Flavaworks Revisited: Frank Leon Roberts

It seems that there is much to say about recent postings on Flavawork’s written by myself and Keith Boykin yesterday, the latest being a post from fellow blogger Frank Leon Smith who takes issue with our timing.

Yes, it is unfortunate that Flavaworks vice-president Dekenric Wiley died quit suddenly over the past weekend, but that doesn’t change the facts.  And it also doesn’t change the fact that long before Wiley died, we were already planning on writing about what was going on with Flavaworks.

Frank writes on his blog that “There is an appropriate time for everything. I am very disappointed that Keith Boykin and Jasymine Cannick have decided to launch a personal attack on the President of Flavaworks, just days after the company's Vice President (Devin Wiley) has died.”

Well, if I follow Frank’s logic, and if it’s about timing, we shouldn’t be in the business of criticizing President Bush, the Congress, or the Senate on the War in Iraq because of people are dying everyday and families around the nation are constantly grieving.

Add to that the fact that the letter sent to me from Flavawork’s attorney, specifically asked me to respond by Monday, July 18, 2007.  Now granted, I am sure that they meant Wednesday instead of Monday, but nevertheless I complied and responded.  And I’m sure that when they picked that date out of their asses, they had no idea their vice-president was going to drop dead from pneumonia.

And speaking of drop dead, Frank takes issue with my choice of words in reference to Wiley’s death.

And I quote, “It is an absolute outrage that Jasmyne Cannick's blog makes a sarcastic and trivializing reference to Devin "dropping dead." Are you fucking kidding me? HOW DARE YOU. I am more outraged by this comment than ANYTHING else.”

And he should be, but I think he’s outraged for the wrong reasons.

Frank should be outraged that his friend suddenly died in the prime of his life from pneumonia.

If I collapsed and died today, at 29 years old, being relatively healthy, and out and about in the community, somebody had better say something’s awfully suspicious about my death and lead an investigation into why a relatively healthy Black woman in the prime of her life dropped dead.

According to National Center for Health Statistics, last year 2,398,343 people died.  Of that 2,398,343, 61,472 died from Influenza/Pneumonia.  The site also goes on to list that 1.3 million people with Influenza/Pneumonia received hospital inpatient care at an average length of stay of 5.5 days.  Meaning they lived to see another day after getting treated. 

The American Lung Association reports that Pneumonia and influenza together are ranked as the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.  Pneumonia consistently accounts for the overwhelming majority of deaths between the two.  People considered at high risk for pneumonia include the elderly, the very young, and those with underlying health problems, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure and sickle cell anemia.  Patients with diseases that impair the immune system, such as AIDS, or those undergoing cancer therapy or organ transplantation, or patients with other chronic illnesses are particularly vulnerable. There are no generally effective treatments for most types of viral pneumonia, which usually heal on their own. Early treatment with antibiotics can cure bacterial pneumonia and speed recovery from mycoplasma pneumonia. However, the disease has become more resistant to these drugs, making treatment of pneumococcal infections more difficult.   A vaccine is also available for bacterial pneumonia. The pneumococcal vaccine protects against 23 types of pneumococcal bacteria populations and is effective in approximately 80 percent of healthy adults. Unfortunately, the vaccine may be less effective in people in high risk groups.

Frank also took issue with our reference to Flavaworks President Phillip Bleicher’s whiteness.

And I quote, “I have said it once, and I'll say it again: these on-high condemations of Phillip Bleicher on the sole basis on his whiteness are misleading.”

For the record, he is white.  We didn’t fabricate that.

But where Frank went astray is his insinuation that we are targeting Bleicher because of his whiteness. 

Bleicher being white is just adds to my anger as it should with other people.  Here you have a white man, (granted as Frank pointed out, that the porn industry is primarily run by white men and you’ll get no argument from me on that), that aside from the charges of Bleicher knowingly allowing the spreading of HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases in his porn site business from the Chicago Department of Public Health and operating an adult business in a residential neighborhood, there is the small issue of reports centering around the conditions under which the young men worked. Most of them are reportedly at-risk youths, runaways, homeless and easily manipulated.   There are also allegations that the business used unusual labor contracts with its models, which, according to one source, “at least bordered on illegal servitude.” The 30-day contracts allegedly required the models to perform a certain number of sexual acts in exchange for a stipend. But, when the models tried to collect the stipends, they were told they were being charged for such things as food and bed linens, leaving them, in some cases, in debt rather than collecting money. They were then pressured to sign new contracts.

