Jamaica Gleaner

Reject Hollywood’s reckless agenda

- Glenville Ashby Dr Glenville Ashby is the award-winning author of the audiobook Anam Cara: Your Soul Friend and Bridge to Enlightenm­ent and Creativity and the critically acclaimed In Search of Truth: A Course in Spiritual Psychology. Email feedback to col

IT’S NOT easy to convince naysayers that there is a perpetual war against the black male and, by extension, the black family. I have tried to follow in the footsteps of pioneers in black psychologi­sts, in particular, Dr Frances Cress Welsing, MD, who have demonstrat­ed that this war continues centuries after slavery. Ours is a withering, uphill task, but we fight on.

Indeed, some have dismissed our work as nothing more than misplaced paranoia, given the overt wealth amassed by some blacks, especially in sports and entertainm­ent. Only in America, the land of opportunit­ies, they argue. But proponents of this argument couldn’t be further from the truth and are guilty of applying the Apex Fallacy.

This theory states that the most notable people (top earners or power brokers) of any identity group are a reflection all its members. For example, the political ascendancy of Barack Obama means that blacks wield political power, or, the billionair­e status of Robert Smith signifies that blacks in the US are economical­ly influentia­l.

Feminist activists deceptivel­y use this argument by stating that men control the society, never acknowledg­ing that boys are lagging behind in education, and that men are more likely to be imprisoned, homeless, suicidal, addicted and die at an earlier age than women.

What’s my point?

For one, black celebritie­s do not, cannot and should not represent the black community. They do not speak for us. Today, more than ever, they have proven that their agenda is antithetic­al to black awareness and collective empowering. But ‘checking these celebritie­s at the door’ is easier said than done.

Celebritie­s, let’s face it, openly and subtly shape the minds of our youth. There is nothing more addictive in a materially driven society than romanticis­ing Hollywood.

Hollywood not only represents success, it sets the standards on aesthetics and style. Further, the movers and shakers of Hollywood coalesce around and advance a perverse liberal agenda. The social, political and psychologi­cal clout wielded by this California enclave is indisputab­le. Today, it reads from a script that promotes an open assault on the strong, black male imago and the black family.

Our children are no longer raised with sitcoms that portray close-knit black families such as the Huxtables on The Cosby Show, or the economical­ly strapped but dignified Evans family of Good Times. No longer can our children view the likes of the ‘Jeffersons’ or even the ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’. No longer can our children view wholesome families that are uncompromi­singly and unapologet­ically black. Alarmingly, these TV fathers are now called toxic by feminists and their black enablers. Interestin­gly, anyone that refers to crossdress­ing males as toxic will face the unforgivin­g ire of Hollywood and the liberal media. TRADITIONA­L FOUNDATION

Unremittin­gly, we are now served a heavy dose of LGBTQ serum that is spirituall­y poisonous and psychologi­cally confusing to the young mind. Further, it erodes the traditiona­l foundation of the Black Collective.

It was on Oscar night 2019 that Hollywood rolled out its most ambitious assault on the black family yet, with the full complicity of Billy Porter, a black actor who sauntered on the red carpet donning a stupendous black dress. To add insult to injury, so-called Hollywood progressiv­es like Jada Pinkett-Smith went on social media to laud this actor who, in just a few minutes, planted seeds of confusion in young minds and angered those of us that recognise that we are faced with a real, existentia­l war.

And it is from the Hollywood War Room that the ‘generals’ solicited the help of another unwitting black man on Saturday Night Live, this time actor Don Cheadle, who donned a T-shirt with the message ‘#ProtectTra­nsKids.’ Really? Not black children who are murdered in the inner cities? Not black children who scramble for scarce resources in schools? Not black children whose fathers are disproport­ionately jailed? Not black children who face systemic prejudice? No, a misguided black man was used to advance the queer lifestyle. And I ask, what is a transkid? Are we now ascribing sexual identities to children? This is the spiritual emptiness that defines Hollywood.

And it is from the mouth of noted black celebritie­s, none other than Steve Harvey, who disparaged integrity as a defining, essential trait we must uphold. “This is not a black man’s game or white man’s game; it’s a money game,” he said to another star, Monique, who admirably questioned Hollywood’s integrity in a heated interview. (https://people.com/movies/ monique-and-steve-harvey-argueabout-her-being-blackballe­d-byhollywoo­d-after-oscar-win/)

More than ever, the eyes and ears of our impression­able youth are fair game. The insidious, baffling assault of the power structure, with the complicity of our own – not unlike centuries ago – will continue until we, as a racial, political and economic threat, are totally annihilate­d.

 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D ?? Billy Porter attends the 91st Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood on February 24.
CONTRIBUTE­D Billy Porter attends the 91st Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood on February 24.
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