Will Bill Richardson Become the Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson for Hispanics?

I think that Bill Richardson is an honorable man. He is a lifetime politician who has a strong resume. Nobody else from either party can talk about experience in national politics as governor, Secretary of Energy, US Ambassador to the United Nations and a 14-year congressman. He participated in 24 presidential debates over the past few months. He was a strong advocate for ending the war and bringing our troops home from Iraq. He also felt strongly about the need for a comprehensive energy policy.

However, he never got traction with voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. As such, he pulled out of the presidential campaign today. He joins Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton as a former presidential candidate. Jackson and Sharpton have been treated as the 'de facto spokespersons' for any and every issue impacting on the Black community since they became former presidential candidates. Others have noted the same thing. If something happens tomorrow morning that impacts on the Black community ... then the mainstream media will use their speed dial to contact Jackson or Sharpton for a comment.

Now that Richardson is the first Hispanic person to run a credible campaign for national office ... and he is now a former presidential candidate ... I wonder if he will become the face of the Hispanic community within the mainstream media?.

Did you ever wonder why no other community has so-called national spokespersons like we are given by the mainstream media in our Black community. If the Asian community jumps off into some controversy ... who does the mainstream media call? If the Italian community is upset by a movie that portrays their culture in a negative light ... who does the mainstream media call?

Villagers, will the mainstream media call on Bill Richardson the next time there is a national crisis in the Hispanic community now that he is a former presidential candidate? What say u?

Iowa Victory Speech * Barack Obama

I am sharing this video for any of you that did not to see this speech live. History was made on January 3, 2008 in Iowa when Barack Obama won the Democratic primary. I think that many of us will look back to this moment with great pride in our country. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy listening to a true statesman in action....

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday: Barack Obama

I'm glad to see the Dennis Kucinich is telling his supporters to vote for Obama tomorrow in Iowa.

Villagers, the first real voting for our next President of the United States begins tomorrow in Iowa. I support Barack Obama for a variety of reasons ... not the least of which is that he would become a remarkable role model for my 8-year old son.

Would you rather see Barack and Michelle Obama in your living rooms over the next 4-8 years? or Hillary and Bill Clinton? Personally, I'm ready for a change in Washington DC that can be felt deep down in our bones. A change that will uplift every family in America as well as every family in most other nations around the world.

How To Market Your Blog in 2008

There are over 600 Black blogs included in the Black Blog Rankings this month. We share the list of the Top 10 Black Blogs on the 1st day of each month. However, there are many blogs with great content that are not being widely recognized. They aren't getting comments ... they don't have high traffic rankings ... and their pagerank is low.

I read an article written last year by Tony Hung that I found quite inspiring. It helped me a lot, so I thought I'd share its main points here with you. Below you'll find tips from Tony with a few of my own comments attatched. I hope it will help you improve your blog's rankings and blogosphere influence in 2008.

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Persistence: All the marketing in the world won’t help you if you have a lame-duck blog. You must write well and write consistently. You can never give up! In your search for more traffic, more promotion, and more publicity, never forget it starts with great content — and needs to continue with great content on a regular schedule. There’s no question that maintaining quality and regularity is difficult while you’re starting out, particularly if you’re time strapped … but hang in there, because if you sacrifice this, all of your marketing efforts will be for naught.


Become an expert on something: It's my view that if you read one book per week on a given subject ... you will be a world-class expert on that subject within a year. Most people don't read regularly. You can develop a keen interest, continue to read and write intelligently, and after a while, your experience will make you an expert. Bloggers will seek out your expertise, your reknown will grow, and it will be easier to be noticed, linked to, and get cross promoted.


Design is more important than you think: You can only make a first impression once — first impressions count, and they can count for cash money. If you’re serious about blogging, you need to separate and elevate yourself from the blogging masses, and its impossible to do if you look exactly the same as them. Easy to say, hard to do, but absolutely necessary. I redesigned my blog using the services of someone who's work I kept seeing as I surfed the Internet. Do what you have to do to ensure that your blog looks professional, stands out, and screams "yes, I am worthy of your attention!".


Get Your SEO On: SEO = Search Engine Optimization — get your own domain name, host your own blogging software, enable permalinks, create keyword rich headlines, create unique title tags, enable trackback and ping functionality, ensure your blog pings pinging-services.


Publish full feeds: Publishing full feeds can increase your traffic. Feed subscriptions are critical; get your feeds burned through Feedburner so you can track how many are subscribing. People who subscribe to feeds rarely unsubscribe, and every single feed subscriber is a potential source of traffic to your blog.


Do interviews with other bloggers: Score interviews with newsworthy individuals (who may be linked to newsworthy content), to create link worthy content, but more importantly, create news on THEIR blog to get back to YOUR blog.


Break important stories: If you have an interest in an area, it is possible to break important stories as long as you’re willing to put in the time and energy to find stuff. Benefit: being picked up by A-list blogs, mainstream news outlets and more.


Have a contest: Or, have regular contests, which encourage participation and buzz in your corner of the blogosphere.


Publish original research: If you’ve got the time, start with a question, try and figure it out with the data available, and "publish it". My fledgling efforts at researching and publishing the Black Blog Rankings is an example.


Put out Press Releases: Particularly if you have something new, unique, or particularly important to say (such as an important story, or research)


Work your long tail: A tip based on your SEO efforts; there is a free service called Hit Tail that will analyze the search terms leading to your blog traffic, and yank out high quality key words you should be focusing on that you might not immediately think of. This can help you focus your future posts as you are already getting traffic for those key words.


