
Black Entertainment Television (BET) used to be a decent channel back before there was a tried and tested formula for how to ruin television. It had a show called Teen Summit focused on issues affecting African-American youth. Donnie Simpson’s Video Soul covered, well, R&B and soul, of course. Rap City hosted by Prince Dejour, rap. You get the point. BET had some decent programming. Then BET became a bastion of nonsense.
The first black major cable network soon began consistently projecting a one-sided, commercialized view of African-American culture, relegating “black entertainment” to booty shaking and bling. Now don’t get me wrong, gyrating and shiny objects have been enjoyed across cultures for years, but the elevation of shaky and shiny as worship-worthy cultural gods was the wrong decision at the wrong time for a relatively new voice for African-Americans. Continue Reading »