BET International Director Responds To BET Backlash From Africa

Lilian Blankson, Director of Programming and Production at BET International has responded
to the backlash from Africans on the 2015 BET Awards.
Here are some of her tweet after the cut... “BET will always signify Black Star Power… Africa, if we want to be featured prominently, we need to know the facts and be very practical.
First of all, tell the truth and stop tweeting lies and mistruths. There has never been a backstage presentation of any award. Pre recorded.
We need to work hard and get our music on the radio here in the US. How do people respect your brand when you are not on the radio? Make your music more internationally appealing…
Think of ways to get all audiences invested. Oliver Twist is a great example. Universal story.
Folks worked so so hard to provide a platform for Africa on the network. We won’t get there overnight. And misinformation won’t help.
BET domestic does not and has never aired African music so to have a category is a major deal. Let’s prove and show them our worth not anger.
The artists who have been honored – why haven’t you cleared the air and told the truth about what happened! Why the silence??? Out of 19 categories, only 4 or 5 make air. This is standard in Award Shows. If the US artists are not outraged and complaining, why are we? Performances sell Awards shows & make ratings, not the categories. Lets step up our game & get our music so big they can no
longer ignore it. If you choose to fly down and watch the show and not do press who exactly do you think is affected or missing out? Think about it.
Let’s try and keep our category and know the facts. It does nothing to the network to tale it away – but it sends us back several steps.
Finally, let’s be a little humble. No one owes us anything. Like everything else, we have to work
our way to the top so we can stay there.
Nothing has ever come easy to us Africans. But anything worth having will not be a cake walk. Started from the bottom, but we here.” “Nothing has ever come easy to us Africans but anything worth having will not be a cake walk. Started from the bottom, but we here.” “Let us not kid ourselves, BET is not a charity ; it’s a business entity and the fact that they come to us annually with this African Act category means, they are either making profit from us today or have a well put together plans to make profit from us in the long run.
So it is up to us to bargain well and not allow ourselves to be subjected to this unending contempt. This is business for them, and it should mean the same or even more to us.
Let’s learn to speak out .. as our people say, if you don’t speak out about your own hair cut, you end up badly shaved.”