Top Ten Black Blogs (May 2008)

It is fun to watch as others begin to recognize the importance of the afrosphere. Have you noticed the increase in the number of services directed towards Black bloggers? We've come a long way since I saw that list last year of so-called influential bloggers with no people of color included. In fact, you can see and learn more about remarkable Black bloggers from Vanessa's On The Black Hand Side (BBR #317). Vanessa shares updated '20 Questions With' interviews on a weekly basis. This is outstanding opportunity to learn more about talented brothers and sisters that you see listed in the Villager's Black Blog Rankings.

Today, we are proud to share with you Villager's Black Blog Rankings (BBR) for May 2008 with 1,173 blogs in the mix! Have you seen the growth over the past few months?

• September 2007 - 75 Black blogs
• October 2007 - 300 Black blogs
• January 2008 - 602 Black blogs
• April 2008 - 1,045 Black blogs

Prometheus 6 (BBR #46) and Open Entrance (BBR #113) both agreed to work with me on ways to improve the Black Blog Rankings over the coming weeks and months. I anticipate that we will find ways to automate part of this process. Right now, the entire process is something that I do manually. Frankly, I didn't have any idea how this ranking would grow in popularity when I got started. If you have ideas, suggestions or if you see some Black blogs missing from the BBR, then I encourage you to post a comment below!

Take a moment to see where your blog falls on the list ... then tell your blog readers ... and share some link-love with this post! For what it's worth, I'm still looking for a creative brother or sister that can create a nice button or banner that folks can place on their own website or blog pointing folks to the Villager's Black Blog Ranking (perhaps with a visual of a rhino on it). Any creative folks out there with ideas?

Anyhow, with no further ado, here are the Top Ten Black Blogs for May 2008:

1. The Bossip: Bossip.com (Authority: 1,153 / Rank: 2,605) - [Entertainment] Bossip.com holds down the BBR #1 slot for the third month in a row. There is alot of discussion here and elsewhere about the reason Black entertainment (or gossip) blogs do so well. Regardless of your opinion about gossip blogs ... you have to respect Bossip.com for its ability to maintain a loyal following of young and influential trend setters who are up to date with what’s hot in society. I must admit that I'm disappointed that the Bossip.com folks haven't dropped by to say anything to our villagers. Perhaps this will be the month that we hear from this powerhouse blog team.


2. Pam Spaulding: Pam's House Blend (Authority: 1,098 / Rank: 2,860) - [Politics] Pam proves to us that a Black blogger does not have to focus on gossip to be highly ranked. This blog focuses on Race, Politics, Feminism, Gays, Lesbians and TransGender issues. One way that Pam increased the popularity of her blog is by using guest bloggers. There are a number of talented brothers and sisters that post regularly on this blog. However, Pam is the reason that I enjoy it. I encourage you to view her candid comments on what we can expect for bloggers and blogging after the 2008 election cycle is over.


3. Angel Laws: Concrete Loop (Authority: 1,010 / Rank: 3,310) - [Entertainment] Angel Laws, a 23-year-old college student in Jacksonville, NC, started this blog as a hobby. She has changed the game with her Black celebrity and entertainment blog that focuses on gossip, music, celebrity interviews, pictures and such. Angel has been kind enough to visit with us in the past. I would not be surprised if her blog eventually gets back to the #1 slot.


4. ESKAY: Nah Right (Authority: 819 / Rank: 4,653) - [Entertainment] ESKAY continues to build this blog stronger and stronger as measured by the Technorati Authority ranking. He started his blog in May 2005. One of the common themes for the the blogs in the Top 10 is that they were created many years ago. It takes time to build a strong blog. Nah Right focus is on Music and Movies.


