One of the most popular recent stories in the Times-Picayune (T-P), the paper of record in New Orleans, has been recent release of Lil Boosie, from the Louisiana State Penitentiary after serving three years of an eight year sentence for drug possession and intent to distribute. While Lil Boosie's release has been a prominent story, the recent death of Chokwe Lumumba, a man who was an advocate for the poor
and disenfranchised, as well as the mayor of the largest city in Mississippi has been completely ignored. In addition to posting at least a half dozen articles in the five days since his release, the paper's website recently participated in and live-streamed a press conference with the Baton Rouge rapper and parolee, who was acquitted of one murder-for-hire charge while he was in prison but remains a suspect in two more, who recently
posted a video on Instagram of his seven year old daughter cursing like an irate sailor and whose total CD sales wouldn't even earn him a gold record.
There are those in the Black community who will undoubtedly call me a "hater" for criticizing the T-P's love fest with Lil Boosie, but there is no justification for celebrating someone who not only promotes thuggish behavior in his music, but embodies it in his lifestyle. Moreover, covering the prison release of a quasi-celebrity rapper, while ignoring the death of a world-renown activist and politician, is not much different than putting stories about Black criminals on the front page while burying ones about Black achievement in the lifestyle section..
It is an accepted notion that—through their reporting—journalists are merely "holding up a mirror to society," and that their stories are accurate reflections of the people and events they chose to cover. Unfortunately, it is also an accepted notion that journalists tell us everything we need to know about our society. So if the only stories about Black people they chose to tell are ones that portray us as thugs, addicts, criminals and poor parents, the implication is that the personal characteristics and behaviors of this group are the sum of our reality and existence.
When the worst of us is celebrated while the best of us isn't even worth mentioning, the message to our children is that the values and social norms of the former are to be embraced while those of the latter can be ignored. Through their in-depth coverage of Lil Boosie and virtual news blackout on the life and death of Mayor Lumumba, the T-P's mirror is one that reflects the lowest common denominator in the Black community and promotes thug life as our ideal life.