Answer your comments, in your comments, and off blog: - When you do get comments, answer as many as humanly possible, and if its an interesting enough issue or question, contact the poster directly for a friendly follow up. Treat every potential poster as a potential subscriber to your feed, and a future friend (we call them villagers) and contact.


Spend time to create links and trackbacks: In every post spend as much time as you can to create outbound links to relevant and high linking blogs; many blogs automatically have trackbacks enabled, so in their comments section they will have a link back to your blog. If its a highly trafficked and ranked blog, this can mean traffic BACK to your blog, and it can draw notice from the author themselves — because, let’s face it, we’re all vain ... even the big bloggers ... and we’re all interested in who is linking to us.


MyBlogLog My traffic on this blog tripled last year when I subscribed to MyBlogLog — I encourage you to know it, love it, and embrace it. Since its been acquired by Yahoo, it has exploded all over the blogosphere. MyBlogLog offers a free widget that enables you to build a free community around your blog, and to easily see which other bloggers have been to your blog. You can "add" friends, and generate traffic, but more importantly, your own network of like-minded blogging colleagues in a way that is relatively easy and efficient. Just go easy on the unsolicited messages.


Join a blog carnival: Where every blogger who joins one blogs about a topic, then each blog gets promoted. Here’s an index of blog carnivals to get you started.


Join blog network: Between Afrosphere Bloggers Association, The AfroSpear and others, there is networking potential, income potential, and a link-a-palooza waiting for you (through the linkroll as every member may have to link to every other member) if you’re able to get into one.


Participate in forums: Forums with tons of pages, huge lists of members, and a responsive community are an easy way to not only connect with other individuals, but an opportunity to tastefully demonstrate your expertise and a link back to your blog. I recently created a forum for Black IT professionals.


Participate on larger blogs in comments: By participating directly in another blogger’s comments you a) get their recognition and b) get the recognition of the blogging community. Also, here’s a tip: try and be one of the first few commenters on heavily trafficked sites to get recognized — most people won’t read past the first 10-20 comments. Here’s another tip for traffic: IF (and ONLY IF) you have posted something relevant that is pursuant to the ongoing conversation and IF the blog has a commenting policy that will allow you to do so, post a link back to a post on your own site ("hey guys, I wrote about how we can solve this problem! — check out the link over here, but let me summarize it for you … "). Sometimes you’ll be surprised at how much traffic comes back.


Join Blogburst: Blogburst is a type of "blog network" (see #16), that syndicates content across American newspaper’s websites, such as USA Today and Reuters. Highly ranked inbound links + traffic + bragging rights to your crew that your post got featured in a newspaper. Not too shabby. Also on the upside, they have a new revenue sharing scheme. The bad: read their terms of service carefully — you give up certain rights when they republish your content, and the revenue sharing works on the top 100 publishers only.


Participate in Wordless Wednesday meme: They publish links to all of the participants.


Submit to blog directories: So people can find your blog.


Submit to Google sitemaps: Google will be able to find you so much easier when you use Google sitemaps. As you gain more Google juice, you'll get more traffic, resulting in higher rankings faster.


Submit to article directories: You might want to submit your favourite posts to article directories, where they will enable you to have a biobox / blurb with a link back to your own blog. Again, demonstrating your expertise, and moreover, the article might get picked up in a ezine or another blog, leading to more traffic and more inbound links.


Get interviewed: If you’ve demonstrated your expertise, or have done something newsworthy, or reported on something newsworthy, try and get interviewed. As long as its done in a fair way (doesn’t need to be a completely puffpiece) by a site or blogger with some reknown, its more traffic for you.


Get listed on a news aggregator, or blog aggregator: Like Techmeme for technews, or Tailrank for blogging news.


Create free stuff for yourself and give it away: Like ebooks, digests of your favourite posts, pdfs, and so on. Make sure to include a link back in the document, back to your site.


Create free stuff for other people: the same, let them distribute it, get a link back.


Pay for pub: Efficient means of using your cash is to buy targeted Adwords, or keywords in Yahoo’s advertising network; you could get other bloggers to write about you using PayPerPost or ReviewMe; or you purchase text link ads through Text-Link-Ads.com


Make friends with other bloggers: Ridiculously simple, but its true. Benefits of "networking" (making friends) include more mentions on other blogs, more requests for interviews, more partnerships in future deals, more "ads" into their MyBlogLog network, more "ads" into someone else’s blogroll (and therefore links back to your blog) — it goes on and on.


Guest blog: Offer to do it for free, and you’ll be able to demonstrate what you know to an entirely new audience. Gives you great credibility, and of course, most will allow a courtesy link back to your own blog. A free foot-in-the-door to some communities as well.


Volunteer, intern, scut-monkey your way into a blogger’s graces: Maintaining a highly trafficked site is a lot of work. Offer to volunteer your time with menial behind the scenes stuff (moderating posts, acting as a bird dog for news) for free and with a smile, and you’ll get a foot-in-the-door with the blogger, their network, and future opportunities.


Get hired: You never know which blog organizations are looking to hire new bloggers; again, an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge, meet new bloggers, and open tons of professional "doors" … because now that you’re getting paid ... you’re a "pro-blogger"


Network in person: Find other local bloggers using services like Meetup, and see if they’re literally getting together to commiserate about blogging or their topic of blogging. If you’ve got the time, there’s nothing that makes an impression as actually meeting someone in person. Tip: bring a business card; Another tip: if you don’t have any, make some; yet another tip: if important people are going to be there, really — try and go. A great opportunity is coming up later this year at the Blogging While Brown conference!


