


"Is this the thanks that I get for putting you bitches on? Is it my fault that all you bitches gone?/ You should have sent a thank you note, you little ho/ Now I'm gonna wrap your coffin with a bow."Houston, do we have a problem?
Well...rather than let us tell it, why don't we direct your attention to the latest response from a poet by the name of Jasmine Mans who let loose at the University of Wisconsin’s 2010 Stomp Da Madness poetry event with her poem entitled "Miss-Education of a Barbie" dedicated to Nicki Minaj and all Black women in general in the entertainment industry:
As Ms. Mans tells it:
I do not want Nicki Minaj to be the next Lauryn Hill or MC Lyte, I want her to rap as if women like Assata Shakur and Toni Morrison exist...Her "Barbie" image is an objectification of womanhood. How can we expect our male rappers to pay homage and respect to women when the voice that is representing us is tainted with sexual innuendos and “child’s play?”Most rappers say in response to this "look, I didn’t ask to be anyone’s role model, I am just doing me like always." for Nicki, this isn’t true, she did ask to be famous. She engineered herself to be more marketable so that this could happen. Now that it happened, what will she do with that power? Will she be self-serving at the expense of her fans? Or will she be both entertaining, sexy and socially progressive for women? We don't want the Nicki we know to go away, we want the Nicki we know to be 3 Dimensional.W.E.B. DuBois said all art is propaganda and should be used to uplift and challenge the African American community, and if art does not do such it is useless. Nicki Minaj is too powerful to be useless.My piece is not a “diss,” it is a dare.
I dare Nicki Minaj to be a PHENOMENAL WOMAN and not a phenomenal "Barbie."
Give us your take:
Does Nicki Minaj have a duty to represent for Black women, or can she just "do her?"What does the image of Nicki Minaj say to our young men about Black women?
What does the image of Nicki Minaj say to our young ladies about Black women?
Does Nicki Minaj take Hip Hop one step forward or two steps back?
and last but not least...
Does Nicki Minaj take Black women one step forward or two steps back?