Black America Is Not Shawty Lo and His 10 Baby Mamas
In a piece at Clutch magazine, Tami Winfrey Harris writes a sharp rebuke of the media and the African-American community for buying into black dysfunction in light of the impending spring premiere of Oxygen's All My Babies' Mamas, about Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo, his 11 children and their 10 mothers.
Sometime this spring, the Oxygen network will air a program called All My Babies' Mamas, featuring someone called Shawty Lo. You probably already know this because a press release and video leak last week (video since removed) caused the heads of good black folk to explode all over the interwebs. You could hear the pop from space. The one-hour special documents Shawty, 31, whose mama named him Carlos Walker, and his relationships with his 11 children, their 10 mothers, and his newest, a 19-year-old girlfriend. Oh, and in the spirit of Flavor of Love, the women on the show will have their identities erased in favor of nicknames like "Fighter Baby Mama," "First Lady," and "Bougie Baby Mama."
Lord, pass me my smelling salts.
The impending debut of All My Babies' Mamas has been met with some predictable responses: A petition urging Oxygen to shelve the special and a whole lot of people vowing never, ever to let their eyeballs see this shitshow. But two reactions I find troubling: black shame and a heap of demeaning talk about single-parent and nontraditional families.
The "Ban All My Babies' Mamas" petition, which, as I'm writing, has 73 signatures on Change.org, calls for the Oxygen show to be canceled for demeaning black women, girls, and children and stereotyping black men. I have no doubt the show will do all these things. And -- make no mistake -- the show's creative team, Liz Gateley and Tony DiSanto, mean for this to be so. Nearly every reality show, from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo to Love & Hip-Hop, is built on the exploitation and promotion of bias and stereotype.
Read Tami Winfrey Harris' entire piece at Clutch magazine.
http://www.theroot.com/buzz/black-america-not-shawty-lo-and-his-10-baby-mamas
http://www.clutchmagonline.com/2012/12/black-america-is-not-shawty-lo/
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This show sounds repugnant. I am more concerned about the damage it will do to the children in it than anything else. "Daddy" sounds like a real gem. 
