Dilemma

By Moya Bailey, WireTap. Posted May 24, 2004.

Over Christmas break I was up late one night on the phone. As I passed the den I glanced at the TV and what I saw made me stop. Nelly and the St. Lunatics were throwing money at nearly naked women. Women were simulating sex with other women as Nelly and company looked on. Then I saw Murphy Lee sliding a credit card between a woman's butt cheeks. I was too disgusted to even speak and got off the phone quickly.

When I came back to school, along with the usual "How was break?" and "What'd you do?" came the soon equally familiar, "Have you seen 'Tip Drill?'" My Spelman sisters and Morehouse brothers alike were shocked by this recent low in depictions of African-American women on the small screen. Our critique of the video was not isolated. Fellow Historically Black College/University (HBCU) students at Howard had protested in front of Viacom to show their outrage towards the video in mid-December. It became apparent to me, as Spelman's Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA) President that this was something that we, too, needed to address.

The FMLA had its first showing and discussion of the "Tip Drill" video at the beginning of February. A significant number of students came, including men from Morehouse. Many differing viewpoints were brought up. One student asked if women could ever be in these videos and be sexual without being viewed in a negative manner. The comment was eloquently addressed by FMLA member Bettina Judd, who replied that the kind of sexuality they were displaying was not about pleasure; it was about women performing for a male audience. I mean what kind of pleasure is received when a credit card is swiped through your backside? It is impossible to display healthy sexuality when you are being degraded. The men in the audience noticed that watching the video in a room full of women made them feel differently about the video. It helped them see the misogyny they had overlooked before.

A week later I saw Asha Jennings, The Spelman Student Government Association (SGA) President carrying a big box. She called me over for what I assumed would be help carrying the load, but ended up being help in what has been titled, "The Nelly Controversy." Asha explained that in the box were flyers for the Jes Us 4 Jackie bone marrow drive that was set to take place on April 2. Spelman SGA had been working with Nelly's foundation to bring a bone marrow registration drive to campus. The problem was readily apparent.

Spelman College

How could Spelman, a historically black women's institution, have Nelly on campus after his heinous depiction of black women in his lyrics and videos? Asha had been previously unaware of the video and had just seen it. She now stood at the crossroads of what to do. Should she cancel the drive, knowing that the issue of minority bone marrow registration would go unaddressed? Should she uninvite Nelly from campus and allow the foundation to come? Should students remain silent altogether and not bring up the issue of "Tip Drill?"

Asha presented her dilemma to our Feminist Theory class, citing that her other classes were in favor of participating in the drive, and then writing Nelly a letter which would uninvite him from the campus. Our professor, Dr. Guy-Sheftall, was the voice of reason and pointed out that writing a letter does not carry the same weight that protesting or canceling a drive have. If we were upset about his portrayal of African-American women in the video, our actions had to be equally powerful. Additionally, sending a letter does not ensure that Nelly will read it. He has people who read his mail for him and he might never know our concern. Finally, you cannot separate the man from his foundation. It belongs to him and should he decide to come on campus, he could do so with his foundation.

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