ignorant Black People made in Hollywood? and impossible for Black actors to win awards in Hollywood for anything but these awful roles? I guess it speaks for it self doesn’t it? White Supremacy is alive and well and Hollywood is as always is one of its most important purveyors… I for one have refuse to see these movies and supporting this Racist crap! I hope these Black actors find some fortitude and stop taking these roles .. but then again I know that is like asking a slave to not dance the Jig if his Master say’s he has to.

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