Thanks to Sharon Pendana and Elise Chance for sending this open letter from michaela angela davis to me:

*****

A week ago today I sent to many of you a confusing and embarrassing apology for leading you to tune into BET to watch Hip Hop vs America 2 for a highly anticipated critical discussion about, by and primarily for, the criminally under-represented and over-eXXposed young black womens' identities in mainstream/hip hop media.

A small group of us gathered in my loft to watch together, as we were so encouraged by the "well doneness" of the first episode, not to mention the press release and the online promo which lead everyone to believe, articulate, diverse and fly women would finally get some say in a typically, historically, male dominated conversation about Hip Hop, women, responsibility and love.

When the last mans words were heard on the all male panel and the last credits rolled we were stunned on several levels, a big gulp of an odd and bitter cocktail of irony, confusion, disbelief and profound disappointment consumed us. However, one of the beautiful and mighty things about being surrounded and supported by your girls is that we don't allow each other to trip too hard for too long. With the quickness we got over the feelings, got focused and fiercely protective of the thousands of our young sisters we felt got cheated out of a much deserved dignified discussion for them on BET.

Within hours the brilliant writer Esther Armah drafted a letter, DJ Beverly Bond (Black Girls Rock! Founder) and Moya Bailey activist/educator) were standing by to add, subtract and cosign. By morning this letter (along with an emotional note from me) was in the mailbox of all the top executives at BET demanding this crucial episode be aired.

(note:This was the first time I ever challenged or asked for dialog with BET executives)

and here's the really good part......

In less than 24 hours I got a personal email from Debra Lee (she signed it Debi :) insuring us the episode will be aired within a weeks time. In addition, the shows Executive Producer, Head of News and Sr. VP of Communications and Public Affairs had all called me prior to Ms Lees' response also insuring me that that the now infamous Episode 3 will indeed be aired.

(its online but pretty hard to find)

What a wild and nappy journey this has been. A year earlier I was in Keith's office (head of News) talking to he and Jeanine (Sr. VP Com/PA) about how and if I could be of service to help bring more balance to the conversation and the network, as last years highly successful HH vs A, lacked smart and dynamic women's voices. That meeting was inspired by yet another brave move from Moya Bailey (who if you don't know was a leader in the historic Spellman/Nelly dialog, she circulated a letter expressing the same concern), but more importantly I've been burned with years of guilt , wondering why I had never challenged before, why hadn't I asked for direct dialog with programmers and executives requesting more balance before, why hadn't I actively advocated for "My Girls" before? I love hip hop and I love urban media and culture and I so love my "Urbanistas" and this "wackness" happened on my watch, and if I had acted before, would they be so deep in the life threatening identity crisis we currently find them in?

What I learned is that "The Media" is not some vague monster in the sky spewing goo on the beauty of and gobbling up the self esteem of our girls. "The Media" especially black media, is made up of people, mostly brothers and sisters who yes, have a board of directors and advertisers to answer to, but also have a community, family, character and a conscious to answer to as well, we are not victims or powerless, we just have to call them and call them on it more often (um, yes we can!).

So it is with big juicy pleasure I am here to report that "AM I MY SISTERS KEEPER?" will air on BET Saturday July 5th @ 8p and then again on Sunday when the series will be shown in it's entirety. Obviously there's not much lead time for on air promo so PLEASE BLAST this to your networks (especially tell ALL the young women you know!) gather, watch and get active online. The only way we can let folks know we want more, better and balanced images and content for our girls and for our communities is to let 'em know.

Shining a little brighter now...

MAD