Last week, Michaela Angela Davis spoke with Jacque Reid on the Tom Joyner Morning Show about a new campaign she is spearheading at Spelman College called “Bury the Ratchet”. Davis is a leading image activist that works to transform the ideologies associated with popular depictions in today’s society and culture by supporting and promoting positive images.
Davis described the campaign as an awareness project to reduce negative messages that have become associated with women of color from Atlanta because of reality television shows. In the interview, Davis says that the project is more of a “pro-leadership” campaign rather than an “anti-reality show” movement.
“[Many women] find when they say are from Atlanta the first image that comes to mind is mean, gold digging women….It has become completely evident that there has been a brand of women from Atlanta that are adverse to what most of these women are like,” Davis says. The image activist described how show producers seem to only pinpoint one type of black woman to represent Atlanta, those that represent violence and “black girl pain”.
“The goal [of the movement] is to get the spotlight off the ratchetness and on the successful women in Atlanta”.
Through a symposium at Spelman College in March 2013, Davis, along with other community leaders and scholars, will engage in an open conversation about the role reality television is playing within African-American culture and its impacts on society. The goal of the movement will be to produce a PSA of sorts that will publicize how young women of color truly feel about how they are being portrayed by media corporations.
[READ MORE, at CLUTCH]
We sit around flapping our gums about how black women are portrayed in the media, and that we need to build coalitions to promote positive images of black women. Got to support a woman who’s rallying the ground troops to make it happen.
Viva la resistance!
Where do I sign up?
This sounds like a great idea.
@Toni_M Looking forward to this and other initiatives with similar goals…Enough is enough!
IDK, I think you’d have to be pretty lame in the brain to ever think that the ATL version of ‘Real Housewives’ represented Black women. They are certainly NOT like any Black women I know. They are no more representative of Black women than ‘The Real House-Skanks of Orange County’ are to women from Orange County. That show has done nothing except to ruin, for its duration plus five years, a rather nice place, Coto de Caza, where I was planning to move from Irvine. I guess I’ll just have to wait a while on that move. Anyway, that’s my opinion; yours may vary.
My Alma mater is always on top of it!! If Joseph and I have a daughter, I hope she attends Spelman like her mom 🙂
“Spelman, thy name we praise Standards and honor raise…”
Additionally, as someone who is from Atlanta (born and raised), I find the representation of us to be repulsive. I can’t stand those shows, and I refuse to watch them. Members of my circle who I have in Atlanta do not fit those skewed images; for, we’re educators, psychologists, physicians, nurses, business owners, lawyers, etc. Atlanta is filled with a plethora of well to do African-Americans who exude pride, intelligence, real wealth and professionalism. I wish the shows would reflect those people
I definitely support Ms. Davis’ effort & thank her for taking the lead. We definitely need to present positive, feminine images.
I just want to add that we need to use the word “ratchet” in its proper context. The most common use of the word “ratchet” means:
–a steady progression up or down (e.g., the upward ratchet of oil prices or ratchet up the heat)
The word is being used incorrectly in place of “wretched” (e.g. bury the wretched behavior). I’m seeing more and more people use the word improperly and the masses are starting to think it’s the norm (just like when people started using the word “conversate” (which doesn’t exist in the English language & is considered nonstandard).
Just today’s English lesson from a former grammar teacher (smile).
@Lady Arabella Victoria Hahah I just had to explain this to someone…ratchet = ebonics for wretched. 😉
@Lady Arabella Victoria
I explain the “ratchet = wretched” phenomenon all the time! It’s definitely not a good thing.
There are a few initiatives to stop many of these so-call ‘reality’ shows. I can remember an Italian-American organization denoucing “Jersey Shore” as stereotyping Italians.. Even the governor and law makers of New Jersey were upset about the show. And recently, the governor of West Virginai objecting to the reality show ‘Buckwild’. He feels it stereotypes west virginians as rednecks.
Actually, the term Reality Show is a misnomer because most of them just enforce stereotypes of the demographic group they are covering.
And everytime, I turn on the television, another reality show is being introduce. As they say ‘ they don’t die, they just multiply.
Most of these show have no “reality” involved. I am an actress and regularly see casting calls for “loud, sassy black women” for these kinds of shows. It is disgusting. I turned down one such role and my mother could not understand why. She loves those crappy shows….*sigh*.
I will be the first to admit as a youngster I watched Real Housewives ATL and I have recently watched and episode of love and hip hop atlanta. I laughed at how over the top and stupid these shows were, no black women in my family or any black women I know act like that. I also know and have always known reality TV is fake and staged and is purely for entertainment(really there are casting calls for over the top offensive characters), and I think that anyone who thinks what is shown in Reality TV or VH1 is real is seriously stupid. That being said I know many people that are seriously stupid and do believe everything they see on reality TV. Another thing is that these images are being presented as “reality” and not as a parody of some sorts, the “reality” label makes people think all black women from atlanta are violent and in chronic emotional pain of some sorts. People also use these images to justify there sick reasoning that all black women are violent and in chronic pain(ie basketball wives).
@Law Wanxi I think most americans in general believe ANYTHING negative about black women no matter what forum it comes from