The following is an interview with blogger, net activist, organizer, advocate, and attorney Gina McCauley, founder of the blog Whataboutourdaughters.
No she isn’t an Angela Davis. In fact, Gina McCauley would probably say that she’s not quite that radical. But when I think of women like Ms. McCauley, the strong, no nonsense spirit of Angela Davis comes to mind. The image of the strong Black woman began to wane in the 1990’s, and it has been almost absent from the American conscience ever since. I probably don’t have to remind anyone what that strong, more positive image has been replaced with. This is why Gina McCauley represented such a breath of fresh air when she (along with a small army of like-minded bloggers) came into the blogging World last year.
Their message - we are strong women of color who will no longer sit by while our image is degraded in Popular Culture. McCauley quickly organized a coalition of bloggers and helped to link that power with existing advocacy groups who were concerned about the same problem - the negative images of Black Americans, particularly Black women, in Popular Culture. McCauley took aim at the Rap music industry and TV networks like BET.
As a Black man who has been fed up with the negative images of Black people perpetuated by media and the Rap Industry, I couldn’t wait for Black women to take a more forceful stand against the degenerate Rap/Hip Hop culture. Black women had seemed absent to me for far too long, and in most cases, they even seemed to be a part of the problem. So I was more than happy to see Gina McCauley and others like her finally say “No More”. I understand clearly that Black women will be key to reversing the constant degradation of the Black image and the image of Black women in particular. Black women will be the key to any solution aimed at ending or slowing the rotting of the Black American culture in this Country and in fact around the World- because the negative images of Black Americans that come from the likes of BET, MTV, and from the Rap industry, are seen by people around the Globe. For many people in other parts of the World, these negative images are the primary images or main points of reference that they may have of Black Americans. Is that the image that we want the World to see?
Over the past couple of weeks, Gina McCauley took time to answer a series of questions that I submitted.
The Angry Independent: Thanks for allowing this blog interview....
How did the idea of Whataboutourdaughters come about?
Gina McCauley: I was sitting at the computer watching the Oprah Winfrey show, After Imus: Now What. The lesson from Imus was as clear as the light of day to me. If black women targeted the big money advertisers, they could control what we saw in popular culture. Diane Weathers, one of the guests was so distressed. I thought nonchalantly, "All this lady needs is a blog to organize folks and poof, problem solved". The original purpose of the blog was to ferret out grassroots organizations that were already doing something and connect them together. People said during Imus that people hadn't been upset about the negative depictions of African American women in Hip Hop. I knew they were wrong, mainstream media just ignored them . WAOD was supposed to be 5 minutes after work and my actual goal was that someone would see my blog and say ""hey Gina, we're already doing that!" so I could go back to my daily life.
AI: Can you describe to your readers what Gina the college student was like?
GM: OH lord. Gina the college student was idealistic, hopeful, over involved in student activities and ended up burnt out and disillusioned. I wasn't a radical. I sought change through power, I was in student congress, a newspaper intern, and a writer for the yearbook. I won story of the year my junior year, and was the only Black chair of a committee of the campus activities council…. Delegate to the Big XII conference on black student government, you name it & I was in it. I was an immature, arrogant, idealistic fool is what I was. Since then life has thoroughly kicked me in the rear.
AI: Could you have imagined then that you would be involved in this new form of advocacy & activism?
GM: Heck No. My goal was never to be an activist. Been there. Done that. I only wanted to bring people together. I placed clear limits on what I was willing to do at the beginning of this thing. If I knew how my life would change as a result, I never would have done it at that time. I have a very short attention span or at least I thought I did. I doubted that I would make it into the month of May and now we are looking at 8 months, almost 130,000 unique visits, I am in the top 11,000 on Technorati, been in every newspaper known to man, in Essence magazine twice, been mentioned in Jet at least twice and Ebony once. At the time that I started the blog, I had been searching for how I could be of service to the World on my own terms. I had walked away from service after undergrad, did a few things in law school and absolutely nothing after law school as far as I was concerned, I gave at the office. So as I was staring down my 32nd birthday, I faced the fact that I was extremely unsatisfied with my life and wanted to live a life that mattered and about the only way to do that was to help change the lives of others. Not in big way a la Thurgood Marshall, but in a small way. I toed with becoming a college professor or taking the foreign service exam. I'd started doing little community service projects around town, data entry and handing out t-shirts and stuff like that, but nothing with any huge commitment of time. So at the time that the Imus stuff happened, I was open to doing little things. I started the blog quite frankly out of guilt because I knew I had the ability to do something to help, but it wasn't because I'd been burned in the past helping people out.
AI: Was it clear to you then that you would be this involved (was it part of the plan) or has this been a detour for you?
