Guest Columnist
THE RISE OF THE ANGRY BLACK WOMAN BLOG
RaceWire is proud to bring you another I-Narrative—stories written by people who have an up-close view on race in America.
This month, we feature Angy Black Woman, a mad blogger who’s taken the blogworld’s racial analysis to an edgier level since kicking off TheAngryBlackWoman Blog last year. Here’s her story. About why she started this damn smart blog; what she’s learned about racist bloggers; and about staying power.
Check this!
Anger Management:
The Rise of the Angry Black Woman Blog
The first incarnation of the Angry Black Woman blog I started back in 2005. It was a bit of a joke, along the lines of Rent-A-Negro.
The idea was that I could hire myself out to people in need of an ABW in their lives. Someone to intimidate blowhard neighbors, get someone to keep their dog off your lawn, step up to nasty customer service people — that kind of thing. But being that it was just supposed to be funny and nothing more, the first attempt I made at running an Angry Black Woman blog did not last long. I wrote just a few posts and then the online journal went spare for several months.
In fact, my very first blog was not a political one. It was part of a community of blogs by science fiction and fantasy writers. Most everything I had to say was in that context. So race rarely played into my blogging.
It wasn’t until I became more aware of racial issues within the science fiction and fantasy community—such as the lack of diversity in the field amongst the writers as well as the characters and settings in the literature—that I started to write more and more about it. I found myself getting increasingly annoyed with the world at large, and especially with the media. But most of the people who read my Live Journal were not interested in hearing me go on about race and politics. Or, so I thought.
While I found outlets for my anger in online communities dedicated to talking about race (such as blackfolks, sex_and_race, dotracesnark, and weirdosofcolor), I needed more. I needed a place to speak my mind and foster real discussions. I still had the domain name from the first blog, so I set it to point at a Blogger account and the current incarnation of the Angry Black Woman was born. That was in March 2006, but things didn’t really get going until the summer of last year.
One of the first posts I made was “Why is the Universe full of White people?” The piece vented my frustration with science fiction television’s lack of meaningful minority characters. Later, as I continued writing pieces like this, I desired more for my blog to not only say something but also do something.
That’s why I started Pointer Posts—essays that address issues that often come up in conversations about race such as Privilege, the Race Card, Reverse Racism—that I could point to. I wouldn’t need to re-articulate my answer to an argument anymore, I would just say “Go look at that post.”
To the next level… and beyond?
Since starting by blog, I’ve gotten my fair share of overly privileged jerks leaving negative commentary on my site. I’m often called a racist. I’ve had to develop calluses. Otherwise, I won’t last long.
But one thing that surprised me (but shouldn’t have) is that the racist commentators all sound the same
They all give the same tired arguments and pull out the same tired examples and excuses. It's almost as if they have a script. I sometimes feel like there's no point in arguing, these people won't listen. And that's the trap, you see. That's how people who want to maintain the status quo do so – by wearing folks down. And it works.
The stagnant discourse makes me wonder if I will ever move on to the next level of debate or discussion.
One challenge is not to allow unchecked anger to run rampant all over the blog.
Every now and then I slip. Even though I do embrace my anger, I know that to make my voice effective, I have to present my ideas rationally. That's how I disarm people. They see the blog name, they see the challenging quote in the head image, and they immediately assume I'm raging and irrational and wild. You can always tell when folks are reacting to that and not my actual posts.
Though I've been dealing with that kind of thing for years, it still has the ability to take a lot out of me. I dealt with it before by just disappearing from the blog for a few weeks. Last year I was gone for months. Every time I would think about logging in or even checking my email, my mind would send me off to do other, less stressful things, like watching Doctor Who. But I faced up to my aversion the last time this happened and rededicated myself to keeping the blog active and alive.
A day in the life of ABW
In my current job as a freelance web designer, I pretty much spend my entire working day online. On a typical day, I'm doing three or more things at once -- working on a webpage for my client, wrangling work or personal emails, checking up on the ABW blog comments, reading other blogs, and researching stuff for my latest writing project.
There are some days when I spend a lot of time checking up on the blog. Like when I've put up a post I'm eager for people to respond to or when a post has taken on a life of its own and there's a greater likelihood that trolls will come by.
I can't imagine how other people with less flexible jobs keep up with high-traffic blogs. Mine isn't very high traffic -- on a normal day I get 400 - 600 hits, though there was one day when I got 11,000--on my Tucker Carlson disses Barak Obama's church post – and I try not to post more than once a day.
