Sociological Images

The 30-second (or so) videos below have been interspersed with MTV’s regular programming as part of Black History Month. MTV got Cornel West to be their superstar academic and expert on the Black American experience. The videos serve as the occasion for some interesting questions:

First, how do we evaluate the use of Black musicians, actors, and personalities by MTV? Is “representation” enough? Or does contemporary representation look uncomfortably like the representation of the past? (If you haven’t seen it, watch Spike Lee’s Bamboozled.)

Second, what does it mean that Cornel West signed on with MTV with what is, in effect, a mutual endorsement? Do we approve of Cornel West using his significant influence and importance in this way? Is this good from a reformist perspective? Problematic from a radical perspective? Did he “sell out”?

Third, how effective are these spots? I know little about the audience of MTV, but I imagine there are a lot of people who do not know who Cornel West is and are not inclined to offer him immediate respect. Cornel is idiosyncratic. Does your average MTV viewer see a gap-toothed, afro-wearing guy with odd mannerisms called “Professor” (which, we know, could mean anything) as authoritative? Or a buffoon?

Further, what do we think of the spots themselves? Is their content helpful? Do they teach us anything? Do we like what they teach us? Or is it just more empty lip-service to Black Americans?

Watch and tell us what you think (click here for a link to all the clips):

Note: embedded videos broken.

Thanks to Richard for the heads up on this one.

Click here and scroll down for a map showing the number and % of Muslims in various European countries. From NPR.

Muslim Girl is a teen magazine aimed at Muslim Americans. The idea is to provide a magazine that still has the fashion and advice columns of normal teen mags but addresses the special concerns of Muslim girls–where to find more modest clothing, whether it’s okay to go on a date without supervision, and so on. From looking at the article titles on the left, it appears they also include much more political content than any mainstream teen mag every thought about.

This could go along with a discussion of the websites selling modest clothing or the video humanizing Muslims.