GM: DETOUR! My goal was to live a boring existence until I would retire to the hills of Western Carolina. The only organization I belong to is AAA. I figure I have earned my right to be apathetic in all things since I was so over involved previously. People need to understand that my entire life I've been fighting the powers that be and fighting for inclusion. That weighs on you. It takes a toll and quite frankly some of your harshest critics can be Black people as I have been reminded constantly since starting this blog. I think when I was younger I would listen to the slightest, tiniest criticism and it would crush me. Didn't they know I was trying to help? As a fully grown woman, I have the wisdom to know that you do what you are supposed to do because you were told to do it by the Universe. Negative critics will come. You still have to do what you were called to do. You will survive criticism. It sucks, but you will survive.
AI: If you can list them - who were your 3 biggest role models as a young woman (not including family members) and how did they inspire you?
GM: Barbara Jordan, I like that when she spoke people listened to her and she was a Texan and a lawyer. Thurgood Marshall because I really did think back then that all you had to do was go to the supreme Court and all the bad things in the world could be fixed. Claire Huxtable, she was a wife, mother, and a career woman and she always had the baddest clothes. she was smart, intelligent and confident and her husband was in awe of her and delighted in her brilliance. It was okay to be a smart Black woman.
AI: What do you think are the biggest issues for urban America at the moment, Black America in particular?
GM: There isn't one issue. Black America is not a monolith. If I had to say anything that sticks out, it is the disintegration of the Black Family unit. The Family is the building block of civilization. The level of illegitimacy isn't just a moral issue, it is a civic issue. Wealth, health, crime, and social order suffer when the social safety net of the family is ripped into tatters.
AI: You already know my opinion of Rap and the whole Rap/Hip Hop Culture. I happen to believe that it's a Cancer on Black America, particularly when it comes to the negative images of Black people that it perpetuates. What is your opinion of Rap/Hip Hop culture, and what kind of impact do you believe it has had & continues to have on Black youth & on young Black women in particular?
GM: I think you have to draw a distinction. What we see, hear and experience is not hip hop culture. It is a bastardized version co-opted by corporate America. 70% of commercial rap music is purchased by white folks. This means that the industry is catering to their fantasies and stereotypes about Black people. But in cities throughout this country, there are artist, particularly spoken word artists, who are carrying out the spoken word tradition and they are talking about more than bling, bitches and hoes. Unfortunately, the corporate overseers of the Hip Hop Industrial Complex aren't going to give them a platform because their White consumers aren't interested.
The Hip Hop industrial complex is basically programming Black children to believe that they are each other's enemies. That human life, even their own lives are meaningless, and the only thing that is important in this world is how much you can collect. It is teaching them to be hopeless and cynical and justified in engaging in illicit behavior because they somehow are entitled to it because they have been oppressed. Hip Hop is selling Black women down the river. Teaching the world that we are the enemy. Essentially auctioning Black women off piece by piece, butt cheek by butt cheek, and they have been so masterful in their propaganda that Black women line up to hop on the auction block. Its destroying us.
AI: Well, I no longer try to draw any distinctions. The majority of it seems polluted to me. It’s garbage. 17, 18 years ago I would try to use that line of thinking as a way to make myself believe that what I was hearing was o.k. But it just doesn’t work today, at least not for me. Too many things overlap in “Hip Hop culture” today, that it seems impossible to find any distinctions.
How do you explain the level of Black indifference that we see regarding the Rap music industry?
GM: The black community has been programmed not to confront each other in a public way for fear that the White folks would use it against us. The reason there is indifference is because the public face of the rap music industry is African American.
AI: I know that you are aware of the disparity in national news coverage between missing Black women and missing white women. You have raised this issue on your blog quite a few times, and I have also covered this issue here. It seems to be an open secret among the big news networks that they just are not interested in providing equal coverage. It is clear that there is a color line for these networks. Perhaps it comes down to a question of ratings and money. They figure that their viewers just wouldn't be as interested in a missing Black woman.
What do you think is behind this disparity in news coverage?
GM: Racism. We let them get away with it. They don't value the lives of black women or they assume that we are supposed to be the victims of crime so that when it happens, it isn't that extraordinary.
AI: Do you get a clear sense that Black women are less valued in the media, in the wider society, and perhaps even within the so-called "Black Community"?
GM: Heck yeah. Especially within the black community. How can you expect the larger society to value us when we don't value ourselves?
AI: In your opinion, what must be done to improve the image of Black women in American society?
GM: First, defund the denigration of black women by large corporations. Confront the foolishness where we see it, but we can't just moan and groan, we have to offer a competing and equally entertaining alternative.
AI: As you know, people within so-called “Black America” who have cut against the grain & questioned Rap music and Black popular culture often find themselves struggling to counter the messages of a large number of apologists- those who make excuses for the negative behaviors and damaging images both inside and outside of Black Culture, as a way to encourage the status quo. Unfortunately, a large segment of young Black men and women seem to be sympathetic to the apologists (Russell Simmons, Michael Eric Dyson, etc...just to name a few). The message of the apologists seems to be resonating to some degree with Black youth. Is this something that can be overcome?
