NEWBO’s "The Rise of the new Black Overclass"…..

…..As well as my blood pressure.

Last night CNBC aired the special NEWBO’s “The RIse of the New Black Overclass” hosted by journalist Lee Hawkins. It chronicled black millionaires (and one billionaire) who have their own rags to riches story in all their “flossy” glory. Mr. Hawkins sat in jaw dropping awe of each celebrity he interviewed and one should have known what to expect from this “special” (in a short bus kind of way) when looking at the lineup that he chose to showcase. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the New Black Overclass. NEWBO’s if you will.
  • NBA Star Lebron James
  • MLB Star Torii Hunter (Pardon my lack of baseball knowledge, but I had no clue who he was)
  • The Great Terrell T.O. Owens (of all the interviews, I liked this one best)
  • The Williams Brothers (Confused? Slim and Bryan “BABY” Williams of Cash Money Records)
  • Kedar Massenburg (Sp?) Entertainment CEO, Wine Entrepreneur, and man of stature.
Yes. That’s it. These are the people that represent the the New Black Overclass. Let’s take a step back and analyze from the beginning.
First of all, who’s idea was it to come up with another class of people, specifically Black people. As if we needed to be classified even more? With poverty rates within the black community still higher than those in the white community, what a great way to show the disparity. To be honest, I also can’t get past the name given. NEWBOs (Sambo anyone?). *sigh* Just say Black Overclass please if we are seriously seeking to define. Secondly, THIS is how you choose to show the wealth in our community? What about the educators, the best-selling authors, the highly successful non-entertainment/sports related businessmen and women. These men and women make millions a year as well. Are they not worthy to be a part of the New Black Overclass? Or does it have to be $50-$100 million a year, a number most easily reached by entertainers. If so, then I challenge Mr. Hawkins to redefine his term “NEWBO’s” to include those more worthy of the praise. Speaking of Entertainers, where were the highly accomplished actors and actresses? Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Taraji P. Henderson (now), Halle Berry, Kerry Washington, Whoopi Goldberg, all critically acclaimed black entertainers who were completely overlooked.
Well, it was easy to overlook those actresses considering that there was no mention of any female NEWBO’s at ALL! Pardon me, I’m sorry. He did mention “A talk show host who has had monumental success” (cut to picture of Oprah juxtaposed to picture of Bob Johnson) when introducing the only other black billionaire Bob Johnson. I was shocked that he couldn’t have even afforded her the respect of saying her name. Another friend offered that perhaps for legal reasons he couldn’t say her name. OK I’ll give them that, I hope that was the case. Although it certainly didn’t stop Bob Johnson from commenting that he would love to do a joint venture with Oprah, but there’s never been any offer or interest shown to him. I would just die if Oprah agreed to do a television network with him.
Oh but the best parts were when Baby explained the $500k ice grill in his mouth that will surely motivate today’s young children to want to get up and keep their pearly whites “blingin”. Or when he pointed out the carat weights of his 15 carat rang (ring to you Northerners), and his iced out earrangs (earrings). Or maybe it was the complete wonderment on our Host’s face as he listened intently to the riches these stars had amassed with what looked like an attempt to look “appalled” but came across as more like “wow that’s totally AWESOME! I want one!”
I’m not hating on the New Black Overclass. Or maybe I am. But I know one thing, it’s not because I want to be them, it’s because I don’t particularly believe in them. I am extremely happy for these people and what they have accomplished. The Williams Brothers came from nothing, and lost a lot during Katrina, but they were able to survive, give back, and enjoy things they never imagined they would. I’m happy that Kirk Franklin is extremely successful! I don’t believe that just because he does Gospel he shouldn’t be able to enjoy the money he’s made. That’s a crock. And I’m certainly not saying that there isn’t hard work behind what they do. My issue is that this is what we are showing are children. This is what we are glorifying. I don’t believe we should ignore it, but we give way too much credit to the entertainers and sports figures meanwhile providing no emphasis on our Poets, Advertising Executives, Real Estate Moguls, Educators that also run multi-million dollar companies, Authors, high-powered Doctors and Attorneys, etc. To me that represents the New Black Overclass and if there was company that I’d like to keep, it would be them. I want my children to know that they can be anything. Yes, successful rapper even. However I won’t glorify to them that rapping about “bitches and hoes” or running as fast as you can when that coach yells “go!” is the only way they can be successful in life. It’s way bigger than just that.

Jennifer Garrett
“Running For Their Lives”

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February 27, 2009
Categories: Arts, Bob Johnson, Denzel Washington, Ethnicity, Halle Berry, Kirk Franklin, New Black Overclass, NEWBO, Whoopi Goldberg . . Author: atliphoneblog . Comments: 9 Comments

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