[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=016C4sUj5_8]
Yes, Mo’Kelly put “Black” in quotation marks, and no it doesn’t “bother” Mo’Kelly that a White sorority (Zeta Tau Alpha) won the competition. Mo’Kelly feels the same here as he does with high-schoolers stepping. Stepping has been prostituted and whored out for so long, its meaning has appropriately been cheapened to absolutely nothing.
It used to be where membership (i.e. BGLO membership) had its privileges and now we’re caught up in the novelty of White organizations or high schoolers also stepping.
You get what you get.
If you want something for yourselves, you should keep it to yourselves and not put it out on the stroll…stepping/prostitution pun intended.
Word has it that Alpha Kappa Alpha members at the University of Arkansas “trained” them. Mo’Kelly can’t confirm or deny this accusation.
This is little different than the whole American Idol phenomenon and the Black gospel tradition. Stepping used to mean something and was demonstrative of a historical tradition inextricably linked to the Black Greek-Letter Organizations…and dates back to the African boot dances.
Now?
Now like most things steeped originally in African-American tradition…it has been whored out and disfigured accordingly. If it were valuable and a treasured aspect of our organizations, it should have been treated as such.
Don’t get mad now.
Oh well…you get what you get. You can’t whore out something and expect the rest of the world to celebrate its rich tradition at the same time. Can’t have it both ways. This isn’t about race, this is about whoring.
Congratulations to Zeta Tau Alpha on their well-deserved victory. They may not appreciate the history and significance of stepping as generations before them, but that’s not their fault and they shouldn’t be criticized for it. Fists together, elbows high and level. Yes, they probably have no appreciation of its historical significance or having to learn shows under “duress.”
But that’s not their fault. Congratulations to the step champions.
[Stay tuned…the new mrmokelly.com website is coming to you in 2010. Set your browsers now.]
18 responses to “White Sorority Wins ‘Black’ Sprite Step-Off Competition”
Here here, nuff said!!!!
Mo you ALWAYS give me something to think about. And as usual you are not afraid to speak (with your pen) your mind. My main concern about the show was that I thought the criteria for participation was HBCU students or BGLO students. Since that was not what the Coca Cola requirements stated then the ones who won oh well. Truthfully I looked at several videos of the winners. Until I saw a closeup of their faces I didn't know who they were. I do have another comment about my sorors who were named cowinners and the prize money THEY deserve. But you know where that's going. So I'll hold that thought :0)..As always thanks for stirring up the brain cells. We don't get enough of that.
Mo that has been "scoring errors" 3 times during this competition. 2 on in the regional round and 1 in the national round. IN the end, sprite came back and said that there is a tie between ZTA and AKA and gave the AKAs 100k too. I have alot of issues with what went down with this whole competition. Even the mtv documentary they did on this is suspect. It doesn't bother that ZTA stepped, but they violated rules by "booty popping" at the end and used signature moves that other orgs are known for. SO where is the orginality? Greeks are pissed about this. I wish they get pissed about other things that go on in our orgs. Sidenote: BAM was at the regional competition in Chicago that I attended when the Tau Chapter AKAs won 15k.
*clearing throat*
Is it just me, or does anybody else realize that if one of the D9 sororities had gotten up there and did what those girls did (Matrix theme, done to death. What's that? An Alpha Train? Hmmm…. Booty Poppin? WTF) that they probaby wouldn't have placed at all. They were well executed COPIES of what they had seen a Zeta Phi Beta, Phi Beta Sigma, Kappa Kappa Psi step team do already. To me, they weren't judged on the originality of the steps they performed; they were judged on the originality of the fact that a bunch of white girls could step – even if the steps belonged to someone else. There should be no glory in winning because you were the novelty, but that's just me…
P.S. Mo, I'm pretty sure that one of the ZTA's featured on the MTV show SAID that they learned to step from the AKA's.
I don't disagree with what either Moi or SP has said…and yes there were some "irregularities" regarding the competition. But let's be real, the controversy had less to do with HOW they won and more to do with WHO won. Does it make it more attractive to MTV if the White sorority wins? Of course.
But I'm not going to get upset over that. Going back to my whoring metaphor. It's hard for me to get upset that after you put someone out on the stroll, she gets mistreated or turned out or strung out. When "we" put stepping out into this media for the almighty dollar, (like a prostitute) we get what we get.
