b/c that’s what i do, instead of blogging as often as i should. I tweet.
anyway, I wondered why so-called ‘news’ organizations were not treating the former as a terrorist attack, and why we were still hearing about tiger woods at all.

in my string of tweets, i mentioned racism as marketing, and one of my twitter folks asked for clarification. I doubted I could explain what I meant in 140 characters or less, so I wrote this post. enjoy.

———————-
The mark of a great marketing campaign is when the idea or slogan transcends the product. it attaches to the cultural consciousness, and when attached to the product, makes the product greater.

for instance, nike’s campaign, “Just Do It’ transcended the product, and began to be applied to everything from winning a basketball game, to graduating from college, to giving birth. it’s now a part of our cultural vocabulary. another example is the 1930s ad campaign for diamonds. prompted by a flagging demand, advertisers coined the phrase ‘a diamond is forever,’ and promoted the idea that one was simply necessary to cement an engagement. the advertisers even came up with an arbitrary ‘2 months salary’ rule. prior to that campaign, diamonds were NOT traditionally associated with marriage or engagement. but the concept has become so entrenched in our culture most of us have no idea it originated as marketing.

racism as we know it in the new world, was also implemented as a marketing ploy. the goal of this campaign was to devalue human beings to the status of chattel. this had to be accomplished in order for other human beings to be able to kidnap, buy, sell, torture, maim, rape, kill, and work them to death, while maintaining a sense of their moral correctness.

The product was slavery. a free work force. you couldn’t have a free work force if everyone was catching feelings every time someone dropped dead from exhaustion, screamed for their stolen child, etc. in order to ’sell’ the idea that human beings should be treated as chattel, the marketing ploy of racism had to be employed. the message was, ‘these people are not like you and me, they are different, inferior, subhuman.’

The next step was branding. Adidas brand is represented by three stripes. Nike’s brand is represented by the swoop. When you see the swoop, you think ‘just do it.’ the ‘brand’ of inferior human being, came to be represented by darker skin. this campaign was so successful, that dark people were associated with this product almost exclusively. Conversely, light people were associated with the opposite of this product, so that even those who could not afford slaves (the vast majority) felt a sense of entitlement.

Dark skin had become a shorthand, a symbol for the campaign. the media message of racism was so successful, it transcended the initial product and became attached to the cultural consciousness, so that even when the initial product (chattel slavery) no longer existed, the marketing message was entrenched enough that it could be handily applied to dismantling reconstruction efforts, segregating bathrooms and burial plots, and instituting jim crow laws.

so, that’s that.

When we talk about American media, and racism, I can’t help but think about ‘the birth of a nation.’ the first feature-length film made in America was a 3 hour diatribe about the reprehensibility of black people and the ‘heroic’ rise of the klan. All the blacks in the film were played by white actors, and most of the racist film stereotypes that we know of were introduced for the first time in that film. this was the INTRODUCTION of a brand new and extremely powerful medium of communication, and it was used to reinforce the brand message of racism. Race riots ensued across the country when the film was shown.

Racism the marketing concept had become unmoored from its attachment of the ‘product’ of slavery, and turned into a cultural trope that could be used in any arena to generate an emotional response, to turn a profit, etc.

As the world changed, the applications have changed, but the fact that racism can still be used, for example, as a wedge issue in an election to rouse people to vote against their own self-interest out of fear, is proof of the power of the marketing message.

Compound that w/the fact that this country has been pushing this advertising for four centuries, that’s a LOT of brand recognition.

by pierre bennu
edited/big words by jamyla bennu
(lol)

- Dear you, yeah you complaining about how movies suck, music sucks? make your own. Yeah make it! it used to be hard but if you’re reading this on the internet chances are you have the tools. and clearly you have a creative mind cause you complain with such eloquence. Clearly you have a flair for fiction when you romanticize the past as if Hollywood & the music industry just started making crap in the late 90’s. Trust me the crap that exists now stands on the shoulders of a great legacy left by the crap b4 it. technology has just made it quicker and easier to make so there is a lot more of it. so get up and add YOUR crap to the mix, I dare you.

- Dear lame un imaginative DJ I love MJ and I don’t pretend to know what he thought but I would imagine that he would have wanted us to play more than just his music at a tribute to him.

- Note to self don’t bite your nails before scratching sensitive parts of your anatomy

- Dear supermarket why am I checking myself out?! WTF I don’t work here. How do you call yourself a supermarket when I’m checking myself out bagging and weighing  my own vegetables? Didn’t some one used to work here? and instead of hiring a person you now make me do it myself for free? I miss the line at the supermarket. Where you get to read the stuff you would never buy and eat the grapes and candy only to ask if they could just ring up the wrapper. Then there were those once in a life time i’ll probably never talk to you again friendly over polite conversations that you got into with strangers. I miss those and some how automated food checkout thingy it’s all your fault. I’m heading to the farmers market , they might not have a ceiling but they sell real food and have cool people.

