Very busy time these days…my first Holy Week as a pastor is pulling in many directions, but I’ll download that from my brain later. First, I have to get some odds and ends out of the way that I’ve been meaning to file.

First, John Hope Franklin has died! Perhaps you’ve heard of people like Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and of course, Cornell West. Well, they (and those similiarly situated) are standing on Franklin’s shoulders. He was the historians historian especially in the context of African American history. At 94 years old, he’s seen and lived a lot; blessing the world with his story and scholarly insight. Franklin visited Baltimore a few times promoting his later books at the Enoch Pratt Free Library and while I never was blessed with the opportunity to sit at his feet; I did get a chance to attend a lecture given by his son some years ago. We should all do ourselves a favor and engage the legacy of Franklin through his own voice via his literary works and countless interviews available online.

Next, T.I. goes to jail. Last summer, I gave my thoughts on this issue. Rapper, T.I. going to jail because of possession of machine guns and such. He and his team were really creative and aggressive in not only satisfying (in part) the court-mandated community service hours, but also in helping to clean up the embroiled rapper’s image while making a ton of money! (T.I. sold about 2 million copies of his lastest CD, Paper Trail.) While away in revival I caught a couple episdoes of T.I.’s Road to Redemption on MTV. I must admit I enjoyed watching T.I. speaking words of life to young people who were on the wrong path. It was like a television portrayal of one of T.I.’s little known songs off of his first album: “Be Better Than Me“. (so little known that it’s hard to find it even on youtube! coincidence?) Anyway, Clifford Harris (T.I.) was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison plus more than 100-grand in fines. Someting in me says that T.I. is going to be a better human being after all of this passes. Nothing says its time to change like trying to explain to your children why Daddy won’t be around for a year.

So of course many in the world have been talking about the domestic violence episode between Chris Brown and Rihanna (Of course I pray that Rihanna gets the help that she needs and that Chris accepts the guidance that he needs), but the reaction – or nonreaction – to the arrest of Bebe Winans for allegedly assaulting his ex-wife is interesting. Unlike what’s going on with Chris Brown, I’ve not heard of any radio stations pulling his music, any corporations pulling their sponsorship of him, and BET certainly isn’t considering dumping him from Sunday’s Best, Pop-Christianity’s version of American Idol. While his estranged wife has done some TV interviews about the incident, Bebe has nothing to say, but has issued a statement on his website. Why the difference in public reaction between Brown and Winans? I’m not trying to rally a “beat down Bebe” mob; I’m just curious. Domestic violence is domestic violence right? Or are there factors that make violence against women more acceptable?

Let’s end this ramble on a lighter note. I’m a big fan of College Basketball and I must say that by the time March Madness rolls around I’m ready to re-live my days on the court. In my world, the NCAA tournament is a strong competitor versus the NFL playoffs as the best sports tournament on television. While the Superbowl blows the tourney championship out of the water in terms of advertising (and probably ratings too), you have got to appreciate the drive of college kids playing the game for free and hungry to have their skills respected on a national stage. Tonight, while I was looking forward to UConn vs. North Carolina; the unpredictable nature of the game has delivered Michigan St. vs. Carolina. Though they blew them out in December, Carolina will have a much more difficult task on their hands tonight as Michigan will be playing with 70,000 fans at their back. Still Carolina prevails with Maryland-native Ty Lawson having an average game, but coming through in the clutch.

Speaking of College b-ball, shout out to Maryland’s own, Jack McClinton, for winning the College 3-point shootout. I told ya’ll the boy was bad. With one of the prettiest shots in college ball, a cool demeanor in game-on-the-line situations, and a knack for coming through in the clutch, McClinton is poised to make one NBA team very happy that he’s in town. Don’t worry about his height. He’s slightly taller and heavier than Chris Paul and how’s he doing in the league?

Sorry no terribly deep stuff in this post. It’s Monday and even pastors need a mental break every now and then.

So…what did I miss?

I was pleased to see this weekend that BET finally covered someone who I believe was more dangerous that all others featured in the network’s hit TV show, American Gangster. J. Edgar Hoover the former Director for the Federal Bureau of Investigation got away with murder during the 1960′s – many times targeting Black Leaders through the Bureau’s COINTELPRO Initiative. His hand was involved in the assassination of freedom fighters like Fred Hampton, Marc Clarke, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Malcolm X and many others.

He operated with impunity and brazenly even when engaging sitting Presidents of the United States because of the legendary files he kept on them – complete with wiretaps, phone records, and pictures of their less than moral behavior.

A few years ago, there was an effort to remove Hoover’s name from the FBI building in DC. I would hope that efforts like this would be revived. In my humble opinion, Hoover deserves no place of honor in public life and the truth of who he was should be plainly taught as a regular part of the American Educational Curriculum.

