What The Hell You Mean Black Bloggers Don't Talk About Politics?

Kevin Ross pissed off me and many peeps in the Blackosphere by making the asinine statement while kissing his frat brother Tavis Smiley's behind that 'Black bloggers don't talk about politics'.

That Kappa Kane he's been twirling must have hit him in the head a few times

Where the hell has he been for the last few years? He damned sure wasn't at the DNC convention last year when Black bloggers such as Pam Spaulding were there in full effect to record the historic happening or checked out any of the almost 200 blogs that make up the AfroSpear.

TransGriot mostly concentrates on transgender issues from an Afrocentric perspective, and even then I have 110 posts that have the 'politics' label attached to them out of the over 1400 I've written so far.

Whether it's getting media attention for African-American kids who come up missing, injustice, disseminating information, talking about our history, shining spotlights on events across the Diaspora or what I do here in focusing attention on transgender people of color and race/class issues in the GLBT community, we play a major role in shaping the discourse that reverberates in the blogosphere and beyond.

Many African-American bloggers have built upon the historical tell it like it T-I-S is tradition of our print and radio media and structured our blogs to do the same. We not only report on the things the MSM ain't telling us, but in some cases have talked up an issue long and loud enough to where it actually begins to drive the MSM coverage as Jena 6 did.

The Black blogosphere is just as diverse and innovative as its counterparts. and has its own flava at the same time.

And just like in the past, when the blogosphere's rating, awards and ranking systems didn't include us, we created our own. We have our own rating system in the BBR's, and are putting our own conferences together such as Blogging While Brown so that we can talk to each other, exchange information and get better at doing the thangs we do well.

While there are the gossip blogs, there are far more of us around the world who take immense pride in the fact that we focus on educating and informing our people and others on a wide range of issues, including political ones. Kevin Ross did us a disservice by ignorantly claiming that we don't.

TransGriot Is An AfroSpear Member Blog!

I received word that TransGriot is now officially a member of the AfroSpear!

What's the AfroSpear you ask? As Electronic Villager wrote in his post, theres the blogosphere, and the Blackosphere.. which is a growing, ever expanding place as evidenced by The Villager's Black Blag Rankings.

The 166 African-American blogs (and growing) that make up the AfroSpear not only aspire to use the Net to inform, but also use the blogosphere to educate and uplift our people, and by brainstorming and seeking out concrete solutions and compiling action plans for various issues.

TransGriot has come to the attention of some members of the AfroSpear who link here. The group shares some of the same goals that I do in terms of using blogging as a catalyst for positive change.

The AfroSpear bloggers spearheaded the charge that got the Jena 6 case on the MSM radar screen. They are blogging about diverse issues such as Darfur, missing African-American women and the lack of media attention it receives, politics, and cleaning up gangsta rap just for starters.

The AfroSpear is "setting Black agendas and shaping public opinion." -- Los Angeles Times, 10/18/2007

This is what I wrote for my application as to why I wanted to become a member of the AfroSpear:

"I believe the Afrospear's purpose is to not only inform our people, but to correct disinformation about African Americans and find common ground in which we can begin to solve the problems that retard our progress as a people.

As a African American progressive blogger who is transgender as well, I have another perspective to bring to the table of issues that affect our African American family. I lecture and do seminars about transgender issues as well in addition to on TransGriot make the connections between our history and current events. I also want to show through my blog that African American transpeople like myself have much to offer our community and are as concerned about uplifting the race as anyone else. I'd consider it a great honor to become part of this AfroSpear."

So for those members of the AfroSpear that may be visiting TransGriot for the first time, thanks for stopping by, and thanks for honoring me and this blog by extending an invitation to join. This post will serve as a central place in which you can leave your 'welcome to the AfroSpear comments' on this thread. Of course, if you wish to check out some of my past, present and future posts, please do so as well.