Check out my exclusive interview on “The Dr. Vibe Show” about my article “My Apology To Black Women”! —–> http://bit.ly/2hsIC4O

“Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics. ”
-Alex Haley

We all agree that dislike for something as petty has how people look is wrong. We collectively frown upon those around us who feel that they’re feelings and interests matter over everyone else’s. These individuals are narcissistic. They’re prepubescent in the way that they lash out at individuals that differ from them. The actions of these individuals are akin to a small, spoiled child that whines because they can’t get their way.

The word “adult”, by definition, means “a person who is fully grown or developed”. Mindsets and ideologies develop due to varying experiences. After dealing with a multitude of different people we, as adults, become accepting of things we can’t change. We can’t change who a person is attracted to, what they like, and, in general, how the world is evolving. Adults worry about their own affairs and adapt to the changing environment around them.

The aforementioned statement affirms to me that the ideology of racism and the practice of white supremacy is inherently childish. There’s nothing mature about shameless name calling and empty death threats to personalities on social media that disagree with you. There’s nothing “adult” about taking long periods of time out of a twenty four hour day discussing and harassing individuals that honestly could give less of a care about them or what they think. What productivity are these individuals getting from their obsession? Even though it brings them pleasure to insult people they feel are inferior to them, what are the gains?

I look past the white supremacist trolls that call us “nigger” on Twitter and consistently harass us for standing on truth and having pride in our blackness. They hold no power. We’re wasting our time with insignificant people, just like in every other aspect of our lives. However, my concern are those individuals that have a racist ideology and practice white supremacy in positions of power. These positions of power vary, ranging from the President-Elect of the United States to fact-hating conspiracy theorists with far-right radio shows syndicated on hundreds of stations around the world. There’s power even in those individuals in between the pack with strong social media bases who release videos that garner millions of views within hours of being released. That’s who I worry about. That’s who I aim to fight against.

I purposely stayed silent during the Trevor Noah, Charlemagne Tha God and Tomi Lauren situation that happened earlier this month. A lot of people were outraged. They were outraged at Trevor for giving Lauren a platform on The Daily Show to spew her unsubstantiated, divisive rhetoric. They were upset that Trevor didn’t pin her down on her rhetoric like his successor Jon Stewart did to Jim Cramer back in his heyday.

Outrage caused Charlemagne to trend on Twitter due to his comment saying that black and latino women should create a “platform like Tomi”. I just sat back and shook my head at the debacle. We were debating if Trevor and Charlemagne were coons, all the while Tomi Lauren was racking up views and followers as she riled up her white supremacist base. Her platform grew wider, all on our watch. On December 7 she made her first appearance on the O’Reilly Factor, officially legitimizing herself as the new far-right millennial voice.

There are several people that stand by the belief that these personalities don’t have power. They simply cater to their base of supporters, regurgitating their sentiments on a larger platform. That’s why these individual’s rhetoric is dangerous. They’re given a platform to spew hate and misinformation, even motivating their followers to action. Look at the Alex Jones “Pizzagate” situation. Recall how “fake news” affected the outcome of the election. While you’re at it, revisit the far-right media creation of the “knock-out game”, the vilification of #BlackLivesMatter and how the George Zimmerman murder trial miraculously turned into a shouting match over if Trayvon Martin wearing a hoodie in a white neighborhood was wrong. A Jedi mind trick if I’ve ever seen one.

We’re aiming at the wrong targets and picking battles with the wrong people. With our collective social media power, we should do everything we can to fight against these false narratives. Charlemagne, in his response to the backlash to his comments, called for black-owned news outlets to make themselves apparent and counteract The Blaze and Tomi Lauren. The last time I checked, Urban Intellectuals has been rocking for years. I’ve personally never stifled my voice, as I stand by the belief that I’ve used my platform to speak truth to power and spark well needed conversations among my generation.

What we need from our readers and supporters is to share our content. Fake news was shared hundreds of millions of times this past election cycle. Tomi Lauren gets millions of shares for her videos. Let’s make sure our credible black news sources reach as many people as we can. We can’t rely on traditional media to tell our stories, especially in a Donald Trump America. We can’t allow credibility to become a thing of the past and fact-checking an option. We can’t allow white supremacy to win.

Want to know why I apologized to black women? Check out my exclusive interview on “The Dr. Vibe Show” for more clarity!

BET’s new show “The Quad” is coming out on BET January 2017! Check out my thought process on what HBCU’s could learn from HBCU centic media, especially the “Drumline” movies!

AK.TV’s Keila Outen competed in the Alpha Phi Alpha Miss Black & Gold Pagent representing Fort Valley State University. Check out how she did below!