By Dennis Maurice Dumpson

Recently, CNN Political Analyst & Pundit, Roland Martin (who I am a fan of by the way), posted a tweet during Sunday's Super Bowl (#GoGiants!) that the folks at GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and other gay rights organizations found offensive and supportive of bullying and violence against LGBT persons. (See Roland's thoughts here.) This seems to be a sad case of what I like to call: NotStayingInYourLaneism. I'll explain. See the tweet in question from @rolandsmartin below.

I personally think that Martin meant no ill-will when he tweeted his statement. It seemed like it was his attempt at trying to be current to what was trending (i.e., the super bowl and super bowl commercials). CNN, however, after a push from GLAAD and others, felt otherwise and chose to suspend Martin in an effort to protect THEIR brand. Since then he has accepted an invitation to meet with members in leadership at GLAAD and shared a public apology stating that he is "sorry for any offense my {his} remarks caused." Rest assure that this will all blow over soon, Martin will watch his mouth (and tweets) more than ever and be back to sharing the news as he has been, and GLAAD will be fine with having brought attention and awareness to another case of defamation to the Gay & Lesbian community. Everyone wins...sort of :-/

There's A Message in this...
The big question here is: "What can we learn from Martin's Tweet Fiasco?" Simple, everything we think, every issue that arises, every provocative moment happening does NOT need to be commented on, tweeted, facebooked, blogged on Tumblr, instagramed, etc. Rule Of Thumb: STAY IN YA LANE! There's no need to be a voice on things that have nothing to do with your brand, unless they improve your public perception.

What Wendy Williams Can Teach Roland Martin
Roland Martin is most well-known for his political commentary. However, you're suspended from your work as a Political Analyst, not because of your comments on International policy or the GOP debates, but rather because you choose to comment on the Super Bowl, well actually a commercial about men's underwear during the Super Bowl no less -- something that has absolutely nothing to do with the essential parts of your brand? (Yes I know he was suspended for homophobic comments, but I am referring to context of his comments.) When caring for the integrity of your brand an important thing to remember is where your lane ends and begins. If you're a cultural critic or a pop culture enthusiast, stick to the Beyonce & Jay-Z's baby name controversy and Demi Moore's Divorce from Ashton and alleged addiction to Whip-It's. Take Wendy Williams for example, there are so many things that she could talk about on her daily, syndicated, talk show, The Wendy Williams Show...but she keeps it limited to Hot Topics, Celebrity Happenings, Twinkies, & Television. You won't catch her spouting off about Newt Gingrich's comments about Welfare & Government, because she knows her brand, she knows her audience, and she stays in her lane. Had Martin took some notes from Mrs. Williams-Hunter he might not be dealing with all this mess today. Now, I'm not saying he can't tweet or comment on anything other than politics, but I do think he needs to embrace where he shines and leave the other discussion to the other folk.

Just my 2 cents! Lata, Folks!

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