Big ups to Nas for his role in helping to challenge Fox News on the racist and wrong-headed propaganda that they continually present to the American public as “fair and balanced news.” Recently, Nas joined Color of Change in delivering more than 600,000 petitions to Fox News decrying the depiction of the Obama’s fist jab as some sort of terrorist symbol and calling Michelle Obama, Barack’s “baby mamma.” (Shout out to Nas as well for his latest album self-entitled, NAS, where he devotes a song to Fox “News” entitled “Sly Fox“.)

In the video above, Nas calls Fox News a propaganda machine – not a news network. A statement that many have believed to be true for a long time, but now we can know for sure that it’s true. Why? Because on Hardball with Chris Matthews last Friday, former Press Secretary of the White House, Scott McCllelan, admitted that the White House sends Fox News talking points for their nightly commentators and political pundits – you know Bill O’Reilly and the crew. I couldn’t believe what I was watching! (So much for the First Amendment’s attempt to create a separate checks and balances organism with a Free Press.) I know that most of you understand the gravity of this collusive alliance between media and government. You do understand that you must question everything that comes through the one eyed devil box don’t you? I believe Fox “News” is only the tip of the iceberg.

Finally, some proof that mainstream media works as the 4th Branch of the American Government controlling what the masses think…and as Dr. Carter G. Woodson so eloquently put it in his seminal work, The Mis-Education of the Negro – if you can control what a person thinks you don’t have to tell them to go here or there, you don’t have to tell them to go to the backdoor – they will automatically go and if there is no backdoor they will cut one out for their own benefit.

Now I’m just waiting for some disgruntled former employee of Black Entertainment Television to let it be known once and for all that “Black Evil Television” purposely broadcasts movies like “Baby Boy” and “Soul Plane” on a regular basis to instill, protect, and maintain a “ghetto mentality” in the minds of African people. Even the youth are catching on to the madness of that very evil network.

Teen Summit is back on BET! Well, not really, but that’s what it looked like last night. Rapper T.I.P., the self proclaimed “King of the South”, was on a real humble tip – introspective deep thinking and all that as he talked to Toure’ about his recent troubles with the law and upcoming 1 year jail time for having unregistered machine guns and being a felon in the possession of firearms. Before he hits the jail cell though he has to spend 1,000 hours talking to youth about the “pitfalls of guns, gangs, and drugs.” T.I. copped a plea deal because he was about to do some MAJOR time. Rappers are going to jail these days. Ya’ll betta clean it up. Those corporations will back you as long as you pimp your people with your lyrical poison, but the minute you slip up – those commercial deals are gone! T.I. rounded out the “public service announcement” by giving a shout out to God and sharing how this whole experience I.E. – hitting rock bottom, doing jail time, and not seeing his wife and 5 children for a year has brought him closer to The Almighty. Let’s pray that his music reflects his revelation upon his release.

Not only did T.I. do some community service with the interview, but I’m sure it was an attempt by BET to get some positive imaging as well. “Black Evil Television” is reeling as people across the nation are saying “Enough is Enough!” [DID YOU CALL Proctor & Gamble YET?] Bloggers are having a field day with CEO of BET, Debra Lee, and President of Entertainment, Reggie Hudlin as a report by the Parents Television Council confirmed what many of us already knew. BET broadcasts instances of sex, violence, profanity, and/or obscenities every 38 seconds! Debbie & Reggie -these two “leading Blacks” are still attempting to justify the objectification of women, glorifying of violence, and debasing of Black Culture by basically saying, “We just play the videos, we don’t make them” which is the equivalent of drug dealers on North Avenue saying, “We just sell crack, we don’t fly it over here.” We ain’t buying it, Debra. You and all the other capitalistic opportunists who work for you are culpable in the destruction of your own people, but at least ya’ll keep us on beat as we dance to the tune of our own demise.

BY THE WAY – PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE FOLKS…WATCH THE TWO BANNED EPISODES OF THE BOONDOCKS CARTOON ABOUT BET! Episode 1 and Episode 2 are here. Watch it fast before “they” pull it. Youtube has already banned it. In the words of The Joker, “THEY CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!” Thanks Common Sense.

Next – and this will be very quick because I’m sure they’re watching me too….

I have a sneaky suspicion that the so-called “DC Madam,” Deborah Palfrey did NOT commit suicide. I do not think it is ironic that early last year, one of the female escorts who worked for Palfrey’s escort service was also found dead by hanging and the official report was that she committed suicide. Now Palfrey commits suicide by hanging as well! When she gave indications to those around her that she was being followed and that there was a contract out on her life! Sorry – in the words of Jay-Z: “I don’t believe you. You need more people!” Palfrey must have had some major dirt on some politicos in Washington. They needed her to enter the bright white light quick.

IN LOCAL NEWS:

I have to speak at a Baltimore City High School today and I don’t feel like giving the white-washed, prepackaged, nicely manufactured speech. I’m tired. They need the truth. The “Sunday School” speech I.E. stay in school, don’t you be no fool, learn the golden rule, just say no and don’t have sex just isn’t working. About 100 students will be packed in a room for about 45 minutes to listen to me. The least I can do is tell them the truth.

