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It happens at least once a day. Seemingly out of nowhere I’ll hear a frustrated former TV lover go on a tirade about the sad state of programming that features predominantly African American characters. These rants always contain references to the the moving affection of The Cosby Show, the social responsibility of A Different World, or the brash hilarity of Martin.

There’s really no rebuttal to these criticisms because they’re absolutely right. Nothing crafted for Black viewers today comes close to the quality we’ve witnessed in the past, yet African Americans are consistently deterred by other Black viewers from honestly critiquing representations of ourselves on television.

The reality is although cable brought more black and brown faces to scripted television series in the past year, most of the showings have been less than impressive. We watch every episode in droves hoping for the best and providing realtime reactions via social networking sites like Twitter. But when the show disappoints, we don’t hesitate to air our grievances.

However, if Twitter is any indication, there are a growing number of Bad Black TV Defenders (BBTVDs we’ll call them) telling those with the gall to have standards to shut up and be grateful for the few vaguely positive images we receive. These series have yet to be able to find that perfect synergy of nuanced acting, compelling writing and skillful direction. That’s the truth, so why shouldn’t say it? Because the BBTVDs believe we’re still beholden to the idea that we have a duty to support every Black production. But they’re wrong.

We are consumers, and we deserve better.

We deserve more than the cinematic scraps that have been fed to us since the golden age of Black television and film in the 90s. We are not defeating ourselves by calling a spade a spade.

 A good sign you’re watching substandard Black television is when the positive comments are reduced to things like; “at least it’s not by Tyler Perry,” “it’s so nice to see Black actors working,” or “her shoes are really cute.”

Black audiences are so used to the deprivation that we’ll hold up things that really aren’t victories. Not only should we continue to be critical consumers, but we should be even more forceful in our evaluations. African Americans don’t have to just accept what’s tossed our way because we are valuable, and everyone knows it except us. The Game’s premiere this year was the highest rated sitcom broadcast on Cable ever. That’s huge.

That we should shut our mouths and be happy for what we’ve got seems like the ultimate concession to racist television executives that refuse to acknowledge our buying power and brand loyalty. We give them numbers, but what do they give us? Quite frankly, It’s heartening to see that we still have standards. Not every show is going to be iconic like The Wire or A Different World, but asking for a show on basic cable with a solid storyline and strong character development shouldn’t be looked upon as hypercritical.

I appreciate the creatives who fight for fair representation, but there is much work to do. Black women are looking for characters that challenge the stereotypical ideas of our womanhood, and even in shows that are created for us, that’s nowhere to be found. After seeing the buoyant elegance of Clair Huxtable on screen for eight seasons, the outcry for a similar depiction is perfectly normal.

For Black audiences television has regressed, and viewers are simply asking If we could do it in the height of the Reagan Administration why on earth can’t we do it now? There are more than enough Black and brilliant actors, writers, directors, and producers in Hollywood. Perhaps they’re not given adequate resources for their projects or perhaps the talent that’s funded is subpar, but something has to change.

I was always taught most people will do as little as you’ll accept and no more. Well right now the arbiters of our images are doing the least, and our silence won’t help that.

cross-posted at ForHarriet.com

I don’t observe Kwanzaa, but I respect and appreciate its seven principles. I concede that in an age of antipathy, it is nice to see blacks in this country come together for such a celebration. Ujamaa, cooperative economics, strikes me as particularly powerful. Unfortunately, the idea that African Americans should contribute to our own economic uplift by supporting Black-owned businesses has not completely taken root.

In a recently published editorial on AOL’s Black Voices, Alexis Stodghill asserts “Black Ownership Doesn’t Matter in the Online Space: It’s About Black Control Over Content.” To illustrate her point, she details her experience working for two media companies which catered to the Black audiences but were not Black owned: BlackPlanet.com (now owned by Radio One) and AOL Black Voices.

She writes about the “horrible” negative stigma attached to her first employer:

Many people at the time compared the launch of BlackPlanet.com under a mostly-Asian management team to the stereotyped situation of “the Koreans who own the corner store in a black neighborhood.” That kind of horrible statement makes you wonder: what group might also have some race issues?

With this statement, the author willfully ignores the continued exclusion of Blacks from media ownership on and offline and the historic commodification of Black culture. Yes, African-Americans do have some “race issues” because we’ve seen how rich our words, images, and music have made everyone but us. And promoting the same pattern of cultural appropriation in the digital space can do nothing but harm.

Most disconcerting is Stodghill’s pointing to Media Takeout, World Star Hip Hop and BET as reasons why non-black ownership may be better for Black people.

I think we can have more black-owned Web sites, and I don’t knock the black-run Internet entities that are a success like Bossip and Media Takeout. But when you look at the type of content produced by some of the top black sites (I’m looking at you World Star Hip-Hop) — it almost makes you consider black ownership a bad thing.

That’s interesting. I’ve yet to hear anyone cite Perez Hilton as a reason why Latinos or homosexuals shouldn’t be media owners. Or heard the same racialized concerns of countless other repulsively misogynistic and hate-filled blogs or TV channels owned by White men.

It’s unfortunate that the most trafficked Black blogs are entertainment/ignorance focused, but to ignore the hundreds (perhaps thousands) of quality Black-owned media outlets is an egregious oversight.

So Ms. Stodghill may be right to ask

Are we sometimes the first in line to sell our people out?

We are often the first to sell each other short in defense of the status quo. You may be happy with the way things have always been, but that does not make it best for “our people.”

I’m most concerned that these types of statements embolden the conservatives who would have us do away completely with initiatives and legislation that provide support and funding for would be minority media owners.

In 2007, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps called the rapidly declining presence of minority media owners a “national disgrace.” Even still we continue to backslide in the arena of broadcast media.

And now that consolidation has become standard practice in the digital realm, independent online publishers face a new crisis in trying to stay afloat.

Ownership matters. It matters in hiring. It matters in outreach, and it certainly matters in content.

There simply are not enough Black and Brown faces calling the shots, and this will not change until we abandon the labor mentality and adopt one of ownership.

I first encountered The Fembassy a little over a year ago when I was trying to get more information on a new release from one of my favorite artists. Since that time, the site has grown to be the premier hub for women in hip hop. 

Glennisha Morgan created The Fembassy to remedy the lack  of coverage and support of female emcees. The highlights of our discussion include:

• How she built her community 
• Are women’s voices undervalued online? 
• Why it’s necessary for us to create alternative spaces
• Her appearance on the BET-aired documentary My Mic Sounds Nice
• If you build a great product that serves an underrepresented community, they will come
• Expanding her online presence through video
• How the web is leveling the playing field for women and minority media entrepreneurs

Glennisha shows how valuable diverse voices can be in the digital space. Connect with her via Twitter here.