Musing on the MiAKA Men myth: Was the MiAKA lawsuit against AKA just an urban legend?
OPINION - Only time will tell if the real story of the MiAKA men will emerge from the re-emergent fragments comprised of YouTube videos, random blog posts, and pictures from 2007...
The NPHC has officially disbanded any sanctioned affiliate group, regardless of gender. But some claim that despite this, MiAKA men still exist.
Will the real MiAKA men please stand up?
TheGrio found one source, a blogger and former Florida A&M student who prefers to be referred to as Anti_Intellect, who affirmed that MiAKA men have an underground presence on several black college campuses. Yet, he believes the lawsuit allegations are more than likely untrue.
This social media author blames sensationalistic media outlets for running with unconfirmed rumors, thus blowing the unconfirmed story out of proportion. In the process, normally respected sites like The Huffington Post allowed their comment sections to turn into homophobic breeding grounds.
“KollegeKidd.com, where the half-story originated, is less credible than Media Takeout,” the popular Twitter personality said.
“The unchecked dialogue is a slap in the face to black gay men,” the African-American gay male and feminist opined regarding the extreme homophobia that ensued.
“My concern with the MiAKA story is the homophobic narrative that it’s serving,” he added to theGrio. “I find it no small coincidence that during such a pivotal moment in this nation’s history, when President Barack Obama and black faith leaders are publicly fighting against homophobia, joined by coalitions of black people coming together, this story emerges again. People don’t want this shift to occur, so [they] play up the MiAKA story, cast them as villains and the honeymoon phase is over. Back to slurs.”
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Perhaps at the crux of this issue is the swiftness with which readers spewed venom at the MiAKA organization, linking it to some dark, hidden “Gay Agenda,” without considering that there was never any official statement pertaining to a lawsuit from the group. There is no web site for MiAKA. There is no official spokesperson. In fact, if not for KollegeKidd.com regurgitating the story, it would not have returned to the mainstream media space at all. Was there a sensitivity to it re-emerging, because blacks for the first time in recent history are seeing many of our icons openly support gay marriage?
Whatever the reason, the angry comments rolled in, such as these found on various entities:
“It is terrible! Everywhere I go in Chicago I’ve seen way more gay black ‘flamboyant’ men than any other race! My heart hurts at this sad epidemic…. where does it really leave the Black family dynamic/community…”
“The Black woman is being taught to accept the behavior by the ‘AGENDA.’ Hence why many black women have homo sexual men doing their hair. They have homo sexual male friends. And then we have a LACK of black men being proper fathers and role models for our young men. So the media and TV then becomes the role model. We are now seeing the fruit of what cabel tv can do to the minds of our youth. This is what happens when the TV spends more time with our children than we as parents do.
“Then you take the first black president and get him to verbally support this life style, and you now have made a HUGE impact on the minds of millions of young Black people. This is a system that was started long before President Obama got into politicts, but he is now being USED to get the Black community on board with the “AGENDA.”
“I’m getting really annoyed by the GAY movement.”
Homophobic statements such as these circulated for weeks without most responders caring an inkling about whether the story was confirmed. Even attorney and media professional Star Jones joined the melee. The prominent AKA sorority sister took to the Twittersphere making it clear that there was no way for the men of MiAKA to join Alpha Kappa Alpha, and that they should just give up:
“Shall I start with what the hell is a MIAKA?”
“Just because you’re INTERESTED in #AKA doesn’t make you an #AKA. I’m interested in basketball…but my free throws suck. #getAgripJoinaFRAT”
“Tell the MiAKAs (how hilarious) the former 2nd Supreme said don’t waste your money on a lawyers retainer; you have no case! Oh..and #DUCES.”
In her heated social media response to the alleged suit, Jones was blinded to the basic journalistic necessity of verification, despite her intense involvement in the profession as a commentator.
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