Oprah to lead post-Imus healing

[BT]

Imus, Oprah and Spelman College
By jill vejnoska | Sunday, April 15, 2007, 09:14 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Now that Don Imus has lost his job(s) and some of the most heated rhetoric over his racist and sexually offensive comment has died down, it’s time for a more thoughtful, “where do we go from here” discussion. And who better to start the talk ball rolling than Oprah Winfrey … with an assist from some Spelman women?

Monday’s edition of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will feature a town hall meeting on the topic of whether mainstream culture will change as a result of the national outrage over Imus’s divisive remarks about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. Among the panelists appearing on “After Imus: Now What?” are music/fashion entrepreneur Russell Simmons, hip hop artist Common and sports columnist Jason Whitlock. Some current Spelman College students will also join the discussion by satellite from Atlanta, according to a Winfrey show release.

You may recall that it was some Spelman students who helped launch one of the first nationwide conversations about negative portrayals of women in popular music and videos back in 2004. When popular rap artist Nelly was scheduled to appear at the historically black women’s college for a bone marrow drive, a group of students protested because of sexually suggestive and demaning images of women in his video “Tip Drill.” One outcome was a forum, also attended by men from Morehouse College and other Atlanta University Center schools, at which rap lyrics, videos and exploitation of women were discussed.

“The Oprah Winfrey Show” airs at 4 p.m. on WSB-TV in Atlanta.

Link and comments

[modestyblase]

Given that I am not an Oprah fan.....HAHAHAHAHA. Really, she is the *last* person I would go to to effectuate change. Her base audience is midwest housewives. This "discourse" would be better initiated on Comedy Central, even.

You may recall that it was some Spelman students who helped launch one of the first nationwide conversations about negative portrayals of women in popular music and videos back in 2004. When popular rap artist Nelly was scheduled to appear at the historically black women’s college for a bone marrow drive, a group of students protested because of sexually suggestive and demaning images of women in his video “Tip Drill.”

Do the women who protested his sexually suggestive video clips realize that the "demeaning" exists in ones p.o.v.? And further, do they realize a woman can be objectified as much as a "madonna", as a "whore"?