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By DoniGlover.com, Publisher
(BALTIMORE – August 8, 2022) – In the fall of 1993 during my very first class with Coppin State Media Arts Professor Ronn Nichols, he played D. W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” for the class to observe. You see, the 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by Griffith became the gold standard for media in this country. It was the most degrading piece of inhumane art imaginable. It was the epitome of racial stereotypes and, sadly, is with us still today. It’s in the media: print, radio, TV, web. It’s in movies. It’s in cartoons. Racism has been effectively codified and institutionalized into the inner core of America’s fabric.
After viewing the film, he made us swear to effectively tell the story of our people as it should be told. The goal was and is to depict our people in a much better light than what we see on TV. Most importantly to me, it is imperative that people of all races know that despite the monstrous effects of American slavery – that in light of all of the Post-Traumatic Slavery Disorders, Black History did not start nor end with enslavement.
That’s why there’s a BmoreNews.com!
Malcolm X said that the most powerful entity in the world is the media. He said it could make a guilty man look innocent and it could make the innocent look guilty. So, when it comes to Black people – descendants in many cases of one of the worst cases of en masse human trafficking ever in the world, too many times we are instantly viewed as guilty. Too many times, we are shot first and asked questions later. Too many times, we are set up by law enforcement, and incarcerated by law enforcement. Too many times, we don’t get the benefit of the doubt.
And then a Freddie Gray incident occurs in Baltimore …
America has been wicked to my people. It has put chains on our minds, lynched our ancestors and our dreams, and castrated our souls. And in 2022, it seems even worse. Respect in our own community has gone out the window. It’s like everything Grandma and Grandpop stood for has been kicked to the curb. Our collective moral compass as a people is so far out of whack we couldn’t find the bathroom.
When we look at the local TV, too often in a majority Black city like Baltimore, the news seems to never fully cater to my community. That’s what I see. Too often, mainstream media has a way of making Black people look insignificant. Or, we have to be funny, or entertaining or catch a ball. But the real voices in the Black community are muted.
If you know Baltimore’s history of segregation, then you’d probably understand how this all came about. Essentially, Baltimore had the largest population of free Blacks prior to the Civil War. For Black people, Baltimore has always signified a bastion of hope even in a very ugly America. For some white folks, however, it created “the Negro Dilemma”: what to do with all of these Black people. I discuss it in both of my books.
That’s why there’s a BmoreNews.com! It’s here to tell our story as only grounded and rooted Black journalists can. And it is to be done with dignity, just like those forefathers of the Black Press who pioneered this industry during the days of slavery in this land.
We strive to be that reminder that Black people are more than murderers and bank robbers. We are physicians, too! We are not all criminals. We are also engineers. We are teachers. We are nurses, accountants, bus drivers, general managers, and lawyers. We are judges. We are fathers and mothers and grandparents who love and adore our families. We are not just what’s typically shown of Black people on the news. We are elected officials. We are judges. We are home owners. We vote and we have over $1.5 trillion in annual disposable income – the equivalent of one of the top 15 economies in the world.
Black people in America are some of the most dynamic people on planet earth. Our resilience is unparalleled. Our determination is indomitable. And despite all of the horrific deeds done to kill and hurt us, the poetess said we still rise. We still master every industry we enter. We dominate whatever arena we pursue, especially when there’s a level playing field.
And that, too, is a part of our assignment: to point out the pattern of injustices so as to arrest them. The Black people who built Black Wall Street in Tulsa’s Greenwood District out of nothing, for instance, were the envy of many white Tulsans. These Black people fresh out of slavery built 36-square blocks of businesses in former Indian Territory. That is one of the most outstanding pieces of Black economic cooperation ever – despite racial hatred, terror, and the threat of re-enslavement by certain whites and certain Indians.
This is a perpetual reminder that the playing field in America may never be level. But in the meantime, we’re certainly for leveling it out more and more each day.
That’s what BmoreNews.com is all about!