At the end of the day Keith, Bernie, and myself aren’t putting the lives of young Black and Latino men in danger.  We aren’t knowingly spreading HIV/AIDS in our community.  Nor are we operating adult businesses in residential neighborhoods.  We aren’t even the ones investigating Bleicher and Flavaworks.  But we are spreading the word about it.

If AIDS organizations want to do more in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in our communities, for a moment we can let up off the White House and funding and focus our attention on a business that is currently under investigating for knowingly allowing the spreading of HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases.  A business that makes its living off of the backs and asses of young Black and Latino men and possibly in a servitude like atmosphere. 

Yes, it’s both sad and troubling that Dekenric is dead, but how many more people have to die?  How many more people have to go through life with HIV/AIDS?

This isn’t about porn.  Porn ain’t going nowhere, but some of us are if we don’t get it together and hold folks accountable.  And that’s all we’re really trying to do here.  Hold people accountable.  Wouldn’t you want to know if your child’s teacher was arrested for child molestation or if the grocery store you shopped at was selling food that was making people sick?  Well, this is no different.  Like I said earlier, we didn’t initiate the investigations that cause Bleicher to pick up and move shop from Chicago to Miami.  We didn’t tell NBC 6 down in Miami to investigate his business.  There are obviously some shady things going that keep bringing attention to this man.

Ask yourself this:

Is your jackoff more important than the life of the person you’re watching online that is causing you to get that hard on?

Is the death of Dekenric, bad timing and all, a reason to not talk about what’s going on when other lives are at stake?

If there’s nothing going on with Flavaworks, why do they continue to be investigated and why is Bleicher hiding and threatening Black bloggers with lawsuits?

And finally, put yourself in the shoes of some these young men.  You’re young, Black or Latino and gay or not above having sex with men for money, homeless and all you’ve got going for yourself is your good looks, big dick, and the ability to fuck for a long time without coming.  You hook up with a company that provides you shelter and food in return for you having sex for their website.  Does that mean that your life is any less important than anyone else’s and that you deserve to be treated like a slave? 

Look, these young men are no different than the women I encounter on Figueroa here in Los Angeles.  They are using what they’ve got to get by.  Whether it be by choice or because of life situations, that’s where they are.  Most people don’t choose to go into these professions.  This really hit home for me when I went to Sierra Leone and witnessed their huge practice of prostitution.  And you may be saying, aren’t the people of Sierra Leone to poor to pay for sex and the answer would be yes.  Those young Black women weren’t sleeping with their native brothers for money, although they were being pimped by them, but rather they were being hired by visiting and local businessmen who I observed as being Asian, English, and Lebanese.  My point though is this, I am sure those women would rather make their money doing something that didn’t require them to have sex with strange men, but in a country where poverty reigns and there is little work to go around, they had to use what they had to put food on the table.

We are talking about more than the life of one Black man, we are talking about the lives of many Black and Latino men.

It warrants having an open conversation about it, especially when HIV/AIDS continues to be a problem in our communities.

If Bleicher and Frank don’t like it.  Then get out of the business.  But as long as news stories and investigations are being conducted into their business practices, we have the right, and the responsibility to talk about it.

So to all of my fellow bloggers, blog on.

And as for Bleicher and his crew, call me fat, call me Black, call me a nigger, call me a bitch, hell, call me a fat Black nigger bitch for all I care.  Leave postings on my website about how uneducated I am and how I don't know anything.  That's fine.  All it does for me is prove my point and what show that what we write must be pretty powerful if you would invest so much time into filling up my comment section with such rhetoric. 

But let me leave you with this, in the words of Donnie: I'm not a nigger, I'm a negro.  When I become a nigger, I'll let you know.

