Shawn's thoughts on the Nicki Minaj Controversy Stop Lookin at these Coons

I was gonna do a blog about the whole Nicki Minaj situation and her using a picture of Malcolm X for her album Lookin Ass Nigga.

But instead I’m gonna do a blog about the entertainment industry and the stunts they pull, and how Black people should respond to them.

As a person who understands the entertainment industry, I know if I write a rant about Nicki Minaj and how she’s disrespecting the legacy of Malcolm X I’ll be reacting in the way the White Supremacist media wants. The rich corporate puppet masters pulling Nicki Minaj’s strings want controversy. They want attention. They want outrage. This will help them sell more records.

Black people have to learn how to respond to these marketing stunts. The best way to stop stunts like this is to make a statement with your wallet. When record companies see their sales in a slump, they’ll stop using this kind of shock marketing to get sales.

The real reason why Madison Avenue and Hollywood use shock marketing like the desecration of the Malcolm X photo is because they know that their artists such as Nicki Minaj and Justin Bieber have no talent. And because they have no skill at singing, rapping or entertaining, the A&R and marketing departments have to create an “image” to sell them to the public. And the fastest way to get sales on these no-talents is to use sex, politics or religion to get people to pay attention to their artists. That’s what gets an emotional response out of customers curious to find out what.

Should Black people be outraged about Nicki Minaj? Yes. But our response should be to not buy the album. Then, our response should be to write the CEO of the big six company (Comcast, Disney, Warner Brothers, Sony Newscorp, Viacom) that distributes her album and let them know you won’t be buying any more of their DVDs, TV shows, Video games, MP3s, books, magazines or watching their TV shows. Then follow that up with more action.

With Black dollars having $1.1 trillion dollars in spending power and Black people spending a significant amount of money and time on entertainment, the corporate oligarchy controlling the entertainment industry will soon get the message that the Black dollar has a value and that Black people have spending power that needs to be respected. When we control our dollars we can make a statement to the world that we are people who need to be respected.

In 1986  Hollywood sought to disrespect Black women and bring back the Black Jezebel with the movie Angel Heart. Black people not only protested this movie, but they voted with their wallet. When Angel Heart flopped at the box office, Hollywood soon got the message not to present degrading images of Black women onscreen. Black people need to make that kind of statement with Nicki Minaj today.

Since 1990, I’ve been voting with my wallet. I’ve refused to give my money to the 2 Live Crews, the Tupacs, The Lee Daniels and the Tyler Perrys who present negative images of Black people in media. I understood at an early age that if I spend money on negative images it sends a message to producers of that media that these images are not only okay, but to produce more of them. If I want to see positive images of Black people in the media I have to support the artists who produce that kind of media with my dollars. I also have to make an effort to get the word out about those artists and let others know what makes them great.

While we protest about Nicki Minaj we also need to support and promote talent in the Black community who present us in a positive light. Action speaks louder than words.