African American Bloggers Do Exist

The African American Blogger Does Exist

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stockxpertcom_id6066651_jpg_9bce6daf644edab2dbb15e32c4e37a8e I was speaking with a good friend of mine who attended a Mom Bloggers’ event this week and she notices something that I have often complained to her about. There was a limited number of African American bloggers. When asked about the fact that there were not a lot of African American bloggers, the response was that they could not find them.

Hmmmm! So what are my thoughts on this?

I have been itching at the bits for a while to write on this topic. The lack of Afrian American bloggers and social media experts being passed over for so much has bugged me to no end. However, I am not upset because it appears to be under the cover racism. I am not mad because people are making excuses not to come in contact with the African American community on a deeper level. No, this is a two way street.

Everyone has some fault.

Up until last year, I kept quiet about the subject. However, there is an event that came up this year that I had to make a stand on.I contacted the Coordinator of a popular event and community and informed her that the fact there were no African American women, or, colored women for the fact ,speaking at her up coming event was not cool. The response I got was the to her the internet was colorless. I was shocked because last time I checked when you look at my picture, you see a very pretty caramel momma.

Now I was asked to be a speaker at the next event for this popular group but I have yet to be contacted about it and really, I am ok with it. I am used to it. It even felt like more of a bandaid as opposed to a solution to the problem.

This led me to do some research and what I found did not shock me at all. The majority of the blog and social media events do not have African Americans in the line up. I know many intelligent African Americans who are well versed in these areas and not to seek them out is just wrong.

I can name 10 African American Mom bloggers…

So as you see there are many African American Mom bloggers. As a matter of fact, Disney sponsors an event every year for African American mom bloggers and from what I read they love it.

The bottom line on both ends is that we all have to cross the bridge.

I love my people, but I am a lover of not just African Americans but people in general. However, there is a richness and quality about the African American community that is alive and full of passion. But we do tend to migrate in groups that belong to only “us”. We will create groups that are African American in nature, join and stay there. Never really reaching out to the community around us.

That is not good either. How can people find us?

As an African American woman my goal is to show not just people who share my hue, but all people the beauty of the woman God is creating me to be. It is not about my color but my character. And if people refuse to see that because I am a caramel woman, then that is their lost. I cannot do anything about it but share my views.

I think that there are still many bridges to be crossed in the blogging and social media arenas.

Bridges that see beyond the color
Bridges that look beyond the stereotypes
Bridges that go beyond what group I may or may not belong to
Bridges that teach people to see someone for who they are and not for what they think the person may be

I want to challenge every person reading this today to look at a person for who they are. If you are a coordinator or owner of a community that has blogging events, find those mom bloggers of color (black, brown, olive, and the rest) and ask them to be a part of the event. If you are thinking that you can’t find them they are there.

I simply did a search and found the ten I listed here.

I plan on blogging more and bringing the truth to light. It is high time we stop hiding behind the excuses and reach out to the community at large. We segment ourselves too much and this should just not be.The world is made of many different colors and we tend to stick to what we know.

It is time to step out of the box of perception and look at the real world that sits on the horizon.

19 Comments »

Patrick Sanders said:

May GOD bless you SISTER keep the faith and may GOD give
you the strength and courage to keep serving, the WORLD
needs more of you.
Sincerely,
Patrick Sanders
Please follow me on twitter.com/plsmkt

# 27 June 2009 at 10:58 pm

Beverly Mahone said:

LaTara,

I appreciate you writing this post. I have written similar posts about the fact that all baby boomers are not alike–which has raised some eyebrows. We are held to a different “qualifying” standard. Unfair? yes. But I do believe we just keep doing what we’re doing and someone will start to hear the noise. I know they’re hearing my noise because I’m rather LOUD!

Beverly Mahones last blog post..What Do Your Colors Say?

# 27 June 2009 at 11:13 pm

LaTara (author) said:

Thank you Patrick!

Bev, we ca be loud together

# 27 June 2009 at 11:18 pm

Kelly McCausey said:

I don’t know what event your friend was at or who organized it but I do know that when it comes to brands reaching out to mom bloggers, they reach out to those that they perceive to be the most popular. They look for all of those superficial signs of ‘influence’.

That and they often ask those popular bloggers to reach out to others on their behalf – creating a ‘birds of a feather’ effect.

I don’t know what my point is… just saying that I see what you see. An imbalance that is always noticeable but rarely discussed.

# 27 June 2009 at 11:49 pm

LaTara (author) said:

Kelly,

I think you hit the nail on the head. The sad thing is that the African American Community spends more money than any other ethnic group.

Hmmm and yet the African American blogger is often ignored.

There is such a warped conception of what “influence” is and you are right that conception is very superficial. Half of those I see in position of “influence” seldom influence me. Popularity means nothing is there is no substance behind it.

So, Kelly…I get what you are saying.

# 28 June 2009 at 6:39 pm

Charlene @ A Virtuous Woman said:

The blogging community reminds me a lot of high school. There are those that know they are in a clique and those that pretend not to know, but the cliques exist, nevertheless.

To a degree I think it’s part of our human nature to gravitate to those that appear on the surface to have a lot in common with us. It’s important for us as individuals, however, to go above and beyond that first glance to find the person beneath the superficial.

When I was first introduced into the blogging community, I too gravitated to same few “popluar” blogs because they were perhaps more visible, but as my knowledge and interests expand, I find many of more popluar sites to be too much the same, and leave me looking for something more.

