Graycap23 said:

VelvetJ said:

If you feel we are not listening to you by your statement of wasting your time, don't feel that way. My opinion is no more or less important than anyone else's. The problem I have with O and most people is the fact that they are full of shit. For her to bust Luda out when she has her flaws like the rest of us is hypocritical. Oprah has the power to start a network of positive black images but yet she wants to sit back and reminds us how much better she is than the rest of us on her glorified Jerry Springer-like show.

Romera said:

Jerry Springer-like my foot. She hasn't done a show like that in almost a decade. I think that she just goes overboard in the kinds of cases because she feels that it is very important to put forth positive image for females and for women to truly realize how special and powerful they are. I think because of that that she takes the bitches and hoes lyrics much more seriously than most. I don't know if this was mentioned before, but she had a show in which she had a discussion with a group of white supremacists. She thought that she was opening up the lines of communication and opening up ppl's minds when in fact all she did was give them a forum to spit their garbage. She regretted that and vowed to never do it again. She doesn't want to give them power. Yes, she was wrong because having Ludacris on as an actor does not give him a forum to call women bitches and hoes, but she could not seperate that aspect of his life from the acting. It does not make her full of shit and "holier than thou", it makes her human who makes mistakes. A mistake that she probably doesn't realize she made. More than likely if she had some ppl sit down a tell how they felt she was being unfair, in a calm rational way not saying she's full of shit and calling her a cunt, she might understand. She's admitted other mistakes before.

Romera said:

That's another problem I have with Opie...she has the ability to start a Black network 5 times better than BET yet she chooses do the Oh channel. Vain as all get out.

PurpleRighteous1 said:

In my opinion, Oprah's show is very Jerry Springer-like and it's why I don't watch it. Your opinion is that it is not. I don't have a problem with that.

My problem with Oprah the celebrity (not the philanthropist -- God bless her for that) is that she's like Wal-Mart:

1) No, that's not a size joke.
2) She tends to deal with people on her terms only, be it a store in Europe or a rapper on her set in Chicago.
3) She's all about hyping herself -- She's on the cover of her magazine every month. She's the only cover art it's ever had. Do you know how egotistical someone has to be to do that? Even her episode with the lying author was all about evening the score for herself and her brand.
4) She comes off like she doesn't like men, especially black men. Even her relationship with Steadman -- if it's even real -- has to be such that she remains at the foreground and he is relegated to being as much an accessory as a brooch or bracelet.
And say what folks will about the positive uplift of her show, that's now. I remember Oprah when she started out. Her show was as anti-brother as you could find. And, that's how she built her brand, exploiting a market.
5) She's all about schmoozing on her show with white Hollywood. I never hear of her doing anything more with her influence than those ABC-TV black movies. Gosh, she hasn't even done a Morrison adaptation in *years*.

OPRAH is TOO JUDGEMENTAL! I have heard her giving advice to women and all. She feels like it's so WRONG to STRIP do PORNO ETC. PERSONALLY, if ya gotta be JUDGED and feel bad and so many YOUNG BLACK women HATE RAP saying they feel Bad and this and that . They feel like the men are USING Them and all. It's just all ANGER. It's ANGER towards MEN....I know so many BLACK WOMEN who HATE BLACK MEN saying all NEGATIVE stuff and all. PERSONALLY, I LOVE BLACK MEN and I don't know why the women DOG them so Much. Plenty of guys are Family men and Good Husbands. This whole PIMP thing and Talking like these men are Bad is DUMB... This is My EXPERIENCE talking to my Black Girlfriends they don't wanna date their own Race. They always wanna date ITALIAN or JEWISH MEN..... Happens ALL the TIME... If ya gotta make Race Comments and Cannot DATE WHOM ya LIKE ya STUPID...REALLY STUPID...There are IDIOTS in EVERY RACE..... One Cannot GENERALIZE.....But OPRAH is ALWAys feeling SAD for PEOPLE and that's just DUMB....People do what they do CAUSE they WANT TO and They NEED to SURVIVE...

ThreadBare said:

Okay, serious question: where do y'all expect to see Steadman except @ events & shit? I mean, is she supposed to have him on the show every day?

CalhounSq said:

I don't need to see him anywhere. I'm talking about the way her relationship has been cast. Is that all her doing? No, but some of it is. My friends laugh because they think I dislike her. I don't. But, like Chris Rock said: "But, I understand..."

Truly not meaning to insult anyone but just by a lot of the comments posted here makes me support Oprah and her efforts even more. Someone actually said feeling sad for people is dumb? Some still actually believe N*gger has be neutralized but infer that they would get upset if a white person called them that?

(Blaqueknight, why would you get upset if a white person called you that word if, according to you, the word has NOW been neutralized and the power has been taken out of it? That doesn't make sense).

I may be in the same position as Oprah and why we both seem to have an aversion to that word. From a Spiritual perspective, the fact that I have a revelation on the power of words definitely plays a role in why I personally am so against the word. I understand the significance in one's name. God himself knew the significance of what we call each other ( that is why throughout the bible there are example after example of God CHANGING PEOPLE'S NAMES. He didn't do it just for kicks. There was a REASON why he would change a persons name. Each time a person is called a name, that is released into the earth.
-----
Let me even add Prince into the mix. The lyric, "But still I must CONFESS that I am, Beautiful Loved and Blessed". What you say about yourself and others is important. Proverbs 18:21---- Death and life are in the power of the TONGUE. Every time we call another black person that word we are releasing that into the earth and speaking death to our own people. I personally believe calling each other that word plays a significant role in a lot of the issues our community faces. We constantly speak negative things about ourselves into the earth. "You cain't get a group of black folk together without there being a fight"."Black men ain't no good". "Black folk always tryin' to pull each other down". In fact I believe in most cases the first time a black child hears the word N*gger, it comes from another black person, which is sad. Now THAT is sad.

