The Damn Newsletter -- BET = Old Yeller

Greetings and Salutations,

Who’s been hitting you with the Hee, the Ha, and the Aha for over 6 years now? If your answer was Missy Elliot, Craig Mack, and Saul (Eddie Murphy’s Jewish character from Coming to America) well…uh…that’s correct. But…The Damn Newsletter also answers that question…so let’s begin!

Well I have officially lost my mind. I’m attempting the Sacred Heart Soup Diet this week in an effort to do some aggressive weight loss. Now I’m not much into the fad diets but typical results are the loss of 10-17 pounds a week. How could I say no to that? In usual Jarratt (Mr. Social Media) fashion, I am keeping an account of my thoughts after every day I complete on Tumblr. If you all don’t have a Tumblr, stay tuned to the social media we are linked to for the update via Tumblr.

And since I’m promoting, rock upstarts IDLE of the Peach is having a big show on July 2, 2011 (That’s this Saturday!!!) along with the Moulin Dudes. I don’t want to say it’s going to be one of the hottest show of the summer, because I shouldn’t have to…Duh, it’s IDLE of the Peach…winning (wait, do people still do that…if not, I’m bringing it back) You may want to be there…there’s gonna be a few surprises and some unexpected guests. I can’t divulge any more than that.

Okay Hip Hop heads. Oh I mean real Hip Hop heads not you pretenders...Bad Meets Evil's Hell: The Sequel may be the most anticipated release of the year. We have waited 10 years for Eminem & Royce da 5'9 to get their *ish* together. Get the album. You'll thank me later.

Bad Meets Evil - Fast Lane





It’s shout out time!!! This issue’s Shout Out goes to Dr. Valerie S. Fields. For those of you “in the know”, my fondness for Dr. Fields goes back to my collegiate days (I mean she was the mentor of my mentor…) I will be always eternally grateful to her for giving me the confidence to be a leader. She saw my abilities, talent, and passion; nurtured it; and give me opportunity to succeed. I don’t know where I would be with her, honestly. Currently the students of South Carolina State University are lucky enough (and I do mean lucky) to be able to have that kind of presence in their lives. Hope they take advantage of it.

Did anyone watch the BET awards on Sunday? I didn’t. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t watched BET for quite some time. If it wasn’t for social media and The Word Eye Heard (watch special BET awards edition of The Word Eye Heard below), I wouldn’t have known it was on.

The Word Eye Heard -- BET Awards Edition




Let’s be honest Black Entertainment Television is a far cry from the network we grew up watching in the 80’s and early 90’s. It’s really just pathetic and it should be murdered. I mean it. Completely wipe it off the face of cable TV. Here are some points in no particular order to support the demise of this network.

• Black Entertainment Television is not Black Owned – I am not a racist! I’m just saying should that be a key component, right? FUBU isn’t owned by African Americans and you all stop buying their products but you continue to watch BET…I’m just saying!

• Lack of Original Programming – Do me a favor and when you watch BET (or its sister networks for that matter especially BET Hip-Hop) check the time. Because I can almost guran-damn-tee that in 3 to 4 hours the same damn thing will be on. Seriously how many times should I be subjected to watch Ciara’s top 25 videos?

• Their Original Programming – You may think I’m beating a dead horse with this programming but with let’s face facts. Name a show on BET besides some ghetto ass reality show, the comedy turn soap opera, The Game or 106 & Park…Yeah that’s what I thought…These shows are a far cry from BET’s past like Rap City and Teen Summit.

• Lack of Star power – The Food Network has Guy Fieri. The Travel Channel has Adam Richman. Comedy Central has Jon Stewart. BET has Rosci and Terrance J…uh…need I say more???


I could go on from the horrible production of award shows, the lack of relvant content, the horrible direction and leadership but I mean I could literally write forever. Let me bottom line it for you, BET is reminds me of Old Yeller. It was a great idea and it help us a lot, but now it has contracted rabies and needs to be put down.

But those are just my thoughts...right or wrong...just what I'm feeling at the time!!!