Like the late crooner, Sam Cooke, I believe a change is gonna come. I believe this in spite of the gay-, slut-, and age-shaming underway between three prominent black entertainers.
Vivica A. Fox unwisely started this beef with her ex-boyfriend, 50 Cent. When asked by Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen to comment on the false accusation that 50 Cent blamed Empire's ratings dip on "gay stuff," the Kill Bill star stuttered, "You know the pot calling the kettle black" as if to suggest that 50 Cent was gay.
Shortly thereafter, 50 Cent took to social media to respond: "Oh No!!! Now she things (sic) I'm gay because I let her lick my A**. LMAO,"
This was followed up by an insult from the rapper Soulja Boy, who the 51-year-old Fox insinuated into this messy plot when she referenced a XXL magazine cover of the two rappers.
"Everybody hit up this cougar..she's single & ready to mingle ...1-800-GrannyDesperateForAttention extension I'mWashedUp."
The suggestions being made by the two men -- that Fox, a beautiful, talented, and gainfully-employed actress is insecure and desperate because she dates younger men and has a creative sex life -- is wrong and small minded. Furthermore, both men should stop perpetuating one of the vilest legacies of this country. Black women have had to fight against notions of promiscuity from the days when enslaved women were referred to as "Jezebels" and blamed for their rapes to present day when collegiate women are compelled to protest the misogynistic lyrics and videos that continue to be used to objectify women and perpetuate gender oppression.
For her part, Fox should know better. As a cast member of Empire, whose creator and director is the gay HIV advocate, Lee Daniels, Fox was irresponsible in trying to use the suggestion of gayness to insult a black man. It is this kind of subtle homophobia juxtaposed with the glorification of hypermasculinity that convinces some black men to stay in the closet.
Sex between two consenting single adults is never a bad thing or anyone else's business.