- Note to self A notarized letter of permission signed by a handicapped person pinned to the windshield of your car does not give you permission to park in the handicapped spaces. ever.

- Dear PETA you can’t tell me that killing a mosquito on the back of your leg in mid suck isn’t satisfying

- Dear CNN Did you know that the demographic with the highest increase in HIV consistently for the past several years has been young black women?  next time you want to do a “blacks in America” show change your mind and do something about this thing that is still an epidemic, it’s called AIDS. what happened to AIDS? I have heard more about the bird flu. They say in news if it bleeds it leads. Well people still die from this illness so make this your lead. or even use it as filler next time you feel the need to cover a mans death 24 hours for 5 days strait. You’re welcome.

 Message from the Average Black Person on HuffingtonPost

dun duN DUN DUNNNNN!

its time for adventures in the back yard with Pierre Bennu!

budbudBUDbudBUDbudabbuda

…the sound of the eco friendly electric hedge clipper cutting hedges with NO gas or carbon…hooray environment!

budbudBUDbudBUDbudabbudaaZIZIZPHHHHZIT!!

…the sound of the eco friendly hedge clipper cutting its own wire & a tiny explosion

LOLOLOLOLOLOL!

…the sound of all the uncut hedges & all the birds & insects who saw me catch that “L”

@#$&!!

…the sound of me cursing the birds and bushes laughing at me & swearing revenge

tap tap tap tap

…the sound of me on craigs list seeing if any one wants a double dutch rope that used to be a very long electric cord

dun duN DUN DUNNNNN!

…this concludes this episode of “Adventures in the back yard with Pierre Bennu…brought to you in part by ‘eco stuff sometimes sucks’ & ’sometimes city boys need to just hire someone to do their yard’

- dear John Legend, I would like to bring to your attention that the word “love” doesn’t have a “W” after  the “O” I ask that next album you correct this error in your annunciation. Remember its LOVE not LOW-VE   thank you
- dear seagulls in the parking lot of the supermarket, I think that it’s gross that you eat chicken and I some how think that makes you sell outs.  know thy self.
- Note to self: invent an exercise or an exercise device for men that gets rid of the folds in the back of the head. Sell for 19.99, It needs nifty commercial like…do you have a pack of franks on the back of your head? Does your barber have to hold up flaps to cut your dome? When you stand sideways do you have two profiles? Well no longer with   “folds be gone”
- dear guy in Lexus car trying to cut me off, The knowledge that you don’t posses about me is that I really don’t care if your car scratches my car. But I think if your car gets scratched your little feelings will be hurt. Trust me i’ll brag about it, i’ll show my friends like “wow, look guys, see that scratch, a Lexus did that” In some circles that actually makes me more cool. Now, I’m not going to make assumptions that just cause you have that big expensive car that you’re a jerk or that you are compensating for a lack of lap time as a child, I will NOT do that! That is beneath me and neither will I belittle the size of your genitalia, your sexual prowess or lack thereof, or your inability to communicate or attract members of the opposite sex due to your ghoulish appearance though those poorly tinted windows. I won’t, that’s just immature so in conclusion I will not be letting you over into this lane, please wait your turn like everyone else and let’s all drive safely on the streets have a good day sir
- dear de la soul,  your 1st album (and some of your subsequent career)  saved my life & every time I get an opportunity to tell you the weird story of why you laugh it off. But it’s really true.
- Note to self: The brown pants are high waters, I repeat the brown pants are high waters
- dear horrible rapper with nerd gear on, I cant help it but some part of me is upset that you’re emulating an esthetic of a group of people that you helped denigrate and belittle. Let’s be clear for history sake. You never had a kind word or a smile for us nerds. Even the brilliant and smart ones amongst you buried your realness and masked it with a veil of practiced cool and willful ignorance. I always felt the real gangsta were those of us nerds who had to walk past you day after day with a heavy bag full of books to get into their building and do their homework. Knowing that they would not get any special treatment or recognition and were in fact social outcasts. (the rest of this rant was illegible)
- Note to self: there is no masculine way to use a straw, or eat a banana. Just let go
- Dear artists, there is no spare time. There is no such thing as a part time revolutionary.
- Note to self: no one has to get it but you.
- Dear non-knower of music, You don’t have to lie. If you don’t know about an artist that is brought up in a conversation just say you don’t know and lets move forward. But when you say stuff like “oh HE IS COOL” when the GROUP “Pink Floyd” is mentioned you make yourself look bad.
- Dear apparently homeless dude, why are you huffing and puffing about me going into the store with you to buy you some food. I assume if you’re standing out here that this would be a great place to purchase the food you said you wanted to buy with the $ you’re asking for. Also if I buy a sandwich for you and then you open the package look at it and say “you don’t eat turkey” and then don’t eat the sandwich I should by law be allowed to rob you for my lost sandwich $
- Note to self: I think the movie  “Coming to America” was the only point of pop culture reference for contemporary black royalty until the Obamas

