ISUPK Blog Dept Presents:
Inside the Mind of An Angry Black Man
October/15/2017
Selling Your Soul to the Devil
A Seat on the Casting Couch
On Thursday, October 5th, 2017 the New York Times published an article titled “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers Over Decades.” This exhaustively investigated expose chronicled over 30 years of reports, complaints, and payoffs made by the namesake of one of Hollywood’s biggest, and most successful production companies. A 2015 memo written to executives by a female staff member asserting Sexual Harassment and other forms of Misconduct by Mr. Weinstein, has been corroborated by current and former employees; and has also prompted others who experienced similar treatment under Weinstein to come forward with their personal accounts. The story has sent shockwaves through the Hollywood community, and raised many questions about how power and influence, is & has been wielded by entertainments elites over many decades.
Reading through the article I couldn’t help but to imagine the horror and dismay that had befallen the many women who had been called up to Harvey’s suite at the Piedmont Hotel in Beverly Hills, Ca. Eager and anxious for an opportunity to meet with Hollywood’s biggest producer, hoping to finally catch your big break, only to find out the only way you’re getting the job, or advancing your career, is to satisfy the sexual whims of this monster of a man. Big stars such as Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie have come forward acknowledging that they all had taken a seat on Harvey Weinstein's “casting couch” and had denied his uncomfortable sexual advances during the early stages of their careers.
Having this story break the way it did, and now witnessing the fallout that it has caused, I believe there is a bigger picture to be viewed, analyzed, and addressed concerning catching your big break into entertainment. The small picture of course would be to focus solely on Weinstein and the role his position played in enabling him to get away with his casting couch come on’s for all these years. The big picture is to look at our society as a whole, and to ask ourselves, what is it about the way we covet fame, fortune, and success; that enables anyone to become a victim of predators in positions of authority?
Now I can’t speak for those in Hollywood because I’m not apart of their fraternity. I can’t speak to feeling or fear of wanting something so bad that I’d exchange my dignity and honor for a shot at making it. I can’t speak to why you wouldn’t just get up and walk out the room, or blaze on the bastard who had the audacity and gaul to even play with me, trying to offer a job in exchange for sexual favors. Then again, in many ways, the way I think, act, and feel about much of what we’ve been programmed to accept in this society is far away from the norm. In an effort to address what I see as the bigger picture issue, laid open for discussion by the breaking of this Harvey Weinstein story, allow me to take you inside of the mind of an angry black man concerning selling your soul to the devil.
The Poor and the Fatherless
Men like Harvey Weinstein are the rule in the game called life, NOT the exception. Throughout the course of world history, men with power & influence have wielded a license of privilege and infallibility over their subjects. A man of base morality, and little personal integrity, with the acceptance or admiration of others will always sink to the bowels of perversion of those under his authority. Whether that man finds himself a supervisor, coach, pastor, counselor, teacher, or family member, anyone within his reach are a potential victim. The only hindrance to a person such as this, is a systematic checkmate which negates their immoral impulses, with severe consequences against those impulses being put into action.
Unfortunately for Hollywood, and this society as a whole, that systematic checkmate doesn’t exist. As to why, I could take you back in time to the ascension of the Caucasian race and the Greek practice of Pederasty, or into the annuls of the Roman Catholic Church and their modern form of the practice, or maybe back to America’s colonial days when the slave master used his authority to exercise his sexual whims on his slaves. Regardless of where you choose to begin, sexual deviancy of the Weinstein sort, has long ago been established as a staple in Western Culture.
In the American minority (so called Black, Latino, and Native American Indian) community, much of what we have today in terms of culturally and morally accepted norms were derived from what we pieced together from Western society after being ravaged by European genocide and enslavement. Many of the hush hush, down low, and keep it to yourself policies that are instilled in us from our youth are intergenerational coping mechanisms handed down from slavery. From the time when crying out over being raped by the master could result in death or lashings; crying out over being raped by a family member or highly respected person in the community, in many instances, is shunned or discouraged. In recent years, more than at any other period in modern history, our community has experienced a seemingly overnight explosion of homosexual, transgender, and sexual deviants behaviors. I believe it is the likes of Harvey Weinstein in our midst that is to blame.
Bind Up the Strong Man
Born in 1986, I was raised and reared in an era that allowed me to experience the latter days of my grandparents fading generation during my most influential and formative years. Today I can vividly recall the lessons handed down about dignity, respect, honor, integrity, and being true to yourself. The world that I was groomed to a play a productive role in, was a harsh contrast to the one I encountered outside of my grandparents house. In the height of the crack epidemic, the birthing stages of gangsta rap, following the ravishing effects of Reaganomics on the black community; the life and times of an 80’s baby in Black America is the inspiration behind the Urban Fiction section of your local book store.
Most of those in my generation grew up in families that were wildly affected by the crack epidemic. Take into account that since 1984, every single crackhead and drug dealer in the Black community was someone’s mother, father, brother, sister, aunt and\or uncle. This fact is directly correlated with the quick erosion of morality, personal integrity, and cultural segregation which were pillars of the functionality of previous generations. Prioritization of parental responsibilities along with embracing the necessity of demonstrating high moral integrity is nearly an impossibility for someone abusing drugs, alcohol, and/or surviving in extreme poverty.
Which brings me to the rise in rape, molestation, and sexual abuse that is the unspoken skeleton in most American minorities closets. Women’s Lib, welfare & other gov’t assistance programs, coupled with the lack of available gainful employment, systematically removed the strong masculine presence from being the head of his household. While they were left no option but to turn to the streets, another group of minority men dived head first into assimilation & indoctrination through Western education, culture, and society. While desegregation allowed the affluent, and wealthy to flee from the impoverished ghettos, those left behind were left without a defense. With an entire generation wiped out by addiction, incarceration, or the weight of poverty; for the past 40 years our community has been a cesspool for sexual deviants, an open hunting area for sexual predators, and a breeding ground of confused disillusioned sexual assault victims.