Additional Links:

• My Threatening Letter from Flavaworks
• Miami Code Enforcement Debates Sex House Legality - NBC 6
• The House Next Door - NBC 6
• Why Is This Man Hiding - keithboykin.com
• Chicago Health Department Issues Coco Dorm Report - bejata.com
• Porn, HIV and the Lives of Young Gay Men of Color
• CocoDorm Responds
• More Problems at the CocoDorm
• Hot, Safe Sex

Comments

[struggling4better]

First and foremost I know this blog is old, but I just wanted to add my opinion on the whole thing because I was not up to minute with the whole situation I just tuned in par say but I think the whole ordeal was wrong to begin with and it shouldn't have taken the loss of so many lives to make this a known fact. The man has a job to do so you can't really fault him, but at the same time he could have taken better tactics to ensure the safety and health of a lot of the young people he was dealing with and overseeing. I don't think he was right on no grounds though, especially the fact that he kept them in the house and didn't pay as he promised or the fact that he fired Taron Webb when he came to the front about his condition, to me that should have sprung a law suit he should have been testing these guys regularly in the first place. Now he can be faulted on that but his color isn't an issue, we should be stepping up to the plate and take over some of their money making schemes if it bothers so many of us hell put them out of business that's the best way to hurt them. He is still running the biz and a successful one at that and we still complaining about it since our people are doing all the work we should be running the show. I am a HIV/AIDS activist and I'm glad they started using protection in the films I'm satisfied but to an extent, this is not over, the blog might not be getting any more posts but its far from over people we have a fight a war to win the struggle goes on and so must we.
PS if anyone knows how to get in touch with taron webb let me know by email killyaself39649@yahoo.com I have some questions and I also need his support on some issues Thanks

As far as other's comments on the fact that Jasmyne and Frank are still having this discussion about flava works, I dont think that it should be stopped as long as it is going on. I was approached the other day on Adam4adam (I'm sure most of you know this gay meeting site) about doing a video for Thug Boy. I have never done any porn in my life, and am currently in college working on an Acting degree. Getting easy money to perform for, what seemed to be a reputable company, sounded like an attractive offer until I decided to do a little more research on Flava Works and stumbled across this very helpful piece of information. This is a very serious issue which I am glad that SOMEONE out there is reporting on in whatever meduim in HOWEVER way they see fit. People like me who are talented, healthy and intelligent, need to read it so that they aren't put into awful contracted situations so early into our lives. God knows that whenever I graduate from college, I don't want ThugBoy to, one way or another, creep itself onto and make a giant festering sore in my resume. Although money is a great issue for me right now, I will not, NOW ARMED WITH THIS KNOWLEDGE, put myself in a position to be used, exploited, and KILLED to pay my tuition.

[FORMER MODEL MARKELL]