5. Fresh Crunkjuice: Crunk & Disorderly* (Authority: 626 / Rank: 5,691) - [Entertainment] This gossip blog, created in August 2004, jumped up a space to BBR #5 this month. However, I suspect that this blog will start to move down the list as Fresh Crunkjuice is transitioning from a Blogger.com site to one that he owns himself. I don't visit this blog very often, so I don't have much to add at this point in time.
6. Oliver Willis: Oliver Willis (Authority: 618 / Rank: 7,167) - [Politics] Oliver began his blog in April 2005. It is always good to have non-gossip blogs ranking this high in the BBR as it disproves the notion that Black blog readers are only interested in entertainment postings. Oliver is a manic Redskins fan who blogs quite abit about the 2008 election, conservatives and republicans.


7. Natasha Eubanks: Young, Black & Fabulous (Authority: 597 / Rank: 7,549) - [Entertainment] Natasha is a 25-year old law student in Washington DC. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to meet Sis. Eubanks when I traveled to Washington DC last month. I would have asked her for any tips on moving from blogspot.com domain to her own domain. She successfully made that transition over the past few months. Her blog remains one of the hottest Black celebrity gossip sites on the net since it was created in June 2005. Top tags on her blog are Candids, Parties and Rumor Control


8. Jack Turner and Jill Tubman: Jack and Jill Politics* (Authority: 461 / Rank: 11,444) - [Politics] - It will take a little longer for JJP to move up in the BBR, however, we are in the midst of one of the most exciting election cycles in our history. As such, the Black bourgeois perspective on American politics will continue to rise over the coming weeks and months. JJP has moved from BBR #31 in Sep 2007 rankings to current BBR #8. Top tags for this blog are 2008 Democratic Primary, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.


9. La Shawn Barber: La Shawn Barber's Corner (Authority: 417 / Rank: 13,018) - [Social Commentary] La Shawn continues her transition from being a political blogger. Her blog, born in Nov 2003, now writes about faith, culture, digital technology and how these three things intersect. Sis. Barber is an entrepreneur who consults with interested bloggers. I 'met' Sis. Barber during NPR Blogger Roundtables that we did in Nov 2007 and Jan 2008. Top tags on her blog are Faith, Pop Culture and Technology.


10. Sandra Rose: Sandra Rose (Authority: 411 / Rank: 13,259) - [Entertainment] Sandra Rose transitioned from her blogger.com platform to her own domain over the past few months. Her fans appear to have found the newer blog location as she breaks back into the Top 10 this month. Sandra's hook is her photography. She is a celebrity photographer with a portfolio of work that includes some of the greats from Janet Jackson to Usher and all points in-between and otherwise. Sandra Rose is Atlanta’s go-to-photographer when it comes to all things celebrity.

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HONORABLE MENTION (11-25): Real Talk NY Provides The Latest Hip Hop News, What About Our Daughters*, The Field Negro*, Afro Bella, The Angry Black Woman, Entre mes Lignes, Angry Black Bitch, Keith Boykin, Ill Doctrine, How To Split An Atom, Love B. Scott, A Hot Mess!, Clutch Magazine, Kenyan Pundit and QuestLove MySpace Blog

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The only qualification is that the blogger needs to be of African descent. The blogger does not have to be a member of The AfroSpear or the Afrosphere Bloggers Association, although we invite all Black bloggers to join either (or both) of those organizations.

Those blogs with an asterisk after their name are members of The AfroSpear.

Black Blog Rankings lean heavily on the Technorati Authority and Rank score for each blog. The Technorati authority and rank numbers are shown in parenthesis. The authority figure includes a number of factors including the number of blogs that are linked to this blogger over the past six months. The rank number indicates how many blogs are between the person listed and the #1 ranked blog in the world.

We do think that these Black blogs are important spheres of influence. Let them know that you appreciate the work they have put in over the past few months and years to get on this list. My vision is that many of the brothers and sisters on this month's BBR will join us later this year at the Blogging While Brown conference in Atlanta, GA on July 25-27, 2008.

Finally, I encourage you to provide some link-love to this post so that others can learn about the Villager's Black Blog Rankings! Next step is yours ... what say u?