*sigh*
No. I just don't like the news, but I feel it necessary to be educated on what's going on around me. If that doesn't make sense, let me give you an example. As an urban planning graduate student, I'm required to take a variety of courses related to neighborhood development, community development, crime in the cities, urban design-courses that I am DYING to take. Nevertheless, there are those good ol' prerequisites: economics, statistics, law, and planning theory -the courses that will KILL me. While I am literally dreading beginning my prereqs in September, they are necessary to take because they are the foundation of urban planning. It's that age old complaint of "I don't wanna do it, but I have to." Might as well toss work under that category too.
ANYWHO, every now and then, I luck up on articles that really capture my attention and incorporate things that I'm really passionate about. For instance, check out the video and article I found on CNN.com:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/28/new.york.essence.magazine/index.html
Aside from the fact that Anderson Cooper is in the video (#swoon), it managed to discuss two things that I love- fashion and race. Well fashion wasn't a really big focus, but it was nonetheless part of the issue seeing that the Essence Magazine editor is under fire for hiring a white fashion director. Before reading the article, my initial reaction was that of disappointment. I am an avid Essence reader, I know the history of the magazine very well, and it's difficult to accept that someone who was not African American was hired to work at an African American magazine. As Davis stated, it would be different if the magazine was intended for all races, but it was specifically created to cater to black women. Essence was an idea that developed at a conference for black entrepreneurs by a group of prominent black men (haha) including noted photographer Gordon Parks, who noticed the lack of a magazine for African American women. Debuting in 1970 with the picture of a black model with an afro gracing its cover, it promised to be "the premiere lifestyle, fashion and beauty magazine for African-American women."
(That of course is not the original cover -_____-)
While Davis made a great argument, I appreciated Roland Martin's counterargument on the lack of opportunities in the magazine industry as whole and had the tables been reversed, it would be an even bigger outrage if a black person was denied the opportunity to work at a predominantly white magazine.
Now which side of the argument did I choose to take? That, I'm still thinking about. I've watched the video three times already to see if I missed anything which...I...didn't, but the point is, I'm trying to look at the issue in a non-biased way seeing that I have the tendency to be "pro-black" on certain subjects.
What do you think?
I think that's a tough one! I'm not going to offer some profoundly deep statement because I'm also on the fence. It hurts me to think that there no African Americans qualified enough for this position. But I also don't want to automatically be upset because I white person was given the job...seeing that I have a tendency to pro black as well!! I guess I need to think on it a little more too! SMH
ReplyDeleteI agree with Elena, that's really tough. On one hand, I think that diversity should be a major part of any and every business. No one should be turned away because of their race. And just because you're white doesn't mean you can't understand fashion for black women. But I think there is a preference from the reader to have a black woman controlling the content. And especially in an industry where there are so few black women, I feel like Essence would be the place where they can actually be heard. Tough one.
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