Blog #1 Analysis

In summary, the blog entitled, "The Angry Black Woman: Politics, Race, Gender, Sexuality, Anger," is very organized and offers critiques that are insightful and question the larger picture of various topics being discussed by multiple women. One example of this would be the "Ongoing Conversations" section with links to various topics that have been discussed multiple times and by multiple people. There is then the main section which offers a scroll-down menu of all of the blog submissions and their content. Then on the right hand side there is a section with links to the latest submissions, simply a quicker way to get to them instead of having to scroll down and then go to the next page of submissions, names and links to "guest bloggers" who regularly participate on this woman's site, a list of links to her "Blogroll" which is the blogs that she is following, and some photos that you can upload from flickr. I think that this site offers a way for people who may feel that their voices are otherwise unheard, to speak about topics that they share within their community and then express issues that may be occurring in some communities and not others and then offers an opportunity to discuss why that is.

Review:

In reference to the content of the material that is discussed on the site, I would have to say that the issues and topics revolve mainly around those that would affect Black men and women, mostly women. For example, one article that nojojojo discusses (which I believe is the main author of the site), is that of new law being passed in Italy after three rapes occurred in one weekend which were believed to have been committed by "foreingers." This law, nojojojo quotes, will include automatic life sentences in the cases of the rapes of minors and those rapes that ended in death. Trials for rape victims will be sped up as well. Nojojojo offers her opinion that these aspects are great, but the last one she mentions, about citizen street patrols by unamed and unpaid volunteers, could be problematic in terms of racism and oppression of certain groups of people. That is merely one example, topics of discussion range anywhere from analysis on why people are so angry at the octuplet mom, to Chris Brown and his domestic violence against Rihanna, to discussion on a racist cartoon found within the Post. I think that this shows that they are talking not only about issues revolving around Black men and women but also women and men of color in general which I find to be a very positive attribute. The writers are also offering different insight than that of what is being offered within the mainstream media which is good since such opinions are rarely heard.

In terms of the way the site is set up and its organization of content; I think that this site is extremely organized and very accessible for its readers and participants. I mentioned this set-up in the summary of the site. I like that links are offered to other sites that the main author follows, as well as to those of the contributing authors. I like that the most recent submissions can be easily accessed through the links and also just by scrolling down. There is also a "category cloud" which we have discussed in class and is useful for people who might searching for a specific topic through keyword search.

Finally, in reference to the author's tabs in her navigation bar. These are helpful if you want to know a little more about the author herself. Under the "About" tab, the reader gets a bold statement about how one can contribute their opinions and stories of interest. The author discusses how, "just because I am angry does not mean I hate everything." The author's opinion about the main reason behind the site is for purposes of anti-racism and anti-sexism, as these are the main reasons behind her anger. She goes on to say that this is a safe space for expression of opinions, even those that oppose what is being discussed but she, "will not tolerate abuse here." Finally, the author refers to her other tabs by stating, "Before you go commenting on this blog, I suggest you refer to the 'Required Readings.' It's required for a reason. I also suggest you check out the 'Rules,' because whether you break them in ignorance or not, you'll still be treated the same way." Thus another example of her bold statements. Some of the readings that the author, "requires," include titles such as, "Anger Does Not Equal Hate," and, "A Concise history of race relations in the USA." Some of the rules that the author states under her "Rules" tab include moderated publishing of blogs on her site because of problems due to racist and sexist publishers, and the ability to remain anonymous because there is no need to register or sign up for the site. I find all of these attributes about this site to be very helpful and keep things organized and shows a sign of respect and creates a safe envrionement for people to have discussions about controversial topics.