WHOOOOOO WEEEEE! GOD THIS IS A LOVELY OLE STORM COCODORM DUN WHIPPED UP.I WANTED TO TAKE THIS TIME TO SAY FIRST I AM A FORMER MODEL OF COCODORM TO THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW .SECOND I WANT TO COMMEND JASMINE ON HER EFFORT AGAINST THE COCODORM MASSACRE. IT IS OUT RAGEOUS AND YOUR POINTS WERE VERY VERY VERY VALID AND TRUE. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HIT ME THE MOST IS YOUR "ASK YOURSELF FOLLOW UP. EVERY LAST THING YOU SAID ON THAT IS TRUE. AND YOU CAN VERIFY IT JUST BY GOING TO MY CONFESSION AND WATCHING WHAT I SAID ON THE ACTUAL COCODORM WEBSITE. THEY ASKED WHY I DID PORN AND DID I HAVE A GOAL TO SET IN IT AT COCODORM. AND I STATED THAT I CAME ONLY FOR MONEY AND BECAUSE I WAS DESPERATE FOR IT , AND THAT I NEVER EVER WANTED TO DO IT FROM THE BEGINING. THE PART ABOUT THEM SUBMISSIVLY FORCING MODELS TO ELONGATE THEIR CONTRACTS IS SO TRUE. THEY SAY THEY FEED YOU. THEY BARELY KEPT ANYTHING EATABLE IN THE FRIDGE.AT TIMES THERE WAS NOTHING BUT WHAT WE HAD WENT OUT AND PURCHASED WITH THE PITTLY ASS MONEY WE EARNED AT THE DORM. YES IT IS TRAGIC DEVIN PASSED AWAY AND AS FAR AS THE DROP DEAD STATEMENT I DO DISAGREE WITH THAT, THAT WAS HARSH AND NO MATTER WHAT I DID IN LIFE I WOULD HATE FOR PEOPLE TO SPEAK OF MY DEATH IN THAT MANNER , BUT IN THE SAME SENTENCE YOU DONT LIKE DEVIN , AND YOU DONT LOVE HIM UNCONDITIONALLY , NOT JUSTIFYING IT AND SAYING ITS RIGHT BUT JUST SAYING.HMMMM THE THING ABOUT PHIL AND IF HE WOULDA MADE IT THROUGH PNEMONIA HIT ME HARD TOO. THAT WAS A GREAT QUESTION. AND I BET HE WOULD HAVE. I COULD PROMISE YOU HE WOULD HAVE BEEN OVER IT IN A WEEK IF NOT LESS. ITS CRAZY.I WAS TELLING MY FRIEND HOW I ALMOST CANT BELEIVE HOW BIG THIS HAS GOTTEN.BUT I UNDERSTAND WHY. YOU HAVE A FORCE WHICH IS COCODORM , WITH EVIL THAT IS SO CONCENTRATED IT WOULD MAKE THE DEVIL SICK IF HE DRUNK IT. I HAVENT SEEN SUCH A FOUL,DISGRACE,AND OBJECTIVE OF EVIL SINCE I LAYED EYES ON PRESIDENT BUSH.DEVIN COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED PHIL DIDNT THINK HE WAS WORTH IT. HE DIDNT WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY AND IS PROBABLY TIRED OF RUNNING IT AND ALL OF ITS BAD REPUTATIONS, HIDING,LYING,TRYING . HE KNEW EVERY THING WAS GONNA COME CRASHING DOWN N E WAYS.AFTER COURT TOMRROW THEY WILL BE SHUT DOWN. I KNOW IT. AND IT HAS BEEN TIME.DEVIN'S DEATH WAS NOT JUST A DEATH AT ALL , IT WAS MANY THINGS , MAYBE A BLESSING FOR HIM , AND A SIGN THAT COCODORM HAS BEEN IN ACTION AND DOING WRONG FOR TOO LONG AND THEY NEEDED A WAKE UP CALL. YALL KEEP ON!!!!!! , KEEP IT UP BRING THESE MUTHA FUKA'S DOWN TO THE GROUND AND STOMP THEY'RE ASSES OUT(NOT TECHNICALLY BUT YOU FELL ME. I AM SICK OF COCODORM JUST FUKING SICK OF THEM , THEY ARE A HORRIBLE AND TAINTED JOKE . AND THE WHOLE WORLD NEEDS TO BUILD A BRIDGE AND GET OVER THEM AS THEIR LEGACY OF TERMOIL ENDS.THANK GOD OH YES THERE IS ONE-SIMPLY MARKELL....P.S YOU COULDNT PAY ME ENOUGH MONEY TO BE THAT EVILAND DO EVERY THING THE STAFF OF THAT COMPANY AND ESPECIALLY PHILLIP HAS DONE TO PEOPL EWHO ARE MY FRIENDS AND ME TO SAY THE VERY LEAST.AND IF SOMEBODY IN THAT STAFF DISAGREES WITH ME OR ANYBODY I'LL TELL YOU ONE LAST THING -COCODORM IS OVER! GET A LIFE AND QUIT BEING AN UNCLE TOM TO YOUR PEOPLE AND THAT INCLUDES ALL RACES.YOUR WRONG ON MORE SIDES THAN A HEXAGON , AND GOD IS THE ONE YOU WILL HEAR IT FROM.

[Charles]

Spoken like a true peacemaker Stringa. We are in bad shape as people.

[Stringa]

Child PLUUUUUZE!

The time to talk about ANYTHING is NOW. Fuck Frank. She's a paid employee of Bleicher. Bleicher have taken good care of her.

Her opinions don't count and she does not matter.

Dismissed.

