By Karyn D. Collins
There was a time not too long ago when events like those from this past week would have been big news – within the black community as well as to the world at large.
Last Saturday night (Jan. 31), Caressa Cameron was crowned Miss America. Cameron, who was representing Virginia, is only the eighth black woman to win the crown.
Cameron, 22, is a broadcast communications major at Virginia Commonwealth University. She plans to spend her reign talking about AIDS awareness in America.
Then, last Tuesday, Feb. 2, it was announced that the movie “Precious” had earned several Academy Awards nominations.
As expected, Mo’Nique, who has won every major acting award this season, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. But the real surprises were other nominations from the film – Best Picture, a Best Director nod for director Lee Daniels, and a Best Actress nomination for Gabourey Sidibe.
So what’s been the reaction so far in the black community to these historic moments in pop culture and entertainment?
Let’s just say that to call the reaction muted would be an understatement.
Why?
Have we gotten to the point where we’re blase’ when it comes to news like this? Should we be?
I for one do not think that the black community is blase, or becoming that way but, we are living in a time were there are so many life disturbing things happening, that people do not have time for much entertainment anymore. With the economy the way it is, and people loosing homes and jobs and all that. Who much has the time to go to the movies and so on? Heck, I did not even see the miss America pageant, as a matter of fact, my family have long since stopped watching that joke. I have heard a lot about Precious, and wish I could have seen it, but was not able to so far. I do plan to try to purchase the DVD. Mo’nique has certainly come into her own, and I am certainly very proud of her achievement, however, if the black community seems unresponsive, it might well be that they are busy trying to survive. Believe me, I see and live the hardships daily, and so many of the people am among, and work with daily, really do not have the time.