NAACP Ain’t The New Black

The web is where it’s at

by j. brotherlove

I admire that the NAACP are trying to become relevant again. I just wished they were choosing some better “causes”. Burying the N-word and urging for fairness for Vick (who clearly new much more about this dog fighting operation than he let on)? I dunno.

I don’t object to speaking out and publishing press releases about whatever issues relate to racial injustice; that’s what the NAACP should be doing. But where’s the real fire and impact of this organization?

Is NAACP making enough difference for Genarlow Wilson or Jena 6? I mean, if black bloggers can force LIFEbeat to abandon their homophobic reggae concert, cancel Shirley Q Liquor concerts and convince advertisers to retreat from BET’s “Hot Ghetto Mess/We Got To Do Better”, I expect a bit more from a nearly, century-old advocacy group.

Lynne recently blogged about how old black media is starting to adopt Web 2.0/social media elements on their websites. It’s about time! I can only hope members of legacy organizations like NAACP begin to recognize the emergent power of black bloggers, social media spaces and bookmarking sites before the need for these "brick-and-mortar" organizations become obsolete.

Blogging and social media is the new black. Literally. These organizations will make greater progress by reading, embracing and participating in the issues we are discussing on the daily. Only then will we be inspired to acknowledge or follow any sort of leadership they (attempt to) provide.

By the way, I’m quite aware that my title/subtitle sounds like a bad Jesse Jackson slogan.

That’s why we need folks like you j to help bring organizations like these into the Web 2.0 era. Keep getting out there to help them understand.