[Charles]

This is so sad, and a conversation that the two of you, Frank and Jasmyne, could have had over the phone. You are apparently from two different schools of thought. Jasmyne, I'm not that familiar with your work, but I've only heard great things from people who know you here in Los Angeles. Frank is a young genius who has some how managed to balance the ball world with academics and should be commended. Perhaps you can find points that you agree on, and work on those. If you can't, then Willie Lynch, and the white masters win again by dividing us. You two work this out and ignore the cheerleaders (instigators) on either sides.

[Giovanni]

ugh! meant to SAY - I should probably be typing for accuracy rather than speed.

[Giovanni]

Sorry - I meant to so I also have a great deal of respect for Frank Leon Roberts

[Giovanni]

Agree or disagree with the timimg of the conversation on barebacking in porn as well as sub par working conditions in the porn industry in general (if what you are saying about flava works indentured servitude is true I am genuinely shocked and outraged) but the fact of the matter is it is an important one to have - and not just in the gay black community but in the greater gay community as well.

I don't agree with you on a lot of things Jasymne especially the Isiah Washington affair but I do have a great deal of respect for you regarding this issue and many others.

I also have a great deal of Frank leon Roberts and the spotlight he shines on an otherwise invisible community - it's too bad you two are at odds with each other but if the greater good is the necessary airing of dirty laundry - well so be it.

Thanks for working so hard.

[blac.sapphic]

Another asinine comment from someone who has only read (or absorbed) half of what was written.
That being said, are you implying that Devin passed due to HIV / AIDS related pneumonia because last I checked that was never stated ....by anyone particularly those that knew him personally? Exactly what 'issue' are you referring to?
It seems as though some women need soapboxes and rely on misinformation as much as said men need porn / air and it would serve all well to check and double check what you put out there before hand.
In short, the only people that need to be held accountable for what those young men do are those young men. Period.
Oh and another thing ...you are knocking the company owner (please note your closing sentence) but that is neither here nor there; point being, leave Devin out of it.

[Mildred]

Hey Frank, just a question as to why you can't spell Jasmyne's name right? Is it to make a point?

I feel bad for your friend, but, he chose to live his life on the edge, and now he's dead and his family in pain, so, the issue is or was with him. He made a choice, and does not need to be defended for it.

I understand that men seem to need porn as much as air, but, they need to be held accountable for not demanding that these young men who are doing unsafe sex acts for a couple hundred bucks, since that's all I'm sure he's giving them on that plantation fully know what the outcome of it will be.

I'm not knocking the man who owns the company since he does not make these young men do what they do, but, I don't see why he and his fans are ticked that some are offended by what he does for a living. He has a choice to spead death online or whereever he peddles that filth, and people have a choice to watch it and also to comment on it.

[Frank Leon Roberts]

Jasmyne, I’m just wondering at what point did Phil Bleicher’s whiteness start to bother you—before or after you collected your last check from him? Clearly Phil Bleicher is as white now as he was back in August when you were paid to write for Flavalife Magazine. I’m trying to gain clarity as to when his whiteness started to “appall” you?

Did the the “modern day slavery,” begin before or after you stopped collecting checks from this white man? Explain to me why these "porn stars," are not as savvy, cultured, and cosmopolitan as you were about collecting a check from a white person?

Jasmine, can you explain if the “modern day slavery” was at work when you got paid to write for Flavalife issues September and October 2005; January and February 2006; March and April 2006; May and June 2006; July and August 2006?

I'm just trying to gain clarity before I move on to responding further.

[Alex Flex]

