I’ve read a lot of the comments from HelloBeautiful, GIANT, and TheUrbanDaily.com and in the end, what I’ve learned is that there are some pretty interesting conversations that get started here. Let me share with you one of them…
One of the hot button topics on The Urban Daily was our piece on Angelica Curves. It caused a lot of commotion in the comments section (something we appreciate, greatly). It brought up the interesting notion on something that has me wondering: What is BlackPlanet, really?
“Man…she ain’t even black! :) Seen finer in Inglewood. What’s up with that? If you’re gonna put a latina at least put one up with a black booty or of black ancestry to represent! No disrespect to my latina mamis out there. ;)“
“These women are not even black. They are MIXED ! Have you ever seen a pure black person. Horrible hair and wide noses and so black they look purple. I thought this was BLACK planet. Keep other races out or change the name and get over slavery.“
Outside of the twenty million-plus members who are in the BlackPlanet Universe, the stereotype is that it’s home to sex fiends looking to hook up with one another and aren’t worried about much of anything. But from groups like ~Sy & Coke’s BOOM BOOM Room~ to Naruto: Anime, Games, and Pics, BlackPlanet is more than just the stereotype.
Quite honestly, who’s to say that BLACKDIAMOND184 is even Black. She may be as white as her BP profile is. I thought the point of the Civil Rights movement was to include all races, not to discriminate. I ran into this same type of issue over at HipHopDX.com’s Beauty & Brains section. If I picked a girl too dark, then she was a bush batch. If she was too light, they’d ask where’s the dark-skin women at.
I don’t get it. In a changing world climate, with both young and old realizing that something has to be done, I ask you, “What is BlackPlanet, really…?” Are we focused on our own individual expression? Or is BlackPlanet a place where folks are just following the pack? Are we the people who are open to all things? Or are we closed-minded?
Even before Facebook and MySpace, BlackPlanet was a unique voice. Now BlackPlanet has been eclipsed. It takes challenging voices like Indianapolis’s own PrettyChocolateEyez to put the pressure on us, the media, to step our game up:
“Angelica Curves is typical. Give me something that we haven’t seen before. The fair complexion, long hair and skimpy swim suits are the norm. Real beauty is when you can take a snap shot (no airbrushing) and be amazed by what you see. Angelica you are beautiful with no question but I’ve seen you before.“
Our job here at The Urban Daily is to keep you in tune to the hottest trends, clothes, music, gadgets, games, etc. — set to the beat of your individual drum. Over the last few years, we’ve linked our lives to the digital world. As more social networks pop up, BlackPlanet has managed to stay the only spot where Black folks can come and take off their shoes and relax for a while.
But now is a beautiful time to try something different, to be different. The choice is yours to redefine the Matrix. Figuring out that answer will be an intriguing one and I challenge you, BlackPlanet members, to present the example of yourself that you want us to see.
In the meantime and in-between time, yours truly will be here to join in the conversation and have some fun with y’all.
…Besides, I got my eye on someone to date for Single in the City… Maybe some stereotypes aren’t that bad.
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