It's Our Anniversary

365 Days and 692 posts later, we're still kicking. When I wrote my very first post, all I wanted to know was whether there was anybody else out there? Well one year later I think we've figured out that we are not alone. Since then, the blog has expanded from its focus on the negative portrayal of African American women in popular culture to include what is an uncompromising, unapologetic, and unbowed defense of Black women and girls. If you read my very first post, you can tell that I didn't think I would be around a year later. Tops, I thought I would be around for a month, but due to the encouragement and quite frankly the boldness and audacity of my readers, I am still here. Here is part of what I said a year ago.

Was anyone else discouraged after Oprah’s Town Hall Meeting ?
I think there plenty of us that are equally outraged about the portrayal of African American women in popular culture . Now we need to get organized. It is time to DEFUND THE WAR ON BLACK WOMEN! Period. End of discussion. This isn’t about artistic expression. This is about capitalism. People have a right to basically say whatever they want to, but I don’t have to subsidize it in any way. Hence the term “starving artist.”I am not trying to create a new organization, just serve as a conduit to connect like- minded people together. My technical abilities are rather limited and I have the attention span of knat, but I can manage to post on a blog to get this started. We need a Moveon.org or EMILY’s List for black women. I’m not interested in any committees, dialogues, commissions or a task force. Those are just ways to wear passionate people out. Diane Weathers said black women should take the lead in this fight. What are we going to DO now? After Imus: Now What?

So peruse the archives today, I have moved the box to the top of the screen. Here is a stroll down memory land. This Thursday, we will be having a very special podcast. My guest will be Pearl Jr. from Black Women Need Love Too. Pearl was the first non-relative to appear on my show. She agreed to come on the podcast back when I was just a bundle of good intentions, righeoust indignation and words. If you have not listened to the show "Does Hip Hop Hate Black Women" take time to listen. Pearl is a hoot! Lisa, email me so you can be on too!

My Very First Post: After Imus: Now What? - I should have taken my own advice, because it was when I started working on too many things with too many people that I got tired out.


Most Life-Changing Post: BET Chief Unrepentant about "Hot Ghetto Mess"- A reporter from the Hollywood Reporter wrote a story about this post and our Debra Lee graphic and it ended up on the AP Wire Service. Needless to say, the blog has never been the same.

Second Most Life Altering Post: D.L. Hughley is Wrong: White Folks Might Just Have a Point. If it was not for DL Hughley, many of you would not knoa about this blog. But for his idiotic comments about the Rutgers team on the Tonight Show, I never would have started Sharpton Watch, readers would never have taken to the streets of Ft. Worth to protest his concert and I never would have been motivated to do additional research on him. It was during my Hughley research that I discovered a little "MESS" that BET was cooking up.

Second Most Surprising Post: Sharpton Watch Day 01: Where in the World is Rev. AL? I just threw an idea out there in jest and when I came home, a reader posted that they had called the National Action Network. Less than a week later, we had a statement.

Most Surprising Post: Boycott DL Hughley and His Ignorant Comments About Black Women. This blogger, I didn't know him at the time, Eddie Griffin left a comment. I really didn't think anything of it. The next thing I know, folks are protesting in the streets because of something I wrote. Get out of here!
My Favorite Post of ALL TIME: Satan's Lawyers to Bishop Tommy "The Hit Man" Weeks..... "Stop Slandering Our Client or Else!"I still fall out every time read it.

I still believe that we don't have to wait on the government, or large entertainment companies, or consumer goods companies to do the right thing. We are not as helpless as they would like us to believe. If we stop funding our own destruction a degradation that it goes away. We've proven it on a small scale several times over the year.

So thanks for reading, but more importantly, thanks for acting on what you have read.I'm glad we found each other on the vast and infinite space called the internet. Take time to peruse through out archives and leave a comment or drop us an email. Remember! Stop Funding Foolishness!