January 12, 2005

Why A Black Bloggers Association?!

Introducing Black Logs

Black Bloggers Association (BBA) is a non-partisan organization dedicated to promoting BBA members and their blogs. The membership includes independent/amateur bloggers, professional bloggers and professional writers who operate a personal blog, as well as those interested in the development of media blogging, citizen journalism, and related endeavors.

Black Bloggers Association believes in the independence and freedom of expression of its members .

Below are the current requirements for membership in Black Bloggers Association:

* Actively blogging.
* Touching base with other members.

Of course, there'll always be the question: Why a Black Bloggers Association?

"It's about empowerment. One blog, no matter how good, has limited power. One-hundred blogs [is] another thing altogether. ...[T]here can be tremendous power in an organization that can show it represents many bloggers. Of course, you could be one of the lucky ones who gets snapped up by mainstream media -- but even if that's your goal, a national organization can help bring that about...." -- Ric, BBA Founder

Posted by ronn at January 12, 2005 07:34 AM

Trackbacks

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Why A Black Bloggers Association?!:

» experiments in blogging/journaling black from Lynne d Johnson :: A Day In A Life
since i've been living in the dark lately, mainly dealing with issues related to work and personal life, i've missed out on a few developments that have been taking place 1. first there's afrodiary, which has been running since july... [Read More]

Tracked on March 1, 2005 10:51 PM

» Blogging While Black—SXSW Interactive from funkdigital.com
Don't get it twisted. I'm nowhere near Austin, Texas. I'm just follwoing the happenings. Wired quotes George Kelly of Negrophile. Lynne D. is moderating the panel. JT is in the mix as well. Full Circle has a blow-by-blow of the... [Read More]

Tracked on March 14, 2005 04:02 PM

Comments
Interesting. Have you joined yet? I was really big about being in the middle of it all, but now I almost feel like I wanna be a fly on the wall. Posted by: ej [TypeKey Profile Page] on January 12, 2005 08:07 AM
ej: I have a wait & see attitude. But I did join. I also want to be a fly on the wall, and add my buzz when I want. ;-) Posted by: ronn [TypeKey Profile Page] on January 12, 2005 09:05 AM
Hmmm.. I dunno about this. Ron, funny you, EJ and myself have the same reaction to this. Why is that, you think? Perhaps that's the conversation we should really be having. Posted by: j. brotherlove [TypeKey Profile Page] on January 13, 2005 01:21 PM
Um, while I want to retain a certain level of optimism when having a conversation about US, there's a lot about this scenario that's not sitting right with me. Who is putting this together - and why? And why don't we already know him? And why is that website looking all jacked up? Okay, cheap shot. Why wouldn't Black bloggers be involved in the planning stages of this? Anybody can do a Google search for Black bloggers ... Posted by: Donald [TypeKey Profile Page] on January 13, 2005 09:24 PM
Honestly, after having participated at the site for about a week now (mostly for shits and giggles), I don't see it as an association; it's more a place where one guy jacks articles from people's blogs without permission and then has a message board attached to it. Donald made an interesting point about why black bloggers wouldn't be involved in the planning stages. It further begs the question though...is the BBA HIS blog? Weirder and weirder.... Posted by: karsh [TypeKey Profile Page] on January 18, 2005 04:06 PM
You old women need to stop your carping and caterwalling and get your own sites up to speed. The technology is out there. Don't throw stones at me because I take the effort to learn it. And that's typical of us, ain't it? Crabs in a barrel. Never happy unless we're blocking another brother's shot. My people, my people ... Ricky Posted by: Ricky Landers on January 19, 2005 02:26 PM
I hope this doesn't turn into a cyber-shouting match. Please keep it respectful, and, if possible, think before posting -- it can be very difficult to read emotions in our statements. When time permits, I'll post my own thoughts on the site and the conversations going here about it. Posted by: ronn [TypeKey Profile Page] on January 19, 2005 07:12 PM
Mr. Landers, Using the phrase "crabs in a barrel" makes it sound like we crabs, miserably snapping at each other, are somewhere we don't want to be - and trying to leave. However, it looks to me like we all have our own comfortable spacious barrels, but perhaps you could benefit from us trying to climb into/out of yours. I'm not knocking you for learning how to design sites (go on, brother - your education benefits us all), but when you attempt to initiate a possible association with us (a group of people who seem to know each other but none of us know you) as "your shot" - an association, mind you, that none of us had hand in creating but that specifically benefits from our content - it sounds like the goal of such an association would be to authenticate you as an individual in this blog game as opposed to benefiting us as a group. If I'm wrong, well, good luck anyway. Just a footnote, though - as you've probably already surmised, there are a group of us who already associate with each other as Black bloggers. In fact, there might be other associations and collectives that we don't know about. Brother, if you want to make an impact on the blogosphere, I would suggest creating your own blog and developing your own voice. That would be a great start towards becoming part of a larger community and having something to add to it. Posted by: Donald on January 19, 2005 11:53 PM
Actually, it's my fault, Ronn. Karsh and Donald are entirely correct -- I *am* an upstart crow. But in my own defense, I wasn't aware Black Bloggers is the official sanctioning body in blackosphere. I should have asked about this -- gotten their approval, paid whatever dispensations and taxes warranted -- before starting Black Bloggers Association. Well, the harm's been done. But maybe to prevent others from committing the same pernicious social gaff, Karsh and Donald can tell us how the process works -- what the proper protocol is; who you see over there to get your card stamped, etc. Ricky Posted by: Ricky Landers on January 20, 2005 01:58 AM
Ok, has this totally died out or what? Posted by: Shawna [TypeKey Profile Page] on December 12, 2005 04:30 AM