December 1, 2008

Top Ten Black Blogs (Dec 2008)

Our apologies for being absent with the Villager's Black Blog Rankings (BBR) last month.

We began this monthly effort BBR with 75 Black blogs in Sep 2007. This month we publish almost 1,500 Black owned & operated blogs. Also, we note that there are some changes in the Top Ten this month.

We don't have all Black owned & operated blogs on this list. If you see any that are missing ... please let me know in the COMMENTS section.

Here are BBR posts from the past five quarters:
Anyhow, with no further ado, here are the Top Ten Black Blogs for Dec 2008:
  1. Pam Spaulding: Pam's House Blend (Authority: 1,196 / Rank: 1,530) - [Politics] Pam's blog continues to maintain a commanding lead as the top Black blog in the universe. Much of the buzz on her blog over the past month relates to the unfortunate defeat of Prop. 8 in California. Pam's House Blend is the go-to location for anything related to the lesbian and gay community. Pam has been dealing with the backlash against the Black community for the Prop. 8 defeat.

  2. The Bossip: Bossip.com (Authority: 854 / Rank: 2,650) - [Entertainment] Bossip.com moved up to BBR #2 slot this month ... becoming the top-ranked gossip or entertainment blog on our list. This is the second month in a row that Bossip.com has risen in the rankings. I wonder if Bossip.com can continue the climb to the BBR #1 slot? Does anyone know if The Bossip is male or female? One thing is certain ... this blog isn't beloved by progressive woman of color judging from response to Bossip.com posts about Elizabeth Acevedo and Maya Angelou. Click here to see index of the people that are blogged about on Bossip.com.

  3. Ahsmi Rawlins: Nah Right (Authority: 801 / Rank: 2,894) - [Entertainment] Ashmi (a.k.a., ESKAY) has been blogging since May 2005. Both his name and job are based on phonetics, literally and figuratively. The name – eskay – is the phonetic spelling of “SK,” the tag he used as a graffiti writer years ago. His blog (job) focuses on up-to-date information on the verbal artistry we have come to know as hip-hop. And although Nah Right has been proclaimed one of the best (or the best, depending on who you ask) hip-hop blog sites on the web, not much else is known about him. You can learn more from an interview he conducted with Format Magazine earlier this year.

  4. Angel Laws: Concrete Loop (Authority: 695 / Rank: 3,550) - [Entertainment] Angel Laws is the young sister who who owns and operates this dynamic entertainment blog. She created the blog back in 2005. Recently, she published pictures of her time spent in the studio with Kanye West. I encourage you to see the list of the last 50 posts on her blog.

  5. Oliver Willis: Oliver Willis (Authority: 630 / Rank: 4,061) - [Politics] Oliver has been blogging since April 2005. He is having a rough time right now as the Washington Redskins are not currently on track to be in the NFL playoffs this year. However, his distress as a sports fan is counter-balanced by his remarkable success as a top-ranked Black blogger. Oliver has been profiled in Huffington Post. He attended Florida Atlantic University and is a member of the Technology and Online Community Department at Media Matters for America.

  6. Natasha Eubanks: Young, Black & Fabulous (Authority: 614 / Rank: 4,204) - [Entertainment] Natasha Eubanks said, "Young, Black and Fabulous was started three years ago out of my passion for celebrity gossip and was the first blog of its kind to focus on Black celebrity gossip and entertainment news.” One of her 'YBFchicks' shared thoughts on the rise of YBF from nothing to something.

  7. Baratunde Thurston and Cheryl Contee: Jack and Jill Politics (Authority: 587 / Rank: 4,469) - [Politics] Baratunde (a.ka. Jack Turner) and Cheryl (a.k.a. Jill Tubman) were both featured recently on Meet the Bloggers, a weekly podcast sponsored by Brave New Films. I encourage you to follow both Jack and Jill on Twitter. If you're really serious ... you can learn more from Baratunde from his other blog, goodCRIMETHINK.

  8. La Shawn Barber: La Shawn Barber's Corner (Authority: 380 / Rank: 8,116) - [Social Commentary] This top-ranked blog was launched in November 2003. La Shawn was last in the Top 10 back in June 2008. La Shawn comes at things from a unique point of view. She writes about politics, faith, culture, digital technology and, occasionally, how these things intersect. By the way, don’t call her "African American." She hates that term. If you must refer to her race, call her “Black.” And contrary to popular opinion, La Shawn is not a Republican. She’s an independent conservative.

  9. Sandra Rose: Sandra Rose (Authority: 365 / Rank: 8,523) - [Entertainment] Sandra is a world class photographer who has morphed into a top-ranked blogger. It seems that Sandra is feuding with BBR #4 blogger Angel Laws. In any case, she earned her way back as a Top Ten Black Blogger for the first time since August 2008.

