Don’t tell me to boycott something; invite me to the alternative. Boycotting is only effective if critical mass is reached in a critical period of time. This is why it was effective during the Civil Rights’ era of the United States of America. Critical mass.

In this sound bitten age of social media, critical mass is not as easy come by. At least, critical mass about things that YOU care about. And even if you do reach critical mass (however you define that), you’re not guaranteed that the product or service you’re boycotting will change anything related to the status quo. Especially if that product or service is a movie.

That’s already been filmed.

And promoted.

And distributed.

Especially if that movie that has already been filmed, promoted and distributed was created by entities that are rather large. Peace to M. Night Shyamalan and Tyler Perry (who always gets a bad rep from my Conscious Black People circles).

The alternative is not easy. We can’t just go stand in front of movie theatre, join a Facebook group or five or throw clever dozens at the problem on twitter. (Even though y’all live tweets of BET Awards are HI-larious).

You have to create the solution. We have to create the alternative.  It’s a simple trick any parent knows. I don’t want my child to eat candy, but I want to her to enjoy a treat now and then. Before I’ve told her no candy, I already have an alternative ready. Warm peach cobbler. Vanilla ice cream.

What does the alternative look like? Different. Remixed and probably a little less polished than the shiny distraction. But you create it. You promote it. You learn the tricks to the trade and use it to transform the status quo. It’s not easy. But it sure will taste better.