House of Payne-Main character work,take care of his kids,and in spite of all of life's curves,keeping his family together.

My point is be the best person you can for your children.Stop depending on movie stars and athlete to be a role model.

There is no structured racism only individual personal racism. If anything, racism is structurally undermined. It's faulty individual interpretation of how America was structured that keeps this crap alive.

Equality means equality. Equal protection and equal treatment under the law means exactly that. Equal treatment and equal protection under the law. Period. Racism is antithetical to the constitution and to the notion of a free and equal society. All these straw man arguements about 60% of violence against blacks is perpetrated by blacks, pot smokers, mexican and white conspiracies against blacks, blah, blah, blah is just that.... blah, blah, blah.

Focusing on negatives of any communitty just accentuates that part.

So thanks rick and others... for accentuating the negatives... within yourselves.

It's not what I or other Black men or women think of themselves, it's what those who hide their true feelings, in positions of power, that effect all of our lives.

Thank You,

James "yogiFish" Herring
Online Televions Journalist

Tyler Parry and Martin Lawrence act buffoonish because they portray bufoonish characters, not because they are playing buffoonish "black" characters. The characters buffoonery would be bufoonish even if they were any other color.

THAT'S the subtle threat of prejudice. That while attempting to defend an idea or ideal we committ the act we are speaking out against. Why are those characters criticized as representatives of black bufoonery and not just bufoonery in general?

So, Fay... I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you , but... you have become a victim. You have also victimized black men by associating the characters Martin Lawrence and Tyler Perry play with black men as if those were accurate representations of everyday black men instead of purely comical ones.

The problem with many of us is that we only see things through our lense. It would be the same as me trying to undertanding everything that women go through in this country. I can't because I am not a female.

Yes, It is true that there is a segment of the African American population that still is disproportional hit by poverty and out of wedlock births. This must stop, but there are still many successful African Americans that have broken barriers in politics, business, etc and they worked hard to get to that point. I get tired of people painting ALL African Americans as thinking the same.

For the segment of African Americans that are hit with poverty this special is doing a great job of showing the mirror to this group by highlighting that things must change as far as personal choices in life.
The biggest being the out of wedlock births.

There, however still remains some schools in the inner city that continue to go underfunded and lack resources to do an effective job.

In other words there still needs to be accountability from government to address these disparities, but it won't mean much unless the effected realize that they must step up to the plate and start to turn things around and make a better future for their children

I was thoroughly disappointed in this show. I thought Part 1 would be a story of triumphs of black women and families. Instead, we got more of the same. This show could have been made with any race in mind...just show the most troubling parts of anyone's culture and then fade to commercial.

I was expecting to see stories of triumph, and how sisters used their ingenuity and deep down resilience to make it in this country. I think of people like my Mother, who started out in the projects of North Philly. A single mom, she actually moved us to the worst apts in the suburbs so I could get a decent education (after pulling me out of school mid-year). Was it fun to be essentially integrating a school district? No. But I learned in a great environment that help me get to where I am. She raised 3 college grads (and one soon-to-be grad). My best friend's Mom was a crackhead but he got a Masters and is a sought-after teacher. Ish like that...not this nonsense that I see.

And I'm not condemning every single segment, but I guess I'm frustrated y'all. CNN had a chance to transform coverage of Blacks in the media, but they opted for the easy way out. With their unlimited level of reach and resources it's a damn shame that this was the result.

Has Soledad even seen a movie like "The Pact?"

This show set up back years with respect to media perception. Fortunately, Barack will be on TV for the next 8 years as Prez and make people forget about this show.

Rev. Jackson made some comments, about Obama that was caught on camera .......And the white pundits, ran with it. They love to make it look like blacks, are against blacks . That is how they will spin it . Now just about two week ago Wesley Clark made comments about John McCain and it was treated . As a attack on a hero ! No one said that they would look into the allegation made by Clark . Rev. Jackson had criticize Obama for saying black men should be more responsible as fathers. The problem Jackson and I also had with Obama comments. Obama said black men and NOT some black men. I was offenden as a father of 4 with a grandfather that was marry to my grandmother for 55 year til her death. He also raise 4 children. Who are all marry now over 40 years. All to black men. I was marry and divorce and became a single father. I receive FATHER OF THE YEAR at my son school. I alway find it funny how the white pundits love to spin hate and divide in the black community. But said nothing about there white community. I have never heard white pundits mention white on white crime or child molesting in the white community both very high in numbers. High school drop out is high in the white community and getting higher each year. There is know mention by the white control media. The problem with this double standard is that whites get to listen to the news and walk away thinking that blacks are that bad bad people . And whites are the victim and the good people that have to put up with horrible non-whites!

Look at your second list and compare it to your original first list. Were any of these folks on the second list in original first list? You will thus see the problem with black men in America.
Until the Afr-Am community embraces, encourages and promotes Afr-Am men who pursue those "hard fields" and rewards academic accomplishment, too many Afr-Am men will continue to be lured and trapped hopelessly in dead-end jobs, or in prison from trying to emulate the "get rich quick" lifestyle.