THE TRUTH:

I’m sure other things will come out as well. I may get kicked out of the school, but hey – they need an adult to confirm what they already feel and know deep down on the inside. They may not be able to articulate it, but they know it.

In case “they” read this too and their worry prompts them to make plans for me, let me give my DC Madam Disclaimer:

I HAVE NO SUICIDAL THOUGHTS – NO REASON TO COMMIT SUICIDE – I AM LOVING MY JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE WITH MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS – PASTOR SANDERS TOLD ME WHEN I WAS LITTLE THAT IF PEOPLE COMMIT SUICIDE THEY GO STRAIGHT TO HELL AND I DON’T WANT TO GO TO HELL – I HAVE PLANS FOR TOMORROW AND THE NEXT DAY AND THE NEXT – I GET PAID NEXT WEEK – TOO MANY OF MY PEOPLE WERE HANGED I WOULD NEVER END MY LIFE WITH A NOOSE, A BULLET, A KNIFE, AN OVERDOSE, OR A JUMP OFF OF A BRIDGE!

Now if something happens and I’m not around anymore and the official report says I committed suicide – ya’ll betta raise all kinds of trouble to find the truth. Don’t let me go out like that. Make ‘em pay or they’ll come for you next!

Channel Changer
Three Years Ago, Reggie Hudlin Came To Save a Troubled BET. But Has He?

By Teresa Wiltz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 4, 2008; M01

NEW YORK — To understand the irony, skip back four years: Reginald Hudlin, Hollywood director and comic book nerd, is ensconced with his close friend, firebrand cartoonist Aaron McGruder, gleefully penning a graphic novel, “Birth of a Nation.” The book features as its villain the network mogul “John Roberts” — a black billionaire with a complete willingness to sell African Americans down the river to make a buck. Not coincidentally, “John Roberts” looks a lot like billionaire Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television.

Skip forward to the present: Now Hudlin’s dividing his time between Los Angeles and New York as BET’s president of entertainment, the man in charge of the images tumbling from the cable network’s airwaves. His critics blame him for serving up a steady diet of the same old same old: poisonous, stereotypical images of blacks, specifically rap videos featuring scantily clad vixens and blinged-out gangstas.

On the Internet, Hudlin is the target of a savage cartoon sendup, portrayed as the morally challenged programming head for “Black Evil Television” — a parody created by none other than McGruder, his former friend. And in Washington, protesters camped for months outside the home of Hudlin’s boss — network CEO Debra Lee — each and every weekend, chanting “Enough is enough.”

“Right now, Reginald Hudlin and Debra Lee preside over a media empire that perpetuates every negative stereotype about black men and black women that we fought against,” says the Rev. Delman Coates, the Prince George’s County pastor behind the campaign against BET. “And they have to be held accountable.

“The reality is, if Reginald Hudlin were white, more black leaders and more black organizations would be raising an outcry. But for some reason we give black people a pass for participating in our own exploitation.”

Last month, Coates, in conjunction with the Parents Television Council and onetime BET video programmer Paul Porter of Industry Ears, released a study analyzing adult content on two BET video shows, “106 & Park” and “Rap City,” along with MTV’s “Sucker Free” — prime-time programs that they charge are marketed to and viewed by children. Among the conclusions: In March, on the shows cited, there was one instance of adult content — references to drugs, sex or violence — every 38 seconds.

The next step in the “Enough Is Enough” campaign: pressuring BET advertisers to pull their sponsorship.

All of which says: It’s a tough time to be Reggie Hudlin, the supposed savior of BET.

Mention that to Hudlin, and he bristles. To his mind, BET’s critics are haters who can’t appreciate the hard work he’s put into the network. The rap videos, he says, are but a small portion of the programming that the network offers. “To me, when you look at the portfolio [of shows], the intent is very clear,” he says over lunch in Manhattan, looking aggrieved. “So why are you criticizing me?”

As Hudlin sees it, he’s fighting the good fight, trying to change the public image of African Americans, one show at a time, with family-oriented programming such as the newly announced gospel video countdown, “106 & Gospel”; “Black Panther,” an animated series based on a comic book he writes; and “Brutha,” a reality show about a group of singing siblings trying to make it in the industry.

“This is a place where you can effect a world of difference, literally a world,” says Hudlin, who with his brother Warrington made the popular movies “House Party” and “Boomerang” in the early ’90s. “You can just sit around and be a complainer. Or you can roll up your sleeves and get to work.”

Those sleeves would be cashmere, attached to turtlenecks color-coded to match his horn-rims: brown one day, black the next. Hudlin’s on the short side, broad in the chest. Gray streaks his hair and goatee, but he retains the air of the baby-faced hipster he once was.