For myself, I’m not a woman of color, but niether am I young enough, pretty enough, hip enough, nor do I have a large enough readership to fit into the “popular” groups, either!

# 30 June 2009 at 12:53 am

Melissa Curtis-Lamere said:

Hi LaTara, I liked where you said “how will they know where to find us”- I can’t help the ideas that I don’t even know of that I’ve likely absorbed in formative years– As a decendent of Norway, I have no way of knowing what your life experience is unless you comunicate it– It might seem a no-brainer to some of color but I appreciate your bringing this out. Time to let go of the past and move on. Thanks.

# 3 July 2009 at 2:31 am

Kimberly/Mom in the City said:

Hello LaTara,

Yes, we definitely are out there. (Thanks for the mention). Fortunately, more and more companies are realizing the importance of including moms of all backgrounds in their outreach.

At the same time, I think that as bloggers of color have to do our part by not segregating ourselves/being active in a variety of online communities in order to be “seen”. There are a gazillion blogs out there and many (including white) bloggers have a hard time getting noticed!

Kimberly/Mom in the Citys last blog post..Summer Reading Tips

# 11 July 2009 at 3:22 am

casual friday every day said:

I agree with what Kelly has said. The blogger world is VERY clicky… very. And it’s so funny because some people might think I’m in the big popular click, but I very much feel on the outside of it, too.

Nell

casual friday every days last blog post..In Your Eyes…

# 12 July 2009 at 2:41 am

Michael Harvey said:

LaTara,

I blog and I am definitely an American of African descent. I just happen to have the best political blog on the web. Politics can be said to be colorless, yet the political writer brings his or her shared experiences to the blog.

I think you pose a timely and legitimate question and are correct when you say: “I know many intelligent African Americans who are well versed in these areas and not to seek them out is just wrong.”

The Harvey Journal at http://theharveyjournal.blogspot.com

Michael Harveys last blog post..Baseball, Life Lessons, and Honoring the ‘99 Homestead Grays

# 17 July 2009 at 10:06 am

Wanza Leftwich said:

Thank you for this post. I am African American and I maintain several blogs. Please keep us updated.

# 5 August 2009 at 5:52 pm

PatriciaW said:

One often finds what one looks for. Not hard to find African-American women who are mothers and bloggers. Not all blog about parenting issues, but there are tons of us in the blogosphere.

# 11 August 2009 at 4:28 pm

Melanie @ Mel, A Dramatic Mommy said:

Thank you for including me on your list! Yes, there are many women of color out in the blog world. Many are moms, some are not, but we’re definitely out there. If you could find me, others should be able to as well. One thing I plan to do is put my blogroll back on my site so other people can see the blogs I frequent and find my flock, so to speak.

# 17 November 2009 at 8:31 pm

LaTonya Bynum said:

I found your blog while searching for African American blogger associations. I am so glad you mentioned this topic. I too want to hear/see from African American bloggers period. They seem to be so hard to find. So I said that I would do my part by posting links on my site to some of my favorite bloggers that live in Arkansas. I hope this makes it a little easier for event coordinators looking for unique talent

# 6 January 2010 at 8:45 pm

Nicole Woodard said:

Fantastic article! I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments. As I am an African-American blogger new to the blogosphere, many of the blogs that I have found that are written by women of color seem to be written in forums and targeted to groups that are made up of people who are similar to ourselves. It would be great to see more beautiful brown faces on ‘mainstream’ sites, and in media events. We are out there, and we have so much to add to the discussion.

# 31 March 2010 at 6:38 pm

LaTara (author) said:

Thank you for stopping by and reading this article! It is a subject that is near and dear to my heart and one that I am working on doing something about. I have a wonderful project in the work and some plans for this site to help bring more bloggers of African American descent to the forefront.

# 31 March 2010 at 7:04 pm

AmbitiousSingleMom said:

Hello…

I am a Newbie to the Blogosphere and this is definitely an issue which I noticed right away. I have joined many blog related sites and have yet to see many people whom “look like me”. I’d love to connect with other African American bloggers to network, share ideas, and learn from. Thanks for this post.

Pease and Blessings…

# 15 April 2010 at 12:37 pm

Sistergirl said:

Great article! I am a Black Christian Blogger who have been blogging
for 5 years. It takes a little effort to find whatever you are looking
for on the net.

I think Kelly provided a little insight to the thinking of a segment on the net. I find that among Christian Mom Bloggers many are also full of “Clicks”. Your friend may have to visit some conference like Blogalicious. Its sad that the net is a reflection of the attitude of some in the world and that is often a hurtful feeling. Hey visit my site and cheer up Sister!

# 14 July 2010 at 8:46 pm

Utopia said:

I totally agree. I am new to blogging. I come from the days of message boards. Way before the MYSPACE & Facebooks sites we have have now. I had a very large following on MSN.(Sistas of Today). When that closed down and I found some free time, I put up a blog. It is still a baby. This is new for me, and I am not sure I am loving it. It is true that there are big known blogs, and its hard to break into as a new person. I look for what interest me. I am a mom, I love fashion, make-up and sales.I would love to see more blogs with people of my color and cultural background out there. I think we need to be more leaders and less of followers.
That is why I keep posting and keep looking for ways to make the blog thing work. Just like I am looking for something I can relate to, someone else might stumble onto my site.

# 10 August 2010 at 11:09 am