GM: I happen to believe that it has to start at home, with a return to some sort of standards. The moral compass seems to be missing in Black America today. Of course it can be overcome. The truth is that these people have never had to wage war for their viewpoint to be heard. The early opponents were older and viewed as old fogies. I think what is different is that the folks taking this stuff on are young and of the culture and people quite frankly have now seen the devastation this has caused and are all thugged out. Listen to what is on the radio now. It’s garbage. Horrible. the industry is cannibalizing itself.
AI: If you could sit down for a chat with Russell Simmons, or Michael Eric Dyson...what would you say to them?
GM: That they are traitors to their race. I would say that Dr. Dyson spits on the legacy of all the black women who organized, marched, bled and died so he could get his degrees and earn his $300,000 per class at Georgetown and he is using his degree to give shelter, aid and comfort to the enemies of Black America. I have nothing to say to Russell Simmons, he is a highly paid employee. That is our problem, we keep yelling at other black folks when they really have no real power other than being the public face or the mask for those who really control what we see and hear.
AI: I see that you have been keeping up with the Presidential race. If you had the opportunity to pose 3 questions to the candidates, what 3 questions would you ask?
GM: If a category 5 hurricane was aimed at Houston, TX and the freeways were jammed, what would you as president of the United states do? If the head of FEMA appeared wholly inept and incapable of doing his job, what would you do? If you were in Washington and you turned on the television screen and thousands of American citizens were on the street thirsty and hungry begging for food and water, what would you do?
AI: You challenged BET (Black Entertainment Television) in 2007 by dealing directly with the networks advertisers, and you have also encouraged & supported similar campaigns by others. At the very least, these efforts have gotten the attention of BET's corporate leadership. Can you briefly describe your approach of dealing directly with corporate sponsors? How can this be translated into some kind of long-term sustainable effort, and has there been any movement towards that end?
GM: My approach with corporate sponsors is that they are not my enemy. I assume that they want to do the right thing and have either been mislead or kept in the dark about where their advertising is going. Many sponsor don't realize Black folks find these images offensive because black folks are the ones putting them out there. So I have never had to move beyond the phase of educating a sponsor. They are very proactive once they become aware of foolishness. I think other bloggers who have had similar efforts can attest to their responsiveness in the face of the indefensible. I have not worked on anything long term. I take things on a case by case basis. however I know that the Enough is Enough campaign is working with sponsors for some potentially long term guidelines. I think the next thing bloggers can do is establish a relationship within the corporations so that when you have a concern, you can direct it to the appropriate person and they can deal with it appropriately and effectively. One of the most well known campaigns involved BET, but one of the campaigns I am most proud of is how swiftly we forced XXlmag.com to cave after one of their bloggers referred to the Dunbar Village victim as “some hooker down in Florida“. We saw how swiftly HUGE corporations were able to respond. In a matter of hours as opposed to weeks. I don't believe in boycotting companies unless it is absolutely necessary. Folks like to scream boycott at the drop of a hat, but a lot of times you can get results if you approach folks rationally and only go after the indefensible. I never aim at the margins. Every campaign I have ever launched has involved a situation that was beyond the pale.
AI: Can you provide an update on the protests by the "Enough Is Enough Campaign" against BET? Has there been any progress on the issue of Cable Choice?
GM: Oh absolutely there has been a move on the issue of cable choice. I don't know how much I can say because I don't want to give too much away, but lets just say that there are lots of ways to obtain the result of allowing consumers the ability NOT to have to pay for channels they do not like. I learn about these options everyday and one of them involves the franchise agreements with municipalities. The Enough is Enough campaign is growing stronger. As I predicted, the initial movement was going to lead to new strategic partnerships and BET and Viacom are feeling the heat.
No she isn’t an Angela Davis. In fact, Gina McCauley would probably say that she’s not quite that radical. But when I think of women like Ms. McCauley, the strong, no nonsense spirit of Angela Davis comes to mind. The image of the strong Black woman began to wane in the 1990’s, and it has been almost absent from the American conscience ever since. I probably don’t have to remind anyone what that strong, more positive image has been replaced with. This is why Gina McCauley represented such a breath of fresh air when she (along with a small army of like-minded bloggers) came into the blogging World last year.
Their message - we are strong women of color who will no longer sit by while our image is degraded in Popular Culture. McCauley quickly organized a coalition of bloggers and helped to link that power with existing advocacy groups who were concerned about the same problem - the negative images of Black Americans, particularly Black women, in Popular Culture. McCauley took aim at the Rap music industry and TV networks like BET.
As a Black man who has been fed up with the negative images of Black people perpetuated by media and the Rap Industry, I couldn’t wait for Black women to take a more forceful stand against the degenerate Rap/Hip Hop culture. Black women had seemed absent to me for far too long, and in most cases, they even seemed to be a part of the problem. So I was more than happy to see Gina McCauley and others like her finally say “No More”. I understand clearly that Black women will be key to reversing the constant degradation of the Black image and the image of Black women in particular. Black women will be the key to any solution aimed at ending or slowing the rotting of the Black American culture in this Country and in fact around the World- because the negative images of Black Americans that come from the likes of BET, MTV, and from the Rap industry, are seen by people around the Globe. For many people in other parts of the World, these negative images are the primary images or main points of reference that they may have of Black Americans. Is that the image that we want the World to see?