Its late on a  Friday night at the Oyin warehouse, deep in the cut of east Baltimore. Our building sits at the crossroads of gentrification and the HOOD as popularized on tv and movies. We are literally on the other side of the tracks as a train runs directly behind our building.

I’ve been very conscious  of what music I get into my child’s rhythm and I recently realized I haven’t really listened to Gnarls Barkley’s new album. I mean I’ve played it but I really haven’t sat with it. So I make the decision that that’s the sound track to our ride home tonight. He’s up and in a particularly laughy  mood.

I put it on random. The first song was WOULD BE KILLER.

We lock the gate and drive off…  almost immediately I see the most brilliant sparkling lights in the rear view

They are coming from a very unassuming minivan

I drive on for like half a block before I realize it was me they wanted.

I pull over next to a group of disheveled abandoned row houses that has the words “Baltimore Believe” hand painted across the boarded front windows.

The people behind us get out of their car, obviously plain clothes cops.

Every black person I know knows that adrenaline rush when you hear them behind you regardless of if you’re guilty of breaking a law. The walk from the car to you is the longest walk in the world.

Do I reach over and turn off the radio

Do I sit still

Do I take the intimidating bass (of which I posses none) out of my voice

I think about Sean Bell

Rodney King

Amadou Diallo

Abner Louima

The Klan

I think about the time a cop put a gun to the back of my head.

I think about the time a cop pulled a gun on me going into the front door of my house and how I slowly had to explain that was were I lived and how slowly and deliberately I had to pull out my keys.

I think about the night I was yanked off a subway platform and  thrown in  jail for no reason

I think about the disgust of relief I felt knowing they could have charged me with anything

I think about how they can kill and not get punished

I think about the true meaning of terrorism

Terrorism takes place in the mind of the terrorized

I think about my son

I think about my wife

I think about my son

I think about my son

And for the first time ever there is no fear in my heart. None.

As a matter of fact I became a level of pissed I usually save for when I drive off.

I indignantly roll down the window. If that’s even possible with power windows.

And believe me I tried to be shook but there was no fear in my heart.

He asked mundane questions then I started to cut him off… answering questions he didn’t ask yet. I ended it with “where were you diligent officers last month when someone broke into our warehouse?” 

We exchange fake smiles he looks in the back seat and tells us to take our child home  A child who was actually laughing the entire time

The window goes back up the light changes we drive off and turn up the music WHOS GONNA SAVE MY SOUL NOW  rocks and I had to listen to two verses before either of us started to speak.  I went into what could best be described as a stand up routine for the next 3 or 4 songs. We laughed shared stories through mirror reflections driving  though empty streets like a needle in the grooves of record all the while letting the night be cosigned by the soundtrack.

And then I saw it

The song playing was NO TIME SOON

On a  pole

A street team advertising poster for what I can only assume is an album

I slowed to get a better look

And there it is in big letters: the word ‘CRACK’ and below it has a release date

That’s it.

I wanted to stop the car fall to  my knees fists in the air  and scream to the imaginary camera looking down on me from the heavens

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Who put this up?

CRACK!!?!? Really ?

Crack has a release date?

Who knew?

Some one should tell those under cover cops.

Jamyla had to talk me out of stopping the car and ripping down ever one of those posters. I listen to what she has to say then

I think of my son

I think of my son

I think of my son

Please believe if I was alone and it wasn’t 1:00 in the morning it would be a repeat of the notorious lil kim street team poster massacre  of 2000

We laugh and talk the rest of the way home.

Crying inside that ‘CRACK’ is going to be someone’s OLD SCHOOL memory of hip hop, smiling inside that so will GNARLS  BARKLEY.

As I pull up to my drive way A LITTLE BETTER  comes on. I turn it up and we just sit there. Smiling

I think I love this album

I think about my wife

I think about my son

and we try to sneak him in the house with out waking him

up .

The unheard conversation between 2 trees. Conceived Pierre Bennu  of www.exittheapple.com for the credit sequence of the the show “Eco-Bling” at www.esthergrace.com. Press the pic  and enjoy!

click the pic and enjoy: ) this is from the good people at the site www.thegreatschlep.com