Join virtual groups: Through Yahoo Groups, Google Groups, CollectiveX, and more; then bring the conversation off the group with emails and instant messages. Be friendly, be helpful, and it will pay dividends.


Cross promote: Once you’ve gotten to know people, you can kindly remind them to promote posts that you’re particularly proud of; or, vote for your submissions on Digg or your social bookmarking site of choice. Reciprocate.


Facebook: Its a social network that has opened its doors behind its college beginnings. Anyone can sign up. Start connecting with old friends and colleagues, like any other social network. You can import your own blog’s RSS feed, so that your connections can see what you’re blogging. Who knows where that might lead?


Join Helium: Helium actively looks for people to head new categories of content. Think a paid "about.com" — for its authors. If you have a particular interest that isn’t yet served on Helium you might want to check it out; besides giving you cash for content, it’ll also demonstrate your authority in a topic, and you’ll be able to leverage Helium’s own traffic for your own blog through a linkback on your profile.


Yahoo Answers! A similar idea; but this time, you’re answering questions that people are posting. Yahoo! is quite careful about spam, however, and including a "signature" is a dicey proposition at times. There is a fairly sophisticated registry and voting system that tries to prevent "gaming", but given how much traffic yahoo! answers gets, AND its inclusion as a separate result area in Yahoo SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) it might be something worth looking into.


Join LinkedIn Network: More of a professional network that is an important part of any blogger's toolkit. Here is my Linkedin Profile.


Create a Squidoo Page Lens: On a given related topic to your blog; participate in the Squidoo community; Squidoo has a ton of traffic, and you could funnel traffic and tastefully include links to other relevant sites and perhaps your own blog.


Use MySpace Marketing: The idea is to capitalize on the HUGE amount of traffic MySpace gets (some interesting thoughts over here). Create a profile, create relevant content and links back. Start adding friends. Comment on your friends space. Join groups. Start enjoying the trickle back traffic. Here is my profile on MySpace.


Get Dugg / Netscaped / Reddited / Stumbled upon: Whole articles (and sites) are written about the intricacies of socially bookmarking. Here’s a tip: focus on creating great content, make friends on these sites if they allow you to, and submit your stories judiciously.

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Do you have other marketing ideas for bloggers that aren't included in this list? Villagers, I'm going to redouble my efforts in 2008 to implement many of these 42 ideas in the coming days and weeks. How about you?

Top Ten Black Blogs (Jan 2008)

Over 600 Black blogs are part of the Villager's Black Blog Rankings (BBR) for January 2008. I encourage each of y'all to add the Electronic Village to your blogroll if you haven't done so already.

I plan to share the Villager's BBR later this month on the NPR News & Notes Blogger's Roundtable. With any luck the other topic for that day will be the upset victories by Barack Obama in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries!

Anyhow, it has been a pleasure to share the Top 10 Black Blogs over the past five months. I remain open to ideas and suggestions from all Villagers on ways that this project can be more useful to you. What other features or information would you like to see in future iterations of this list?

We plan to publish interviews with some of the brothers and sisters on this month's BBR. Please use your Village Voice to contact me if you would like to be interviewed! Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) is the driving force behind the BBR. Let others have lists of so-called influential bloggers with no melanin. We created our own list to highlight the talent and creativity (Kuumba) that exists in our own community. And our list continues to grow grow:

• Sept 2007 list ranked 75 Black blogs.
• Oct 2007 list ranked 300 Black blogs
• Nov 2007 list ranked 430 Black Blogs
• Dec 2007 list ranked 516 Black Blogs

Today we release the January 2008 BBR with 602 Black blogs in the mix with much love to the Top Ten Black Blogs:

1. Angel Laws: Concrete Loop* (Authority: 1,111 / Rank: 2,225) - [Entertainment] This blog has been in the #2 slot since we began the rankings, however, this month Concrete Loops reached the top slot! Angel is shown in the photo with Jam Donaldson (of 'Hot Ghetto Mess' infamy)! This is a Black celebrity entertainment blog with gossip, music, celebrity interviews, pictures and such. Have you seen your favorite celebrity on Angel's blog?


2. Pam Spaulding: Pam's House Blend (Authority: 1,086 / Rank: 2,357) - [Politics] This blog falls out of the top spot for the first time since we started the BBR in Sep 2007. Pam shares her thoughts on politics and invites others to join in the debate. Many of us will be on her political blog as we watch the presidential race heat up this year. Someone let Pam know we are looking for her to share some blogging tips with us! Pam, are you out there?


3. The Bossip: Bossip.com (Authority: 1,051 / Rank: 2,475) - [Entertainment] We just learned about Bossip.com this month. They moved directly into the #3 slot on this month's BBR! Bossip.com is a fast growing urban-focused new media property that draws a loyal following of young and influential trend setters who are up to date with what’s hot in society. Does anyone know if The Bossip is a brother or sister?


4. Fresh Crunkjuice: Crunk & Disorderly* (Authority: 780 / Rank: 3,993) - [Entertainment] This blog was created in August 2004, however, it didn't get serious until May 2005. This is an active entertainment blog. The motto is simple and direct, "In Fresh We Trust". Yo' Fresh ... consider giving us some link-love as one of your Fresh Picks!