Over the past couple of weeks, Gina McCauley took time to answer a series of questions that I submitted.
The Angry Independent: Thanks for allowing this blog interview....
How did the idea of Whataboutourdaughters come about?
Gina McCauley: I was sitting at the computer watching the Oprah Winfrey show, After Imus: Now What. The lesson from Imus was as clear as the light of day to me. If black women targeted the big money advertisers, they could control what we saw in popular culture. Diane Weathers, one of the guests was so distressed. I thought nonchalantly, "All this lady needs is a blog to organize folks and poof, problem solved". The original purpose of the blog was to ferret out grassroots organizations that were already doing something and connect them together. People said during Imus that people hadn't been upset about the negative depictions of African American women in Hip Hop. I knew they were wrong, mainstream media just ignored them . WAOD was supposed to be 5 minutes after work and my actual goal was that someone would see my blog and say ""hey Gina, we're already doing that!" so I could go back to my daily life.
AI: Can you describe to your readers what Gina the college student was like?
GM: OH lord. Gina the college student was idealistic, hopeful, over involved in student activities and ended up burnt out and disillusioned. I wasn't a radical. I sought change through power, I was in student congress, a newspaper intern, and a writer for the yearbook. I won story of the year my junior year, and was the only Black chair of a committee of the campus activities council…. Delegate to the Big XII conference on black student government, you name it & I was in it. I was an immature, arrogant, idealistic fool is what I was. Since then life has thoroughly kicked me in the rear.
AI: Could you have imagined then that you would be involved in this new form of advocacy & activism?
GM: Heck No. My goal was never to be an activist. Been there. Done that. I only wanted to bring people together. I placed clear limits on what I was willing to do at the beginning of this thing. If I knew how my life would change as a result, I never would have done it at that time. I have a very short attention span or at least I thought I did. I doubted that I would make it into the month of May and now we are looking at 8 months, almost 130,000 unique visits, I am in the top 11,000 on Technorati, been in every newspaper known to man, in Essence magazine twice, been mentioned in Jet at least twice and Ebony once. At the time that I started the blog, I had been searching for how I could be of service to the World on my own terms. I had walked away from service after undergrad, did a few things in law school and absolutely nothing after law school as far as I was concerned, I gave at the office. So as I was staring down my 32nd birthday, I faced the fact that I was extremely unsatisfied with my life and wanted to live a life that mattered and about the only way to do that was to help change the lives of others. Not in big way a la Thurgood Marshall, but in a small way. I toed with becoming a college professor or taking the foreign service exam. I'd started doing little community service projects around town, data entry and handing out t-shirts and stuff like that, but nothing with any huge commitment of time. So at the time that the Imus stuff happened, I was open to doing little things. I started the blog quite frankly out of guilt because I knew I had the ability to do something to help, but it wasn't because I'd been burned in the past helping people out.
AI: Was it clear to you then that you would be this involved (was it part of the plan) or has this been a detour for you?
GM: DETOUR! My goal was to live a boring existence until I would retire to the hills of Western Carolina. The only organization I belong to is AAA. I figure I have earned my right to be apathetic in all things since I was so over involved previously. People need to understand that my entire life I've been fighting the powers that be and fighting for inclusion. That weighs on you. It takes a toll and quite frankly some of your harshest critics can be Black people as I have been reminded constantly since starting this blog. I think when I was younger I would listen to the slightest, tiniest criticism and it would crush me. Didn't they know I was trying to help? As a fully grown woman, I have the wisdom to know that you do what you are supposed to do because you were told to do it by the Universe. Negative critics will come. You still have to do what you were called to do. You will survive criticism. It sucks, but you will survive.
AI: If you can list them - who were your 3 biggest role models as a young woman (not including family members) and how did they inspire you?
GM: Barbara Jordan, I like that when she spoke people listened to her and she was a Texan and a lawyer. Thurgood Marshall because I really did think back then that all you had to do was go to the supreme Court and all the bad things in the world could be fixed. Claire Huxtable, she was a wife, mother, and a career woman and she always had the baddest clothes. she was smart, intelligent and confident and her husband was in awe of her and delighted in her brilliance. It was okay to be a smart Black woman.
AI: What do you think are the biggest issues for urban America at the moment, Black America in particular?
GM: There isn't one issue. Black America is not a monolith. If I had to say anything that sticks out, it is the disintegration of the Black Family unit. The Family is the building block of civilization. The level of illegitimacy isn't just a moral issue, it is a civic issue. Wealth, health, crime, and social order suffer when the social safety net of the family is ripped into tatters.
AI: You already know my opinion of Rap and the whole Rap/Hip Hop Culture. I happen to believe that it's a Cancer on Black America, particularly when it comes to the negative images of Black people that it perpetuates. What is your opinion of Rap/Hip Hop culture, and what kind of impact do you believe it has had & continues to have on Black youth & on young Black women in particular?
