ve and others ruminated on 'What to do in the Afrosphere'.There is a blogosphere out there with a kazillion bloggers. The blogosphere is not very diverse according to the Washington Post. Some white bloggers and some Black bloggers. The Black bloggers make up something that is commonly referred to as the "Blackosphere".
Within the "Blackosphere" are many Black bloggers posting information on any number of subjects. Those concerned African Diaspora bloggers who discuss problems that affect people of African descent, create solutions and action plans to solve those problems, and enact the plans using Internet resources evolved into a more intimate group known as the "Afrosphere". This group is organizing with itself as an Afrosphere Bloggers Association.
And deep within the soul of the "Afrosphere" is the vanguard of bloggers of African descent known as "The AfroSpear". The AfroSpear works to carve a path for our people into this 21st century. In effect, the AfroSpear is the realization of an online think tank for Black progressives to discuss, muse, and ruminate issues that affect our communities. The AfroSpear is not a monolithic entity ... but rather a virtual force that encourages lively debate, discourse, and an occasional disagreement as we hone a thought or platform on a particular issue.
Francis Holland created a diagram that shows this evolution in a more visual manner.
The roster of AfroSpear bloggers is powerful in terms of quality and growing daily. It is a group of brothers and sisters achieving positive and actionable results on a wide range of issues. As PlezWorld noted,
'...the real power and effectiveness of such an AfroSpear will be borne out of its ability to affect change in our way of life and in a broader sense, that of America. Let's see if our collective foray into the great abyss of the blogosphere will be a call to those who need our votes or to those who seek our approval.'I am proud to be a member of the blogosphere, Blackosphere, Afrosphere and AfroSpear! I encourage you to check out the AfroSpear Blogroll over on the left-hand side of my blog. Visit some of these brothers and sisters and support their efforts to 'make a difference' for our peeps. If you are a Black blogger of African descent ... then I invite you to be part of Villager's Black Blog Rankings.
In any case, I'm interested in your thoughts about the evolution of The AfroSpear. Well villagers ... what say u?
28 comments:
I'm gonna borrow (okay..steal) your Bonds link from your sidebar.
This is a great history of our development. With your leave, I'm going to post it over at the Democratic Afrosphere as well.
I just posted this as our first guest-post over at the Democratic Afrosphere blog. I hope this blog will become a meeting point for us in the Afrosphere to talk about what our hopes and strategies for 2008 presidential and Congressional elections.
In fact, if you'd like to submit something about your perspective on 2008, we'd be happy to publish it.
Katherine - I'm glad that our Village Hero feature is useful to you. I hope you have reason to visit us more often in the future.
Francis - I look forward to supporting your efforts with the Democratic Afrosphere blog.
peace, Villager
Bro Villager thanks for showing the love. I really appreaciate it.
afrosphere is an important part of the blog world and the blogs are compelling. They are written by people who care and dedicate much time to make the product worth while. I am proud as well to be a member but my support has been little. You, ESQ, Bronze, Mr Griffin and many others are the ones that make it great. The effort judging by emails is amazing. Mr. Hicks, keep hope alive, you guys are doing great
As a proud member I thank you for this post Villager. I cross posted it at Black Women in Europe. Peace!
Mark - I look forward to continued evolution of ABA, The AfroSpear and other Black bloggers that haven't yet engaged with us.
James - Would you like to become part of The AfroSpear?
BWE - Asante sana for the link-love!
peace, Villager
First of all, wait a minute? I'm looking at your hero's in the left column, and is Franz Fanton White???
His book, Wretch of the Earth is part of the "canon of my paradigm" (as described by Dr. Wosene Yefru and 21st Century Africa: A Paradigmatic Shift)
I thought he was a Black Algerian?
As for the Afrosphere, I think it's a great thing - a coalition of bloggers that's needed. I'm bout to go join now.
Yobachi - Franz Fanon provides us with the village quote of the day ... the village hero (yesterday) was African American inventor Frederick Jones.
peace, Villager
Don't mind me. I'm just sitting on the sidelines watching and learning.
- sauerkraut
I like the idea of a Kemetsphere also. Technically Africa is Kemet (roughly translated as 'Blackland'). Africa is a name given by Europeans. I really think we should all recognize the power of words ( it is said the namer has power over the named...)and start training ourselves to recognize the Motherland by her true name. Even Egypt is a European given name.
I dig what you're doing though regardless, and applaud your perserverance. I'm adding you to the 'Lovelinks' so folks who visit my zone can find your zone if they haven't already.
Much Love and appreciation for what you are doing to uplift our Culture.
Purple Zoe - First, asante sana for adding this blog to your lovelinks. The idea brings a smile to my face.
I often refer to the motherland as 'Alkebulan' for the same reasons that you use 'Kemet'.
peace, Villager
(I had to revise due to typos)
^_^
Alkebulan? This is the first time I've been exposed to the name. Can you share a bit more about it?
Have a blessed week and many blessings on this Electronic Village.
Love&Light
-(Purple)Zoe
I would love to interview you for the Fall issue of Purple. You have a beautiful mind. The Fall issue is about 'The Roots of Things...'
If you're interested let me know.
Have a blessed evening and end of week.
Great take. I saw it a bit differently, but I think we're all on the same page.
http://averagebro.blogspot.com/2007/09/averagebro-blogs-live-from-jena-la.html
AverageBro - Interested in joining AfroSpear?
After becoming a member of the ABA, how does one get the AfroSpear button and link list of other ABA members?
Urban Scientist - ABA and The AfroSpear are two different organizations. I don't know the process for ABA. I imagine you can find out from the ABA website. As for The AfroSpear, members are provided with a Blogrolling code that will automatically populate the blogroll whenever new members are added...
Villager: Oh, then the wording on most of the on-line explanations of the AfroSphere/Spear Dichotomy are confusing. Because I was quite sure that being a member of the AfroSphere Bloggers Association (ABA) meant one was a member of AfroSpear. The 'Spear being a deliberate group of members among the masses of people in the 'Sphere just by virtue of being a member of Africana Diaspora.
This is especially stated in the online recruiting threads - join ABA and it directs you to links refering to AfroSpear. maybe a part 2 of the Evolution of the AfroSphere to focus on the distinction between ABA and AfroSpear?
Urban Scientist - Your point is well-taken ... and an update to the evolution of the AfroSpear is probably overdue. The AfroSpear as it is now constituted and ABA had an internal disagreement that resulted in a separation of the two organizations last summer...
So how do you put your blog to be rated?
And who does the rating?
MacDaddy - I assume you are talking about the Villager's Black Blog Rankings. I do the rankings myself. In theory I post the results on the 1st day of each month ... however, I have been missing that self-imposed deadline over the past few months. I should have the March 2009 BBR up later this weekend...
Villager,
The MSM can believe the lie that they are telling to comfort their nervousness. We know that there is diversity and talent galore on the net.
This is a nice post. I'm proud to be a member of Afrospear too.
Lady D - Asante sana!
How do you get your blog listed on your site and how can I join the blog network?
Please check out my blog sites. They are rough, but I am learning daily as I blog.
http://sheribillie.blogspot.com
http://thenerdydiva.blogspot.com
Sheri B - I look forward to visiting your two blogs. The AfroSpear is open to eligible bloggers of African descent. You can learn more on our GoogleGroup.
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