This is INSANE of all the possible scenarios for which a legitimate campaign for hiv/aids awareness, and this is the best we can do as a people. Point the finger and find someone else to blame. You wanna know ways this disease is contracted through the Black LGBT community well go to any Black Pride Event and you can personally document the almost inviting way it is spread amongst our people, Jasmyne you were there in LA. The Host hotels double as a all gay sexscapade where liquor and drugs seduce the masses and sex is brought to your door more often than the morning paper.Or what would seem limitless strippers employed BY US to entertain and indulge solely based on their genitalia. (Ive yet to see a stripper fully dressed pull up a stool and quote the Bible) We all know of what i speak from the bookstores in N.Y. to the clubs in modern day Sodom and Gomorrah Atlanta. Where is the outcry there why do we not turn to ourselves with the question of why we allow this, why do we not scold and belittle our own? why must we find someone to blame outside our race as if he carries the syringe and infects the masses himself. Why? because like so many, to blame ourselves would be an admittance of fault to charge the crime of genocide on the ones who are the victims is preposterous? well maybe not, we see and ignore the blood on our hands why? Is it simply easier to play the victim? once again aren't we tired as a people of being the victim? of running through the streets pointing out the strings in which this white puppeteer has us by? I and Every adult is blessed with the gift of choice and that is in regards to everything we do Just as I chose to write this you will choose to ignore or accept it but in the end the choice will be your own. will you choose to educate the people who surround you, who are not affiliated with porn, yet have unprotected sex within our community. The very same people your position of informant was spawned to protect. Or will you simply ignore the self destructive behavior displayed by our black brothers and sisters on a daily basis where there is no camera man present or a WHITE man profiting. Yes I have made porn and to this day My lover and I still record Our moments of passion Am i ashamed NO,I can admit to the fact that i like people watching. I aware of the risk and i protect myself.I will not defend My employer for i feel no need to do so. I will also not defend My Friend and colleague Devin for i feel it is disrespectful to even entertain the notions that have been circulated about his death. I simply pose these questions in closing.Have you been told that it feels better w/o a condom? or I cant cum like that? What is this battle about? who's life are we fighting for? and if it be our own why not start with the enemy in mirror or better yet the enemy we may share a bed with.

[Terrence]

Jasmyne (and Keith), I support both of you 1000%.

While Wiley's death is unfortunate, so is the exploitation of young black and Latino men; and so is the HIV/AIDS epidemic that is sweeping our community.

Who will be the advocates and guardians for our community, which includes these young men, if people like you and Keith aren’t? Who will confront the gluttonous money-grubbing porn-pushers who could care less about our community and our young people – if people like you and Keith don’t?

Jasmyne, you keep it REAL. Your love for our community resonates all over. Do not be deterred. Keep fighting the power!

[Anonymous]

I can understand bot points of view.
For those who are grieving over the loss of Mr. Wiley, I can sympathize and realize that the timing may seem inappropriate.
But when will be a good time?
I lost a good friend to pneumonia a decade ago. He was 29 and seemed to be the picture of good health. But towards the end of his life, he declined rapidly and died suddenly, taking everyone who knew him and loved him by surprise.
It seems strange to me that with the advances made in medicine that pneumonia is still as deadly as it was a decade ago, maybe even more so.
What's even more strange is that a well paid professional such as Mr. Wiley would succumb to it.
If Mr. Bleicher had been afflicted with the same malady, would he have succumbed as Mr. Wiley did? Or would he have had access to the latest treatments and drugs that could have stayed the effects of this malady or cured them altogether?
We will never know the answer to this question and at this stage, it's irrelevant.
Frank, Jasmyne and Keith, please try to get along. This is a dangerous time for LGBT people of color and to have people that we look up to at each other's throats doesn't serve our purpose at all, instead it serves the purpose of our common enemy.

[Darian Aaron]

Jasmyne now you know I respect you and your work but couldn't you have picked up the phone and had this discussion with Frank or sent him an e-mail? Your visibility has increased greatly over the past couple of years and people are looking to you for leadership.
Your response to Frank came off as "playground cattyness".

I admire you for having the courage to say exactly what's on your mind, but you also have a responsibility to do so wisely. I really thought this Flavaworks bs was over and I'm sad to see that it has resurfaced again. I was in the middle of it last time and I have no desire to revisit this mess again. You and Keith can have at it.

[blac.sapphic]

Don Charles "Stuffed Animal",
""When are you going to stop throwing yourself pseudo pity parties because someone calls you what THEY see fit? ...the same thing you do to others when so inclined."

I'm not aware of any time when Jasmyne Cannick has called her adversaries fat black nigger bitches. If she's throwing pity parties, she's throwing them for people like you who have no class, and who think it's OK to verbally abuse her just for taking controversial positions."
...nor am I and for the sake of sticking to the task at hand, please don't take my seemingly ‘controversial position’ and opinion out of context and run with it.
When I said calling people what she sees fit ...that is exactly what I meant; nothing more, nothing less.