In our churches, schools, at the community center, and in our homes, the majority of minority boys and girls have been victimized by these men cut from the same cloth as Harvey Weinstein. Forcing, coercing, or convincing a minor or disadvantaged woman or man, to engage in sexual acts is second only to murder. It robs and steals the spirit of that person in a way that is impossible to recover from, for most. Yet when you’re trying to escape poverty, trying to find a way out of hell, you can be driven to doing whatever it takes in order to gain an advantage, and that hopefulness is what these predators prey on. Seeing as though these types of men are allowed to thrive in this society at large; their prevalence in our community is a reflection of the failure of leadership to establish a stringent moral baseline to govern & scrutinize the actions and behaviors of individuals in positions of authority.
Life Imitates Art
So how much has Harvey Weinstein's style of sexual misconduct poisoned the well of black entertainers in the music and television entertainment industry? How many of our famous black actors\actresses, singers or rappers had to take a seat on the devils casting couch? How many that have turned down the sexual advances been blackballed? How many of them that accepted the sexual advances, have in turn become the man playing the producer's role? How has that affected the art and imagery being produced, that's responsible for shaping minority culture today?
It’s crazy now to look back at movies from Black producers like Spike Lee(X, Do the Right Thing, Clockers) and John Singleton(Boyz n’ the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning) to see what the pulse of black creative thought was during their time. These movies explored revolutionary thoughts, and nation building concepts that helped mold young black minds towards seeing a picture of life that was bigger than what we could see outside our doors. Compare those with films produced by today's creative black minds like Tyler Perry(Madea Series, For Colored Girls, and I Can Do Bad All By Myself) and Lee Daniels(Monster’s Ball, Precious, The Butler) where black men are demonized or emasculated, black women are proud, loud, and promiscuous, and the morality of the family is non-existent. It’s clear to see that a conscious shift has taken place in the promotion and portrayals of positive black imagery in Hollywood.
The same contrasts can be made with network television, and black popular music. We used to have shows that promoted family, and togetherness. We used to have whole networks dedicated to positive black programming, with shows like Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and In the House that shone a spotlight on black life in the 20th century. Today all we have is ratchet reality shows that promote the hypersexualization of black women, interracial dating, homosexuality and the emasculation of the black man. In music we used to have artist who’s rhymes carried a message of frustration, hope, and revolutionary thinking. Today the only message popularized is about getting high, paying for sex, and not giving a damn. I would argue that before a shift occurred in minority society, there had to have been a change in who was accepted or allowed to project their thoughts and ideas onto the world.
The Devil in the Details
I remember shortly after high school first hearing about the illuminati, boule, and so called secret societies that ran the music and film industry. I watched a documentary chronicling Quincy Jones supposed sexual exploitations of his artist like Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Teddy Pendergrass, Tevin Cambell and Will Smith. I had friends who went to college, that pledged for fraternities and told horrifying tales of rituals and practices that to me were blatantly self-deprecating and homosexual. Then there was the talk about signing a contract with the devil, in exchange for wealth, and fame; sometimes requiring a blood sacrifice. Even entertained youtubers attempts to decode some of Tupac, Jay-Z, and Mobb Deep’s lyrics to get an understanding of what sinister forces were in control behind the scenes.
I always felt like some of that type of talk was over exaggerated and far fetched, even though when I used to get high, a lot of that shit made a ton of sense. I mean if the devil wanted to control and manipulate us, what better way to do it than through our music and television? If he had the power to offer Jesus all the kingdoms and wealth in the world, surely he could offer someone fame and riches in exchange for their soul. But it wasn’t until this Harvey Weinstein story surfaced that I revisited my ponderings on these things. The devil you sign your soul over to, in exchange for wealth and riches in the music and film industry isn’t some shadowy, spiritual, lurking creature from the beyond. That devil is Harvey Weinstein presenting himself before you half robed with a bottle of lotion asking for a sexual favor, with promises to make you a star. The only question is, how bad do you want to make it?
Now, don’t get it twisted. I am in no way shape, form, or fashion saying that this is how EVERYONE made their way into the music industry or onto the big stage in film and theatre. But I think it’s kinda obvious with some of these cats, who got down on their knees, or grabbed their ankles. And with that being the case, it’s also obvious why they never come back home, give to the hood, or speak on behalf of black issues. When you’re afraid of being exposed, or having the skeletons in your closet being revealed, that fear can paralyze even the strongest, most influential people. It is the leverage which men like Harvey Weinstein hold over these people’s heads.
However, I have little empathy in my heart for those who take the casting couch deal. Who I empathize with are all those who have been preyed upon by men like Harvey for far less. Countless people have suffered at the hands of these deviants and have received no justice, recognition or consolation for their suffering. It is my fervent hope, and prayer that all the Harvey Weinstein's of the world are exposed, rounded up, and brought to judgment, so that the healing of all the innocence lost can begin. I felt it was necessary to write this article, and exhaust all my thoughts on the matter, in the hopes that I could inspire a brother or sister to tell their story, expose those who preyed upon them, and find clarity amidst the hurt and confusion they’ve carried around silent for so long. Please share, comment, and if you have a story to share, contact me @ angryblackmanmedia@gmail.com
But hey, maybe I’m just a Angry Black Man and I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about? This ya man Chief Sak G, Salute to the Angry Black Man Media Squad. I’ll holla at y’all!!
- Chief Sak G