Black Hollywood, after all that you have done. Why aren't you on the cover?

Here we go again!! It’s Black History Month 2010 and black folks are still complaining about being snubbed in major print magazines. Apparently Vanity Fair has decided to do an “All White” Actress cover for their March “Hollywood” issue.

Citizen Ojo’s clarification: That means no sistas that act in Hollywood are on the cover.

Once again we are crying foul because we were left out of the “Big Game.” I don’t believe for a second that they couldn’t find black actresses for this cover. They just didn’t want to. And as a black man, only speaking for myself - “that is alright with me.” I get so tired of black folks belly aching because we are not accepted by the mainstream. Who gives a damn!! We have been conditioned to believe that if we are not loved by Madison Ave, Hollywood, Wall Street and every award show (minus the Country Music Shows) we are nothing. If these mainstream rags don’t want us on the cover, we shouldn’t be upset. Duh! That’s what Ebony, Jet and Essence are supposed to be about. We are so busy trying to be accepted that we don’t realize we have our own platforms. We just need to support them. Black magazines are having a difficult time right now. But what have black folks done as a way to remedy the situation? How many of us have magazines that come to the house that have people on the cover that don’t look like us? I get on Citizen Wifey about a particular magazine that comes to the house that had Beyonce on the cover last year. One person a year!!! Why support people that don’t support you?

And before you label me as some black separatist, pump your breaks. If you like the way the magazines look at your house then disregard everything I have said. But if you are tired of being dissed on the cover of your favorite magazine – stop supporting it!! I know Essence has been coming up short as of late. It seems as if Kittie, from “Let’s Talk About Pep,” has been writing the articles as of late. These days after reading Essence you need to wipe down with a towel. And we all know about Ebony and their financial problems. Someone should have hip them to the online game way back. If you are just selling magazines without an online companion……#Fail. Black magazines need to step their game up. Their content now has to speak to the 21st century black person. But we have the power to make these magazines relevant again!!! We need to give them the same prestige we give to the mainstream magazines. That means black Hollywood needs to give black magazines access i.e. the 1st interviews and 1st exclusives. That also means that “we” the readers need to buy and support these magazines. And if we don't like their content, we tell them. Let’s do something different this Black History Month. Let’s actually tackle a problem and fix it. I know it sounds radical but it really isn’t. Just like the mainstream magazines are about business i.e. putting people in their magazines that readers recognize in order to sale products. We need to be about business too.