Bloggers like Atrios or Kos amaze me. Before blogging became their 'jobs', they had to be doing other things to make ends meet, right? But then, that reveals a truth that folks don't often talk about -- how economic stability plays in to the ability of people like that to blog and then make that
blog their livelihood.
Certainly white folks are more likely to have that financial base. Men are, too.
Could a woman of color have built up a blog with influence like Eshcaton, Daily Kos, Pandagon, or Talking Points Memo? Beyond whether or not the wide world of bloggers would pay attention to her at all (a very valid consideration), would she have the time and resources to pull it off? I don't know the answer.
These days, it's kind of weird to be known in various places as "The Angry Black Woman". When I first started I had no idea I'd be read by so many people or end up as one of those people white folks look to for "The Black Opinion". I just got back from a gathering of science fiction and fantasy writers called WisCon where people knew me as both my writer self and as the Angry Black Woman. I started out not wanting that -- my friends knew, but I kept my pen name off the ABW blog. Now I feel like the secret's out and I should use whatever little influence I've built to address issues and make changes.
There are times when I feel like I shouldn't be the one who does this. I'm not the most learned or experienced (or talented) black women writer that I know. But then, I'm pretty loud and I can't stop talking, so I suppose it's alright to take this soapbox if no one else wants to stand on it right now.
Posted at 11:00 AM, Jun 07, 2007 in Identity | Permalink | View Comments
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Comments
This will not be news to you but I just had to comment as this is the first time I have come across "The Angry Black Woman" and I find it so intersting that the blog began with an interst in science fiction and what not. I think those of us who are used to analyzing things through the lens of critical race and gender theory tend to over look the power of all things recreational and considered entertainment. But on the contrary, the world of TV, sports, movie, etc, this is exactly where our children learn their first ideas of how the world works. I have often wondered why many americans have such a hard time accepting characters of color in areas like science fiction (where the very basis of the genre is FANTASY/anything goes) and westerns (where there actually WERE black pioneers, mexican cowboys, chinese ranchers, etc). I recently saw a western where the protagonists were all women bandits, and why not? Yet, thier lines, which are truly no more cheesy than the famous "Are you feeling lucky?" spoken with a soggy cigar butt in mouth, seemed so farfetched and ...cheesy. People need to take a long hard look at popular entertainment and then make a decision to seek out a more diverse arrangement of whatever it is you fancy: authors, directors, actors, photographers, blind science fiction graphic novelists who publish bilingually... Whatever, these people and products do exist even if they don't have the support of Viacom or come other bloodhungry corporation. And if what you seek is not out there we should all feel empowered to go forth and create. Life is too short to not be a better example for the next generation.
Posted by: Tiffany | June 11, 2007 8:22 AM
My God, you are my hero. Keep on writing, fighting, and representing. You have so many people (including me now that I've discovered you) behind you. I especially resonated with your comment about the racists wearing you down. I ran for office last year and really experienced this. It's taken me months to clear my head.
You give me hope. Go on with your bad self, girl!
Posted by: aiminoakland | June 15, 2007 9:31 AM
An angry black person, I thought they went out with the Mohicans. Go on girl hooray for anger. Peace & Love chas
Posted by: Charles Duncan | June 15, 2007 8:29 PM
Hey ABW....and I thought I was the only one that thought this way...lol. I was just saying to my spouse the other day how I bite back a lot of things I really want to say because I don't want people to label me as a psycho black woman. But yes....I definitely feel you on these topics.
I was surfing the web yesterday and ran across the Forbes top 25 billionaires List. I went past 25 and went all the way up to 215 billionaire people in America....and do you know out of all the 215 people I saw...there was not one black person in there. Not even Oprah!! It was all really olddddd white men....about 10 women who were related to some of the men already on the list....3-5 asians....2 indians....1 hispanic....and a few middle easterns. After seeing that I was like wooooow....they really know how to keep it from us, huh? Now some people may think that comment was racist.....but that comment was pure in your face reality.
A reality that we have to deal with everyday when we live pay check to paycheck....or don't know where your next meal will come from....or you mentally prepare yourself to be discriminated against on your job because that's how often it happens to you. I've been so close to going into a homeless shelter like twice...but GOD sure makes a way out of no way. Everytime I feel like giving up and giving in....something in me keeps me positive and going strong. I must say though...I do see how people can get so low and weak that the ending result is drugs. But I feel like I can't get that weak, because I have to be the person to help uplift all my people that are wasting their lives away and who have completely given up.
I didn't mean to get so deep.....but it's just how I feel. So thanks ABW for this site....it's a wonderful contribution to black America and this gives us another voice. Thanks for being that positive voice....I appreciate you.
Posted by: L.A. | June 16, 2007 11:55 AM