You, Me & the Snoop Dog Story

While huffing and puffing on a treadmill at the gym, lo and behold, I looked up at the TV screen just in time to catch a news story of the "dumb-kind." It was a news story about a member of Snoop Dog's entourage being arrested in Norfolk. Snoop was in Norfolk for a concert. I will never understand why Channel 13 decided this news was "newsy" enough to be the lead story at 11 p.m. last night and again this morning. With all the "real" news happening all around them, they chose to make prominent Snoop Dog's story -- using video of him talking about, smoking and rapping about marijuana. I heard on the radio this morning that President Obama's former minister Rev. Jeremiah Wright was in Hampton Roads. That's news! What kind of image does the Snoop Dog story send to our young men and women. As a country, we are facing one of the worst economic downturns in our history. People are losing their homes and being turned out into the streets because they cannot pay their mortgages. Children go hungry right here in our region and people are dying every day because some idiot decides he or she can solve their problems with a gun. What happened to the hard-hitting, investigative, issues-oriented news gathering of Channel 13's past? Times are hard and people are hurting. We need news that keeps us informed -- not entertainment. We need news that helps us to make informed decisions. We need news that helps us to understand the complex issues faced by the government. We can get entertainment news from Entertainment Tonight or the Insider. I am so tired of black men being portrayed as villains in the media. With this kind of reporting, race relations will take another setback. There's an event coming up on Saturday -- the 12th Annual 200+ Scholars Breakfast. Each year, the Hampton Roads Committee of 200+ Men honors about 300 young black men who are graduating from high school with a 3.0 GPA or better. That's right, young black men are obtaining their goals via education. Not all of our children are gang bangers or thugs. I'm media savvy enough to know that the news can't be all sweet, homey and good. But I'm also savvy enough to know when a news story is hard news versus an attempt to be hard news. In the Snoop Dog story, Channel 13 served as a public relations agent, promoting yet another rapper. Sorry guys, you missed the mark on this one. Let's get back to covering the issues that really mean something to the community. Remember, we rely heavily on you guys in the media to interpret and capsulize the events of the day.

Dred Locked and Loving It

Let the record show that I am not a hair person. Never was. Probably will never be. For most of my adult life, I have been searching for an easy do. I was the first person in line at the beauty salon when the "geri curl" came out. When I grew tired of that, I joined the "bring a hairpiece" to lunch bunch. After decades of harsh perms, hairpieces, wigs and other assorted efforts, I decided to grow "dredlocks" after nearly a decade of wearing braids.

There are a lot of myths about dredlocks . . . and for the purpose of this blog . . . I will drop the dred and just refer to them as locks. First of all, locks are a reflection of an individual's lifestyle and sense of beauty. Dreds are not for everyone. It takes a certain amount of guts to wear locks and it is not the hair style of the timid. Secondly, dreds are not dirty or smelly. Many professional hairstylists are trained in the technique of maintaining beautiful locks. Proper maintenance is the key to healthy locks! Now, I know that Bob Marley's locks probably soured mainstream America on locks. But rest assured, most people who sport locks and hold down professional jobs would never wear Bob Marley locks in the work place.

For generations, black people have tussled with the issue of our hair. Remember the phrase, "oh she's got good hair?" Well, I maintain that all black people (and all of my brothers and sisters on the other side of the color line) have good hair. We can wear our hair in numerous styles, i.e., straight, blow-dried, curly, braided or locked and we are beautiful. Many of my colleagues have issues with my locked hair. Does wearing locks mean that I look "thuggish"? I don't think so. I'm one of the most girly girls I know. Men who lock are simply gorgeous! And sisters who can really experiment and style their locks are simply fabulous. I count myself in that number. My hair is clean, conditioned and more beautiful today than it was when I was perming the heck out it!

A colleague, who also wears locks, said that may be it's a generational thing. It's okay for young folks to wear locks, but for old professional fogies -- not so okay. When are we going to stop judging each other by the way we look? Aren't we mature enough to appreciate each other's differences? I love my locks. Thanks, Black Butterflies and Ms. Marquita for taking such good care of my long, luxurious, healthy and fabulous dred locks.