5. Natasha E: Young, Black & Fabulous (Authority: 762 / Rank: 4,146) - [Entertainment] Natasha moved her hot gossip blog to her own domain. Her newer blog has moved up to BBR#20, making her the first blogger with multiple blogs in the Top 25!


6. Nah Right: Nah Right (Authority: 698 / Rank: 4,797) - [Entertainment] This is another Black blogger that we only learned about this month. Some say that Nah Right is the most important East Coast hip-hop blog there is. His blog began in May 2005 and continues to thrive. I'm open to learning more about the brother. Do you have any 411 to share?


7. Oliver Willis: Oliver Willis (Authority: 622 / Rank: 5,740) - [Politics] Oliver is a fan of the Washington Redskins. This is a good time for the brother as his team made the playoffs and the 2008 presidential race is heating up bigtime in places like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. He began his blog in April 2005.


8. La Shawn Barber: La Shawn Barber's Corner (Authority: 610 / Rank: 5,907) - [Politics] Freelance writer La Shawn Barber offers political commentary from a Christian perspective. NPR News & Notes listed the 8/15/2007 Blogger's Roundtable with Sis. Barber as one of their best shows in 2007. I 'met' Sis. Barber during NPR panel discussion in Nov 2007. She is an insightful sister with a powerful political blog.


9. Sokari Ekine: Black Looks (525/ 7,820) - [Social Commentary] Sokari brings a focus on all things African. This is the highest-ranked blog on the BBR from outside of the United States. Sokari is currently in London. Her posts cover a range of issues such as gender violence, racism, sexuality, HIV/AIDS and cancer. Sokari and her guest bloggers are all progressives, Africanists and activists with a strong belief in the power of the pen to bring about change. This blog began in June 2004.


10. Gina McCauley: What About Our Daughters* (Authority: 443 / Rank: 9,880) - [Social Commentary] This blog was created by a sister who believes that now is the time for organized action to combat the destructive portrayals of Black women in popular culture. 2007 was a remarkable year for this blogger. Sis. McCauley was named one of the 25 most influential African Americans by Essence Magazine. Her blog was listed as BBR #19 in Sep 2007 and breaks into the Top Ten Black Blogs for the first time this month!

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HONORABLE MENTION (11-25): How To Split An Atom, Sandra Rose, Afro Bella*, Paula Mooney’s Tips, Darla Mack News & Reviews, Rod 2.0:Beta, The Field Negro*, Entre mes Lignes, Young, Black & Fabulous*, Keith Boynkin*, Stereohyped*, A Hot Mess!, Republic of T, Angry Black Bitch and Jack & Jill Politics.

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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.

These Black blogs are important spheres of influence. Reach out and let them know that you appreciate the work they have put in over the past few months and years to get on this list.

Those blogs with an asterisk after their name are 2007 Black Weblog Award winners. 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.

Post a comment below if you are a Black Blogger interested in learning what your ranking is this month!

My vision is that many of the brothers and sisters on this month's BBR will share their village voice with us right here on the Electronic Village blog (BBR #34) or over on the BDPA Foundation blog (BBR #334). Happy New Year!

Villager's 2007 Year-In-Review

It has been a remarkable year for those of us in the afrosphere. The number of blogs included in the Black Blog Rankings (BBR) grew from 75 to over 600 in the course of a few months. We saw the creation of both the Afrosphere Bloggers Association and The AfroSpear.

Mainstream media become much more aware of our presence as evidenced by events in Jena LA, Paris TX and Atlanta GA. Many Black bloggers are regularly featured on weekly National Public Radio broadcasts. Heck, a Black blogger was recognized as one of the 25-most influential African Americans in the country by Essence magazine.

I encourage all villagers to check out the comprehensive 'Black blogging year-in-review' perspective provided by Yobachi earlier this month.

I was inspired by my sister (Kyra Hicks) to create two blogs in 2007. The Electronic Village (BBR #34) was brought to life in Jan 2007 and redesigned in Sep 2007. The BDPA Foundation Blog (BBR #342) came online in Aug 2007. Both blogs evolved during the course of the year. Generally, the mission for both blogs is to share information that will inform and uplift our readers about people of African descent. The BETF-Blog tasks itself with an added goal to raise funds for the education and technology programs of BDPA.

We track our popular posts throughout the year. However, it is tradition to reflect on the year just ended. As such, we share with you our list of the top ten posts for 2007:

