Timing of Hudlin's Departure From BET Arrives Just As October 2008 Vibe Article On BET Hits Stands

I found it very interesting that Reginald Hudlin's announcement that he is leaving BET as its Head of Entertainment comes just days after the October 2008 issue of VIBE hit the stands.

The name of the article inside is: "With Armies of Protesters, Legions of Imitators, Changes of Ownership, Can BET Finally Get With The Program?" By Kristal Brent Zook. It basically takes a look at what changes and improvements have been made at BET under Hudlin's leadership since taking the position in 2005.

One of the stand out quotes from the article are:
"You Have A Generation That Says, I'm Gonna Wear My Pants How I Like Them...Then You Have A Generation That Says, I Did Not Get Bit By Dogs For You To Conduct Yourself This Way. Then The Younger Generation Says, Yes, You Did. This Is What Freedom Means."
--BET President of Entertainment, Reginald Hudlin


What I would like to add to that quote as a member of Generation X (the generation born between approximately 1964 to 1979) or what I like to call Generation Connect (We connect Generation Y to what they missed in the 70s and 80s and we also connect them to The Baby Boomers Generation) is that you also have Generation X right in the middle of that.

Generation X says "We had Hip Hop too!" Yet the emphasis wasn't on how dirty you could get but how clean you could get. How clean and sharp you could look. How great of a party you could have or throw. Who had the flyest girlfriend. Who had the dopest beats and rhymes, etc.

If fellow classmates came into a Jr. High or High School in the mid to late 80s with their pants hung down like they are doing now, and dressed like the teens are dressing today, they would have been laughed out of the classroom.

Generation X was also the generation that marched and protested too. "Free South Africa!" "Feed The Homeless!" "Volunteer At The Soup Kitchen!" "Visit The Vietnam Memorial Wall!" were part of the order of the day or your teacher may have not allowed you to graduate.

The March for Martin Luther King, Jr.s Birthday to become a National Holiday in the early 80s, Student Sit-Ins on college and university campuses, and more. We had Hip-Hop too but we were equally socially and politically active and aware and had a natural interest to get involved and participate.

Back to the VIBE article on BET, the story is broken up into five basic sections:
The Intro, "Reality Checks," Axis of Lee-Vil?," "Fade To Black," and "Keep The Faith."

Hopefully the full article will be made available on-line soon.

More at vibe.com and www.kristalbrentzook.com.
~LT