Shawty Lo, His Baby Mamas And Who We Should Really Be Mad At

Plenty of finger-pointing about this reality idea, but is it in the right direction?

We almost made it ya'll. We almost made it through the holidays in order to end 2012 on a decent note.

Sure, the hundreds of N-bombs in "Django Unchained" had a few of us riled up, but it's just a movie. Everybody's favorite rapper-to-point-the-finger-at, Chief Keef, dropped his debut album, but that's just music. Movies and music are forms of entertainment that either prove to be disposable or forgotten about in a few months.

The weekend before New Year's was looking to be a quiet one during which black people weren't going to have anything to be outraged about for making us look bad.

But then this leaked onto the Internet:

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It is being reported (code word: blogged and retweeted) that rapper Shawty Lo will be starring in a new reality show highlighting his "blended family."

The show "All My Babies' Mamas" (which we assume is a take on "All My Children") will center around Atlanta native Carlos "Shawty Lo" Walker and the 11 children that he has with 10 women. If that doesn't sound dramatic enough, the Oxygen channel show will also co-star his new girlfriend, a 19-year-old who is the same age as one of Lo's children. The show is reportedly being considered by Oxygen, which is also home to fine entertainment like "Bad Girls Club," "Tanisha Gets Married" and "Snapped."

Brief background on Shawty Lo. He is formerly one-fourth of the rap group D4L. A group who will not only go down in history as the originators of "snap music" but also as one of the groups that many claimed were "ruining Hip Hop" in the mid-2000s. If you need to jog your memory, they made that song "Laffy Taffy."

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That being said, Shawty Lo is no stranger to being accused of "setting black folks back" as Chris Rock would say.

Most of our first reactions have been between anger and embarrassment. And for good reason.

Believe it or not, the only example of a black family television show right now comes to us from Shawty Lo's neighbor and former rap rival T.I., who stars in "The Family Hustle." That's unless you count that cartoon "The Cleveland Show." Well then we guess there's "Are We There Yet?" on TBS. Oh yeah, can't forget about "The Soul Man" starring Cedric the Entertainer and Niecy Nash. Anthony Anderson and Tempestt Bledsoe are raising kids on NBC's "Guys With Kids." Tyler Perry still has "For Better Or Worse," and "Meet The Browns" is now in syndication.

Shawty Lo Starts Petition To Reinstate Reality Show

More than 250 signatures have been signed to the petition so far.

Rapper Shawty Lo has decided to fight fire with fire after having his reality show “All My Babies’ Mamas" canceled. The 'Dey Know' rapper has started a petition to have his show, with his 10 baby mamas, reinstated on Oxygen. The show was pulled off the network after a Change.org petition received more than 37,000 supporters.

In a letter attached to the petition, the race card was pulled as a defense for Lo’s actions. The letter also cited financial hardship as a reason to reinstate the show. “Would you rather see 11 children struggle with mothers on welfare? Or watch a man support his children?” the letter asked. Kali Bowyer, a spokesman for Shawty Lo, claims that their camp has received 123,000 emails in support of the show; the petition had only received 282 supporters at the time of this post. (Hip Hop Wired)

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Oxygen Kills ‘All My Babies’ Mamas’ Project

Network offers no reason for halting production, in the wake of public disapproval

The folks at cable’s Oxygen got an earful of criticism after announcing plans for a reality special about Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo and his 11 children with 10 different women. Now, in a statement issued Tuesday, Oxygen Media says it is killing its “All My Babies’ Mamas” project, after having “reviewed casting.” The network did not offer any specific reason for the cancellation. “All My Babies’ Mamas” was the subject of intense public outcry, as critics accused the network of peddling unflattering stereotypes of African Americans. Oxygen denied that was their aim in previous statements. At least one online petition calling for Oxygen to shut down the production had collected more than 37,000 signatures. (Associated Press)

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All My Babies’ Mamas: How Low Can We Go?

Stereotypes, minstrelsy abound in Oxygen's upcoming parenting reality special

When a friend emailed Sabrina Lamb a clip of a proposed reality show called “All My Babies’ Mamas” she was horrified.

In development on the Oxygen Network, the show is billed as a one-hour special that follows the life of Atlanta-based rapper Shawty Lo (Carlos Walker) and the 11 children he fathered with 10 different woman. The show is currently scheduled to air in the spring.

“Tears came to my eyes,” said Lamb, author of Do I Look Like an ATM? A parent’s guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children. “I remember physically standing up and circling my chair because, as the pilot of this minstrel continued minute after minute, I saw nothing but the exploitation of children.”

The pilot so incensed Lamb that she created a petition on Change.org to stop the show from airing. The petition asks supporters “to tell Oxygen that their viewers will not tolerate a show that exploits and stereotypes Black children and families.”

“We will boycott any advertiser who chooses to support the show," the petition states.

As of Thursday afternoon, more than 34,500 people had signed the petition. But despite the buzz and criticism surrounding the show, people seem to be split on the potential for the show to worsen negative stereotypes of black men and women in the mainstream media.

Oxygen, in late December, responded to the criticism, noting that the show would “capture the highs and lows of this extreme ‘blended family’ that is anything but ordinary, while also showing the drama and the passion behind life’s most unexpected situations.”

Cori Abraham, senior vice president of development for Oxygen Media, said project “will be filled with outrageous and authentic over-the-top moments that our young, diverse female audience can tweet and gossip about."

A clip circulating the Internet show Shawty Lo with several of his childrens’ mothers and his current 19-year-old girlfriend. The women have given each other nicknames: “the first lady baby mama,” “the no-drama baby mama,” “the jealous baby mama,” and the “shady baby mama.” They call Walker the “Black Hugh Hefner.”

In an MTV interview posted online Tuesday, Walker responded to critics of the show, reasoning that his former life as a popular Atlanta drug dealer lead to so many out of wedlock children.

“When the money came, a lot of women came,” he said, adding that he didn’t mean to impregnate all of the women.

“It’s a lot of fathers that don’t take care of one,” Walker continued. “If I wasn’t taking care of my kids then y’all would really dog me out. But I’m taking care of my kids, providing for my family.”