Essence Magazine: Officially Irrelevant

Essence magazine is officially a joke (and an unfunny one at that.) Just in case you were already of the opinion the magazine had "joke/comical" tendencies, the magazine went on ahead and jumped the broom and made it official. Having nothing to do with the fact that they played themselves, selling out to give Juanita Bynum a platform for more foolishness in the wake of her "new face of domestic violence" campaign. In the same issue they released their "Top 25 List of Most Influential African-Americans for 2007."

Not that there aren't some people on this list below who Mo'Kelly both respects and admires...but there are some absolutely ridiculous inclusions that just can't and shouldn't be ignored. Props to my girl Gina McCauley over at www.whataboutourdaughters.org she's definitely movin' and shakin'. She did and continues to do tremendous work in 2007 and Mo'Kelly is proud to have worked with her in fighting to chin-check BET. Nothing wrong with showing love for the next generation of leaders, Mo'Kelly's all for it.

But...there are some simply unconscionable inclusions in this list. Lord have mercy. Lord, Lord have mercy.

Barry Bonds? The one who was just indicted...THAT Barry Bonds? No, his syringe was influential, but not the ballplayer. His syringe owns the most hallowed record in baseball, not the baseball player. No syringe, no asterisk record. The syringe got robbed and should be given its due credit.

The Jena 6?! Other than Mychal Bell who (let's be honest) was already of questionable character and proven criminality on his best day...can anyone name the other five and/or their scope of "influence?" They beat someone up and got a raw deal in the prosecution of the case, that doesn't make them heroic or influential. They might be the biggest "news story" of 2007 but that's hardly anything to be confused with being "influential."

Mel B. and Anna Nicole Smith were "big news stories" too in 2007...doesn't make them influential or even relevant either.


The same applies to the Jena 6.

The Jena 6?! Are you serious?! What, Bishop Weeks declined to be honored?