Talk to him about work, and in particular BET, and he’s defensive and uptight, taking umbrage at the questions asked, intensely focused on spin. “You’re bumming me out with your questions,” he tells a reporter. It’s as if he takes the criticisms personally. But get Hudlin talking about anything else — the “Black Panther” series that he writes for Marvel Comics, getting married in Jamaica, the wonder of his little girl’s traffic-stopping ‘fro — and he loosens up considerably. His sense of humor floats to the surface.

At 46, Hudlin is of the same generation that shaped Barack Obama, riding the cusp between Boomers and Gen X’ers, post civil rights movement and “post-racial.” He comfortably straddles the line between Harvard (where he earned his bachelor’s degree) and the ‘hood (East St. Louis, Ill., where he grew up), a hip-hop head weaned on P-Funk and Prince, sci-fi and Marvel Comics.

Now he’s riding the cusp between the old BET and the one he envisions for the future. Today, Hudlin and his network are at a critical juncture.

After nearly three decades in the business, BET is battling its image as a purveyor of stereotypes at the same time it’s trying to position itself as a global player. Last month the network launched BET UK, its first real venture into international waters. (Next stop: South Africa in 2009.)

Now, after nearly three years on the job, Hudlin says he has started turning around the network, pushing it to the next level, from a surplus of music videos and syndicated reruns to scripted, original programming. At the same time, he and Lee point out that they’ve got a business to run, and that they’d be foolish to ignore the ones buttering their bread: that prized demographic of 18-to-34-year-olds. Young people, who, he says, “get it.” BET’s critics, he says, do not.

“What we do involves black youth culture, and black youth culture has always been vilified,” Hudlin says. “That’s the business we’re in. I understand there’s always going to be some level of vilification . . . and I’m not having it.”

Hudlin is squeezed between making profits and making a difference. Observes a BET producer who declined to be identified for fear of losing his job: “You can criticize BET all you want, but it’s about money. . . . You put all these high-minded, socially conscious programs on and your profits dip, you’re right out of there.”

BET, founded in Washington in 1980, emerged in the aftermath of the black-power ’70s, riding a crest of hopes and expectations as the first black network. In the early days — also the early days of rap — the network was a family affair, with all ages tuning in. It was “Video Soul” with a genial Donnie Simpson and the wholesome Sherry Carter. It was nighttime newscasts with a sober-looking Ed Gordon. It was talk shows and Teen Summits and Mandela Freedom Fund Telethons. But along the way, things shifted. Newscasts shrank to sound bites. Hip-hop, or at least, commercial rap, morphed into something else, something harder and crasser. Videos took on a dominant role.

Being the first means being saddled with a certain amount of baggage. “BET is unique because it is the custodian of the airwaves for all black people,” says Hudlin’s brother Warrington. “It is a burden, a double standard. History places that on you. . . . BET hasn’t done anything that VH1 and MTV haven’t done. But people don’t expect VH1 to be our channel.”

Age-old dilemma. As Langston Hughes pointed out in 1926, “The Negro artist works against an undertow of sharp criticism and misunderstanding from his own group and unintentional bribes from the whites. ‘Oh, be respectable, write about nice people, show how good we are,’ say the Negroes. ‘Be stereotyped, don’t go too far, don’t shatter our illusions about you, don’t amuse us too seriously. We will pay you,’ say the whites.”

Former Friends

At a recent daily taping of “106 & Park,” BET’s video countdown show, a plethora of hip-hop players and wannabes float in and out of the studios on West 57th Street in Manhattan. A giant screen displays rapper Rick Ross’s latest video, “The Boss.” In it, two half-naked women crawl over Ross’s massive, tattooed chest, interspersed with dreamy clips of diamond-encrusted rings and stacks and stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

Ross raps:

Who gives a [expletive] what a hater gotta say

I made a couple million dollars last year dealing [expletive]

The video fades out. In its place is a segment featuring black-and-white newsreel footage of Martin Luther King Jr., the Mall and a narrator intoning, “I am the March on Washington.”

But it’s the gangsta-rap videos that had BET critics such as Coates, of Mount Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, camped outside Lee’s Northwest home from last August to mid-April on weekends, chanting, “BET, SUCH A DISGRACE! BET, UPLIFT THE RACE!” (A New York-based sister church similarly is still protesting each weekend outside the Manhattan home of Philippe Dauman, CEO of BET’s parent company, Viacom. Dauman declined to be interviewed for this article.)

People protesting on his boss’s front lawn is just one of Hudlin’s problems. Ratings have dropped significantly, according to Derek Baine, senior analyst for SNL Kagan: Average household daily viewership dropped from 353,000 in 2006 to 316,000 in 2007. (But a popular show like Keyshia Cole’s does much better.) The network reaches nearly 90 million households.

Then there’s Paul Porter, a former BET video programming director who left the network in 2002, who charges that payola was, and is, a regular part of transactions at the network. On any given Friday, he says, he would receive a FedEx box stuffed with as much as $15,000 in cash. (Porter now heads Industry Ears, an advocacy group that participated in the “Enough Is Enough” BET survey.)

