A question I asked during a BlogHer '09 panel had folks talking about diversity—or the lack thereof—in the blogosphere earlier this week, and sparked a spirited debate in the comments section of a fantastic post written by my girl, The Prisoner's Wife. The brouhaha got me to thinking about my online habits, and whether I've gone out of my way to venture outside of my blog "neighborhood"—to stretch, and reach, and open my mind.
I'd like to think I've done a good job of it. I mean, my "tribe" runs deep, dude. I read blogs written by black folks and white folks, latinas and asians, by men and women and straight people and gay ones, too, by food lovers and scrapbookers, political junkies and gossip wags. Nothing is off-limits to me; so long as the content is fresh, entertaining, inspiring, educational, thought-provoking, and, above all else, well-written, I'm all in. Yes, this sounds like a tall order. But there are plenty of bloggers who manage to fill it. And I just felt moved to tell you about them.
I encourage you to check out my fantastic tribe in this, the first in a new occasional series I'm tagging, "MyBrownTribe." Read them. Enjoy them. Leave comments if you're so moved. Oh, and tell me a few of the blogs in your tribe—I'd love to meet them! Without further ado...
TEA & HONEY BREAD This mixed-media artist, award-winning essayist, wife, and mom of two describes her blog as "musings on love, life, art, and beyond." I call it pure goodness—she's so peaceful and serene and smart, and introspective, and damn funny. The woman loves her cat and her beer and her photography and her craft, and it's clear she has a healthy respect for the written word. Check out how she's dealing with her life-long obsession with talking HERE.
ANY MOMMY OUT THERE
Renee at Cutie Booty Cakes introduced me to this blog back when I was all wet behind my blog ears and looking to join some tribes—specifically the tribes of bloggers who know how to turn a phrase. For sure, Any Mommy Out There fits the bill. She writes quite poetically/insightfully about the joys and struggles of rearing four kids, running a household, and living an authentic life. Her writing is, simply, addictive. Check out one of my favorite AnyMommy posts, her hysterical THE FISHER OF TURDS. Um, yeah—the title is self-explanatory.
AVERAGEBRO.COM
Dig it: When I wake up in the morning, before I turn on my computer and wipe the cold out my eyes, I read AverageBro.com on my Blackberry. Yup, I stan hard for AB, and I'm not afraid to say it loud and proud. AB writes about everything, from politics and pop culture to sports, music, and beyond—but all through the straightforward, no-nonsense lens of the average black guy. He's just sensible, you know. And hugely entertaining. Check out his take on THE COMPLEX CASE OF SKIP GATES VS THE CAMBRIDGE POLICE.
Enjoy—and tell my friends MyBrownBaby sends them lots of love and light.
[Photo credit: The beautiful, colorful neighborhood illustrating this post is by the talented artist Maria Cavacos. See more of her work HERE.]
Posts
This is a very cool idea. :) I love discovering new blogs. :)
ReplyDeleteii love that idea. good one...
ReplyDeleteThis is a great way to show some link love. I have know idea who is in my tribe. I also think I may need to expand my readings a bit more.
ReplyDeleteI will have to check them out. Thanks.
ReplyDeletelove it D...maybe one day when I reach heights I'll be on there..lol:) Great post! Gotta support!
ReplyDeleteI love the Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog
ReplyDeletehttp://breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com
The Pioneer Woman Cooks!
http://pioneerwoman.com/cooking
And for those of you who work in publishing or libraries, I love Early Word http://www.earlyword.com
@Elita: THANKS for leaving links to your fav blogs... I encourage everyone to go take a look...
ReplyDeleteThe Pioneer Woman Cooks! has a "the" in the web addy... here's the link to that site (it's WONDERFUL!!!!! I'm SO cooking that cowboy chicken tonight!)
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking
Great. I am following your blog now. I will definitely check out these sites. I only just stumbled on yours. How fab. It's so nice to read/see blog that a are a little different from the norm.
ReplyDelete@Tanya: Thank you SO much for becoming a follower. I value each and every one of you and appreciate your taking the time to read MBB. This really is a labor of love, rooted in my desire to create a warm, inviting space where we can get to know each other, learn from one another, and just, well... be. I'm headed over to your site now, and I encourage everyone else to do the same! Let's connect folks!
ReplyDelete@Hilary: Girl, I LOVE your site, and, for sure, I'll be telling folks about it in MyBrownTribe. I can only handle three at a time, but this will definitely be a regular series so that I can hip everyone to my favs.
I will have to check these spots out. I love "meeting" new people in the blog world.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! I was engaged in this same debate over at Momdot after Trisha, the admin, posted an article titled, "Where are all the Black moms." I felt it only focused on self-segregation as the issue. In my comments, I tried to talk about the need for two-way communication. See thread here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.momdot.com/blog/onlinesegregation/
Then I felt the need to go write an entire article because I see the issues of race among women as damaging (like we don't have enough problems w/o being suspect of each other). Our cultural differences color how we see things, but that shouldn't stop us from being able to share and talk without it getting heated...and it always does. See my article here:
http://momdot.com/featurewriters/28-feature-writers/479-the-culture-of-women
@Teresha: Thanks for hipping me to your posts over at MomDot; I read them and your comments and post were BRILLIANT. I left messages over there and joined the site. Let's be sure to connect there, even if we are the only "pepper in the pot."
ReplyDeleteDenene, thank you so much. This is a fabulous idea, I feel challenged to expand my own bloggy neighborhood, something I was already feeling after meeting some amazing bloggers in Chicago. Once again, I can't believe I missed you, so many interesting, thought-provoking topics up against each other, so many fascinating people in one place. But, next time, I won't let you get away!
ReplyDeletewonderful idea!!
ReplyDelete@Denene-Thanks for being like the second person to comment on the article. I tried and the response was 'cricket, cricket' It just seems like the topic is so taboo. I haven't posted anything on the community since. I feel like they request pepper, but it must not be too hot. They want the color, but not the 'sticky' subjects we may be dealing with. I won't censor myself so others feel comfortable. If you are willing to try to spice things up over there, I will give it another go. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. I have been reading your blog for quite some time and LOVE IT!! I added you to my blog list because I love the way you write and what you choose to write about. You make me laugh and cry and everything in between.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I went to that session, and I've found so many great new blogs to read because of it, including yours. Thanks for sharing more.
ReplyDelete