You need to read this NOW: Hip-Hop, Violence and Silence
I cannot say enough good things about journalist Elizabeth Mendez Berry’s brilliance. Mendez Berry is the widely-acclaimed author of the now- seminal 2005 VIBE magazine article “Love Hurts”. Jay Smooth – who I KNOW I need to quit reppin’ here (because blog lurve is never a two-way street, just a lonely highway) – interviewed Mendez Berry on Illdoctrine not too long ago. All this stuff, in light of all the Chris Brown-Rhianna foolishness THAT I REFUSE to cover here, just needed to be said. I’m honored to link/embed these items on Possum Stew. Spread the word, y’all.
Oh and to read her follow-up, scroll to the top of the page from the comments (I don’t know why that’s the only way you can do it, but just go with it): http://www.illdoctrine.com/2009/03/ill_doctrine_at_sxsw_and_beyon.html#comments
Explore posts in the same categories: Blogosphere, Celebrity News, Current events, Media, alternative, Media, mainstream, that's that BULLLLSHIT!Tags: Arm yourself!, Controversy, Elizabeth Mendez Berry is the shit, It's not jock riding...it's rill love, Props, Represent!, sexism, Taking off my earrings..., Violence Against Women, YouTube Stuff
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March 19, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I do lurve you too!
March 20, 2009 at 7:35 am
@Jay Smooth: Awwwwwwwwesoooome. Thanks for stopping by!
March 22, 2009 at 12:03 am
(That’s not him. No way that’s Jay Smooth.)
March 30, 2009 at 1:13 pm
@Soy Cubano–What does the man need to do to prove to you he’s who he says he is? Photo ID? IP address tracing to his personal computer? A man-to-man meeting with you?
It’s Jay. And you, Mr. Making-”Milk-of-Magnesia”-Viral need to behave over there in the UK.:D
April 5, 2009 at 9:52 am
Okay maybe that’s him. I don’t know. Damn Cruel Sec, back up off a brother. Spread the milk of magnesia word, it must be heard.
April 6, 2009 at 8:08 pm
@Soy Cubano–I’ll back off a brother when you back off another brother, namely Jay. He has a right to spread his blog-lurve wherever he wishes….and he apparently wished to spread it in this neck of the e-woods.
As for the Milk of Magnesia word…man, that will spread itself, believe me!:D
April 18, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Umm what the FUCK do Chris Brown and Rhianna have to do with hip-hop?! And if you all REALLY want to go there why not attack ALL misogynistic images?! You all bitch about how white women don’t care about us or our interests yet you all don’t say SQUAT when a white male is the guilty party. And you attack black men for ‘taking part’ in sexism but aren’t you all equally taking part in racism and selective persecution?! Domestic violence certainly isn’t something that ONLY affects black communities but you’d never know it the way you all QUICKLY jumped on the bash-the-latest-black male-celebrity bandwagon. Did Mz. Berry also do an article on how the EXCESSIVE misogynistic images in rock and from white artists have caused the violence in the ralationships of Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson,Axl Rose and Stephanie Seymour,Danny Sullivan and his ex,Tom Sizemore and Heidi Fleiss,and Mickey Rourke and Carrie Otis. You all talk a good game about racism and fairness against ‘oppression’ but freely join in when black males are the targets and DON’T give a crap when the women don’t look like you so now who’s ignoring who again?!!
April 19, 2009 at 11:22 am
Americana slow your roll. First the Mendez berry article is a VIBE magazine that talked about violence against women in hip-hop. If you had READ you would have known that. And if you LISTENED to what was being said in the video you would know and have some background about the connection. Second if you read the article you’ll see that Mendez Berry is saying while rappers don’t talk about being violent with women a lot of them are. Big Pun didn’t rap about knocking his wife and the mother of his children around. He just did that shit. That’s what this shit has to do with hip-hop. Nobody is saying Chris Brown and Rhianna are hip-hop artists because we all know they don’t rap. DUH. And nobody is trying to say its a hip-hop or Black problem either. You need to listen to what it is people have to say and then react, otherwise you just wind up showing your ass on a blog.
April 19, 2009 at 2:01 pm
@Soy Cubano: Thanks for your on-topic feedback.
@Americana: Ms. Mendez Berry didn’t do an article about rock stars and their well-documented issues with domestic violence against their girlfriends and spouses for one very simple reason. She is a journalist. Writing articles is her job, as well as her craft. She answers to an editorial body. She receives assignments. And unlike you or I or most people who blog, she receives payment for her brilliant work. Mendez Berry said herself that she’s less interested (boy, you really should have watched the clip) in what happens next for Chris Brown and Rihanna and more concerned with all those women who WON’T make the news. That is the point. Sorry you missed it.
Going forward, if you don’t like the content here, you really don’t have to come back. Simple as that.
May 29, 2009 at 1:41 pm
First off if it has nothing to do with hip-hop then she shouldn’t have made the correlation like most folks who want to blame hip-hop for EVERYTHING that’s wrong with the black community. Second I have no problem with the context and wasn’t trying to start something with you I just don’t like hypocrisy especially when it comes from a place of racism and when the people who are MOST affected know that but agree with the racists and hypocrites anyway. And I know she’s a journalist so she of ALL people should know how the media uses their medium to paint not-so-pretty pictures to make folks who DON’T look like them worse than them. And why should it take 2 celebrities ree:BLACK celebrities for this to be a national issue if their celebrity and hip-hop have nothing to do with it. Furthermore I have a very NICE ass so I’ll show it as much as I want.
June 10, 2009 at 9:02 pm
@Americana: Okay, your comments illustrate both that you’ve missed the point of this post and that you may be just a little bit unhinged.
I’m banning you from further commentary.