My Review of Black Women's Empowerment (BWE) Blogs

I have learned a lot from BWE blogs. Their major aim, that I have surmised, is to get Black women on a higher thinking pattern in order to live fulfilled lives. They contend that Black women are on their own and need to stop enabling the poor behavior exuded by other Black people, but especially by DBR Black men. I guess it must be working because I was a sister solider type, lets have a conversation/roundtable/program about it so we can fix the problem. I now understand that there is nothing more to say. Black people are grown and do what they want to do. Black life revolves around the dysfunction of DBR men. Think about it-the just think about his heart mantra, 'marriage is for white people', 'lower your standards', the producers make black men make bad music, The Man emasculates black men and causes them to walk out on their families, all men cheat so you may as well just accept it, and the bevy of other dysfuntional though patterns that thwart Black women due to their association and commitment to dysfunctional men.  BWE blogs emphasize the fact that Black women are not stuck and do have other options, if they play their cards right. They should not wait for any mythical black prince to come save them from singleness and take advantage of all career and life opportunities. To that, I salute them.

However, Black people have a habit of bashing each other supposedly for each other's own good. This, like everything else, stems from slavery. The supporters of slavery said such a system was good for Black people. We have picked up that same attitude-talking to and about each other in a vile, condescending way in order to 'help' each other. The BWE women are no exception. Most of these blogs talk about black women, seemingly to each other, in the 'I'm/we're better than them' spirit that Black people are known for.

• actsoffaithblog.com was the first BWE that I stumbled upon. The host, Faith, talks about a wide range of issues. She has lost 50 lbs because she is trying to get a Alpha male (read: white and rich). I won't knock the hustle. At least she is working towards goals she has set for herself.  That's one thing I can say about these women-they practice what they preach. However, she is not warm, nor are her sheeple. I quote 'you are not owed anything just because you showed up'. Where is Ms. Manners when you need her? I hope she doesn't plan to open a business with that attitude.   
• dateawhiteguy.blogspot.com does more gossipping, rolling of the eyes, sucking of the teeth, 'Black women ain't shit', 'Oh if they could just be on my level' type of stuff than actually talking about 'dating a white guy'. Almost every post is a jab at Black women. 
• sojournerspassport.com is going the way of the dinosaur. That ship is sailing on but I believe the blog will be up for a bit to peruse the archives. This is the blog I have linked most on this blog. Again, the arrogance reigns supreme. She once had 'premium content'. Bitch, please. Only regular commenters could receive the information. She didn't want Internet Ikes and Ikettes trashing (i.e. criticizing) her. The older I get the more I realize that the most critical people tend to be the most sensitive.  
• whataboutourdaughters.com despite the long ass name, this blog is the most breathable. I didn't even know the host Gina (she calls herself the Blogmother...for real? these women are something else) classified herself as a BWE blog because after I read her entries I didn't feel like I had been punched in the damn face. Now, some of the things the BWE crew brings up is the opposite of what we as Black women have been taught to do, be, and think. So it can be difficult to swallow and thus feel weighty. However, sometimes the tones are just that nasty that I left their sites disgusted. But as you can see, these women aren't the pass the tissue types. They operate with brass knuckles only.  Yet many of the blogs encourage Black women to be 'soft' even after they launch their own tirades.
• noweddingnowomb.com (button to the right) tries to counter the out of wedlock rate that plagues Black America. The site is very bright and much more sunnier than the other blogs. She had a baby out of wedlock and then married a white man. She speaks from experience that single motherhood is not normal, is not the way to go, and aims to raise the consciousness of Black women and girls. Who could contend with a person like that?
• blackfemaleinterracialmarriage.com. This bitch...She is the queen of 'I'm better than ya'll'. This blog I had to completely stop reading because I always came away feeling like a stack of bricks had just fallen on my head. She would claim it's because I'm jealous of her-bullshit. No one is surprised that her as a woman darker than a paper bag is being loved by her white husband or was able to land two quality mates. People are surprised that any woman of any color is being loved to the extreme that she brags about. And all bloggers know that bloggers live double lives, especially Black ones that like to teach others (ahem). Their claims tend to be exaggerated in order to make a point. They know people take notice of exceptions to the rule and thus tend to embellish the details. She thinks people want her marriage to fail. I think Black people really live in a state of paranoia. When they are doing bad, some other group of people cause and/or maintain it. When they are doing good, people are trying to steal it or knock them down. Black people-nobody gives a shit about you but you. Stop looking over your shoulder and live your life. Thinking somneone is always out to get you  is pride at its best.      

Even though I highly disagree with their tones, I can say that they make good points. I guess after being verbally assaulted for 500 years, you build up a resistance (that's a joke).

Black women take enough shit from white people and Black men. They don't need it coming from people who supposedly are trying to help them. A beatdown in the name of love still hurts. The undergirdle of most of these blogs is anger and pride, plain and simple. Anger due to having to shift and it not being accepted. Anger that people are not on their level (even though this strokes their ego). Anger that they wasted time and are watching others waste theirs as well. By some of their own admission, outside of their blogs, they are not doing anything to stem the tide. Anyone can blog. It takes courage to dispel some of the myths that have been forcefed to Black women in a face-to-face situation. Confronting these issues in real space can cost. Even though people say its all about them and they don't care what people think, it is a lie.

Anger that their 'go get a white boy'/'move to Europe' mantra is not as easy as they make it seem-even for them. Anger that people could actually find fault with their worldview (oh the horror). The fact that these brilliant women cannot understand that Black women might have a hard time changing their generationally ingrained thought pattern is unfathomable. They expect that what they say goes and the lightbulbs will go off automatically and the sistas will change course tomorrow. Even for me, that was not the case. I had to grow (and pray) into my new understanding.
Nonetheless, if you visit these blogs accept the good (it is there), trash the bad, and prepare for the ugly.

Forget about us.
They deserve better.