Nigga Commercials

See look what I did. I done already pissed off my momma and all she did was read the commercial. But guess what? That is the most accurate way to describe these commercials. Because I'm in tv and have to sit through all of them, I see an inordinate amount of commercials. Probably the only person who sees more is someone in advertising. Now I can't say that I watch all of them, but some catch my eye or ear.

I don't want to EVER see another one of those rapping groundhogs for the Pennsylvania lottery. Hold up, I gotta go get all my current reading material, which I must credit for assisting me in coming to more organized and concise conclusions. Ok I'm back. I have finished reading Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy Tyson. Excellent book.

I am currently reading four books. The Envy of the World: On Being a Black Man in America by Ellis Cose. It talks about how Black men have to face the conundrum of only being seen as sexual (not always a bad thing, according to him), entertainers, or athletes. Are We Not Men: Maculine Anxiety and the Problem of African-American Identity by Phillip Brian Harper which pretty much addresses the same thing.

The Good Black: A True Story of Race in America by Paul M. Barrett attacks the issue of being seen as "not like them." This is one of my personal pet peeves. I have an interesting background as I've come to realize. On my mother's side, land has been passed down through the family from as far back as my great-grandfather. My grandmother was in the first generation in my family to graduate from college. On my father's side, my great-grandmother owned land and a corner store, so land has been passed down on that side, as well. I am in at least the 2nd generation to attend college. I also grew up in a middle-class, two-parent home. I went on a tour of Europe before my first year at Hampton. People (Black and white) like to view me as an anomaly. But not at Hampton, because many people have Our Kind of People type of stories that make mine pale in comparison- third generation doctors and attorneys, upper class upbringing, all that and more. When other Black people view me as an anomaly, I laugh it off. But when white people do it, it really pisses me off. And you know why. Because its jacked up that you think that there are no Black people that can achieve that. We know Black people don't necessarily believe Black people can achieve those types of things, either. However, with Black people it makes me sad how far we've come, but how far we still have to go.

I was asked by a white person if my family were sharecroppers. He then said, they were probably sharecroppers. No you asshole, because in case you didn't know (which is shocking since you act like you know everything), sharecroppers don't own the land. It is amazing the boldness and audacity of people. Don't come at me like that. There's nothing wrong with having to sharecrop, however there is something inherently wrong in you assuming that there were no exceptions to the rule. I should recommend Our Kind of People to him altho that book irritates me for upholding the idea of the Black elite who tries so hard to emulate the white elite.

The Black elite, as another blogger mentioned, probably shouldn't even exist. How can you help people when you look down on them? People should only know of your life of excess as an example of the things that Black people can achieve outside of drugs, sports and music. Two of my closest friends teach children who do not believe they could ever go to college. That is one of the saddest things I heard in 2005. Erin said her New Year's Resolution is to make a difference again (paraphrased). I'm joining that. I refuse to leave Pittsburgh (cross your fingers, less than a year) without changing it. My mother told me when I went to her alma mater, don't leave without making a difference. I want to believe I did. And that is how I want to go through life.

It's the Little Things: The Everyday Interaction that Get under the Skin of Blacks and Whites by Lena Williams. Shut up. My mom used to make fun of me for reading multiple books at one time. Its a lot easier, though when they all address the same basic topic. This one is not the best necessarily, but the easiest read. Some of it is a little trite. But most of it, nearly every Black person in America that interacts with whites (minimally or a lot) can relate. Which makes it quite hilarious at times. The part that irritates that I completely cosigned on was "articulate." As in "you're so articulate." There was a meeting here the other night for parents to express their displeasure w/the school closing plan. A Black parent got up there and politely ripped them a new one. It was hot. But then "he's so articulate" had to come out of the mouth of one of my co-workers. I had to get an attitude. Why wouldn't he be articulate? He's a parent who had to REGISTER to speak. If you are going to sign up to speak, you better come with the fire.

So back to these commercials. The rapping, singing, dancing, pimping, signifying, "giiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl" in every single commercial- Burger King, McDonald's, Coke. This commercial on RIGHT NOW for Fast Access DSL says "ooh girl we bout to get our groove on!" and they do the cabbage patch. DAMN! Same commercial break, for Rent Way has "We are a Family" in the background and lots of people dancing around all excited about overpaying to rent things you should own. I really didn't expect all this material while I was writing. Granted it was a BET commercial break, so you know nigga commercials will abound, which means BET needs then speak up and say every commercial you put on our airways will not show irresponsible black people. You need to show Black people doing normal things. Those damn Jamster commercials. My "favorite?" Money Mike with pimp and hoe in every one. Great. I mean I know actors are always broke and hard up for money, but damn. Have some standard. So why aren't there any commercials STILL on tv where black people are doing anything other than "acting black." We have financial planners, buy clothes, eat food other than McDonald's (what??? shocking!), etc, etc. I know this must be hard to believe considering you don't see it on tv. Ooh! Let me tell you about my trip to Subway the other day. So I asked my sandwich artist (by the way, I'm real psycho about my food and like it to look pretty- I always take the bun or bread off of my burger or sandwich and rearrange stuff) for a ham sub on honey wheat bread with pickles (shut up), lettuce, mayo, mustard, monterrey jack cheese, and... baby spinach leaves. First let me just say my sandwich artist was truly an artist. That was one of the most beautiful sandwiches I've ever seen in my LIFE!! I'm all over it. I just want to give her props for that gorgeous sandwich. I need a comment card. I told her, but I want the world to know about that beautiful sandwich. Anyway. So if you looked at the screen like it just sprouted a hand off of that last ingredient on my sandwich, you're not alone. There were two other people in there (white) and they both looked at me like I asked for lead shavings. I'm saying. Black people don't eat spinach? WTF? That's why we need some common sense commercials and programming on tv. So people don't look at me like I'm crazy when I'm being me. Oh yeah and about a month ago I went to Panera Bread and ordered a sandwich (yes I'm a sandwich groupie) on rosemary onion foccacia bread. Ok let me just tell you that foccacia in any form is my FAVORITE. So one of the girls I was with said, what kind of bread is that? I told her and she gave me another one of those looks like WHAT?! And I know some of the people we were with were like, this bitch even eats siddity food. Whatever. Hate me all the way to the top. I love it.

But I digress. Basically, I just want to know this about nigger commercials. Wouldn't it just be simpler to put people in blackface?