  10. Wayne Bennett: Field Negro (Authority: 363 / Rank: 8,585) - [Social Commentary] I should start by saying that I'm not an unbiased observer. In my view, this is the best blog ever written. Period. The Los Angeles Times said it better than me when they interviewed Field last year. Simply stated, I think that you should read this blog every day. Period. Check out Field's post-election thoughts. I seem to recall that he was going to streak buck-naked down a Philadelphia street if Obama won the election. Somebody let me know if he paid off on that bet!


HONORABLE MENTION (11-25): Crunk & Disorderly, Necole Bitchie, AfroBella, What About Our Daughters, Ill Doctrine, Raw Dawg Buffalo, Womanist Musings, How To Split An Atom, Angry Black Bitch, SheGeeks, The Black Snob, Living Life Abundantly, Rod 2.0:Beta, Why Does Everyone Suck? and The Angry Black Woman.


This ranking is open to any blogger of African descent. We invite all Black bloggers to apply for membership into The AfroSpear or join our Facebook group known as the Afrosphere Bloggers Association.

Black Blog Rankings lean heavily on the Technorati Authority and Rank score for each blog. The Technorati authority and rank numbers are shown in parenthesis. The authority figure includes a number of factors including the number of blogs that are linked to this blogger over the past six months. The rank number indicates how many blogs are between the one listed and The Huffington Post, which is the #1 overall blog in the universe.

We do think that these Black blogs are important spheres of influence. Let them know that you appreciate the work they have put in over the past few months and years to get on this list.

I encourage all bloggers to provide some link-love to this post so that your readers can learn about the Villager's Black Blog Rankings! Next step is yours ... what say u?

18 comments:

Monica Roberts said...

Doing the cabbage patch, sipping Champale and playing 'Celebration' by Kool and the Gang.

Next stop, The BBR Top 25 and a 200 Technorati ranking.

Unknown said...

Monica - You make me smile every time that I issue these rankings. It isn't easy to grow our blogs ... but, I do think it helps when you measure your progress in some manner.

As an aside, have you ever been interviewed in the "20 Questions" series by Vanessa Byers?

If not ... you should!

Monica Roberts said...

Not yet....

DJ Diva The Mixtress said...

Thanks for the link love! It would be interesting to see some spotlights on those bloggers rising fast through the ranks...

Unknown said...

DJ Diva - The musical flow from your blog is very good. I imagine that your blog will continue to rise up the BBR over the coming months. As for blogger spotlights ... good idea! I'll try to add more in future. You may want to google "20 Questions" and "Vanessa Byers". Vanessa features Black bloggers regularly with her 20 question interviews...

SjP said...

Whooppiieee! I broke 100! Oh yeah! I'm on a roll! Much obliged for providing this ranking. I'm shooting for the top 50 and a t-rank of 200!

KMyles said...

Slight correction Brother Wayne; our authority is at 40

Unknown said...

Bro. Myles - Thanx for the heads up. Your Wichita NAACP blog is now BBR #282...

Sojourner - Just keep doing what you're doing! I'm think that you are doing the right thing by setting a goal. Monica (TransGriot blog) will tell you that goal-setting has helped grow her blog significantly..

Onetta said...

Check out A Word For My Sista's at www.awordformysistas.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Onetta - Those are some fine sistas on your blog. I've just added A Word For My Sista's to the list. It is currently BBR #1507...

SoakingNKnowledge said...

Wow this makes my day :) I'm dancing like Monica doing the wop lol

Twanna A. Hines | FUNKYBROWNCHICK.com said...

Awesome. Love it!! :) Just shot a message out to my Twitter followers to let them know. :)

Unknown said...

Marenda - Congrats on making it into the BBR Top 25 this month. Your blog deserves the honor ... you've been moving up the chart with much speed over the past few weeks...

Twanna - I missed the announcement of your new gig ... but, I definitely saw the one about you leaving NVerve (smile)! Anyhow I appreciate the twitter-love!

Mitch said...

I'd like to know how to get my blogs listed, other than joining the two groups you mentioned, so that they can be considered for rankings in some fashion.

Unknown said...

Mitch - What is the URL for your blog(s)?

Mitch said...

I have three blogs:

Mitch's Blog
http://www.ttmitchellconsulting.com/Mitchblog

I'm Just Sharing
http://www.imjustsharing.com

Top Finance Blog
http://www.topfinanceblog.com

Thanks.

Unknown said...

Mitch - All three have been added to the Black Blog Rankings and will be on the next update published later this week.

I'm Justing Sharing (BBR #172), Mitch's Blog (BBR #714) and Top Finance Blog (BBR #906) are all excellent. I need to visit each of them more often in the coming weeks and months...

Mitch said...

Thanks for the compliment; I've been subscribed to yours for awhile now, as you probably knew.