Dru Blood - I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings: Liveblog of Blogging While Black

DruBlood

Home
Dramatis Personae
Archives
Contact

Feed the Bleed

Full Bleed Fundraiser

Amazon wish list
Cole’s birthday - 10/24
Monk’s birthday - 12/2
Dru’s birthday - 1/5

Search

Syndicate this site (XML)

Special thanks

adam host
julie template queen
kd general lusciousness
pea guru

Powered byMovable Type 1.5

« My dog hates me, and I don't have any clever lyrical tie-ins | Main | Reading back through my notes »

Liveblog of Blogging While Black

March 13, 2006

Again, I don't want to try to capture this point by point. I'm disappointed with what I feel like is a low turnout. This room should be packed!

Lynne D. Johnson is the moderator.

Jason says it looks like the church pews in a biracial wedding here. Jason almost quit blogging, but decided he needed to have an online identity for several reasons, including the fact that there need to be more people of color represented online.

George has had a busy year, winning three black blogger awards for his blogs, including a lifetime achievement award.

Tiffany talked briefly about her blogs.

Tony talked about people coming to his site to see whether he's an "angry black man" after he came out as black, and about controversy over his relationships with white women.

Lynne has been doing work for BlogHer, and talks about the demographics of her readers being mostly black, college educated men.

All of the bloggers on the panel had a poll on their sites to discern demographics, and they all discussed the results of the polls.

It seems funny that one of the people who answered the poll at negro please said they would rather not know Jason was black. Maybe he should change the name of his site to â€œrandom person of no particular ethnic groupâ€ please?

This poll is interesting...I'm wondering what the results would be if I posted the same poll on my blog?

George gave props to Aaron Hawkins.

somebody asked if the poll affected how they write, George said, deadpan "I've decided to stop blogging." Everyone laughed.

Jason answered that he tries not to think about his audience, but that upon reflection he feels that finding out that he has more black readers gives him a certain feeling of freedom from having to explain himself so much.

Lynne wants more female readers, but feels like her content might limit that readership. I think I'm going to link up to her now. I think more women need to write about hip hop!

Tiffany tends to write in more standard english rather than black vernacular english when she envisions her audience as primarily white.

Jason mentions that his vernacular changes based on the topic - that he tends to get "really black" in his language when he's talking about hip hop or black identity. In response to the question "Why do you limit yourself to race?" he responds "Why do people think that race is limiting?"

Lynne says the comment she gets is that she "writes like a journalist, and that alienates people" as a roundabout way to question her authenticity. She's so cool.

George feels like silence is the best way to deal with certain heated discussions. You don't need to necessarily give everything oxygen & Jason responds that everything on the web has the same weight, and isn't it important to give context to some things people say. Don't we have a responsibility to counterbalance that by not being silent? George feels like he has an obligation to be a journalist and an educator and if someone is showing their ass, and he feels he has an obligation to let it go.

Tony loves the conflict and jumping in with the haters and using a sledgehammer.

Tiffany prefers to be civil, and to not escalate that anger. She does not want to be seen as the angry black woman.

The room is filling up slowly.

Laina Dawes in the audience wants to ask a question about the angry black woman. Having come from the Henry Rollins discussion, where he described himself as the "angry white man" --Tiffany steps in and says the key words there are "white man" and that black women and men tend to have their anger dismissedâ€¦or their arguments dismissed because of their anger -- Laina continues to ask if perhaps black people are dismissing her because of her lack of anger -- and Tiffany differentiates between justified and unjustified anger. Jason makes the point that there is a difference between a heated discussion and assholes. He mentions Aaron Hawkins and his angry, educated, kick-ass self. May he rest in peace.

But what Jason does mention is that he's not an angry person, so he doesn't sound angry on his blog, whereas I feel like certain people are assumed to be angry for stating an opinion emphatically just because having an opinion and standing up for that opinion is something that, for instance, women, aren't expected to do.

There was some discussion about the subtext of commenting on how a black person is well-spoken.

Jason explains the word "tourists." God. I miss Aaron. Tiffany suggest an FAQ to answer those common questions tourists have about being black, or being a woman.

Everything comes from George. He is the Original Negro.

Tony responds to a question about being honest by mentioning GG Allin.

The originator of the "well-spoken" comment stood up to defend herself, and Jason is very well-spoken in his response. Ha! He says that it's important to keep the filter of the recipient of the content in mind, and this is why identity is important.

George talks about cultural production being about what we do. "Chappelle, bless his heart, is keenly aware of what he does and says and the differences of his audiences over time."

"Coffee house dudes and white chicks recognize quality, too." -George Kelly

Tony talks about being an ambassador, as a light-complected black person, to race issues.

Jason grew up as the lone black kid in the smart class, and feels he finally connected with "the black student union" when he brought himself into the blogging world. Blogging connected him to a social circle he never had before.

Someone asked how they deal with "ass showing" within the community, and Tiffany talks about the diversity of the community, and how engagement rules can't be applied universally.

"It's about having an out-of-browser experience." -George Kelly

Eliza Camahort says that it's important to remember that inclusion is desired IN ADDITION TO, not INSTEAD OF identity blogging.

No additional comments. They all rock. Tiffany is excited to see so many women and black people here. They counted 13 last year, including them. Props are given to BlogHer. Jason is interested in doing something similar for people of color. Liza Sabater is working with Afronetizen on this project.

Lynne wraps up by saying "I'd like to be asked to sit on some of these panels, not just because of my race or gender, but because of my expertise." (and Eliza adds "In addition to.")

Jason says you can't be passive - you have to be invested in the community.

Posted at March 13, 2006 1:02 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://mt.riceweevil.com/tb/6353

Comments

Thanks so much for liveblogging this panel--you are doing justice to those of us that really wanted to go to this but couldn't. Thank again!

Posted by: fab at March 13, 2006 2:02 AM

Hi Dru!

I wanted to further the point you raised about how your identity (and certain identities in general) informs how people perceive your words as "fightin' words". I agree. I think because I haven't written much about political or especially controversial social issues much of late that I forget how people react when I do. A lot of times, on challenging subject matter, just the fact that I might ask a question or be struggling with an issue is cause for some to call me angry or perceive my words as an attack.

You're very right.

Posted by: Jason T. at March 13, 2006 9:27 AM