This week’s hero is a singer who tells it like it is and the zero is an ex-football player who is more pretentious than ever.
Hero – Erykah Badu
The neo-soul singer has been called a lot of things, but who would have ever thought conservative be one of them? Erykah Badu recently caused some mixed emotions when she tweeted,
“I agree. We are sexual beings. We should consider everyone. Young girls are attractive. Some males are distracted.”
Her comments are in reference to an article in which girls at a school in New Zealand have been told to lower their skirts because it distracts male teachers. She is our hero because she said unapologetically told the truth- girls should lower their skirts.
Look, I am all for feminism, but I do not think that a teenage girl should wear mini skirts to school. And it’s not because it distracts the teacher. Mini skirts are sexy, and young girls’ focus should not be dressing sexy to attend classes. Period. Erykah argues that young people need to be taught that they are sexual beings and with that, there comes a certain level of responsibility. She also says that we are a sex driven society, which feeds into the notion that young girls feel the need to dress in a sexy manner in order to be liked.
A teenage girl lowering her skirt does not mean she is to suppress her sensuality or dress homely. It means her focus should be on age appropriate things because properly handling sexual situations calls for a certain degree of maturity.
Progressive women weren’t here for her comments, and while I believe that women have a right to dress how they please, it does not hurt a teenage girl to consider what she wears and why she’s wearing it.
Erykah Badu holding to her truth, schooling people on sexual realities and treating all ladies like a big sister giving advice makes her this week’s hero.
Zero – Ray Lewis
Sigh, where do I even begin with this guy? Former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Lewis is known for many things. In fact, in Baltimore, he is hailed as a hero. However, of all the things that Ray Lewis wants you to think he is, trust and believe he is not a reputable commentator on the state of black lives in America.
He is this week’s zero because of his over the top video about black folks in this country. I applaud his effort, but just like most things with him, his efforts are ill-equipped and self-asserting. I have never been a fan of Ray Lewis because something about him never set right with me. I am sure that his cover of Sports Illustrated in which he looked as if he were coming down from heaven has something to do with it too. Also, the fact that he tries to paint himself as this super spiritual dude when in actuality, he is so full of pretension is lame.
In his most recent rant, he mentions that his spirit is well vexed (church talk) and goes on to “tell it like it is” in his Pentecostal preacher voice. The whole thing is just a joke. Then, to top it all off, he says, and I quote,
“Let’s take it all the way back to when we once understood what slavery was all about. Slavery was about togetherness and understand that we much overcome together.”
Did he even look at the video before he posted it? He is so engrossed in his need to express himself that he can’t see how problematic his comments are. Slavery was about togetherness? What whitewashed history book has he been reading? But telling black people that that they don’t care about black people because they keep killing black people sounding like T.D Jakes is not effective. In fact, he sounds like a puppet.
It all comes down to his brand and Ray Lewis doesn’t have the best rep. Plus, his voice is annoying and once again. Can someone please just give this man a pulpit so he can satisfy his need to preach? He’s a zero.