Hudlin vehemently denies any knowledge of, or involvement in, alleged payola at BET. As for Coates’s protest, he says, “it’s such misplaced aggression that doesn’t deal with the root of the problem. They’re attacking someone [Lee] who cares a great deal about all the things that they care about.”

He’d rather talk about his successes: “We have expanded the breadth and depth of programming on the network in a very short time. We’re far from done. But I think the work we’ve done so far on the network should be celebrated.”

As evidence, Hudlin points back to a 2005 telethon to raise money for Katrina victims; a two-part town hall special, “Hip Hop vs. America,” aired in the wake of the Don Imus brouhaha; a reality TV show featuring R&B starlet Keyshia Cole and her dysfunctional family; a documentary series produced by writer Nelson George, “American Gangster”; an “American Idol”-style gospel show, “Sunday Best”; and “BET Honors,” an awards show for prominent African Americans.

Between 2003-2007, BET has doubled its programming budget. Last year, Hudlin and his crew announced plans to release an impressive lineup of original programming — 16 shows, including an animated series about the Carthaginian general Hannibal to be produced by Vin Diesel. In April they announced programming for the 2008-09 season that includes a courtroom reality show and a dating show. It’ll also boost its news programming with two shows: “The Truth With Jeff Johnson,” a news talk show, and “Unreported,” an investigative series.

But several shows announced last year have yet to air or have died quick deaths. “Judge Mooney,” a sendup of courtroom shows featuring veteran comic Paul Mooney, was canceled days before its scheduled October debut. The ambitious “Wifey,” a drama starring Queen Latifah as a widowed music industry executive, remains unscheduled. The pilot was directed by Hudlin, an unusual move for a network head.

To be sure, television programming is an exercise in experimentation. As Lee put it, “Some things fall by the wayside,” while Hudlin insists that most of the network’s pilots do make it on-air.

BET’s shows that have aired are a mixed bag.

“Take the Cake,” a live interactive daily game show starring Tocarra of “America’s Next Top Model,” only lasted a season. “Hell Date,” a mash-up of dating shows that features a dwarf in a Devil suit, doesn’t exactly advance the cause for quality programming. “We Got to Do Better” has come and gone, as has “Socially Offensive Behavior,” a kind of “Candid Camera” for the 21st century, starring comic D.L. Hughley. “Read a Book,” a satirical animated short by Washington rapper Bomani, came under fire by critics who said the video perpetrated negative stereotypes, and inspired the “Enough Is Enough” campaign.

A firestorm of controversy started last fall when BET debuted “We Got to Do Better,” based on a Web site, “Hot Ghetto Mess,” which casts a jaundiced eye at tacky African Americans, taking the “America’s Funniest Home Videos” approach.

Critics like Gina McCauley, an Austin attorney, charged that the show catered to offensive stereotypes. She launched an online protest with her blog, “What About Our Daughters,” and some Internet advertisers pulled their support for the show.

Observes Hudlin’s mentor, the television pioneer Steve Bochco: “He’s had to completely change the culture there, which is always a complicated chore. He has to grapple with a very, very anemic budget. When you look at what he’s been able to do and the context of those challenges, you have to say he’s doing a wonderful job. He needs more time to accomplish what he’s set out to do. You don’t turn those ships on a dime, big heavy corporate cargo vessels.”

Hudlin has hurt feelings along the way. Mooney says his show was abruptly pulled without explanation and Hudlin never returned his calls. “I thought he was a king,” Mooney says. “I had no idea he was a slave.” (Both Hudlin and Lee maintain that the show was killed because it didn’t test well with focus groups.)

His feet are to the flame. A few years back, Hudlin joined forces with comic strip artist McGruder to produce the cartoon version of McGruder’s “Boondocks” on the Cartoon Network. The show takes frequent potshots at BET.

Today Hudlin and McGruder, once close friends, no longer speak. And Hudlin himself became the target of two “Boondocks” episodes. (The episodes, which the Cartoon Network decided not to release, are now making the rounds in the Afrosphere.) Hudlin is cast as the bow-tie-wearing “Weggie Rudlin,” who declares, “My Harvard education tells us that our goal is to take all the [expletive] reality TV shows that MTV made five years ago and make them black!”

And yes, Hudlin still has an executive-producer credit on the show. And no, he’s not going to talk about what happened, or how he feels about being skewered by his onetime friend/protege. Nor will McGruder comment.

The comedian Orlando Jones, director and producer of the upcoming BET animated sketch show “BUFU,” says Hudlin “did everything right. He went to Harvard. Now he’s been charged to change the stereotypes for people who think BET is the chitlin circuit network. He’s like, ‘I’ve never done anything in my life that’s stereotypical, and now I’m that guy?’ ”

In the ‘Ghet-to’

Hudlin grew up in East St. Louis, Ill., a city with a rich artistic past: Lillian Gish, Josephine Baker, Miles Davis, dance pioneer Katherine Dunham and bluesman Albert King all called it home. But by the time Hudlin came of age in the late ’70s, East St. Louis, once dubbed an “All America City,” was rapidly unraveling, the victim of riots, factory closings and virulent street gangs. A city that he affectionately sends up in “Birth of a Nation,” where he and McGruder imagined what would happen if East St. Louis seceded from the union. (Hint: chaos.)

