Thursday, June 25th, 2009. The world is abashed in horror as our televisions and radios confirm the truth we didn't want to believe -- Michael Jackson, arguably the biggest music star of any generation (living or dead) and certainly the object of affection for millions (perhaps maybe even billions), had died. The Moonwalker, who once graced us mere mortals with amazing glimpses of his astral projections, had taken his last bow and last breath, leaving the rest of us wondering where the time had gone and why it had taken someone so adored by so many. The legacy that was Michael Jackson was finally capstoned and sealed to be mourned, remembered, and revered in glory for millenia to come.
That is, until Black Entertainment Television decided to desecrate it with a tribute to him in the name of the BET Awards.
If the latest installment of BET's most highly-publicized award show is in any way a reflection of the collective memory of the King of Pop, I shudder for the future of his legacy and weep for future generations who will never know Michael and his art as we did, unmarred by an undignified, haphazard, and poorly executed homage un-befitting of royalty.
Sure, many of us in our community are well-acquainted with the history of BET and their awards show and have come to fully expect -- yeah, even appreciate -- the tomfoolery and egregiousness that characterizes this particular mid-summer's night in Black entertainment and culture. However, I would argue that last night's program catapulted BET to a new level of baseness that deserves community reproach: as if it isn't enough to defecate on the very spirit of your network, BET had the audacity to name it a tribute to one of our community's fallen heroes.
Perhaps BET should seek honor themselves and the community they represent before they deign to offer tribute. Without honor, what's the integrity of tribute?
I think it's about time that we held a forum of "Community Accountability" with BET. Nothing big and public -- just an intimate "family affair"; a cozy conversation between Black people and BET in which we (the populous) expressed our challenges with the network. While we should certainly laud BET for what it does right (while I'm extremely incapable of producing an adequate example, at this moment), there is something to be said about the breadth and depth of what they get wrong.
About Me
- MJ Brewer
- Atlanta, GA, United States
- Michael J. Brewer, 25, is one of Atlanta’s youngest emerging leaders. A burgeoning political voice, Brewer helped re-elect Georgia State Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan (HD-39) to her fifth term in July 2010, and has served as LGBT Coordinator for the Democratic Party of Georgia, staff for the Black Alliance of Educational Options, and Co-Chair of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s LGBT Advisory Committee. Brewer has been honored as a fellow with both the highly-regarded New Leaders Council (NLC) and People for the American Way’s (PFAW) nationally-recognized Front Line Leaders Academy. Brewer has been featured nationally on MTVU’s “My Shot With Michael Eric Dyson” and “The Dean’s List,” and was named nationally as one of Out Magazine's "Out 100" in 2008. Brewer has also been featured in the Los Angeles Times, VIBE Magazine and several blog and web articles. Currently, Brewer serves as Chief-of-Staff to State Representative Alisha Thomas Morgan and Field Organizer at Georgia Equality, the state’s largest advocacy organization for LGBT advocacy. Brewer graduated from Morehouse College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science in May 2009.
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