It seems Ludacris, the sultan of often-comedic hip-hop lyrics and Bill O’Reilly, the prince of accusatory conservative tele-crap, are touching gloves again.
According to Fox News, hip-hop artist Ludacris recently had his contract with Anheuser-Busch revoked because of an “image” dispute. Almost two years ago, Pepsi gave the same excuse when it decided to back out of a contract with Ludacris over a similar issue.
The problem we face is that the black community must balance speaking the truth with being more mindful of the image we project to the world and the repercussions of this image.
Artists such as Ludacris are the spokespersons for those who are swept under the rug by the world’s collective subconscious. They rap about what they see and experience in their day-to-day lives. Those unable to relate with the circumstances or who are unwilling to face the reality of their own environment discount this art as poison.
Media bobble-heads such as O’Reilly and Rush Limbaugh have a broad fan base that can support the bias comments spewed out of the mouths of these personalities. These listeners act as minions of the conservative puppeteers and cause corporations such as Pepsi and Anheuser-Busch to keep business away from black entertainers.
Why isn’t there any broad base in the black community to counter such defaming campaigns and ludicrous actions? We must be able to come together as a people and counter the smear campaign of the black community by writing if not as many, then more than the O’Reilly followers.
Also, we need to fully understand the implications of our actions as a people. White America has its eyes on us, and we have to be more mindful of our public image so that people such as O’Reilly and Limbaugh can do more with their time – such as exercise, hug a black person or go to drug rehabilitation.
Adeleke Omitowoju is a sophomore business administration student from Atlanta. Contact him at adeegypt@yahoo.com.