GM: I think you have to draw a distinction. What we see, hear and experience is not hip hop culture. It is a bastardized version co-opted by corporate America. 70% of commercial rap music is purchased by white folks. This means that the industry is catering to their fantasies and stereotypes about Black people. But in cities throughout this country, there are artist, particularly spoken word artists, who are carrying out the spoken word tradition and they are talking about more than bling, bitches and hoes. Unfortunately, the corporate overseers of the Hip Hop Industrial Complex aren't going to give them a platform because their White consumers aren't interested.
The Hip Hop industrial complex is basically programming Black children to believe that they are each other's enemies. That human life, even their own lives are meaningless, and the only thing that is important in this world is how much you can collect. It is teaching them to be hopeless and cynical and justified in engaging in illicit behavior because they somehow are entitled to it because they have been oppressed. Hip Hop is selling Black women down the river. Teaching the world that we are the enemy. Essentially auctioning Black women off piece by piece, butt cheek by butt cheek, and they have been so masterful in their propaganda that Black women line up to hop on the auction block. Its destroying us.
AI: Well, I no longer try to draw any distinctions. The majority of it seems polluted to me. It’s garbage. 17, 18 years ago I would try to use that line of thinking as a way to make myself believe that what I was hearing was o.k. But it just doesn’t work today, at least not for me. Too many things overlap in “Hip Hop culture” today, that it seems impossible to find any distinctions.
How do you explain the level of Black indifference that we see regarding the Rap music industry?
GM: The black community has been programmed not to confront each other in a public way for fear that the White folks would use it against us. The reason there is indifference is because the public face of the rap music industry is African American.
AI: I know that you are aware of the disparity in national news coverage between missing Black women and missing white women. You have raised this issue on your blog quite a few times, and I have also covered this issue here. It seems to be an open secret among the big news networks that they just are not interested in providing equal coverage. It is clear that there is a color line for these networks. Perhaps it comes down to a question of ratings and money. They figure that their viewers just wouldn't be as interested in a missing Black woman.
What do you think is behind this disparity in news coverage?
GM: Racism. We let them get away with it. They don't value the lives of black women or they assume that we are supposed to be the victims of crime so that when it happens, it isn't that extraordinary.
AI: Do you get a clear sense that Black women are less valued in the media, in the wider society, and perhaps even within the so-called "Black Community"?
GM: Heck yeah. Especially within the black community. How can you expect the larger society to value us when we don't value ourselves?
AI: In your opinion, what must be done to improve the image of Black women in American society?
GM: First, defund the denigration of black women by large corporations. Confront the foolishness where we see it, but we can't just moan and groan, we have to offer a competing and equally entertaining alternative.
AI: As you know, people within so-called “Black America” who have cut against the grain & questioned Rap music and Black popular culture often find themselves struggling to counter the messages of a large number of apologists- those who make excuses for the negative behaviors and damaging images both inside and outside of Black Culture, as a way to encourage the status quo. Unfortunately, a large segment of young Black men and women seem to be sympathetic to the apologists (Russell Simmons, Michael Eric Dyson, etc...just to name a few). The message of the apologists seems to be resonating to some degree with Black youth. Is this something that can be overcome?
GM: I happen to believe that it has to start at home, with a return to some sort of standards. The moral compass seems to be missing in Black America today. Of course it can be overcome. The truth is that these people have never had to wage war for their viewpoint to be heard. The early opponents were older and viewed as old fogies. I think what is different is that the folks taking this stuff on are young and of the culture and people quite frankly have now seen the devastation this has caused and are all thugged out. Listen to what is on the radio now. It’s garbage. Horrible. the industry is cannibalizing itself.
AI: If you could sit down for a chat with Russell Simmons, or Michael Eric Dyson...what would you say to them?
GM: That they are traitors to their race. I would say that Dr. Dyson spits on the legacy of all the black women who organized, marched, bled and died so he could get his degrees and earn his $300,000 per class at Georgetown and he is using his degree to give shelter, aid and comfort to the enemies of Black America. I have nothing to say to Russell Simmons, he is a highly paid employee. That is our problem, we keep yelling at other black folks when they really have no real power other than being the public face or the mask for those who really control what we see and hear.
AI: I see that you have been keeping up with the Presidential race. If you had the opportunity to pose 3 questions to the candidates, what 3 questions would you ask?
GM: If a category 5 hurricane was aimed at Houston, TX and the freeways were jammed, what would you as president of the United states do? If the head of FEMA appeared wholly inept and incapable of doing his job, what would you do? If you were in Washington and you turned on the television screen and thousands of American citizens were on the street thirsty and hungry begging for food and water, what would you do?
