Yoblogger’s Erricka X and Jazmyne speak out against the current state of black men in entertainment. From the BET Awards to Hurricane Chris Brown, something needed to be said about the way women are being portrayed/treated in the culture, and these two are the ones to say it.

Jazmyne Young and Erricka X

The other day I got word that VIBE Magazine is going under. This news took my by surprise because for my generation, the magazine that covers hip-hop culture has been a staple for recognizing who’s hot in the rap industry. VIBE has notably had the crème de la crème of politics (Obama), pop (Michael Jackson), R&B (Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Ciara), and of course rap (Tupac, Biggie, Jay Z, Kanye West, T.I., Lil Wayne) grace the cover. If you claim to be an influential person relevant to the generation of under 25-ers you probably had to get in between the sheets of VIBE to get there.

It’s an interesting conjecture in my opinion, how the failure of VIBE relates to the hip-hop industry where many artists are criticized for glorifying riches, wealth, and power that is often very different from their reality. I know that in this recession a lot of print journalism has gone under, but I thought that VIBE was stable. If one of the major platforms for hip-hop can fold today, what does it say about the state of the industry? How stable are the other cornerstones of the culture? Last week it was MJ, this week it’s VIBE, maybe if we’re lucky maybe BET will follow suit and cease and desist with any further contamination of our minds.
—Jazmyne Young

Many things can be said about Michael Jackson. But two things are certainly true: 1) he was misunderstood and 2) he was one of the absolute best artists/entertainers that this world has ever known.

We all know Michael Jackson; some of us know him best for his unique looks, or alleged involvement in some high profile child molestation cases. I have come to know his body of work, a library of songs that could make you cry, dance, kiss, fight, sing, or just sit and listen.

I remember family get-togethers when my grandfather would break out this epic 3-hour movie showing concert footage/music video clips/random animated sequences featuring the king of pop. I remember when they would show the audience crying and wondering how someone could be so touched, “he’s just a singer.”

I remember my mom’s golden moment in her past that she relives with the same bittersweet sentiment today that she did when it happened: My mom, a young teenage girl at the MJ concert screaming, crying…she caught the rhinestone encrusted jacket that he threw to the stage, a band of eager fans all tussling for the royal garb and she caught it. Of course she passed out and woke up backstage, never seeing the jacket again but holding true to the honor, “I caught Michael Jackson’s jacket.” When I find myself in those common “what’s wrong wit Michael Jackson? He used to be black…those aren’t his kids…he’s a pervert” conversations, I of course am the person to say, “quit talking about him, he had a hard childhood…everyone should just leave Michael Jackson alone.”

He holds a special place in my heart, and despite the undeniable oddness and mystery surrounding him; I’ll always appreciate the day I was 5-years-old, crying because I wanted my mommy. Sitting in my cousin’s lime green, drop top mustang when “Human Nature” came on and comforted me. One of my dreams was to see him perform, that I may cry like those capricious fans from 3-hour video, family functions of my past. Michael Jackson is dead, just as he prepared for his comeback/final tour. His music bigger than his drama or his battles with self, everyone comes here with something to take and something to offer, thank you Michael Jackson for giving us funky-groovy-deep-shallow-hip-pop.
—Jazmyne Young

California seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. Or at the very least, it’s going through a mid-life crisis of some sort. First, we have the dipping deficit that is dragging on in Capital Hill. Then we have former Miss California’s YouTube famous statement and the Supreme Court’s decision on Prop 8.

I was always under the impression that California was a unique part of the United States, mainly for its diversity and so called tolerance. I realize that because I live in San Francisco I see a majority of the world through liberal sunglasses, so what I witness happening outside of my normal environment is a little jarring every now and then.

Which is why I was shocked when California voters passed Prop 8 making same-sex marriage illegal, and then recently when the California Supreme Court upheld Prop 8.

Then, to make put the final nail in California’s coffin was Miss California, Carrie Prejean’s comments at the Miss USA pageant that denounced same-sex marriage.

I really felt like I had fallen into a temporal vortex and got shipped to a parallel universe courtesy of FedEx.

I find it worrisome that the next generation of youth people in California will be living in a state that is essentially becoming a State of Hate.

Inequality runs deep in our nation: gender, race, you name it there’s a debate about it somewhere in this country. I personally believe everyone has the right to be treated equally under the constitution, no matter his or her gender, age, religion, race or sexuality. It all should be fair game.

I’ve always considered hate speech to be a concept that can be expressed in a variety of ways. Which is why I thought former Miss California’s comment on gay marriage was in a category of hate speech. So, when I heard Donald Trump was not going to take away her crown when this first hit the news, I was really shocked. If someone had gone up there and denounced marriage between a man and woman and thrown a burning a bible into the audience I’m sure they would have ripped the sash off her before Trump could adjust his toupee.

I find it ridiculous that Prejean’s crown was taken way only because she was not fulfilling her Miss California duties, not because of her statement. We can argue free speech till we’re blue in the face. But bare in mind, if there had been someone preaching the exact opposite of Prejean’s statements during the Miss USA pageant – chances are the exact opposite would have happened. It seems to me, the Miss USA pageant organization cares more about their contestants’ image than the actual words that come out of their mouth.

They should really just eliminate the Q&A portion of those events all together and ask the girls their bra size and where they buy their underwear and just get to the core of what beauty pageants are really about.
—Eming Piansay

According to a Black Press USA, President Obama made a stimulus package of $1.2 Billion to be divided between Summer Job Youth Programs in the USA. Chicago and New York have received a combined $35.5

Million and have also put over 20,000 youth to work this summer.

Well, at least some states are using the stimulus money correctly. I guess Arnold didn’t get the memo.
As a young person who has been in the search for a job for about a year now I’ve never ONCE ran across a promotion for youth to get summer job training.

So, then I thought to myself, “Well Alicia, you know you have bad eyes. It’s possible that you missed the promotion for summer jobs for youth.” So I asked around to see who has been looking for jobs in the Bay Area and their response was the same as mine: “WHAT JOBS?!”

I feel like Arnold is still in his Terminator movie role. It’s like he woke up, went to the mail box, saw a portion of the $1.8 Billion check and yelled, “Hey!! We got another check from Mr. Obama! Let’s take half and put the rest towards our bills (*Cough* State Deficit), and half put towards the special election to cut education!”

To all the young ones looking for a legal source of money: there are miscellaneous jobs out there. You just have to be creative. If you need some ideas: I have a million. That’s the one of the ways I’ve been able to make it through these hard times…legally.
—Alicia Marie