:: netwoman's blog ::

OK. I am still thinking that Blogs are a good thing. I admit it, I have a generally Utopian belief about the Blogosphere. Is that bad? I'm still a Blog-newbie (less than one year), I am allowed.

Feministe is talking about bell hooks and racism. Check out her call for answers to some interesting questions. She also points to Aldahlia's Blog entry about racist sayings (some of which I did not know the roots of either - and I am glad she posted them).

Of course, I head to the comments. Aldahlia has a couple comments, and from there, I head to Kerri's Blog who decides to talk about racism as well. It is a chain reaction - it all started with a blog post and so on, and so on....

Why do I like these blog posts? Because the more people talk about it, the more people are educated about racism in society, and blogs are a good way to do this. Feministe states: "please feel free to post your responses on your own blog. the more people we can add to this discussion, the better." I agree. But not only are we reading other people's blogs, we interact in the comments, and then we produce our own thoughts and knowledge in our own blogs. This seems to be a complex knowledge building exercise through a new communication technology.

Have a look at The Mystery of the Black Blogger for another angle on all this.

One of the things he asks is "Do blackfolks use the blogosphere the same way whitefolks do? " and states "The blogosphere status quo is arguably white and male. In the way that smoke filled rooms still smell of smoke long after the backroom dealings are done, the 'masters tools' have evolved to favor a kind of atmosphere which may not be appropriate for the types of communications people of color and women want or need. "

posted by Netwoman @ 7:02 PM