AI: You challenged BET (Black Entertainment Television) in 2007 by dealing directly with the networks advertisers, and you have also encouraged & supported similar campaigns by others. At the very least, these efforts have gotten the attention of BET's corporate leadership. Can you briefly describe your approach of dealing directly with corporate sponsors? How can this be translated into some kind of long-term sustainable effort, and has there been any movement towards that end?
GM: My approach with corporate sponsors is that they are not my enemy. I assume that they want to do the right thing and have either been mislead or kept in the dark about where their advertising is going. Many sponsor don't realize Black folks find these images offensive because black folks are the ones putting them out there. So I have never had to move beyond the phase of educating a sponsor. They are very proactive once they become aware of foolishness. I think other bloggers who have had similar efforts can attest to their responsiveness in the face of the indefensible. I have not worked on anything long term. I take things on a case by case basis. however I know that the Enough is Enough campaign is working with sponsors for some potentially long term guidelines. I think the next thing bloggers can do is establish a relationship within the corporations so that when you have a concern, you can direct it to the appropriate person and they can deal with it appropriately and effectively. One of the most well known campaigns involved BET, but one of the campaigns I am most proud of is how swiftly we forced XXlmag.com to cave after one of their bloggers referred to the Dunbar Village victim as “some hooker down in Florida“. We saw how swiftly HUGE corporations were able to respond. In a matter of hours as opposed to weeks. I don't believe in boycotting companies unless it is absolutely necessary. Folks like to scream boycott at the drop of a hat, but a lot of times you can get results if you approach folks rationally and only go after the indefensible. I never aim at the margins. Every campaign I have ever launched has involved a situation that was beyond the pale.
AI: Can you provide an update on the protests by the "Enough Is Enough Campaign" against BET? Has there been any progress on the issue of Cable Choice?
GM: Oh absolutely there has been a move on the issue of cable choice. I don't know how much I can say because I don't want to give too much away, but lets just say that there are lots of ways to obtain the result of allowing consumers the ability NOT to have to pay for channels they do not like. I learn about these options everyday and one of them involves the franchise agreements with municipalities. The Enough is Enough campaign is growing stronger. As I predicted, the initial movement was going to lead to new strategic partnerships and BET and Viacom are feeling the heat.
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See video of a recent protest outside of the BET "Honors" Awards. Post with Video, and Video 2. (longer video).
(Hear an Interview with Enough Is Enough leader Dr. Delman Coates)
Find out more about the Enough Is Enough Campaign
(Readers can type "Delman Coates", or "Enough Is Enough" into the blogs search box to find archived posts).
AI: Can you tell us about your "Blogging While Brown" project?
GM: Oh wow. Well Blogging While Brown is the first international conference for bloggers of color. Kind of like a family reunion for black bloggers, vloggers, and podcasters and their readers, watchers, and listeners. It is also an opportunity for grassroots organizations to come and meet with black bloggers so that we can figure out how to merge our unique strengths to leverage online activity with offline results. It is in Atlanta, July 25-27, 2008. I started working on it because lots of folks were lamenting the lack of diversity and inclusion at the larger blogging conferences so I said "hey why not throw our own conference". Registration is currently underway. It is $150. We also are looking for folks who want to put together panels, workshops, or small group discussions for the conference. This is our time. 2008 is going to be a huge year for bloggers if 2007 is any indication.
AI: Why was it important for you to stick with the Dunbar Village story?
GM: Man. The best way to describe it is that it was supernatural. You have to remember that right after BET’s “Hot Ghetto Mess” fiasco, I had this HUGE platform. Now I could have continued to talk about TV shows and music lyrics, but one of the reasons I started the blog was the Story of Immaculée Ilibagiza, Author of Left To Tell. During the Rwandan Genocide, you saw how human beings treated each other when mass media sent out the call for mass slaughter. I can imagine a time in this country where the culture will so dehumanize black women and girls that we will literally be living in third world conditions. Women and girls may not be free to move about because the social mores that make it possible for us to move freely unmolested will have been destroyed. Don Imus torpedoed the myth that people are differentiating between hoochies and everybody else. I believe that an entire generation of men have been raised listening to music that A) dehumanizes Black women and makes them incapable of empathizing with us as human being and B) teaching them that it is okay to brutalize us. To me, Dunbar Village was like 15 years ahead of schedule. For so many young men to have participated in such a brutal crime, civil society had unraveled right in front of our very eyes. You have to remember this happened after the white Kentucky couple had been brutalized and tortured shortly before Dunbar Village. We hadn't seen stuff like this in the United States. Not in my life time. Black folks hadn't participated in that kind of foolishness and here we have in the span of two months two brutal crimes. To me Dunbar Village is like a cancer, and if we didn't rise up an demand that the world pay attention, it was just going to spread.