Stepping wasn't meant for this.
Also Moi…of course the ZTAs were imitating someone else's steps…they had nothing historically to draw upon. But can you be upset with them for imitating more than those who taught them? That used to be a HUGE no-no. As Ques we weren't even supposed to show the Deltas anything…much less a White organization.
The D9 were built around the civil rights legacy and the struggle to achieve equality in America. I don't need to go into specifics, you know what I mean. If our legacies and traditions are now for sale to the highest bidder or highest profile competition, oh well. I've stepped in national competitions and on TV…but there are boundaries.
This competition was the perfect example of selling out. And it went true to form. You can't expect those (MTV, Sprite) who only have corporate interests to care about traditions. That's not their job, it "was" ours. White sorority winning a Black step competition makes for a better story, documentary, viral blog chatter…everything.
In the end, they don't win if we don't freely give away our jewels.
If in fact my AKA sorors taught them the steps, they should be EXPELLED!! What in 4 hells were they thinking!!I know undergrads cab B on the DENSE side, but that's past dense..that's just SOS.
Additionally, BAM was front & center on this BS, but why am I not surprised..PIMPIN' is her game!!
Mo…I had to throw up my hands and say amen! "Mo’Kelly feels the same here as he does with high-schoolers stepping. Stepping has been prostituted and whored out for so long, its meaning has appropriately been cheapened to absolutely nothing."
It is happening where I am too (high schoolers and "stepping" white greeks). It is almost a mockery and I put it in the same light as white frat/sorority's wearing "black-face" which always causes an uproar. You guys make it stop!
Wow. I'm feeling some kind of way about this. But since we gave it to them to do, I'll just go feel that some kind of way in private. Let's just let anyone move into our houses too…let's have open rituals while we're at it…You know, I'm going to my happy place.
So we're saying that there are cultural implications here?
Seems we're always caught in this nexus between individuality and commonality.
Again – Bravo!!! Great commentary, and I agree 100%. I remember back in my college days when stepping actually meant something, and we REPRESENTED. Now, as I try to teach my daughter the significance of BGLO's and its community, It is sad when we go to a step show and these imposters have none of the swagger that we represented when we used to roll deep nd represent at ALL step shows. Its a damn shame that it has come to this…
I'm really struggling to understand these points.
Is it that white people step now, too?
This was a pastime that had its roots in black churches, and thus white folk who step are "imposters"?
There must be somebody who can help me understand this.
In short Walt, to step and have no membership or involvement in the Historically Black Greek Letter organizations is a complete disconnect. It's an imitation of an artform steeped in a history and culture that hasn't been studied on any level. It's not their "color" it's the disconnect.
It's to me no different than me going out there and imitating the dances of Samoan culture (i.e. warrior dances) simply because somebody taught me the steps. And I can assure you, Samoans would be offended…and have told me as much.
There is a historical "why" behind the stepping that is far deeper than somebody taking time to show someone some moves.
Morris,
Thanks.
Did I understand you to state that this disconnect had already happened by this point? That even BGLOs have lost the true meaning?
And if so, then this is sort of how things evolve, isn't it?
It was embarrassing to see the awful guesses the contestants took on a recent "Jeopardy" episode in the category of Black History.
Basic stuff, too. What city did Rosa Parks perform her act of defiance in? In what city did Dr. King die? I forget the others but they were BH 101, in fact grade school.
We just forget as time goes on, and all that remain, too frequently, are empty symbols.
So, to be clear: This is not a black/white issue?
For me it's not and at its heart it's not a color issue at all. There are high schoolers across the nation who "step"…there are non-HBCU bands who use and abuse the "steps" of the HBCU bands now, thanks to movies like "Drumline."
This really isn't a color issue…it's a whoring issue. In fact, you'll find many of these steps in high school cheerleading competitions if you look carefully and can recognize it when you see it. I feel the same way seeing Black high school cheerleaders doing it or White college students doing it.
It's (for me) definitely NOT a color issue.
So I do not understand, do you have to be in a sorority to step in step competitions?? Because I want to sign my high school up for a step competition and we are not in a sorority.
These days, no you don't and I'm adamantly against it. Stepping has a very specific and distinct history. Stepping without learning its history is simply wrong. It's more than just some "athletic event."