Oxygen’s in-the-works reality TV show All My Babies’ Mamas based on Atlanta-based rapper Shawty Lo has been canceled. The show would have featured Shawty Lo and his 11 children by 10 women (all his babies’ mamas), and his girlfriend, who is the same age as his oldest daughters. Black people across the country critiqued the show before its official release after seeing leaked online footage from the pilot – such as this clip where Shawty Lo struggles to name all his children.
Watch the video.
In another segment, one mother gave the other mothers nicknames like Fighter Baby Mama, Shady Baby Mama, Baby Mama from Hell, and Wanna-Be-Bougie Baby Mama. This footage caused an uproar amongst blacks tired of stereotypical media images.
The Color of Change organization, whose goal is to give Black Americans and their allies a meaningful political voice in society, became a force behind the protest against All My Babies’ Mamas. This media campaign marked another successful campaign for the Color of Change organization, whose mission is stated below.
[blockquote]ColorOfChange.org exists to strengthen Black America’s political voice. Our goal is to empower our members – Black Americans and our allies – to make government more responsive to the concerns of Black Americans and to bring about positive political and social change for everyone. Using the Internet, we enable our members to speak in unison, with an amplified political voice. We keep them informed about the most pressing issues for Black people in America and give them ways to act. We lobby elected representatives using email, the telephone, and face-to-face meetings. [/blockquote]
NBC Universal, Oxygen’s parent company, couched the show’s description in verbose and cryptic language, saying that it would chronicle Shawty Lo’s attempts to “split his affection multiple ways while trying to create order” in navigating the “dysfunction” of his “drama-filled,” “unique ‘modern’ family.”
What a nice way to say baby mama drama.
Lobbying against the show gaining any traction, Color of Change labeled All My Babies’ Mamas as a dehumanizing reality show, showcasing inflammatory images of Black folks, families, and communities.
But those against the show’s cancellation have a valid argument. At first glance, the idea of having 11 children by 10 different women does sound like a joke. If the show was scripted, it would immediately be labeled as the work of an anti-black racist. But the irony here is that all the protest stems from objecting to have an actual person’s life story told on screen. Having 11 children by 10 women may not be an ideal family situation, and it is certainly not most of black America’s reality. But it is Shawty Lo’s reality. Can we reasonably protest someone’s reality from being portrayed in media?
Is this really any worse than Flavor of Love?
The baby mama problem – involving broken relationships and often absent fathers – is a prominent issue facing black communities. Oxygen and NBC Universal, and even Shawty Lo, may be trying to capitalize on it and even exploit it by bringing it in comedic and exaggerated fashion to reality TV. But sweeping All My Babies’ Mamas under the rug as another victory for blacks against stereotypical media isn’t going to stop the issue from continuing to happen at home.
Shawty Lo still has 10 baby mamas. At last count, Lil’ Wayne had 4. So does Terrell Owens. And they’re no Mormons.
Sometimes media images construct artificial realities. Other times they just magnify problems that already exist.
So if Lil’ Wayne or Terrell Owens or some other black man with multiple baby mamas was going to start a reality TV show, would we protest that too? Or is there a deeper issue about the family system that needs to be addressed?