I believe things can change. No one walks around saying "DYNOMIIIIITE!!" anymore, or call brother's cat's and sista's foxes anymore. Why can't we slowly phase that word out? When I was growing up, we heard the word but it was not HALF as prevelant even in the 80's as it is now. And IMO, things were worse in the 70's and 80's for black folk than they are today. So why would we want to continue to embrace N*gga, Pimp, Thug, B*tch, Hoe, and idolize a character like Tony Montana, at a time when Black Americans are doing better than we ever have in the history of us being in America? Something dramatically changed in the black community even since 1986 and now, and that change was not a good thing.

To stray a little bit, back in the 70's and 80's, there was a singer named Jeffery Osborne who was in a successful R & B group called L.T.D. This group consisted of about 8-9 black men. Well, I thought of something recently and it made me wonder about then and now. L.T.D actually stood for Love, Togetherness, and Devotion. I wondered if a group of black men today could get together and form a group and name it L.T.D (Love, Togetherness and Devotion)? And if not, WHY NOT? How would the public react to them? Why have attitudes in the black community changed so dramatically that a group of black men couldn't successfully and commercially do that today? Just something to think about.

As a black person myself, I am a witness to the fact that black people use that word now more than we ever have at a time when we are doing better than we ever have. Why has the use of that word increased so in the past 20 years? Say what you will but I believe it is linked to the negative aspects of Hip Hop and the glamorization of those negative aspects and I believe Ludacris has a hand in it, albeit not as heavy as many others, but a hand nontheless and I'm willing to bet Oprah is coming from a similar place as I.

This is my sermon for today and my last on this particular subject, so I decided to take advantage of my "last post" privileges in length.

CalhounSq said:

wat song?!

Moonwalkbjrain said:

Check the 2 Maxwell threads in here.

VelvetJ said:

Please don't twist my post to make your point. I didn't state my own personal feelings but rather a general consensus of a group of people.
The "n" word isn't enough to light my fire. It shows a lack of creativity and thought. My personal opinion is if you're going to insult me, at least come with something GOOD.
The fact still remains that people are divided over the use of the word and no matter how strongly you feel about it, there are those who feel just as strongly about it on the opposite end and you're not going to succeed at changing their opinions any more than they will yours so its pointless to bring up such a broad debate when interviewing actors about a movie. I understand Oprah's view but that's the type of thing you devote a whole show (or two) to and THEN invite Luda and whoever else on to talk about it and debate them. Nope, Oprah's move was for brownie points. She's a smart woman and knew she could fire up a topic, get a few blows in for her audience and then press on. She knew exactly what she was doing. That's a Bill O'Reilly move and its insulting to intelligent people but it works for the masses in general. Now what if Ludacris had asked Oprah why she gave a large amount of money to a very successful, financially sound Morehouse college when Morris Brown is in desperate need of funding? Oprah would have shitted bricks and got heated and probably asked him to leave the show.
By the way, I do agree with you in that rap has contributed to an increase of the use of the "n" word and the objectification of women. But in truth, who's responsible for making these aspects larger than life? Who rolls out the big contracts, the dough for the videos, the distribution, the payola to Clear Channel? Its not the artists. Its the rich white males that plague the offices of major record labels. Too often everybody takes shots at the artists when in truth they are NOT in control of their exposure. Oprah knows that, too.

BlaqueKnight said:

This is balanced and fair. Very well stated. Even though... part of me is pretty mad at Ludacris for the videos he puts out internationally (see my 1st post on this thread about the nudies he and other rappers put out and stump for in Europe) which, affects me as Black American female living in the global community. However, let it be known that I am none too pleased with "the suits" who are in control of the money and distribution for this garbage either. Actually I think at this stage in the game, with him not being a newbie to the business , both Ladacris and the labels are equally responible for the images that they're exporting internationally as a representation of Black American culture. You know the 35 and over set in Europe knows who Wynton Marsalis, Jessye Norman, or the Alvin Ailey Dance company are, but for the younger generations learning about our culture, the only references they have are the nude, ass clapping videos exported by MTV &Co.....these images are set up to represent the "norm" of what life is like as a Black American and it works my LAST nerve....

Ottensen said:

Graycap23 said:

i always believed that the only reason she's so popular is because she has all the qualities of most women's "ideal husband":

she loves to talk and listen
she has loads of money and gives them nice free gifts
she's not sexually demanding
she's intelligent and successful

wavesofbliss said:

Wow, and all this time, I thought it was more of a glorified mammy role that resonated with white America. But a husband... That's something else.

Oprah is lame-o and a sell out. Enough already. She is so done already. Talk about the same old shit, year after year, enough lady, give it up!!!!

JasonStar said:

Nice avatar

CalhounSq said:

Nice signature

wavesofbliss said:

ThreadBare said:

You just nice all around

Anybody wonder if Michael Jackson will have another interview with Oprah again?

Krytonite said:

I do not wonder this