MySpace - good for the kids?

Just like hip hop, I’ve always felt that MySpace is often misunderstood, usually by people who know very little about it.

YES, I have a MySpace page and I love using it as another way to reconnect with some of my friends.

And YES, on the flip side, I’ve often said MySpace is the “ruination of relationships” – married or otherwise. But I don’t blame MySpace for that.
I blame dumb people (usually guys) or naïve people (usually girls) who use MySpace for those purposes. (I’m ONLY joking with the gender inferences!)

Anyway, I do tend to think kids and MySpace are about as bad a combination as kids and liquor, gambling or anything else bad.
And Lord knows there’s plenty of stories out there to back my claim.

However, I ran across this interesting MSNBC story that suggests otherwise. In fact, it actually said a recent survey proved quite the opposite: That MySpace can actually be good for teenagers. Well, shy teenagers, to be more specific.

I’m not sure if I’m buying it 100 percent, but what do you think? Do you think MySpace can be good for the kids? Or should it be just for adults?
Do YOU MySpace? Or are you one of those folks who think social networking is just weird, period?

For Christmas, some happy stories

Since we journalists are known for spreading doom and gloom, I thought MSNBC's list of 10 happy stories was kind of cool.

As one of the reporters who helps put out arguably some of the most negative stories (I usually write about crime), I can see the value of lighter fare. So check out the lists, where you will read about twin moms giving birth to children on the same day, a stolen wallet turning up decades later and a man waking from a coma after 19 years.

Merry Christmas... and will it all be sad tomorrow?

Say what?!

Before Wednesday, I really never paid attention to who Don Imus was. I’d seen him a few times on MSNBC, while channel surfing, but that’s about it.
Heck, I didn’t even realize that was his name until last week.

But, just like many folks, I was outraged to hear his remarks concerning the Rutgers women’s basketball team.

Let me make this clear: I was outraged, not surprised.

I mean, come on, I’m not foolish enough to believe that the strides and accomplishments of the Civil Rights movement wiped away prejudice and racism like a magic wand.

And I’m certainly not naïve enough to believe that America is just one big happy family.

I also understand everyone has a right to their opinion, and even their own brand of humor.

Whatever goes on behind closed doors - whether I agree with it or not - as long as it’s legal it’s not really my business.

BUT, when you’re so callous, so brazen, so bold to utter ignorant comments like Imus did in a public setting, when you choose to put your ignorance on display for the world to see, THAT’S when I have a problem. That’s when I get concerned.

Nappy-headed hos? Really?

I’m not sure which words enrage me the most – the nappy-headed part or the hos part. Both words have long carried such negative connotations.

And used together they denigrated an already-downtrodden group. No, I'm not referring to simply the Rutgers women's basketball team, but black women as a whole.

Hearing him say those words made my skin flush with anger as if he were talking about my momma … my sister … me.

And when did these words become acceptable language for public fodder or consumption?
The sad truth is that maybe they always were, and Imus, just like Michael Richards, just happen to let it slip out.

I just heard snippets from Imus' interview yesterday with Al Sharpton and of course, Imus played that role of the innocent-yet-defensive-one, claiming he doesn’t believe what he said made him a racist.

He wasn’t intending to be racist, he said. He was just telling a joke that went wrong. Blah, blah, blah…

I’m so sick of folks hiding behind everything but the truth. You can’t ever make me believe that Imus, a man who's old enough to have lived through segregation, the civil rights movement, the second wave women's liberation movement and a host of other milestones in human history, wasn’t fully aware of what he said or the ramifications of what he said when he said it.

Words rarely roll of the tongue without some thought behind them. Whether intentional or not, words reflect conscious thoughts held in your mind based on your own belief system and perception. They're ingrained somewhere in your psyche, waiting to be used.

And Imus' words were racist, pure and simple.

I believe it is the responsibility of MSNBC, as a nationally broadcast media company, to make a bold statement against this kind of attitude and behavior. Lines have to be drawn somewhere to say that this kind careless language is unacceptable in mainstream media, period. A mere suspension is nothing more than a slap on the wrist.


If you’re still not convinced, let’s play dumb for a minute and ask this question: Would Imus have ever referred to a basketball team full of mostly white females as nappy-headed hos?

I doubt it, but I’ll let you be the judge.