From the owner/creator of Black Entertainment USA - Michael Vass

I want to depart from the normal nature of my posts here on Black Entertainment USA for a moment. I want to thank you, my readers and visitors, for your support of this site. Though still new www.blackentertainmentblog.com has done exceptionally well, growing exponentially. That has only been possible through the positive word of mouth provided by you. I do appreciate that. I also want to thank those that have been moved to comment on various posts, with agreement, dissent and correction, as you are vital to the experience I am trying to convey. Without your thoughts I have no feedback to muse upon, nor the measured approach I try to maintain in expressing my views. I hope that for those of you I have not motivated to comment, I will rise to the cause and reach you as well in time.

As you know I am committed to improving various aspects of this site. My intent is to provide the best presentation and format on the issues and subjects within entertainment, with emphasis on Black African American and Hispanic perspective. This is no simple task. As some of you may know my work entails investor relations and the management of 6 additional sites besides this and www.vasandtheworld.com. No one said being an entrepreneur was easy. Besides time, money is an inescapable factor for the growth of this site in the manner I wish it to be.

I appreciate those that have visited the multiple product pages on this site, which include the Catalogue main page, Gift items for Her and Him, especially when those visits resulted in purchases from my www.CafePress.com/nova68 store. If you have not had the chance please do visit those sections sometime. I have also paid attention to those that have asked for better models, and more diversity, of the t-shirts, baseball cap, mouse pad, journal and other items. I am working on improvements and additional items as we speak. If you have any requests or suggestions of items I can provide, please look here to contact me.

One new item I have added is an audio section. I will be working on finishing the look and layout of this section but like my original poetry, which can be found on some of the above mentioned inscribed goods, My audio section provides my voice reading the poems I have created. While not a perfect audio, it hopefully will add flavor and inspiration to you my reader.

I mention all of the above because it is my goal to provide many of the things that I feel are missing from many site targeted at African Americans, Hispanics and other minorities. While I would enjoy huge sales and large profits from various goods, I prefer to target items that reflect in some way my views and thoughts. They are an icing on the cake, the content being just that - the true substance of this site. But as I stated, money is necessary for everything. I hope to limit, significantly, the number of sites that will be able to advertise on this site. I have several options before me, but I am open as always to suggestions that you my reader may prefer. Are there specific sites you would like to see advertise here (if I must add any)?

I thank you for your patronage, and thoughts. Now back to the entertainers and the real posts.

Sincerely

Michael Vass

Sanaa Lathan - interracial dating

Excerpt from www.blackentertainmentblog.com

...When I first noticed anything about this movie, it was that it was a love story. Being a fan of sci-fi and action films, and more than occasionally watching what friends call ‘high intellect’ films, love stories don’t usually hit my radar. Not that there is anything wrong with them. And I don’t mean to imply they are ‘chick flicks’ and I’m too manly to see them. It’s just not my thing.

This film does have an interesting twist on the theme though. The couple is an interracial one. Even more interesting is that the woman is a Black African American and the man is White. In its own way I think this film is similar in cultural impact to Guess Who’s Coming Home to Dinner, except this time it’s the Black culture that gets the surprise.

It’s not a new thing, interracial couples have been around a long time. They are socially accepted moreso now than ever before, I think the late 70's and early 80's was the turning point in the nation. The portrayal of a Black African American woman in an interracial couple is different though. Black women have long been the champions of the call to ‘Keep it black’ and ‘Stay true to your people’ in my experience. [I have known many women who believe the above strongly. I have seen some lash out at a white girlfriend of a black male, just because she was with him and he had never dated the woman. I have even had a woman I dated breakup with me due to the fact that I had dated ‘outside the race barrier’. I find both actions incredibly stupid and repulsive.] Much of the return to Africa and re-embracement of traditional African culture, has been lead by black women at least on a community basis as I have seen.

Yet as Ms. Sanaa Lathan states “...about 42.4 percent of black women in America aren't married. Black women are shooting up the corporate ladder way faster than our black male counterparts. And (black men) are either dating outside their race, in jail or dying...” [By the way my poem I rejoice in me may give you an idea of how I feel about my place in American society] The surprise is still there as, in my experience, Black African American women more than any other group including Hispanic women have stated (some shouted) they will stand by their Black African American man. Quite the diametric I think.

It will be very interesting to see how this movie does, especially in cities with high ‘minority’ populations. It is well known that many Black African American actors will not do movies or scenes that have a White female as a love interest or sexual partner. At least its well known in the communities I’ve been in. Mr. Denzel Washington has never done so nor several other prominent Black actors. The fear is alienating the Black female audience. Alienate them and watch movie sales along with star power disappear. Even Mr. Wesley Snipes has felt the backlash, I believe, if not in moviegoers definitely in the black media.

The big question though is why is this such a big deal? Interracial dating, in a movie or in real life, should not be such a question. Or am I mistaken. Does it matter what color your mate is, since the only person it should hold importance to is you and your mate. Obviously to racists it make quite the difference, but what about everyone else? I wouldn’t call Black women racist for having a belief in having a strong black family, just as I wouldn’t say that about a white female. But where is the line, if it exists at all, that crosses to the extreme. [My personal examples above seem well beyond that point but others may disagree.] ...