eurweb.com
*Sabrina Lamb’s online petition to keep ATL rapper Shawty Lo‘s proposed Oxygen Network program “All My Babies’ Mamas” off the air, appears to have done its job.
According to the Daily Beast’s Allison Samuels, the petition – which so far has accrued nearly 40,000 signatures – and the public’s overall negative response, has pressured the network – although it’s denying it – to announce shortly that production of the program will not go forward.
At first, Oxygen defended the project by offering this: “It was not meant to be a stereotypical representation of everyday life for any one demographic or cross section of society.’’ Unless I’m mistaken, the term “baby mama” is used almost exclusively in reference to black women, so Oxygen needed to do better than that. If the show was about a white man with 11 children and had the same title, we might be able to have a different conversation.
Samuels points out that Lamb’s Change.org petition to stop production of “All My Babies’ Mamas” gathered more than 33,000 signatures in just 10 days. Here, the former stand-up comic, media commentator and author of “A Kettle of Vultures,” provides insight as to what motivated her to start the petition in the first place.
“I love that the people who’ve signed the petition are from all backgrounds, ages, and countries,’’ says Lamb. “This one elderly white man wrote me and said even he was tired of the stereotypical images of black people.’’
“This show is about more than a rapper and his girlfriends,’’ says Lamb. “This is a show about kids who had no choice in how they came into the world. This show sets them up to be ridiculed and made fun of. None of us should be OK with that.’’
Lamb had also threatened to lead a boycott of any sponsors who put their money behind the idea. Luckily, Oxygen apparently saw the light.
Sabrina Lamb wasn’t the only voice to speak out against the show. So did Morris O’Kelly, a/k/a Mo’Kelly, host of “The Mo’Kelly Show” on KFI AM640 in Los Angeles.
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courtesy of eurweb.com
