NWSF Bullet: Props to BET

Now, I won't say that I have been Black Entertainment Television's worst critic. I'll leave that title to Aaron McGruder (Boondocks), Rev, Delmon Coates (Enough is Enough Campaign) and my homie Kwabena out of Gary IN. However, I have gotten in a couple of licks, myself over the years.

I remember back in the 90's when the network used to have call in talk shows, sneaking past the screeners and using their airwaves to attack the malt liquor ads that they used to air every 15 minutes.

But as they say, one good program "can cover a multitude of sins."

Let's face it, for the last 15 years, BET has been an embarrassment to most black folks over 18 with a job and a GED.

But I have to admit that the American Gangster series is pretty good as the first minutes of every program usually deal with the socio-political climate of the time.

They recently did a program on J. Edgar Hoover, former head of the FBI and father of COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program).

The show was important because that is a period of time that America would like to forget. A period when the government turned on her own citizens for merely fighting for equal rights.

Maybe the program will inspire BET's "106 and Park" crowd to pick up books by Kenneth O' Reilly (Racial Matters and Black Americans:The FBI Files) and read about a piece of history that they will not get in school.

I just wish that BET would connect the dots and reveal that the damage caused by COINTELPRO is the reason for the "gangsta-isms" promoted in their videos...