"No Malcolm X in my history text
Why is that?
Cuz he tried to educate and liberate all Blacks
Why is Martin Luther King in my book each week?
He told Blacks if they get smacked
Turn the other cheek..."
- Tupac Shakur, "Words of Wisdom"

I saw Michael Eric Dyson on TV speaking at a bookstore for his new book. As I waded thru his machine gun barrage of big & complicated school words, I heard him speak on how the media did not correctly report on the Katrina aftermath. He talked about how the numbers reported of death & violence were not as bad as was thought, how they said white folks were "finding" food and Blacks folks were stealing it, and he even suggested that the "thugs" that the media claimed were shooting at helicopters were doing so not so much cuz they're some crazy nigras, but because they were trying to say "Hey! We're down here, too! Come get us too!"

I'm one of the last people who you'd have to remind to be skeptical of the media, but I must admit I had to check myself and remind myself of how irresponsible the media can be as it relates to our Folk. I can remember letting the media coverage at that time paint for me a picture of the Katrina situation, but instead I should have been constantly suspicious of everything they reported. Shame on me. I have to remember that the media has an agenda also, and someone is telling the story that they want to be told - writing history as THEY see it. And this Somebody is usually not someone interested in MY best interests.

Not that Dyson is necessarily telling the truth, either. But the point is, question everything.