i’m saying that the blogosphere is not the actual network - it’s the apparatus for networking…the people who read and comment and ACT and attract or repel or convince others are the network.

this conversation was running around in my head because i often conflate the two - even for an instance. i didn’t want to lose sight of the person who might be reading, but more importantly, i didn’t want to lose sight of the context in texas - or the fact that i didn’t write journalism - and i left open the fact that i didn’t have all the facts.

i sought to create a dialogue for questions and answers. it’s been interesting, but the WORK is far from over.

thanks for passing this along.

but on some serious, the thing i find most important about the ‘black blogosphere’ is that it paints a more accurate portrait of black opinion in the ‘we all dont think alike, but we still have each others back’ reality.

with current mass media (CNN, BET, Tom Joyner, Chicago Tribune, pick one), we generally get the ‘well black people think (insert generalized assumption here)’. while i can say that i aim to be the walking emulation of the talented tenth, the diversity in our opinions is what will truly help our community grow. while i can’t say that opinions like clarence thomas and alan keyes are the most beneficial, the day when ‘the black opinion’ means asking more scholars than rev. al (no disrespect) is a happy day for me. hopefully this will undermine the token mentality mass media seem to want in current issues.

just my 2.5 pence (still in the UK….boo).

Personally I dont want to marginalised in that way as I think that being black is part but not the whole of the conversation of who I am. However having the opportunity to raise issues from a black perspective does allow those who aren’t usually aware of the black experience is imperative.

Added to that is the need to have both sides of the argument. For example whilst most of our spokespeople in the US tend to lean towards a democratic way of thinking and here in the UK, towards a more socialist (Labour) way of thinking, I think there is much room and much credit to be given to right thinking spokespersons. And even if McWhorter and Obama are not given as much kudos as a Jackson or West, their voice should be heard too.

Professor you have given me more impetus for my first Race Matters essay.