I maintain that I verbally attacked no one. I simply said what I felt needed to be said with regard to the classless manner in which she decided to dismissively (not to mention unnecessarily) throw Wiley’s name in the mix; no ones name should be marred posthumously, period! That man is not here to defend himself and his death and the circumstances around it have noting to do with the libel suit against Jasmyne …her original reason for posting as indicated by the title.

If I didn’t make myself clear, her position against Flavalife is not at all what I take issue with …I could care less as I admittedly do not know enough about the situation to take a stance either way. From the beginning I have been disturbed by her lack of ethical judgment when it came to the way she chose to ‘report’ her findings.

It is not what you say but how you say it.
She was without question wrong and could have taken so much better care to remain mindful of her verbiage.

[Tron]

How about more programs to educate those "at risk" youth? How about more time spent on taking the time out to help those "at risk" youth? How about less energy spent to scream and yell through articles and more energy spent on the streets picking up the youth that have been abandoned by their family?

Whether FlavaWorks is guilty of something or not (personally I dont think so), there is all ways somebody else out there.

Just like drug dealers, you take 5 drug dealers off the street and 10 more come.

I just think the whole energy of this issue needs to be channeled into something more constructive.

RIP Devin

[JOHN T. JOHNSON]

I AM SORRY, BUT I AM WITH JASMINE ON THIS....WHY SHOULD ANYONE WAIT FOR A FAMILY TO GRIEVE (WHICH THEY ARE GONNA DO ANYWAYS)BEFORE CONTINUING THE FIGHT AGAINST THE SPREAD OF H.I.V AMONGST LGBT PEOPLE OF COLOR...FRANK YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF...I KNOW AINT NOBDY GONNA SAY IT BUT WE ALL KNOW ABOUT PNUEMONIA DEATHS IT IS USUALLY A RESULT FROM A.I.D.S...SO LET'S BE REAL HERE PEOPLE..TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE..WE DONT HAVE TIME TO BE PLAYING AROUND WITH THE SPREAD OF H.I.V..AND ALTHOUGH I SEND MY DEEPEST SYMPATHIES TO THE FAMILY ON THIER LOSS..HIS DEATH SHOULD ACTUALLY CAUSE US TO REALLY GET BUSY...KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK JASMINE AND KEITH....WHILE MR. ROBERTS IS PLAYING DEVIL'S ADVOCATE AND FLAVAWORK'S MEDIATOR HE SHOULD LOG ON TO THE C.D.C'S WEBSITE AND CHECK OUT THE RECENT STATISTICS ON H.I.V INFECTIONS AMONGST PEOPLE OF ALL RACES WHO WORK IN THE SEX INDUSTRY ESPECIALLY BLACK GAY MEN

JOHN T. JOHNSON
CAN BE REACHED AT:
JJ22762003@YAHOO.COM

P.S. I WONDER WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPEND IF ROSA PARKS, DR. KING OR HARRIET TUBMAN WOULD HAVE TOOK AN EXTENDED BREAK TO GRIEVE WHEN TRAGEDY STRUCK THIER LIVES...

THE STRUGGLE DOES'NT STOP...
PEOPLE DO!

[caleb rexter]

"I read Frank's blog and he was all queenie and emotional about the issue."

Regarding someone's death? Frank was "queenie and emotional" regarding someone's death. Are we saying it isn't masculine to mourn the loss of someone?

Moving along, Frank makes an excellent point: The issue is not the race of the Flavaworks owner. Like the recording industry, the vast majority of these companies are white-owned. If we're taking issue at him, we also take issue at the many other porn companies that are white-owned or SONY/BMG for promoting the n-word.

Jasmyne, I'm at a loss to understand why you and Keith are outraged. If you're so concerned about "working conditions", certainly Wal-Mart, Co-Agra or McDonald's ar more pressing examples. Unless you're now mimicking the right-wing and simply attacking porn. Pornography does not contribute to our sky-high HIV/AIDS rates. That's our own problem.

[Don Charles "Stuffed Animal"]

"When are you going to stop throwing yourself pseudo pity parties because someone calls you what THEY see fit? ...the same thing you do to others when so inclined."

