Posts that contain Shaquanda Cotton per day for the last 30 days.
Get your own chart!
I first heard about the Shaquanda Cotton case through my former student Frederic Mitchell at his spot. I didn’t post on it myself. Rather, I decided to do an NPR commentary on it (that will probably come out later today). But Temple3, and Prometheus6 both jumped on it (Temple3 from an email I relayed to him, and Prometheus6 from Qusan).
When Witt reported it, he was relatively clueless about the way that blogs work and the existence of black bloggers. No more.
I picked the graph above from technorati. As you can see “Shaquanda Cotton” goes from being pretty much invisible to getting around 80 or so blog hits. Another measure is here. For Witt this is proof of the growing power of black bloggers, the internet as an organizing tool, and an example of the continuing role of newspapers.
Since I’ve been doing this here thing, (and before this the other thing) I’ve thought about what the role of black bloggers should be, to the extent that they identify as black and want to engage in explicit state-centered politics of some sort. Some would say that part of our role is to counter the information that comes from non-black bloggers, specifically on racial issues, but on a variety of issues in general. I don’t have a dog in that hunt. Someone should do it, and I probably do it from time to time.
But I think a more important role is speaking directly to each other and using our connections to further develop the notion of what I call open source politics. Partially as a result of the increased scrutiny engendered by black bloggers, the Cotton case (and the prison she was sent to) is being reviewed. Note that this occurs without Revs. Jackson or Sharpton getting involved (Sharpton is said to be “thinking” about doing it). If this isn’t cell based leadership I’m not sure what is.
Waxing nostalgic, Earl talks about the dissolution of the types of networks that black people used during Jim Crow. But he’s wrong here. The network never went away. I’m not sure how you get from Michigan to Alabama for seven days with barely $30 to my name without people willing to look out. What we need to do is take the networks that we currently have and simply repurpose them a bit.
Give your readers the link so they can see if I’m “waxing nostalgic.”
Done.
I’m tracking your stories here via RSS. I can’t quite handle the volume at P6. My two cents.
I concur with your comment about those in the black blogosphere who wish to take that high ground on racial politics and be heard.
Personally I dont want to marginalised in that way as I think that being black is part but not the whole of the conversation of who I am. However having the opportunity to raise issues from a black perspective does allow those who aren’t usually aware of the black experience is imperative.
Added to that is the need to have both sides of the argument. For example whilst most of our spokespeople in the US tend to lean towards a democratic way of thinking and here in the UK, towards a more socialist (Labour) way of thinking, I think there is much room and much credit to be given to right thinking spokespersons. And even if McWhorter and Obama are not given as much kudos as a Jackson or West, their voice should be heard too.
Professor you have given me more impetus for my first Race Matters essay.
I appreciate everything you’ve said…except for the McWhorter part. : )
LOL…I just thought i would throw that one in the mix. Keep it exciting and all!
Hey. McWhorter’s righteous. Boring, but righteous.
i’ll buy that the next time you use a plumber to deal with your son’s flu.
good look! only one ‘e’ in my name though. 🙂
but on some serious, the thing i find most important about the ‘black blogosphere’ is that it paints a more accurate portrait of black opinion in the ‘we all dont think alike, but we still have each others back’ reality.
with current mass media (CNN, BET, Tom Joyner, Chicago Tribune, pick one), we generally get the ‘well black people think (insert generalized assumption here)’. while i can say that i aim to be the walking emulation of the talented tenth, the diversity in our opinions is what will truly help our community grow. while i can’t say that opinions like clarence thomas and alan keyes are the most beneficial, the day when ‘the black opinion’ means asking more scholars than rev. al (no disrespect) is a happy day for me. hopefully this will undermine the token mentality mass media seem to want in current issues.
just my 2.5 pence (still in the UK….boo).
interesting take…i thought about the blogosphere because that was the context you raised initially – but as i worked through the piece, i concluded that the blogosphere didn’t matter as much, per se, as the network.
i’m saying that the blogosphere is not the actual network – it’s the apparatus for networking…the people who read and comment and ACT and attract or repel or convince others are the network.
this conversation was running around in my head because i often conflate the two – even for an instance. i didn’t want to lose sight of the person who might be reading, but more importantly, i didn’t want to lose sight of the context in texas – or the fact that i didn’t write journalism – and i left open the fact that i didn’t have all the facts.
i sought to create a dialogue for questions and answers. it’s been interesting, but the WORK is far from over.
thanks for passing this along.
she is going to be set free. Article here.
From the Archives: The case of Shaquanda Cotton http://t.co/cbdguVuP