Hudlin’s description of East St. Louis? “Ghet-to.”

Still, his is hardly your standard by-the-bootstraps story. Hudlin’s mother was an educator. His father, who died in 1998, was an insurance agent who served as president of the Chamber of Commerce, ran the local community college — and turned down an invitation to run for mayor.

“My family was very educated; we have people with PhDs,” says Hudlin over lunch at an upscale midtown Manhattan brasserie. He pauses, and then adds this caveat, as if to establish his ‘hood bona fides: “But we collected grease on a stove. Both my parents were real products of the Depression: Real, real hard work, never throw something away that you can use again.”

From an early age, he knew that he wanted to be a filmmaker. As a kid, he spent hours drawing comic books and hanging out at the community arts center that Dunham created in the heart of the ghetto, studying martial arts while his mom took dance classes. Films entranced him: Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz,” Charles Burnett’s “Killer of Sheep.” But it was Ken Russell’s rock opera movie “Tommy” that clinched it for him: the surreal rush of music and imagery.

With visions of directing a funk opera starring George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, he headed off to Harvard, where he majored in visual and environmental studies, a multidisciplinary honors program that combined film, photography, graphic arts and architecture. After college, he joined up with his older brother Warrington, a Yale grad who was working as an independent filmmaker.

“I was doing work that was important, but not commercial,” says Warrington, co-founder of the Black Filmmaker Foundation. “He said, ‘What you’re doing is good, but it’s about time to make some money.’ He always had a much stronger commercial instinct.”

But Hollywood is notoriously fickle. After his film successes, Hudlin turned to TV, directing shows including Bochco’s “City of Angels,” “Bernie Mac” and his good buddy Chris Rock’s “Everybody Hates Chris.” Rock says he was a little surprised when Hudlin took the BET gig.

“He’s got good taste,” Rock says. “There’s the Reggie who thinks like a director, and the Reggie who thinks like an exec. On the one hand, he’s got real artistic taste. And then on the other hand, he’s got real pop taste, ‘This’ll sell, this’ll work.’ ”

‘Ching-Ching’

Cold, hard commerce is in the house.

From up on high in the Hammerstein Ballroom, in a box reserved for corporate muckety-mucks, Hudlin sits, head bobbing to the beat, taking in the cross-pollination of hip-hop and fashion, of industry and art. There are dudes lining up along the front row, doing the retro rap thing, all flattops and neon, looking just like Kid ‘n Play did when Hudlin directed them in “House Party.” Hudlin spots them and laughs.

Here, at the taping of BET’s “Rip the Runway,” booty-shaking is in short, and tasteful, supply. Instead, cash is the theme du jour. Pharrell, backed up by N.E.R.D., is rapping about “hundred-dollar bills” while models sporting ruffled Zac Posen evening gowns prowl the catwalk, affecting a studied indifference.

Then there’s Missy Elliott, plugging her new single, chanting, “Ching-ching, getting paid over here,” as models sporting duds from her fashion line bounce around the runway. From there, Flo Rida takes to the stage, name-checking Nelly’s line of Apple Bottom jeans while models strut and preen, sporting, um, Apple Bottom jeans.

Over the course of the night, Snoop Dogg and Nelly, accompanied by their entourages, make their way up to the box, to pay their respects to Hudlin and Lee. To kiss the ring.

At the end of the day, it’s all about doing business.

ACTION ALERT!
Proctor & Gamble wants to hear from you!
April 2008

Great News!

As a result of the Parent Television Council’s “Rap on Rap” study, (in collaboration with the Enough is Enough Campaign) Proctor & Gamble would like to know whether you as a consumer would like them to change their advertising during music video programs on BET and MTV that glorify violence, drug use, drug dealing, contains sexually explicit theme, and portray men of color as pimps, gangsters, and thugs. P&G has set up a toll-free number to record your input.

Proctor & Gamble Contact Information

Please call (800) 331-3774.

Then, press 1 for “English”. You will then be prompted as follows:

“Thank you for calling P&G. If you are calling about our advertising on BET & MTV, please press 1.”

(press “1″ here)

The message will then say,

“We appreciate your taking the time out of your day to share your thoughts with us. For your convenience, we’ve set up this quick and easy way for you to register your opinion. If you would like us to change our advertising on BET & MTV, please press 1. If you would like us to continue our current advertising on BET, please press 2.”

(Press “1″ here)

You will then hear – “Your opinion has been counted and is being shared with the appropriate people in our company. For more information on our company, please visit us at www.pg.com. Thank you.”

END OF RECORDING!