1. Black Blog Rankings - I got pissed when a blog listed the most influential bloggers in the world ... and not a single person of African descent made the list. I channeled my anger into the creation of the Black Blog Rankings. I publish updated rankings on the 1st day of each month. The inaugural publishing of the Top Ten Black Blogs took place in Sep 2007.
2. Jena 6 - The saga of justice in Jena, LA is well-documented on my blog and elsewhere. Without doubt, the major reason that the Electronic Village rose into the top 5% of all Black blogs was our coverage of the Jena 6 situation. I didn't know it at the time, but our blog was one of a handful of Black blogs that helped fuel the fire resulting in over 20,000 marchers descending on Jena in early September. I summarized my thoughts originally in a post titled, Jena 6: An American Tragedy.
3. HSCC Testimonials - Jena Six showed us high school kids going in a bad direction. I also wanted to show high schoolers going in the right direction. BETF wants to provide scholarships and funding for the high school computer competition (HSCC). As such, I share testimonials from HSCC students on my blog. One of the most powerful testimonials came from a youngster in Charlotte, NC.
4. The AfroSpear - One of the biggest accomplishments for Black bloggers in 2007 was the creation of The AfroSpear. My post explaining the evolution of the AfroSpear is one that I hope to update in the future.
5. Barack Obama - One of the first major stories in 2008 will be the results of the Iowa caucus. If Barack Obama wins that state caucus it will be one of the biggest stories around the world. For now, it is a dream and a prayer for many of us. My support for Barack Obama came after reading his first book. He is a remarkable brother ... and I truly believe that America needs him in the White House. I posted about Obama and his family a number of times during the year, however, I'm most proud of the fact that my blog provided live/streaming video of his appearance with Oprah Winfrey in South Carolina.
6. Nooses - One of the negative outcomes of the Jena Six story was the rapid and visible rise in the number of hateful nooses placed in public places to intimidate African Americans. One of my most powerful posts this year gave a history of lynching in America.
7. Tasered While Black - African American Political Pundit recently told me that our blog inspired him to create Tasered While Black (BBR #298). Back in March 2007, I shared my first post that talked about tasers.
8. Only A Dad - My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year. My father succombed to cancer later in the year. I shared his photo with my blog readers in a post dedicated to my Dad.
9. Hot Ghetto Mess - Another time when the power of the blogosphere showed itself to me was during the battle with Black Entertainment Television over a degrading television show. At one point, I saw direct action taken by a BET advertiser as a result of our blogging efforts. My inital post on this effort was simply entitled, BET is a Hot Ghetto Mess.
10. Don Imus - I was surprised by the speed in which this story circulated through the blogosphere. I joined with many other Black bloggers when I wrote that Imus should be fired.

Anyhow, these are my thoughts on the 2007 year-in-review.

Now, I am interested to learn what you think. After all, you have been a blog reader for some period of time. What would you care to share about the past year. Were there other posts or themes that you thought should be in the Top Ten? Where do you want us to take this blog over the next year? What say u?

Thoughtful Blogger Award

AJ, over at Over Analyze It shared this award with the Electronic Village while noting that we "...have made it a point to respond to comments posted on their blogs and are tolerant of those with dissenting positions (most of the time... lol). I think they all rock!"

It’s called the Thoughtful Blogger Award, and it was originally created by Christy (Writer’s Reviews). The award is for those

"who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for all of those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping other bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others."

It is in that spirit that I share The Thoughtful Blogger Award with:

1. Paula Mooney's Tips - Paula willingly shares tips with any blogger interested in learning more about the secret underbelly of the blogging business.
2. What About Our Daughters - Gina doesn't suffer fools lightly ... but, she makes herself available via her blog, Blogging While Brown conferences and blog radio shows. It has been a pleasure watching this sister rise in the ranks of influential bloggers ... while maintaining her willingness to communicate with the rest of us less talented bloggers
3. Black Women in Europe - Adrianne is helpful in the administration of a growing network of Black bloggers known as The AfroSpear. In addition, she is an advocate for all issues that impact upon people of African descent in the diaspora. It is a pleasure watching her blog grow in influence on the international scene.
4. plezWorld - Plez is another Black blogger in The AfroSpear who willingly volunteers to help with some of the administrative duties necessary to move us forward. More importantly, he is a brother willing to blog and comment on a wide variety of issues and topics.

I hope that these brothers and sisters accept this award in the spirit of Umoja with which they are given.

Missing: Chioma Gray

Chioma Gray is a 15-year old girl abducted from her hometown of Oxnard, CA. She is not blue-eyed and blonde ... so the mainstream media hasn't told you about her story yet. It is up to us to beat the drums on blogs like Black and Missing But Not Forgotten or Wichita NAACP to get her story out. We ask all Villagers to be vigilant in looking after their own children ... and keeping an eye out for Chioma as well.

Barack Obama Impact on Black Community

There are some unique perspectives on the Barack Obama presidential candidacy. Here are I encourage villagers to check out if you have time or inclination:

• Yobachi Boswell - 'Why a Barack Obama presidency may be more bad than good for Black people'
• Michael Eric Dyson and Glen Ford - 'Barack Obama and the African American community'
• Phx - 'The Audacity of Success'

Have you seen other interesting blog postings on Barack Obama's run for the presidency?

Stick a Fork in Hillary ... She is Done!

What happens to US Senators ... front-runners for the Democratic Presidential nomination ... when they break down and cry in the New Hampshire primaries?

They Lose!

1972 - Senator Edmund Muskie was the favorite to win the 1972 Democratic Presidential nomination. But being the front-runner for over a year proved difficult. During the New Hampshire primary, Muskie choked with anger broke down and cried because of a couple of nasty articles in the "Manchester Union Leader." Admittedly, one of the articles attacked his wife. There was no YouTube or citizen journalist back in 1972 ... so video of the incident is hard to find. But, Muskie lost the nomination because he was considered to be too weak for the presidency.

2008 - Senator Hillary Clinton was the favorite to win the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination. But being the front-runner for over a year proved difficult. During the New Hampshire primary, Clinton broke down into tears as she talked about the campaign. We have YouTube and citizen journalists in 2008 .... so you can check out the video.



Hillary lost the election with this crying jag. All of her work to be considered the Iron Maiden and her claims to be 'Ready' fall away with this 90-second video because it shows that she is too weak for the presidency.

History repeats itself. I would be interested to hear from Clinton supporters. Are you surprised at her 90-second breakdown on camera?