It turns out that part of Florida has an epidemic of gang rapes being carried out on Black woman and girls. We can't ignore it because it is currently isolated in poor areas. It will spread. People criticize me for continuing to speak out about it. I am convinced it is a harbinger of things to come. We are watching the weaponization of rape in this country that is similar to something you might find in a war zone and in some ways many of our urban centers and poor neighborhoods are war zones. We know about Dunbar Village, but as we have learned since then, there are plenty of other crimes like this. You also have to remember that black "leaders" were all over the place this summer. Jena, Michael Vick, Genarlow Wilson. They were so quick to take to the streets for black men accused of committing crimes, but were completely silent about Black victims of crime. Not just black women, but Black men as well. I have grown up so much since starting the Dunbar village campaign. I was naive when I started, not anymore. If we want them to pay attention, we have to give them an inducement to do so. Lots of people want to criticize retelling the facts of the case. My question is- how could you not? The lack of law enforcement, residents living in fear, the ages and brutality of the offenders, the victims, the silence and apathy of the neighbors. This wasn't just a crime against an individual, this was a crime against humanity and a sign of a complete and total breakdown of government. That has to be of concern to us all.
AI: Briefly describe the events surrounding the DV incident without getting into too much detail.
GM: A woman and her son were brutally tortured and raped for three hours by a group of ten black teens and while they screamed for three hours not a single neighbor bothered to call the police. Prior to the crime the city of west palm beach was well aware that there was a problem, but left these poor black women and children to rot and die and they continue to do so. The Governor has yet to issue a single public statement despite the fact that potentially 6 gang rapists are running around his state.
AI: What is a typical day for Gina?
GM: Wow. Typically I wake up at 5:00 in the morning & I check my email. Read my news and gossip blogs to see if anything happened that I want to write about. If I have been good, I would have written the day's post the previous night and all I have to do is post it. Sometimes however, I have a barrage of emails about the same issue so I post on it to keep from getting more. I go to work. I typically check in on the site at lunch, but not so much anymore because I now have moderators that monitor the site for me. I come home, more email and then surf for stories by reading other blogs.
This summer when I was involved in all the drama, I was going to the gym religiously in the evenings, but my schedule since October has been wrecked in the evenings, but in January, I hope to get back on track. I can say one huge difference is that I no longer watch television. I probably watch about 3 hours a week.
AI: If you could star in your own movie, who would be your leading man? And yes...you have to tell us why :)
GM: That is a hard one...Denzel or Lamman Rucker. And why? well that ought to be self explanatory. :)
AI: If I were to raid your CD player right now, what CD(s) would I find inside?
GM: First I no longer have a CD player. It’s called an I-pod and I highly recommend using one. But back in the day when I did buy entire albums, I would have Luther Vandross, Ruben Studdards first CD, Jill Scott, Lauren Hill's one and only studio album, Yolanda Adams, gospel mix cds, Nicole Mullen, India Arie, Celine Dion, Etta James, the Soundtracks to Rent, Wicked, The Bodyguard, & pre crack Whitney. But I am into singles now. I don't buy entire albums. I have been wearing a hole out of the Dream Girls Soundtrack though. That is my workout playlist.
AI: Not too bad. The only artists there that I can really relate to would be Mr. Vandross, and Etta James (wondering what Gina knows about Etta James…hmmm). India Arie and Celine Dion are also pretty good. I think Whitney probably saw her prime 15 years ago.
Generally I don’t listen to much of anything made after 1990. The 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s were the best decades for music in terms of talent & creativity, especially for Soul/R&B.
Your top 2 actors, and top 2 actresses?
GM: hmmm top two? My choice for top Actors is easy- Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks because they make you forget that its them when they are on the screen; Lawrence Fishburn as well. Angela Bassett - when I think of Tina Turner her face still occasionally pops up before I remember it was just a role. I have to say one of my all-time favorites has got to be Jennifer Lewis.
AI: What are your 3 favorite albums of all-time?
GM: Mis-education of Lauren Hill, the bodyguard soundtrack, and Nat King Cole's Christmas album.
AI: What was your New Years Resolution? Do share...
GM: Um I don't do new years resolutions anymore. Not specific ones anyway. I make general statements of what I hope the new year will bring realizing that there are lots of things outside of my control. But in 2008, I want to get back to blogging. I want Blogging While Brown to be successful, however I define that, I want to get out of the way of the universe and let it work through me, to be more disciplined and of course engage in regular physical activity.
AI: What can your readers look forward to seeing from Whataboutourdaughters and from the Podcast in the upcoming New Year?
GM: Wow. honestly, I don't plan that far out in advance. They will actually see more contributors and I will hopefully be disciplined enough to only post three times a week or so and make those matter. You're going to see us return to our roots related to using economic power to bring off line results. The team working on Dunbar Village is going to be putting boots on the ground there. The podcast is interesting. We might actually be taking that to radio and do live streaming, but my first priority next year will be Blogging While Brown and finishing up my book.
AI: What would you say to a young person, perhaps a young blogger, who doesn't believe that they can make a difference...or have an impact?
GM: Oh wow. Just try to be the best person you can be. Don't try to be great. Don’t try to be like anybody else, just be the best you that you can be and follow the Universe's tug on your life. You have a destiny & don't be afraid to walk towards it.
AI: What is a typical day for Gina?
