Join hands, pour some libation, sing kumbaya, and.... victim shame?
Iyanla was DEAD wrong for this entire episode. In fact it was toxic. How you might ask? Oh let me count the ways....
1.) How dare she pop up for a couple of days and tell them that they have no plan? If she really cared to know what was going on then she would know that the young people are organizing. They are not tearing up and protesting without any end game in mind. Did she really just take the chief's word? He's currently protecting his murderous brother in blue. 14 days of peace? To do what? Keep people of color docile and sweep the whole matter under the rug? That's what 14 days of "peace" (silence, really) will do. No justice, no peace. Iyanla needs to get right.
To add... The youth just recently drafted a list of demands. Guess what? It wasn't due to Iyanla's visit. They were effective without her.
2.) How dare she reduce black men to criminals feared by all? "Black women clutch their purses when they see young black men walking down the street." When in fact these tatted up young men with golds, dreads, and sagging pants are the ones caring for the injured, women, and children. Furthermore where were the highlights of the young women and girls who suffered a premature death at the hands of police? She's just further reinforcing the stereotype that young black men are animals, uncivilized and deserved their fate. It was as well disrespectful to the women and girls who died very similar deaths.
3.) How dare she equate a system of white supremacy that devalues and criminalizes people of color to "they treat you like that because you don't treat each other right?" Way to stand up for racism there Iyanla! Black on black crime? Wow really? This has nothing to do with police who seek to brutalize and kill people of color. none whatsoever. It also has nothing to do with fatherless children. None. They've been killing us unprovoked for decades, centuries. We don't deserve it because of our internal conflicts.
4.) Why is she regurgitating msm bullshit? There was minimal rioting. If the rioting hadn't happened then Mike Brown's murder would have been ignored. They made a big enough fuss to catch the attention of the world and exposing a racist, classist, militarized system within America. Unfortunately it attracted opportunists like Iyanla to capitalize off of poc's struggle.
5.) This man said because of this tragedy we have people coming together who otherwise never would have. When 2 gangs can settle their difference to fight an oppressive force. That speaks volumes. That's big. Iyanla's never impressed because it has to be all about how SHE thinks things should go. So instead of being proud of that fact she tries to open old wounds by in so many words saying "that's not enough". Apparently she thinks it's not good if it wasn't done before the fact.
6.) Then she brings out... Benzino? He and she are advocating that rappers stop making songs that glorifies killing and other distasteful subjects. That's all well and good buuuut you're still on LAHHATL's pay roll. Yes I saw a snippet of that hot misogynist, ratchet ass mess that is LAHHATL. How about we take responsibility for that since you're saying that our culture is to blame for the injustices we suffer? Never mind the fact that rap music has nothing to do with an oppressive, racist, and classist system that goes unpunished for repeatedly brutalizing and murdering men, women, and children of color.
7.) And did I hear her ass say "justice don't give you no job?" I'm done!
Look, what I have to say is that Iyanla should have stayed her ass at home. She didn't help a damn thing and quite possibly could have damaged things further by planting these ridiculous assumptions that somehow we play a part in the injustice we receive.
Iyanla (as well as these popular tv doctors and life coaches) has a terrible knack for grossly oversimplifying complex situations and mark them as fixed in a few days tops (or even hours). The publicity stunt that she pulled in Ferguson was dangerous and counter-productive. I was never too fond of Iyanla anyway. But this episode just sealed the deal. I absolutely can't with her.
Before I go. I want to leave you with a few words quoted from her during this past week's special...
"I have failed you."
Why yes Iyanla. Yes you have.
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