Africa ... Alkebulan ... Our Mother Country

My daughter is in the 8th grade. Over the past few weeks she has been studying world geography. She had maps of each continent with borders shown for all the countries. As I reviewed her map of Africa ... I realized that I didn't know how many countries were on the African continent. Do you know how many?

There are 47 countries on the African continent, including the disputed territory of Western Sahara. However, the islands off the coast are also usually listed as African, bringing the total to 53. The island nations are Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Madagascar, the Comoros, the Seychelles, and Mauritius. Each is an independent nation.

Mes Deux Cents shared the African map that I have down below. Over the coming weeks, I will share info about these African countries. I'll be learning new stuff ... perhaps you will as well. I wish that I knew which African country my ancestors came from ... that is something that we lost during the slavery period here in America. Perhaps we can find some connections on a personal, political, professional or economic level between African Americans and Africans as a result of these postings. Time will tell.

Villagers, do you have any preference on which country we should use to begin this educational journey? Do you have any thoughts on the type of information that should be shared in these posts over the coming weeks and months?

2007 Black Weblog Winner is White-Owned

Mes Deux Cents beat the drums to let us know that we were being hoodwinked and bamboozled with blogs masquerading as being run by people of African descent. One or more of the fake-Black blogs are owned by David Hauslaib. It turns out that Hauslaib is the owner/publisher for Stereohyped. I have to believe that he was laughing up a storm when his blog one the 2007 Black Weblog Award as the 'Best New Blog' of the year.

The Boston Globe outed Stereohyped as white-owned in this article. I wonder if there are any other white-owned blogs winning Black Weblog Awards or being listed on our Black Blog Rankings?

Manic Monday: Joy

It is time for the Manic Monday post. Today the word is Joy. Many of us know someone who is very sad. In my case, I am sad when I realize what a mess that I've made of my life in many respects, primarily through actions that led to divorce. I'm sad that my father passed away after his battle with cancer. I'm sad that our society is still so infected with vestiges of racism in almost every activity and action.

That being said, I'm grateful to Morgen for making Joy the word for this week. It reminded me of a simple Bible passage, Psalm 30:5:

"For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning."

I ask Villagers to pray for me, and others, who may be sad ... who may be crying this Christmas eve ... pray for us to remember that joy comes in the morning. Merry Christmas y'all!

Black Holiday Shopper Tasered by Police in Wisconsin Mall

Drums beating from Tasered While Black blog about another instance of an unarmed, innocent Black family being shot full of 50,000 volts of electricity by police. This time it was a Madison, Wisconsin couple out doing some Christmas shopping.

Major Lemon, a 48-year old Black man was in Madison's West Towne Mall with his wife on Christmas eve. The two of them were doing last-minute shopping for some family members who didn't have any Christmas presents under the tree yet.

Evidently, an anonymous tip was called into the police station about a Blackman with a gun in the mall. The Madison police came in full force to the mall looking for a suspect reported to have been carrying a handgun. They arrived ... found a convenient Blackman ... and promptly applied the taser in front of his wife and later arrested the brother for "resisting arrest". Of course, the brother didn't have a handgun ... but, so far the police don't see anything wrong with their taser-happy actions.

Tara Emery-Walls, the general manager at the nearby Arby's, felt that officers overreacted. "I didn't think it was right," she said. "A bunch of people were in here shopping. There were kids in here." Marissa Lemon (Major's wife) shares her perspective in this videotaped interview. We understand that Major Lemon plans to sue the police for their unlawful actions.

Taser happy cops at it on Christmas Eve. Is it just me? Or does it appear that police with tasers are out of control in this country?

Cops Disciplined for Tasering Pregnant Woman in Ohio

Villagers, we have some good news to report on one of the stories that we shared with you last month. Valreca Redden, a 33-year old pregnant Black woman, went to the police department on Nov 18th asked officers to take custody of her 1-year-old son. Instead of getting the support you requested ... she was brutally attacked and tased by a police officer.

Trotwood Police announced that the probationary police officer who shocked a pregnant woman with a stun gun has been fired, and four others have been disciplined following a departmental investigation. Officer Michael Wilmer, who joined the police department in December 2006, had already been terminated for unrelated reasons, which included driving city-owned vehicles at excessive speeds and posting unauthorized pictures on his MySpace.com account.

The investigative report prepared by Trotwood Police Maj. Quincy Pope said Wilmer was justified in using a Taser stun gun to subdue the woman but committed an error in judgment and violated department policy by administering the device to the woman's neck, an area reserved for the most violent subjects.

Wilmer also failed to summon medical help or ensure that photographs were taken and documented inaccurate information, all in violation of policy. Sgt. Richard Wright was suspended for one day for failing to see that photographs were taken of the woman's neck and to ensure that she received medical evaluation. Another sergeant was given a written reprimand for disseminating unprofessional messages. An officer received a reprimand for failing to document a domestic violence complaint, and another officer was given a counseling form for failing to properly log the use of a stun gun.

The Trotwood Police still don't want to acknowledge that the use of a Taser gun on this defenseless and innocent pregnant Black woman was wrong. However, they did get the right conclusion ... the taser-happy cop who fired the gun no longer wears a badge. I'm satisfied with the actions that they've taken to date. I hope that Valreca Redden takes them to civil court and gets paid big-time by suing them for their actions on that night.

What say u? Has justice been served?

