A RECURRING THEME OF MALE VIOLENCE!

Tonight BET aired it’s BET 30: Moments & Movements specializing thirty years of BET. I tuned into the show excited to see the segment on Oprah Winfrey, but I was struck by how male violence factored into so many of the segments BET chose to spotlight. Listed below are some of the moments BET spotlighted that revolved around male violence.

The trial of OJ Simpson was, at its core, a trial about male violence, how we ignore it, how we celebrate it, how it is reaffirmed and sustained.

None of the officers who brutally beat Rodney King were women.

Male violence and patriarchal masculinity claimed two of Hip Hop’s best. Tupac Shakur and Christpher Wallace lay dead, and patriarchal masculinity gets the last laugh. We’re still rooting for male violence, still cheering it on; Ain’t learned a thing from the death of Tupac and Biggie

Boyz In Da Hood, a film about the reality of male violence in black life.

I don’t think we fully recognize the extent to which male violence factors into our lives, or the harm and destruction that it inevitably brings. I believe that the black community and society as a whole are long over due for a national conversation on male violence. Individuals, parents, and communities can and should be leading the charge on addressing male violence and patriarchy in our lives.

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Posted on December 22, 2010, in Breaking It Down!. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.

  1. I disagree on Boyz N The Hood. It was a film about the reality of violence in an inner city community, which goes much deeper than the issue of sexism. I doubt there would be a film like Boyz In The Hood filmed in Orange County, California.
    I get what you’re trying to say in this posting but it is an over simplification.

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