Master's Table

Master’s Table

Fighting for Master’s love

By

Sengbe Ben Yosef

For the last few weeks people have turned their focus away from Bill Cosby and began to focus on the Oscars. This year’s Oscars had no black nominees for any of the major awards. In fact there was a total lack of nominees of any color other than white. The New York Times even held it up, a joke on the front page of their paper a week ago. I don’t get why everyone is surprised; this has been the history of the Oscars and it really wouldn’t be a something that I would consider talking about, if it had not been for one of Hollywood darling black couples speaking out against the Oscars. Will and Jada Smith have been for some time Hollywood’s token black couple that is pushed on public to show how diverse Hollywood has become. If you ask me they seem to want to be the new Ossie and Ruby D. but they lack the strong convictions of our elders in too many ways to name.

I recall a few years ago Jada Smith was trying to justify her young daughter lying in bed with a 21 year old grown man. Everyone was, so understanding but not me I felt she was setting a bad example for not only her daughter but for other young girls as well. Sense it was Will and Jada’s child people let it die. Jada became quite after that whole thing blew up in her face. From that point anything Jada had to say, I found something about it a little suspect and I didn’t much care to hear from her. I thought to myself she seems a little off since her and Will got hitched. I didn’t think of her much as a rebel anymore because it seemed Hollywood and marriage had subdued her. So when she came out with her spill on boycotting the Oscars I look at it as her sharing her nonsensical logic again. How could this woman turn activist on the very industry that her and her entire family was making a living off and a really good one if you asked me.

The reason I have a problem with her stance on the Oscars is she never seem to mind going to the Oscars especially when her husband was a nominee. Now out of the blue she wants to go activist. I myself can think of plenty of things we should boycott as a people; things that are way more detrimental to our people than some dam awards show. I mean in 2016 with all the dirty nasty things that the system on a whole is been doing to people of color and it’s this shit she wants to go to war over? There are a whole bunch of things worth making noise over and this may be on the list  but it’s not a priority. It’s sad that black folk like Will and Jada never seem to be able to find there voice when the people need them to speak out. On the other hand they seem to want the people to come riding to the rescue on issues that directly affect them and their livelihood.

I have a problem with many of the so called prominent people of color who roll right along with the program until the system comes crashing down on them. They never can find time to speak out when black men and women are murdered by the police. In fact a lot of them make heavy donations to the same police departments that murder their brothers and sister. Most of them act as if they can see us on the ground as they step over us on their way to be super stars. When it was Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince we were needed because Hollywood didn’t give a fuck about them. I’m not saying they owe us anything but at least they could remember that they come from us and even now they are a part of us. Also they could be more thankful to us because after all we are the ones who watched their movies and pay for tickets when Hollywood say they couldn’t sell. We cheered them on when they had no name and we were the ones who help the world to see them as something more.

The other issue I have with these black Hollywooder’s is, most top celebs like Will and Jada have a tremendous amount of money prestige and influence and yet they are still begging for scraps at their master’s table. Can you imagine watching your parents fight and grovel at the feet of another for scraps that fall from the table especially when your parents did not have the means to care for themselves. Has it never accrued to them to start their own motion picture studios and form their own awards system to give praise and honor to whom they deem worthy. What is this obsession that lives in my people that make them want to suffer this society and all of its abuses? Even now when my people that are at the top of their professions with mass amounts of wealth and knowledge go back to their oppressors with hat in hand on bended knee to receive nothing except scorn and ridicule. What kind of madness drives them to need love from their rapist? Who would want love from a system that still sees you as sub-human no matter how much you achieve?

Only when we play the butler, the maid, the thug, or the slave and like it, will Hollywood award us an Oscar or give any kind of recognition to us in their beloved Hollywood. I bet the movie industry and the oppressors of the mind get a kick out of taking highly skilled black actors and turning into players in the new era minstrel show. The sad part for me is the fact that my folks are still lining up  for the job in 2016. You can’t get love from an industry that was built on destroying your very image. How can you act surprised and complain when your masters spit in your faces. I mean come on man; you really thought Hollywood would recognize work by actors and actresses that gives dignity to the image of the black race when for years Hollywood has done nothing but reinforce stereotypes. In this day and time given all that has happened in the last few years with regards to race you couldn’t really believe Hollywood would change. When the political butt heads like Trump say they to make great again they mean they are taking us back to a time that made them comfortable.

How much more abuse will it take before you see they will never change? Not only that but they don’t want to change so the best thing for you to do is take your talents elsewhere. What are you afraid of when you have everything you need to succeed? Not only that but the world already secretly adores and worships you and everything you do. Think about that and then I want every major black player in Hollywood to rethink their stance on being a part of the same system that denigrates demeans disrespects and destroys the image of your people. Then I want you to stop begging for a place at their table and gather yourselves to build your table. We people whom they call black are the leading influencers of the world yet we are at the same time among the poorest people in the world. Let’s come together and build our dreams into a vision; a legacy that we can leave to our children. One where we are seen as hero’s and not slaves and beggars pleading for scraps from another mans table.

Ms. Smith if you really want to use your influence to change things I suggest you turn to your brother and sisters in the entertainment industry and build something we can call our own. Also to my people let us not be so easily swayed to focus on things like this that in the long run are very low on the list of things we need to address. Even though it is an important issue that must be addressed at some point, we have more pressing issues and it may serve us better to address those first. I’m just trying to get my people to understand a lot of these issues are nothing more than distraction from the larger goals of our people. Lastly Ms. Smith if you were sincere in your message to us then be a little more constant in your activism so that we can take you at your word more easily. As a people we need prominent figures such as yourself to be more vocal and to use your influence to inspire others to get involved in the fight.