Janet Jackson's Blacklisting on MTV

It is blatantly obvious that MTV is refusing to support its first ICON, Janet Jackson, due to the Superbowl mishap. As music lovers and viewers of MTV, we find this very offensive because Janet Jackson and the Jackson family are landmarks in African-American history, popular culture, and in American History as a whole. 20 years ago, Janet Jackson was one of the pioneering artists who helped make the music video what it is today, and, consequently, contributed to MTV attaining the international musical status it currently enjoys.

Janet is an inspiration to all people, but she especially inspires women and African Americans. But while Janet's work is noticeably absent from MTV's programming, Justin Timberlake, the other participant in the Superbowl incident, receives heavy promotion from MTV, despite his relatively minor stature in popular culture compared to Janet Jackson. It is disheartening to see someone who has inspired so many people to succeed receive blatantly disparate treatment. This observation is even more troubling given MTV's prior history with race and gender. Janet's mistreatment threatens to undermine much of the progress the network has made on race and gender issues over the last 25 years.

Janet Jackson remains a musical powerhouse after 20 years at the top of the charts. Her current song sits at number 25 on Billboard's Top 100 -- above the tracks of many younger "stars" in rotation at MTV -- and it is among the top played songs at Urban and CHR radio formats. MTV's failure to play and promote this beautifully artistic video, despite the song's success, makes the network's disparate treatment of Janet Jackson even more apparent.

Please join us, in signing this petition to stop this horrible and unjust blacklisting of one of the music industrys most accomplished and legendary artists.

Fans of Janet