CNN Black in America 2 - Last Show play by play commentary

8:00pm -
Uh Oh!!! Looks like this is a PSA not have kids.
Citizen Daddy isn’t that emotional. He never cries but he used to make me cry all the time!!!


8:11pm -
The reason that they don’t talk is because they are working all the time.
If they do split up, I got dibs on that paper route!!!
That Minister has a “MONEY” cut. She must be paid.
My wife says our future children can’t date until they are 16 (don’t know how that’s going to work).
This dude is sensitive….


8:18pm -
That’s why their marriage is strong because they live in two different states!!! Let me talk to Citizen Wifey about that. : )
Shout out to Freddie Jackson!!!!
Wow!!! “Knocking the Boots”??? Now that is “College” Romantic.
He must not have been getting any!!! Withholding the goods?? Throw a flag on the play for disorderly conduct.
They had sex before they graduated!!! Reminds me of college…..
That is a sensitive dude….
Citizen Wifey keeps telling me that the Light Skinned McDonalds kid is not one of Will Smiths… but I’m not buying it.


8:32pm -
I will personally check my wife for any lumps tonight!!
Cancer is a monster!!!!
Back to Africa Again!!!!


8:39pm -
White women go to Africa to get babies. Black women go to Africa to find a cure for cancer and feed babies.
Oh, I thought that was a Mary Kay convention….my bad.
That was a wig?? They always fool me…..
Dr, Shame on you for not keeping it real. If you know the women might not make it you should say so.
Now we are getting back to what I came for…..


8:56pm -
San Quentin Shout Out!!!
I always get nervous when they show prison segments. I’m scared I might see a relative.
Getting out of prison in style…in the 300!!!
He cut his hair for a corporate look (smart move).
He didn’t save any of his dope money (dummy move)???? He could have used the loot to get his life back on track.
Soledad, what did you just ask him about a gun? Oh, was he carrying one. I guess that’s a legitimate question? I usually ask that before I get into a car with someone.


9:00pm -
The Birth Control segment was on the last Black in America.
He quit his job?? Citizen Wifey don’t like to hear that!!
A Baby, a Bluetooth and no job!!! That should be a sermon for this Sunday.
It was too good to be true. Damn Chris!!! He robbed a weed spot and got busted. In broad daylight!!! You know weed heads don’t’ work. They were home watching “Judge Joe Brown”. How are you going to make your get away in the victim’s car? You always come in your own whip. I’m from the suburbs and I know that!!!!


9:16pm -
Brotha, you have got to lose that weight!!!
5 month hospital wait? Where is this hospital…Honduras??
12 prescriptions?? We don’t have a healthcare system; we have a “keep it moving until the next time we get sick” system.
Better Wrap Up!!! Using the barbershop/free clinic to get an STD test…..ridiculous!!!


9:27pm -
Black Belt Jones!!!!
8th grade reading at a 5th grade level………….Lord my father in Heaven.
That Fried Chicken is a Monster!!! That must be why Citizen Wifey won’t let me eat any. Oven Baked Fried Chicken!! That’s the new reality people.
If the Fat doesn’t kill you the NYPD will!!!!
They are showing the unhealthy restaurants in the hood but let’s talk about why there aren’t any health conscious grocery stores in the hood.


9:39pm -
Oprah has influenced everyone’s life…..except mine.
We just got off the Weight Loss Segment.
The Famous “Chitlin Circuit”….I’ve never been on it because I have only had my momma’s chitlins.


9:50pm -
Soledad, don’t be ignant!!! Does that look like Atlanta????
Soledad, you know those were white men that said that mess!!!
How come Cicely Tyson never played a sex symbol?......Oh that’s why…Racism!!!
House of Payne is the most popular show among blacks!!! What?!! Black folks don’t watch Cold Case???


Well Black in America is finally in the books. That was it folks!! That was not a good ending at all but it’s not Tyler Perry’s fault. I know that Soledad has been catching a lot of flak since the first BIA, but she’s not the problem. Soledad’s momma might have some black in her but that’s where it ends. To be able to pull something off like this, you have to have a real black person doing it. I know that’s not going to sit well with some folks. But it’s true!!! Someone who knows the black experience firsthand would know how to craft this series. Soledad looked and sounded like someone that was learning all this for the first time. Does that mean that Flavor Flav should have been the host? No!! But Ed Gordon is a name that does come to mind. I will say that her intent was worthy but the execution was flawed.


So people won’t say that I’m complaining without giving solutions. Black in America should have been rolled out in this format:


The History of the Slave Trade
Slavery
Reconstruction
The 60’s (Civil Rights)
The 70’s (Black Power Movement)

To understand where we are, we need to know where we came from. This will set the tone for the rest of the series. Let’s face it. They don’t teach black history in school these days anyway. That’s why you have black folks running around thinking RACISM is a myth. And white folks thinking that RACISM is dead. I also would have showed every invention and creation that black folks have made in America.

The 80’s (including the Reagan Administration and the Crack Epidemic)
The 90’s (What was really going on with Blacks under the Clinton Administration)
The 00’s


Don’t get me wrong because I still would have kept it real. I just would have had more of a balance. I would have given the numbers and statistics for black men in jail. On the flip side I would have had a black man that came out of prison and made it. I would have talked about unwed mothers, people shacking up, and low marriage rates. On the flip side I would have had single female college students, people engaged and stable marriages. It’s all about balance. You would see a kid that couldn’t read but you never knew why? No one ever asked their parents any questions. Is it that momma and daddy can’t read as well? Everything just seemed so hopeless!!! And when you did see someone or a family doing well, it always looked like a fluke. It seemed as though it was an exception and not the rule. I went to a Historical Black University so I’ve seen black men graduate with degrees. It’s not abnormal but a non-black person looking at Black in America would think it was. Because that’s who this really was for.


This was for everyone else in America to get a better understanding of black folks. Unfortunately the images that they saw were skewed. Even black folks watching don’t know what they were looking at. I heard a guy call Al Sharpton’s radio show today complaining about the Bougie black folks on the segment last night. So after watching the piece, he came away with a class issue!!! Really??? I made my bougie jokes but they were just jokes. I don’t have a problem with them doing a segment on Tyler Perry. I would have done a piece on successful black entrepreneurs as well (We Made It!!!! “yelling in my P Diddy voice). But I would never close out on Tyler Perry. It made it look like he was the zenith for all of black America. He’s doing big things but call me when he doesn’t have to go through Lions Gate to show his movies.


This should have been a series that united black folks (check out my fellow bloggers opinions Aunt Jemima’s Revenge & Ripp Dem Up). It should have given us the resolve to keep pushing on. This should have given us pride in our country (even though we have a shaky relationship with it) and our fellow blacks. What we got was a disjointed series that didn’t live up to the hype.