Black August: Movie About Black Panther George Jackson

It amazes me the information that slides by without notice. I did not know about movie called Black August until earlier this morning while visiting UltravioletUnderground. The film shares the story of George Jackson, a Black Panther ... and former boyfriend of Angela Davis. Take a moment to review the trailer:


What say u Villagers? Did you know about this movie? Do you plan to watch it?

CBC Demands Pardon for Jena Six

My grandfather was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus back in the day. I supported the efforts of the CBC when I served as national president of an association of Black information technology professionals. However, it has been a long time since I've seen anything positive come from the CBC. As such, I was pleasantly surprised when fifteen CBC members asked Gov. Kathleen Blanco for clemency on behalf of Mychal Bell and the five members of the Jena Six. [source]

"We believe Mychal Bell and the Jena 6 have paid a sufficient debt to society for any transgressions they may have committed," Barbara Lee (D-CA) wrote in her letter on Wednesday. "The pardon power was regarded by the Founding Fathers as the 'power of grace' because of its capacity to bring about healing and reconciliation. That is what is sorely needed in Jena today."

Blanco's spokeswoman, Marie Centanni, is quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the governor is unable to grant pardons without a recommendation from the Louisiana Pardon Board. Oddly enough, a similar request made by the caucus to Blanco in September was received with a statement from Blanco's office saying the governor can only grant pardons after a person has been convicted and sentenced.

Scooter Libby received a commutation of his jail sentence ... and he will likely be pardoned in full by the president next year at this time. It is a shame that Gov. Blanco is a spineless government bureaucrat and not a true leader.

Anyhow, Villagers, do you agree with the CBC ... have the Jena 6 suffered enough punishment? Is a pardon the way to go at this point?

Celebrate Kwanzaa in Second Life

I am one of over two million folks (up from 100k since January) that have built Second Life into a dynamic alternative community, resource and commercial venue far different from what many of us are familiar with. It is more than a game. It evolved into a virtual world experience. My Second Life character is Villager Barbosa.

People of color, consciousness and rhythm have establihed a presence in Second Life. In many cases, our peeps are generating new experiences, presentations and program material. For more about our collective role in the shaping of this medium, see The Virtual Is Real - Just Follow The Eye Movements or the Music.

I am pleased to see that Villagers can participate in the 2nd annual multimedia Kwanzaa celebration within Second Life. Just head to the Nguzo Szaba Park located on Hip Hop Island. Villagers are encouraged to participate, to engage in a form & forum of celebration unique in the history of this cultural holiday. While the primary locus of the event will take place in Second Life, you will be able to connect & interact with the collective here and here.

The candle lighting opening the celebration will occur twice each day -- at 7pm EST/4pm PST, and 10pm EST/7pm PST in Nguzo Szaba Park. Come join us, and live the experience, be the story. The celebration is FREE. The new century is almost 8 years old, well on its own legs, and emerging into the realm of innovative exploration and play. This is an opportunity to see and experience it firsthand.

Villagers, do you have a Second Life account?

Killer Cop Resigns While City Council Boycotts

The fallout from the killing of 12-year old DeAunta Farrow continues to mount in West Memphis, AR. Sgt. Erik Sammis resigned his job on the police force four months after he shot the innocent youth [video report and copy of Sammis' resignation letter].

Three different investigations cleared Sammis of any wrongdoing, however, the community is very upset about the lack of responsibility being taken by the police department. My understanding is that Sammis will pop up next month on the payroll of a federal law enforcement agency.

The city council asked the police chief to resign. The mayor vetoed this action. The police chief ranted on television about his antipathy towards the feelings of African Americans in his town. The Black members of the West Memphis city council boycotted the meeting this week ... causing it to be cancelled. The boycott will stay in place until the police chief sits down to discuss the Farrow shooting with the Black leaders in the community.

Villagers, this is an interesting situation brewing in Arkansas. It hasn't hit the mainstream media yet. What do you think of the current developments?

Blogging to End AIDS

Progressive bloggers worked together on World AIDS Day to engage and educate our readers about AIDS. We raised our voices to increase AIDS awareness, increase understanding, and decrease stigma; especially for people of African descent. As we enter the new year, Villagers are encouraged to watch an online PBS program called The Age of AIDS. The trailer for the PBS program is shown below:



Please take the AIDS Leadership Pledge if you have time or inclination.

Ghost of DeAunta Farrow May Force Killer Cop to Resign

Here are some updates on the DeAunta Farrow killing down in West Memphis, AR. Villagers recall that the West Memphis city council passed a resolution to ask for the resignation of the two killer cops and the police chief. However, the mayor vetoed the resolution last week. More recently, we learn that Sergeant Erik Sammis, the killer cop cleared of all charges in the shooting death of DeAunta Farrow, may resign. See the television report shown below for details.

What do you think? Should Erik Sammis resign?

White Employees Suspended for Hanging Noose in Workplace

Two white employees of the Riverdale Park (Maryland) Department of Public Works suspended because they hung a noose in the workplace on December 7th. The man and woman involved in the incident claim it was a joke.

One former DPW employee says that racist attitudes and actions are common. In fact, this former employee would like to see the two jokers fired from the job and prosecuted for a hate crime. Click here to see videotaped report on this noose incident.

Villagers, I'm still at a loss how anyone in America can think that it is a joke to use hangman noose in conjunction with any African American? Do they not understand the history of the noose in our country?

Blue Uniforms and White Hoods Ain't a Good Combination

UPDATE (12/15/07): Federal subpoenas issued in Hempstead Police Dept noose case.

UPDATE (10/15/07): Local NAACP Leaders speak out on noose incidents in New York.

