Brainwashed

by Burrell, Tom

• ISBN13: 9781401925925
• ISBN10: 1401925928
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2010-02-01
• Publisher: Smiley Books

Summary

Black people are not dark-skinned white people,” says advertising visionary Tom Burrell. In fact, they are much more. They are survivors of the Middle Passage and centuries of humiliation and deprivation, who have excelled against the odds, constantly making a way out of No way!” At this pivotal point in history, the idea of black inferiority should have had a Going-Out-of-Business Sale.” After all, Barack Obama has reached America’s Promised Land. Yet, as Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority testifies, too many in black America are still wandering in the wilderness. In this powerful examination of the greatest propaganda campaign of all time”—the masterful marketing of black inferiority, aka the BI Complex—Burrell poses ten disturbing questions that will make black people look in the mirror and ask why, nearly 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, so many blacks still think and act like slaves. Burrell’s acute awareness of the power of words and images to shift, shape, and change the collective consciousness has led him to connect the contemporary and historical dots that have brought us to this crossroads. Brainwashed is not a reprimand—it is a call to action. It demands that we question our self-defeating attitudes and behaviors. Racism is not the issue; how we respond to media distortions and programmed self-hatred is the issue. It’s time to reverse the BI campaign with a globally based initiative that harnesses the power of new media and the wisdom of intergenerational coalitions. Provocative and powerful, Brainwashed dares to expose the wounds so that we, at last, can heal.

Author Biography

Marketing communications pioneer Tom Burrell is a recognized leader and change-agent credited with revolutionizing the use of positive and realistic images of African American’s in television advertising. His award-winning work acknowledged the purchasing power of the African American community and literally changed the face of American advertising. Burrell is the founder of The Resolution Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to self-healing and self-actualization. In 2004, he was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame. A Southside native, Burrell lives with his wife Madeleine in Chicago.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. ix
The Scorch at the Bottom of the Melting Pot	p. 1
Relationship Wrecks	p. 13
Why Can't We Form Strong Families?
Studs and Sluts	p. 41
Why Do We Conform to Black Sexual Stereotypes?
Uglified	p. 65
Why are Black and Beautiful Still Contradictions?
Homey-cide	p. 87
Why Do We Keep Killing Each Other?
Slow Suicide	p. 107
Why Do We Neglect Body, Mind, and Spirit?
Buy Now, Pay Later	p. 135
Why Can't We Stop Shopping?
D'sWill Do	p. 161
Why Do We Expect So Little of Each Other-and Ourselves?
Bred to Be Led	p. 185
Why Do We So Willingly Give up Control of Our Lives?
Diss-Unity	p. 207
Why Can't We Stick Together?
Neo-Coons	p. 233
Why Is the Joke Always on Us?
Yes, We Must!	p. 255
Healing from the Inside Out
Acknowledgments	p. 273
Endnotes	p. 275
About the Author	p. 285
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