I'm not aware of any time when Jasmyne Cannick has called her adversaries fat black nigger bitches. If she's throwing pity parties, she's throwing them for people like you who have no class, and who think it's OK to verbally abuse her just for taking controversial positions.

"But let me leave you with this, in the words of Donnie: I'm not a nigger, I'm a negro. When I become a nigger, I'll let you know."

You tell 'em, Jazz. They're waiting for you to turn into a nigger. They're waiting for you to crawl into the gutter with them. Keep 'em waiting 'til their damn hair turns gray!

[Cassandra]

Thank you, Jasmyne (and Keith) for bringing this issue to the forefront. This is sick and disgusting for Bleicher to knowingly use Black and Latino men for gain.

As a fellow blogger, I will be posting about this!!

[Stringa]

Thanks for that clarity. I read Frank's blog and he was all queenie and emotional about the issue.

Now I understand the situation better. Frank is a House Nigga - plaine and simple. Frank has sold out to plane rides, hotel rooms and a perdiem.

Sad.

[dan]

I think the problem is that you portray yourself as a journalist without investigating anything you write about. You republish accusations that you read over and over without the slightest bit of investigation. You assume Dekenric died of aids related pneumonia and publish it as fact. Nothing you have reported about Flava Works has changed since your first blog on them. Nothing new, the same allegations repeated over and over again. You don't care if they are true or not. You read them somewhere else and just copied them. Nothing more than a copy and paste blogger.

[blac.sapphic]

"Yes, it is unfortunate that Flavaworks vice-president Dekenric Wiley died quit suddenly over the past weekend..."
...is what you could AND SHOULD have said the first time since you felt so compelled to say anything about him at all.

If you're so uber concerned about the plight of the Black man wrongfully and knowingly exposed to HIV / AIDS and various STD's (albeit consenting) only for the fattening of the pockets of a white man, you, as visible as you are becoming, could have taken this in another direction completely.

Again Jasmyne, it is not what you say but how you say it and it appears that you continue to miss the mark.
Facilitating discourse with regard to the dealings at Flavaworks is one thing but Wiley and the circumstances surrounding his untimely death are indeed all together another and we should have been spared a coating of your self-righteous bullshit.
Had you been able to get your head out of your own ass long enough to even consider an opinion on the matter (other than your own), you might have been able to see that most didn't take issue with your stance against Flavaworks; your lack of regard, RESPECT, care and concern for others is what is being questioned. I’ll quote myself, "Some readers, namely myself, would just like to call to mind your perceived lack of ...I don’t know continuity, ethics, conscience, respect and the like and ask that you use your ‘position’ as ‘mouthpiece’, whether welcome or unwelcome / self appointed or not, to take better care of the ways in which you do and are looked at to speak to and for a larger community."

"And as for Bleicher and his crew, call me fat, call me Black, call me a nigger, call me a bitch, hell, call me a fat Black nigger bitch for all I care. Leave postings on my website about how uneducated I am and how I don't know anything. That's fine. All it does for me is prove my point and what show that what we write must be pretty powerful if you would invest so much time into filling up my comment section with such rhetoric."
...and is that the best rhetoric you could come up with to close another unnecessary and self indulgent posting? I mean ...does it make you feel good about yourself?
When are you going to stop throwing yourself pseudo pity parties because someone calls you what THEY see fit? ...the same thing you do to others when so inclined.
That ‘sticks and stones’ façade you parade behind is lame, not to mention as clear as glass; your self esteem issues manifest themselves in the way you continually use the misfortune of others to propel your fantasy celebrity via this blog.
I think your confusing powerful, meaningful and truth laden writing with the sensationalist jargon you flippantly throw around to further justify the garbage you spew ...and attempt to prove under the guise of pertinent news.

Mentioning Wiley ...and his death served no purpose other than to bump up your ‘click count’ and unfortunately, I’m sure you succeeded.

Get a grip ...a firm one and please come back to the center you were once known and applauded for.

At present, you disgust me; your sanctimonious excuses for the inexcusable behavior you exhibit is not at all representative of the community at large I’m sure ....but again "I am left with the impression that you purport to represent no one but yourself ...that’s nice."
You just don’t speak ill of the dead.