If you are a thinker in need of mental stimulation, an aspiring student in need of information, or believe God has a higher calling for your life, and you browse the Black television media line-up of BET or TV-One in search of that fix, you will be sadly disheartened because neither Black outlet offers either fill.

What they do offer, however, would satisfy anyone who cringes when it comes time to use their brain for the purpose of actually thinking. For days at a time, the two channels feed either butt-shakin' bling-bling videos (demoralizing Black youth), throwback 1970-80 sitcoms and movies (modern-day vaudeville), Joyner-type live concerts, of dead and has-been musicians (an aspect of living in denial), and or celebrity cooking, exercise, or home-decorating shows (star-struck vanities).

Every now and then, a Black forum is held where 5-7 Black intellectual elitist get together and talk over one another making mute points on the white political structure, creating themselves a headline for the next issue of Ebony or Essence magazine, who compile and publish the same Sambo portrait of the fantasized Black world.

Never, though is there a forum, a show, or even thirty minutes of truth that actually address the real Black issues. The one subject that America refuses to discuss is the one the Black media should be pushing the hardest, which is racial discord, discrimination, profiling, and underdevelopment. But they avoid the real issues in fear of the political correct censorship placed on the media.

If anything is to come of such discussions, remedies and ways to live despite these barriers can be offered to Black America through forums, documentaries, even sitcoms, movies and Black soap operas that offer a positive direction in life not only for Blacks but for all people. One would think by watching BET or TV-One that Black people are nothing more than entertainment buffoons without the mental capacity to be innovative or intelligent.

America itself realized that television programming had turned biased in recent decades, especially when cable began. And they tried to balance the liberal slant by broadcasting more moderate to conservative type programs and news shows. But the Black media has yet to come to that realization. They flood Black America with smut, immorality, and vanity while Black children and many adults soak this mind-set up and live their lives according to the same standards of bling, bling, vaudevillism, and vanity.

There are no informative programs about personal finance, child rearing, relationships, achieving in school and college. There are no enlightening shows on Black history, accomplishment, and advancements - past or present; and there is nothing on community structure, development, or unity. There is nothing more than a pathetic show of what society (and obviously the Black media) feels is what Blacks do best; entertain, cook, and wear clothes.

Blacks need to demand more from Black media and Black media should listen and do. If what these television stations are showing is all they got or know, then Black America will never amount to anything but what we see ourselves doing. And if this is the image Black media leaders would like to display and teach our children to grow into, then these people have no business being in the media business.

© October 2005 by CR Hamilton