UPDATE (10/6/07): Hempstead Police Department noose incident prompts new training.

How arrogant do you have to be in your whiteness to hang a noose in a police locker room to intimidate the African American deputy chief of police and other officers of African descent in the department? I guess we will find out as they investigate the latest noose incident ... this time in Long Island NY. The noose was found in the locker room of the Hempstead Police Department. Check out the video report of the incident.

Is there any benign connotation when a noose is hung at your schoolyard or your workplace or your home? Only horse thieves and Black men ever had to fear a noose. And it appears that this strange fruit is being grown again in our land.

One day you have empty nooses. The next day some fool tries to place an innocent Black neck in one.

Villagers, those three young 'pranksters' in Jena, LA appear to have started a whole new fad amongst some white folks in America. All of a sudden, it is difficult to go a week without another noose being hung in some public place as a not-so-subtle reminder of the danger that lurks beneath the surface for every African American in this country.

Racist thoughts being publically displayed in the form of nooses is something that needs to be addressed with quickness before this place explodes.

300-pound security guards are breaking the wrists of 16-year old teenage girls. White family having a good ol' fashioned picnic complete with rape and torture of a neighboring Black woman. Nooses flying high in high schools, colleges and now police stations.


Here a Jena, there a Jena, everywhere a Jena Jena.
Villagers, this is getting a little out of hand if you ask me. I wonder when President Bush or any of the candidates (either party) will recognize that this issue cannot be allowed to fester and grow as it currently appears to be doing?

What do you think villagers ... am I being too sensitive? Or is this some deep doo-doo in your view?

Wordless Wednesday: MLK Statue

Click here for background story!

America Has Lost a Generation of Black Boys

Drumbeats from Phillip Jackson (The Black Star Project) brought us the essay below. Villagers, as you read it ... ask yourself what you can do in your space ... in your home ... in your neighborhood ... to ensure that we turn this situation around in 2008.

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"There is no longer a need for dire predictions, hand-wringing, or apprehension about losing a generation of Black boys. It is too late. In education, employment, economics, incarceration, health, housing, and parenting, we have lost a generation of young Black men. The question that remains is will we lose the next two or three generations, or possibly every generation of Black boys hereafter to the streets, negative media, gangs, drugs, poor education, unemployment, father absence, crime, violence and death.

Most young Black men in the United States don't graduate from high school. Only 35% of Black male students graduated from high school in Chicago and only 26% in New York City, according to a 2006 report by the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Only a few Black boys who finish high school actually attend college, and those few Black boys who enter college, nationally, only 22% of them finish college.

Young Black male students have the worst grades, the lowest test scores, and the highest dropout rates of all students in the country. When these young Black men don't succeed in school, they are much more likely to succeed in the nation's criminal justice and penitentiary system. And it was discovered recently that even when a young Black man graduates from a U.S. college, there is a good chance that he is from Africa, the Caribbean or Europe, and not the United States.

Black men in prison in America have become as American as apple pie. There are more Black men in prisons and jails in the United States (about 1.1 million) than there are Black men incarcerated in the rest of the world combined. This criminalization process now starts in elementary schools with Black male children as young as six and seven years old being arrested in staggering numbers according to a 2005 report, Education on Lockdown by the Advancement Project.

The rest of the world is watching and following the lead of America. Other countries including England, Canada, Jamaica, Brazil and South Africa are adopting American social policies that encourage the incarceration and destruction of young Black men. This is leading to a world-wide catastrophe. But still, there is no adequate response from the American or global Black community.

Worst of all is the passivity, neglect and disengagement of the Black community concerning the future of our Black boys. We do little while the future lives of Black boys are being destroyed in record numbers. The schools that Black boys attend prepare them with skills that will make them obsolete before, and if, they graduate. In a strange and perverse way, the Black community, itself, has started to wage a kind of war against young Black men and has become part of this destructive process.

Who are young Black women going to marry? Who is going to build and maintain the economics of Black communities? Who is going to anchor strong families in the Black community? Who will young Black Boys emulate as they grow into men? Where is the outrage of the Black community at the destruction of its Black boys? Where are the plans and the supportive actions to change this? Is this the beginning of the end of the Black people in America?

The list of those who have failed young Black men includes our government, our foundations, our schools, our media, our Black churches, our Black leaders, and even our parents. Ironically, experts say that the solutions to the problems of young Black men are simple and inexpensive, but they are not easy or popular. It is not that we lack solutions as much as it is that we lack the will to implement these solutions to save Black boys. It seems that government is willing to pay billions of dollars to lock up young Black men, rather than the millions it would take to prepare them to become viable contributors and valued members of our society."

Please consider these simple goals that can lead to solutions for fixing the problems of young Black men:

Short term

1. Teach all Black boys to read at grade level by the third grade and to embrace education.
2. Provide positive role models for Black boys.
3. Create a stable home environment for Black boys that includes contact with their fathers.
4. Ensure that Black boys have a strong spiritual base.
5. Control the negative media influences on Black boys.
6. Teach Black boys to respect all girls and women.

Long term

1. Invest as much money in educating Black boys as in locking up Black men.
2. Help connect Black boys to a positive vision of themselves in the future.
3. Create high expectations and help Black boys live into those high expectations.
4. Build a positive peer culture for Black boys.
5. Teach Black boys self-discipline, culture and history.
6. Teach Black boys and the communities in which they live to embrace education and life-long learning.

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What say u?