If you are concerned about the issue of corporations sponsoring and marketing adult-themed content to children and youth, and content that glorifies drug use, degrades women, and glorifies a criminal lifestyle, call this the toll-free number above.

Also, share with ALL of your friends, co-workers, and family members who are concerned about this issue as well by clicking “Email This” at the top and send this email to those in your address book. Let’s make a change. Let your voice be heard.

You may also fax the Consumer Relations department at Proctor & Gamble at (513) 983-2881.

Once you do it, post a quick comment below sharing your experience calling the number and why you decided to support. Thank you!

Sponsored by Citizens for Change, Inc.
www.EnoughisEnoughCampaign.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 7, 2008 Contact: Julia Pollard – 301 238-4826

Joint Study On BET & MTV Video Content Complete

Washington, DC – The Enough Is Enough Campaign and the Parents Television Council will hold a Press Conference this Thursday, April 10, 2008 to release the results of a joint study analyzing the music video content on select BET & MTV music video programs. The Press Conference will be held at the National Press Club – 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC at 12:30 p.m. EDT.

For the past eight months, the Enough is Enough campaign has been protesting the corporate sponsorship of lyrics and images that degrade women, glorify violence and criminal activity, and negatively stereotype black and Latino men as “pimps”, “gangsters”, and “thugs” in the entertainment industry. Since September 2007, the campaign has been holding weekly rallies outside the DC residence of Debra Lee, CEO Black Entertainment Television (BET) and the New York residence of Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom. After receiving national attention, the campaign is now expanding to engage advertisers whose commercials sponsor offensive and adult-themed programs that are marketed to youth.

Contrary to the words of Debra Lee, CEO of Black Entertainment Television, the BET/MTV study will show that the two networks do in fact market adult-themed music video content on programs marketed to youth that degrades women, glorifies violence and criminal activity, promotes drinking and drugs, and portrays black and Latino men as gangsters, pimps, and thugs.

Rev. Delman Coates, Organizer of the Enough Is Enough Campaign, and Tim Winter, President of the Parents Television Council will both present the results of the study. Dr. E. Faye Williams, National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women, and Paul Porter, Co-Founder of Industry Ears and former video director at Black Entertainment Television are also confirmed to speak at the press conference.

###

To schedule an interview regarding this campaign,

Visit the www.EnoughIsEnoughCampaign.com website

Or

Send an email to: EnoughIsEnoughCampaign@hotmail.com.

This from Pastor Delman Coates from the Enough is Enough Campaign:

I have received reliable assurances that the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference has not and will not receive any financial contributions or sponsorships for its annual conference. I would like to thank all those who have worked to bring about a resolution to this matter, particularly those who have expressed concerns about the appearance that black clergy are divided in this campaign against offensive and misogynistic lyrical content in the entertainment industry. I am confident that at this year’s Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference this issue will be further addressed…..

While those of us who are passionate about the exploitation of black people in the popular culture are combating this issue on a variety of fronts, it is my sincere hope that we will remain focused on the real issue, and this is, the corporations that produce, sponsor, and distribute lyrical and visual content that degrades black women, glorifies violence and criminal activity, and negatively stereotypes black men as pimps, gangsters, and thugs.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev. Delman Coates, Ph.D., Organizer
Enough Is Enough Campaign for Corporate Responsibility in Entertainment
www.enoughisenoughcampaign.com

January 29, 2008

The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. is committed to strengthening the internal capacity of African American congregations to enable them to engage in fruitful and strategic social justice ministries. The SDPC’s mission is to bring about effective and long-term change through education, advocacy and direct action. We have forthrightly addressed a number of issues including, Katrina, HIV/AIDS, healthcare access, end of life care, voter protection education, children’s rights, the prison industrial complex, media concerns and matters of faith.

It is unfortunate that both a misrepresentation of the facts and a zealous rush to judgment without benefit of any dialogue or informed research has resulted in a potential “divide and conquer” situation. Yes, we share the concerns about misogyny and the degrading and disempowering media images and messaging—both blatant and subtle—not just by BET, but in all American media. So yes, I signed the letter and I was not at all deceived.

SDPC has sponsored an African American, interdenominational, faith strategy session on the development of an African American faith owned channel because of the lack of controlling ownership of cable and network systems in the United States by African Americans and the implications that has for programming throughout Africa and the Diaspora. In the context of Katrina and the documented concentration of conservative evangelical Christian positioning in cable, network television, radio and print, the SDPC has been training African American clergy on media, faith and public policy issues for the last two years. The SDPC trustees decided to further our efforts in this area of education and advocacy by specifically engaging in dialogue with BET about its programming and our desire to provide congregational and educational resources on negative programming and its effects on children and families.

