The Media and the MOBO (Music of Black Origin Awards or Make Own Best Opinion)

Thanks to our London correspondent for the following insightful piece; he's a recent transplant (Sept. 17th, 2005) who moved there from Los Angeles

The Media and the MOBO

(Music of Black Origin Awards or Make Own Best Opinion)

It's my first week in London, and already I'm beginning to see the subtle signs of racism apparent in the media. First, were various points of view on both the television news and the papers about how America and particularly Bush had handled the Katrina crisis. While they were unanimous in deciding that it had been poorly addressed, they were also unanimous in making up their minds that this was not a result of racism but the growing classist rift in America. Hmmm... Perhaps someone forgot to tell them that the poorest in America ARE Black, Brown, and so on. But how is this lack of perception to surprise one who also hears Blair and the rest of his party swear that they will continue to stay in Iraq no matter what?

But there's more. I watched this morning's news on BBC and was a bit put off by reports that the recent 2005 MOBO (Music of Black Origin) Awards (http://www.mobo.com/), celebrating its tenth anniversary no less, was a lacklustre affair given the lack of attendance by well-known celebrities. The news report asked if the award ceremony had out-lived its capability to celebrate black music if it was so poorly supported by those it intended to promote. In the past, the event had drawn the likes of Janet Jackson and other superstars, but this year the winners were relative unknowns. The report ominously predicted that while this might be the tenth anniversary of the event, it perhaps would not last another ten.

Well, imagine my surprise when I actually watched a re-telecast of the event, and who should I catch the camera pan over, but Lauryn Hill, followed by performances by Ms. Dynamite and members of the Marley clan, as well as award presentations by celebrities such as Chuck D! Unknowns? TO WHOM?! Someone living under a rock? And let's not forget a lifetime achievement award to Public Enemy and tributes to recently departed Luther Vandross and Bob Marley who was movingly remembered by his family in words and a performance of his music.

Other memorable moments were the inclusion in the reggae category of Latin American infused reggaeton in the form of Daddy Kane and the first ever award given by the MOBOs to an act from Africa, presented by British Asian celebrities, one of whom was Laila Rouass, who is half Goan and half Moroccan. She proudly claimed her own African heritage and said that that it was about "bloody time" this award was being presented - And this is the major point, I think, missed by the British media, that it is not up to them to decide what people of Black origin should or should not celebrate or how they should choose to celebrate it. To me, the media's judgment of the event falls under the same general distrust accorded the opinions of people of color when we deem something racist (like the manner in which the suffering poor AND communities of color in New Orleans were done wrong). MOBO - it might sound to the media like the scary noise of Black music, but however main stream, it’s still a community Making its Own Best Opinion.