THANK YOU VERY MUCH BRO MARK
I am pleased to forward this one to the list....
I think that this is a message that we ALL need to pay attention to...
COON RADIO IS ALIVE AND WELL IN 2001
...and it's there because YOU (the listener) ALLOW IT TO FLOURISH!!!!!
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Bob--I didn't want to send this message to the list unless it went thru you first. Feel free to disseminate this info.
Mark Anthony Neal, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, English
SUNY-Albany
e-mail: dr-yogi@worldnet.att.net
website: http://home.att.net/~dr-yogi/home.html
"I am a Man of my Times, but the Times don't know it Yet."
---Erik Todd Dellums as "Bayard Rustin" from the film BOYCOTT
----- Original Message -----
From: AWORKSONGS@aol.com
To: AWORKSONGS@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 8:05 PM
Subject: COMMENTARY: Hot 97's Hate Show Must Go!
"Nothing Exceeds Like Excess: Hot 97's Hate Show Must Go"
by April R. Silver
There's an old African proverb/tale that speaks of knowing your enemy. It's
about a scorpion and a turtle trying to cross a river (the animals have
varied in the retelling of this ancient tale):
The scorpion wants to ride the turtle's back to get across the river but the
turtle hesitates. He (the turtle) knows that he would get stung if he agrees
to this. The scorpion, however, promises that he will not sting the turtle
and earnestly tries to convince him of this. The turtle is still hesitant,
but after much going back and forth, he gives in.
All is well until about halfway across the river. The scorpion suddenly
stings the turtle. In agonizing pain and total SHOCK, he yells, "Why did you
do that? You promised you wouldn't sting me!!" The scorpion replies, "I know,
but I couldn't help it. I'm a scorpion, it's in my nature to sting. You
should have known better than to trust me!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There's a wonderful power surge in the community right now in reaction to the
Hot 97 on-air personality Star and his heartless mockery of Aaliyah's tragic
death earlier this week. There is an uproar calling for either the suspension
or permanent removal of The Morning Show from the airwaves.
If you haven't heard yet: Monday morning (August 27), when the popular "shock
jock" of the "Star and Buc Wild Show Featuring Miss Jones" (on Emmis
Broadcasting's WQHT Hot 97, the top urban/hip hop/R&B station in New York)
informed his listeners of Aaliyah's death, he then, in an attempt to be
funny, played an audio clip/sound effect of a plane crashing - - complete
with a woman screaming right before the "crash and burn" explosion. Co-Host
Miss Jones, totally fed up, goes off on him, curses at him (live/on-air) and
storms out. For the remainder of the show, Star not only reminds the audience
that he is "The Hater" and that this is "his" show, but he also proceeds to
play the sound effect at least four more times -- in a d a m EMAIL souljazzant, shameless
defiance to anyone who couldn't appreciate his so-called humor.
Since this crew came to Hot 97 about a year and a half ago, concerned people
have been waging their own (albeit disconnected) protest of the show for its
"non-stop chaos, cheap shots, tasteless insults, and reality-based humor."
Some simply switched to another radio station in pure disgust while others
wrote protest letters or made calls to the station's management. Whatever
manner, the people's protest had little affect. Apparently, not enough (or
not the right) people were outraged. Hot 97 became the number one radio
station in the market, and it did so parading under the banner of hate.
Major artists continued to do interviews, sponsors kept advertising, and most
notably, people kept listening. Those who were initially outraged when the
show first hit the air, later became comfortable with the format. Being the
"new thing" in town, the show's popularity and profitability was obviously
too intoxicating and ratings soared.
So on any given morning, from 6 to 10 am, a listener could wake up to
obnoxious skits ranging from "coochie tightening cream" commercials, to crude
jokes about "erect cocks" and anal sex, to the constant degrading and
humiliation of women. The wholesale prejudice and the unrelenting insults on
virtually EVERYBODY (Star even pokes fun at himself and calls his mother a
bitch on the air) was like overkill. It soon become obvious that the more
people complained, the more fuel was pumped into the engine. As a matter of
fact, Star wore his suspensions from the job like badges of honor, delighting
in the attacks on him. The ratings continued to climb.
But the mockery of Aaliyah's death, despite Star's apology the next day, has
proven too much (judging from reports to this office from across the country,
millions of teenagers and peers have responded with Goddess-like reverence
for Aaliyah, a person that many people knew as grounded and gracious). Over
the Internet alone, there is mass outrage regarding this incident. People
have been venting their disgust, calling for more sustained protests, and
starting petitions. One report has one person having already collected 5,000
signatures. People have also forwarded the talents' personal email addresses
and pager numbers (as well as those of top management and executives) - - all
in an attempt to put the consenting parties on full blast.