We stand by our affirmation of congratulating The BET Honors Award Program. The awardees included one of the most respected religious and music scholars in the world, Dr. Cornel West. The Honorable Maxine Waters, one of the most courageous and astute political advocates for the interest of African Americans and this nation, also received a BET award. Each accepted the honor and Congresswoman Waters made a point in her remarks to connect the dots between public policy that supports fair access to media ownership, positive messaging and freedom of speech. Lastly, vocal artist Jill Scott, who is quoted on the homepage banner of www.whataboutourdaugthers.com, was also acknowledged and participated in the BET Honor Awards program. Are you also discrediting Cornell West, Maxine Waters and Jill Scott as enemies of your cause?

To suggest that the SDPC clergy representatives should be offered up to IRS is ludicrous. And to suggest, well, threaten, that www.whataboutourdaughters.com might use the oft misinformed and undereducated likes of Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly to attack the SDPC, the most progressive group to African American faith leaders committed to global social justice, is beyond a travesty. These talk show hosts and FOX News, specifically, are the very people who have been so invested in framing our messages in many areas that are completely injurious to African American daily reality. A move of this nature only heightens the divisiveness within our community, giving advantage to those who benefit from our differences.

Also, the record should show that your conversations and the context with two Proctor Trustees have been misrepresented on your websites in an effort to benefit your cause. The letter was provided for approval when being asked for signatures. None of us believe that Rev. Romal Tune deceived us. For you to say otherwise is truly unconscionable. We will continue to be in conversation with BET and others as we address these far-reaching issues of the media’s impact on our community. Any partnerships we form, and participating sponsors at any of our conferences have been and will continue to be based on our decision, and in no case, will ever compromise our posture to speak truth on behalf of those we represent. Our allegiance, commitment and integrity is not for sale.

In the next few weeks, The SDPC will celebrate its 5th Anniversary conference to be held Feb 11-14th in New Orleans. We invite all to register who want to work in partnership and work toward positive and strategic steps to identify and address our common concerns. It would be unfortunate if any of us allow these last few days to deter us from what is truly important and truly significant. We have to keep our eye on the prize and not engage in turf wars.

The Rev. Dr. Delman Coates, Rev. DeQuincy Hentz and Rev. Heber Brown, III have all supported SDPC in the past and we have supported them. Rev. Coates advised he was a part of a group about to release a report that thoroughly documents and quantifies the programming content on BET, and I assume other networks. In any case, we welcome any credible educational resource that we can share with our congregational constituents to further African American families’ empowerment to make informed choices and our efforts to continue to speak with an uncompromised and independent voice on matters of public policy and social justice.

Respectfully,
Dr. Iva E. Carruthers
General Secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc.

While there’s still some confusion in the air, here is what I know so far:

First, BET is one of the sponsors of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Pastor’s Conference this year. (February 2008)

Second, There was some kind of letter about BET that was signed by a group of clergy. Now – I’m not sure what that letter said and I’m not even sure if the letter that was posted on this site in a previous post was the actual letter. (I did copy/paste that letter, however, from the Clergy Strategic Alliances website. Perhaps that was an earlier draft.)

Third, while other websites sent Romal Tune (CEO of Clergy Strategic Alliances) to hell; I warned people on that site and on this one from rushing to judgement on Tune. I even said here that we had served together in a previous initiative and that I had always known him to be a stand up guy. In addition, Tune was instrumental in helping Young Clergy for Social Change meet Dr. Freddy Haynes, III – a gesture for which I am still extremely appreciative.

Let me take a moment to remind everyone about what I’ve said in relation to this – particularly in the area of cautioning revved up bloggers from castigating those involved.

Here’s what I said on an earlier post:

“Most notably, the What About Our Daughters blog has published an expose’ tying Rev. Romal Tune – CEO of Clergy Strategic Alliances, LLC – to the creation of the letter based on his supposed relationship with a PR firm doing business with BET. I can’t independently validate this information, but I certainly pray that this is not the case.

I know Rev. Tune and have served with him. In my personal dealings with him – Tune was a stand up guy with a heart for positive social change.

Rev. – you are more than welcome to utilize this space to refute this accusation. You have my numbers.”

My warnings on the What About Our Daughters Blog was well received as well:

“So as Heber said. Let’s not immediately rush to judgement and send the church secretary’s blood pressure up. That conference [SDP Pastor's Conference], however, needs to be called and called often about letting BET change money in the temple.”

Noted theologian, author, and professor, Dr. Renita Weems agreed with my caution:

“I agree with H. Brown that it might be wise to investigate before you incriminate and launch a campaign against these clergy.”

So you do what you wish with the information.

I must admit that it does disturb me that BET is one of the sponsors of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Pastor’s Conference. This conference has been like a breath of fresh air to me and I believe that its accepting sponsorship dollars from BET at a time when a prominent, reputable clergyman is leading an effort to challenge the images of Black people aired across its station is problematic. It sends the wrong message…a divisive message. (divide and conquer anyone?) I have no problem with BET being invited to the SDP Conference to discuss the issues, but if they’re one of the sponsors of the conference, then naturally you’re not going to get too loud or dig too deep when engaging them.