Prometheus 6

On a slightly different topic, There are six US States that have over 20% Blacks but that, nonetheless, will not have a single Black blog credentialed to report from the Democratic National Convention.

It seems like the Howard Dean 50-state outreach program should have been called 50-state outreach to whites, and Blacks be damned.

I think Black blogs can help to get out the vote, if they're allowed to participate in the process. So this seems like an abysmal failure of outreach and a failure to credential the blog(s) that came forward and were rejected. What about you?

There are virtually no Blacks whatsoever among the 50-state blogs chosen by the DNC to cover the convention from the floor of the Convention.

Powerfully strong stuff here. Unlike militarism and capitalism, evangelism rarely comes into focus during discusssions of American expansionism. In the proxy wars against China that spanned Korea, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, these folks could always be counted on to add fuel to the fire. I recall that Henry Luce, founder of Time and advocate for American intervention to remove Mao Zedong, was born in China to American parents who were serving as missionaries and John Birch was a missionary in killed in China. While they failed spectacularly in East Asia, the Christian nationalists did succeed in subjugating Hawaii.

There are virtually no Blacks whatsoever among the 50-state blogs chosen by the DNC to cover the convention from the floor of the Convention.

I know.

How many applied? Did YOU apply?

We went through this precise issue in 2004, Francis. At that time I asked folks, "How many applied?" No one who complained actually applied, and it (properly) died down.

Oliver Willis got picked. Jack and Jill Politics. Pam's House Blend.

There might be more. Many of the names I don't recognize.

He's talking about the 50-state group. I know one Black guy who applied for that.

You're talking about the general pool...these are the Black folk who are in the general pool.

African American Political Pundit (BBR #87) - http://aapoliticalpundit.blogspot.com/
Dallas South Blog (BBR #84) -http://dallassouthblog.com/
Jack and Jill Politics (BBR #9) -http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/
OliverWillis.com (BBR #5) - http://oliverwillis.com/
Pam's House Blend (BBR #2) -http://pamshouseblend.com/
RaceWire (BBR #75) - http://racewire.org/
What About Our Daughters? (BBR #16) -http://whataboutourdaughters.com/
Zennie's Zeitgeist (BBR #257) - http://zennie2005.blogspot.com/

I thought the "50-state outreach" was how they picked the general pool, not a separate group.

The 50 state thing was to get a state-issues focused blogger on every state's delegation. They are supposed to be the delegation's voice when speaking to its state. That's why they sit with the delegation.

The general pool is a general pool. 

How does the black delegate count look for the states Mr. Holland is talking about?

Hell if I know...I know who the delegates are pledged to, not who they are.

D. Yobachi Boswell, Coordinator of the Afrosphere Action Coalition, applied to participate in the State Blog Corps and was rejected both for that position and for the general pool. As a result, there's not a single Black blog from Tennessee in the state blog corps.

What did Yobachi do wrong in his application? Well, if you read the article by Jose Antonio Vargas in the Washington Post,

"Natalie Wyeth, spokeswoman for the convention committee, says criteria for selecting State Corps bloggers were readership, online ratings and focus on local and state politics. The General Pool will also be selected on the basis of readership and online ratings, she adds, with an emphasis on bloggers covering "national politics to niche issues of interest to specific communities." Washington Post

So, "issues of interest to specific communities" (like Black people) are, by definition, "niche issues" that are NOT, therefore, state issues. Whether South Carolina flies the Confederate flag or not is, by definition, NOT a state issue, because it is of interest to "speficic [Black] communities". WAKE UP AND READ BETWEEN THE COLOR-AROUSED LINES! (Sorry for screaming, but this infuriates me.)

Isn't voter registration a uniquely state-based responsibility and therefore a state politics issue? Shouldn't the AfroSpear's Proud Black Voter Blog be considered a blog that focuses on state issues, if voter registration is uniquely conducted by the states? White people who say that Blacks don't focus on state issues are F%&KING self-serving LIARS, and we need to let the country know it! LIARS!

How very convenient for those white state bloggers seeking credentials, and how very unfortunate for those Black bloggers like Field Negro, who cover the violence in Philadelphia EVER GOD DAMNED DAY, but violence against Blacks in Philadelphia is not considered to be a state issue.

The whitists who propagate this whitist ideology can go fuck themselves. And whitism is not a skin color; it's an ideology and a political practice.

Asking how many Blacks applied for the state blog corps is like asking how many Blacks applied for a license to marry a white person during the period when marrying a white person was against the law. It was OBVIOUS to Black people that the criteria excluded them, that they were NOT wanted, and so they did not apply. In the criteria, whites had already written the rejection letters.

So, what about D. Yobachi Boswell who DID apply to partipate in the state pool? What's your excuse for refusing to support him and for leaving the state blog pool virtually all-white? You've got your test case! Now what are you willing to do to test it?

So this should shame me into supporting your case, right?

I'll tell you what, Francis. I'll be generous and leave that as my response unless anyone seriously needs to see my answer. Said folk should let me know if the response should be kind or not.

I read around the net pretty extensively, which is why I asked who applied. You demanded 15 Black blogger (and if I remember correctly, 15 Latino bloggers) be added to the state bloggers list but you only have one who applied. There was simply no demand among bloggers to go prior to your creating the issue.

Further, as since you're the guy who once suggested it may benefit the Afrospear group to be considered a hate group I find your judgement...questionable. Too questionable to ever allow myself to be affiliated with you.

[p6: minor edit for clarity]