It's also been going around that top hip hop executives and artists, such as
Kamal (formerly known as Q-Tip) and Roca-Fella's Damon Dash (who was
Aaliyah's boyfriend), are contemplating an artist boycott of Hot 97 until
Star is removed from the airwaves. One well-known artist actually told me
Monday that people need to protest the station by blocking the morning crew
from even getting into the building.
But the power of this Hot 97 incident comes not so much from listeners being
subjected to Star's inhumane treatment of death, but from the larger picture.
The power is in the whirlwind that has captured so many folks, both in and
beyond the entertainment industry.
*******
People of color in this country are no strangers to hate. For generations,
our day-to-day lives have been a struggle against the very hate that breeds
police brutality, violence against women, and other crimes against humanity.
We have been a people to defy hate and anything else that destroys love.
But hate can penetrate our thoughts and actions so morbidly that some of us
get real twisted when it comes to discerning what has value and meaning in
our lives from what leads to our demise. Within the hip hop community, it's
not new that we've come to "love" what hates us and "hate" what loves us.
This warped logic has been playing itself out for years now. For example,
some artists (and the professionals that surround them), are so enamored with
the "holloywoodism" that now dominates the music industry that they forget
(if indeed they ever knew), that they are dispensable variables in a
ruthless, unpredictable corporate formula that is profit-bound. But so what?
Since hip hop exploded on the scene less than thirty years ago, the
relentless grovel for fame and fortune that is the American way of life has
now been joined by the very folks that this country sought to keep down. At
no time in history can one find so many Black and Latino/a people under
fifty, with so much money - - primarily generated by this phenomena called
hip hop.
But despite all that is right and uplifting and sacred about hip hop,
something has been real wrong for more than a little while. We live in a
society where "nothing exceeds like excess" and getting paid is always a good
thing...all day/every day. It's now as though anything can be justified for
the paper chase, as long as it pays well. But in the process, we are losing
our minds, to say noting of our souls.
Though this problem did not originate with hip hop, enough cannot be said
about the destructive "money as God" culture that is retarding us. We have
become dangerously narrow-minded. Being consumed with hate necessarily
cancels out human compassion, morality, respect, and this played out thing
called love. So, it's no wonder that Star would have such a blatant disregard
for human suffering and for the families' grief. Star is the scorpion of the
African proverb mentioned, despite his apologies.
The power of this incident is realized in what it has awakened in an
otherwise silent community. Though sad, the hard fact of the matter is: it
took these nine deaths to fully expose the poison that has been coming over
the airwaves long before Star's insensitive remarks. As supportive as I am of
an artist and listener boycott of Hot 97, I stand firm on the principle that
the hate was just as "boycottable" almost two years ago as it is now. It was
just as wrong when it was being played out while young people got dressed for
school in the morning as it is now. But the time is always right for protests
and total resistance against mass marketed prejudice, sexist taunts, and
ignorance.
So spread the word or sign the petition if it comes your way. And lets stay
clear headed as we move on forward. If it profits Emmis Broadcasting to keep
Star and others like him on the air, they will do all they can to make that
happen. And about boycotting sponsors and advertisers: while it's an
important and necessary tool, sponsors are not bound by moral authority. They
will, for example, pull out of Hot 97 with the right amount of pressure, but
return later when the pressure simmers. But with perseverance, we can send a
clear, irreversible message that no media outlet is entitled to be
irresponsible to its listeners. The civil rights movement was sustained by a
mere 20% of the Black people in the country at the time. Surely we can get
hate radio off the air.
On resolving the other larger issues, that's a long journey with no easy
answers. As Stevie Wonder said, "It's taking us so long, 'cause we've got so
far to go." It's not easy...that's why it's called a struggle.
FYI
WQHT Hot 97 - Emmis Broadcasting
395 Hudson Street 7th Floor
New York, NY 10014
212.229.9797
Doyle Rose, VP of Radio, Emmis Broadcasting
15821 Ventura Blvd. Suite 685
Encino, CA 94136
818.784.4714 x8522 office
818.784.4059 fax
Sponsors/Advertisers of the "Star and Buc Wild Show" on Hot 97
VoiceStream, Pepsi, McDonald's, Starburst Candy, Telecash.net
(these are just a few, there are many others)
by April R. Silver
c. 2001
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Bob Davis
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http://www.soul-patrol.com/ - Click Here For SOUL PATROL
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http://music.bb.prodigy.net/ - Click Here for PRODIGY MUSIC
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