Blow the Whistle! A Reflection on Media and Representation by the Anonymous Whistler

It is little known that a good portion of the media is owned by the AOL Time Warner Cable corporation.  Though the first amendment protects US citizens from laws imposing censorship, it should be no surprise to most of us that the media we are exposed to IS regulated by the corporations who own control it.  So if you're reading this, ask yourself about the images that are represented in the media.  Are there consistent images that paint certain groups of people in the media a certain way?  Is the media empowering for some groups and disempowering for others?  More often than not, those images are not necessarily consistent with or reflective of the reality of those groups.
 
It is unfortunate for the actor or actress who is stereotypically cast in negative roles on film and in television when those roles are both personally and racially degrading.  But this is even more unfortunate for people of color who are frequently subjected negative portrayals of our community.  Ask a young African American what she wants to be when she grows up and she will more than likely regurgitate an idea that represents the images she has been exposed to the most.  African Americans in general, see themselves portrayed as gangsta rappers, singers, athletes, criminals, thugs, poor, destitute or promiscuous despite the fact that this represents only a small slice of the African American community at large.  There are other amazingly positive images that can represent the African American community. 
 
For example, it would be incredibly empowering for our youth to know that Sophia Stewart, a black woman, wrote the science fiction manuscripts for "The Matrix" and "Terminator" which the Wachowski brothers and Joel Silver took full credit for and made lots of money from.  You may have not known this fact because it can only be found in small newspapers and blog sites and because it remains inconsistent with the dominant stereotypes.  It would be just as empowering for us to see a fair representation of African Americans in the media at large.  

Thankfully, Black History Month represents a period in this country where some of the great contributions African American's have made, such as the refrigerator or stoplight receive just a bit of spotlight. And thanks be to God for the undeniable empowering examples embodied in Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.  Still, we cannot count on major corporate media entities to represent people in ways that are real.  It is up to all of us to use our freedom of speech to shed light on our true image. That image should represent our humanity and show that as human beings, we are complex, unique and yet the same as each and every other human being.  We don't get to choose our race or ethnicity, but we can choose and should be able to freely choose how we are represented in the world. 
 
So tweet tweet friends, the whistle is being blown. Now blow you're own...