GM: Wow. Typically I wake up at 5:00 in the morning & I check my email. Read my news and gossip blogs to see if anything happened that I want to write about. If I have been good, I would have written the day's post the previous night and all I have to do is post it. Sometimes however, I have a barrage of emails about the same issue so I post on it to keep from getting more. I go to work. I typically check in on the site at lunch, but not so much anymore because I now have moderators that monitor the site for me. I come home, more email and then surf for stories by reading other blogs.
This summer when I was involved in all the drama, I was going to the gym religiously in the evenings, but my schedule since October has been wrecked in the evenings, but in January, I hope to get back on track. I can say one huge difference is that I no longer watch television. I probably watch about 3 hours a week.
AI: If you could star in your own movie, who would be your leading man? And yes...you have to tell us why :)
GM: That is a hard one...Denzel or Lamman Rucker. And why? well that ought to be self explanatory. :)
AI: If I were to raid your CD player right now, what CD(s) would I find inside?
GM: First I no longer have a CD player. It’s called an I-pod and I highly recommend using one. But back in the day when I did buy entire albums, I would have Luther Vandross, Ruben Studdards first CD, Jill Scott, Lauren Hill's one and only studio album, Yolanda Adams, gospel mix cds, Nicole Mullen, India Arie, Celine Dion, Etta James, the Soundtracks to Rent, Wicked, The Bodyguard, & pre crack Whitney. But I am into singles now. I don't buy entire albums. I have been wearing a hole out of the Dream Girls Soundtrack though. That is my workout playlist.
AI: Not too bad. The only artists there that I can really relate to would be Mr. Vandross, and Etta James (wondering what Gina knows about Etta James…hmmm). India Arie and Celine Dion are also pretty good. I think Whitney probably saw her prime 15 years ago.
Generally I don’t listen to much of anything made after 1990. The 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s were the best decades for music in terms of talent & creativity, especially for Soul/R&B.
Your top 2 actors, and top 2 actresses?
GM: hmmm top two? My choice for top Actors is easy- Denzel Washington and Tom Hanks because they make you forget that its them when they are on the screen; Lawrence Fishburn as well. Angela Bassett - when I think of Tina Turner her face still occasionally pops up before I remember it was just a role. I have to say one of my all-time favorites has got to be Jennifer Lewis.
AI: What are your 3 favorite albums of all-time?
GM: Mis-education of Lauren Hill, the bodyguard soundtrack, and Nat King Cole's Christmas album.
AI: What was your New Years Resolution? Do share...
GM: Um I don't do new years resolutions anymore. Not specific ones anyway. I make general statements of what I hope the new year will bring realizing that there are lots of things outside of my control. But in 2008, I want to get back to blogging. I want Blogging While Brown to be successful, however I define that, I want to get out of the way of the universe and let it work through me, to be more disciplined and of course engage in regular physical activity.
AI: What can your readers look forward to seeing from Whataboutourdaughters and from the Podcast in the upcoming New Year?
GM: Wow. honestly, I don't plan that far out in advance. They will actually see more contributors and I will hopefully be disciplined enough to only post three times a week or so and make those matter. You're going to see us return to our roots related to using economic power to bring off line results. The team working on Dunbar Village is going to be putting boots on the ground there. The podcast is interesting. We might actually be taking that to radio and do live streaming, but my first priority next year will be Blogging While Brown and finishing up my book.
AI: What would you say to a young person, perhaps a young blogger, who doesn't believe that they can make a difference...or have an impact?
GM: Oh wow. Just try to be the best person you can be. Don't try to be great. Don’t try to be like anybody else, just be the best you that you can be and follow the Universe's tug on your life. You have a destiny & don't be afraid to walk towards it.
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5 comments:
This was a fantastic article and interview. I came across several fresh perspectives and I'm still absorbing their implications. I hope to attend the convention in Atlanta.
I regularly attend many other blogger, podcaster, videocaster conventions and they could all definitely benefit from greater diversity. There is a great power in uniting diverse voice from the blogosphere even when they do not completely agree. Its something traditional media has completely missed and almost completely lacks itself.
Wow! Great interview, AI! Much of what Gina said about the power of mass media to shape perceptions of an entire population rang very true. What made it fascinating is that she has had direct, concrete experience in combating these negative images and portrayals by educating corporations. One of the most interesting aspects of her interview to me was the discussion of tactics and how one can work with corporations and establish relationships with them -- something that is simple and direct but not always seen as a good avenue of protest as much as boycotts.
This is a great interview. I've noticed more and more blogger interviews with wonderful Black bloggers. Nice to see Gina sharing some insights ... although I see that she still ain't sharing her digital photo (smile).
Anyhow, I look forward to other blogger interviews.
peace, Villager
Thank you for sharing Gina's story with us. It is so imperative that there is diversity in the voices of black women represented on the web to show that we will not tolerate the nonsense anymore. She definitely is a breath of fresh air!
gina is so inspiring to me. this was a fantastic interview!
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