Read a MotherF@#&’n Book
I recently recorded an interview with Malcolm Jamal Warner, in which he was singing the praises of his new favorite Hip-Hop track, Read a Book by Bomani Armah. I had heard the song a few months ago and watched the video on Youtube, but I was not aware of the controversy that it caused until I turned on CNN the other day. I was shocked to see that several old Black folk were outraged with Armah, BET and Viacom for airing the video earlier this week. Our elders have actually organized, and put hours into mounting an offensive against Read a Book. The song came out over the summer, so this might be old news to some of you but we have yet to discuss it in the Blackademics forum. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, here it is. Enjoy! (warning: explicit language)
In my opinion, the video is absolutely hilarious and I appreciate Armah for dropping some knowledge. “Read a book, buy some land, drink water, raise your kids” - this song is basically a guideline to healthy living! Granted there is some foul language, Read a Book is no more vulgar than most videos we see on BET, and most songs we hear on mainstream radio stations everyday. In fact, I found the video Fry That Chicken by Ms. Peachez, which didn’t have any swear words, to be much more vulgar to my sensibilities than this video was. However CNN’s “outraged parents” disagreed-with some compelling arguments. For starters, the video was aired during 106 and Park, in an afternoon time slot where young children who may not understand satire were exposed to it. In contrast, other satirical cartoons and programs, such as The Boondocks and Chapelle’s Show are aired in the evening, after the 11 and 12-year-olds are put to bed. Another valid argument is that the white viewers might not understand the satire either. This video could be a dangerous tool, in the hands of say.. Bill O’Riley. That being said, I still argue that the video is overall progressive as well as provocative and funny. What do yall think?
Published on September 5, 2007 at 11:15 pm.
58 Comments.
Filed under ridiculousness, television, entertainment, black image.
