As many of you may (or may not) know, I participate in a twice weekly series here on Daily Kos called "Black Kos", which was founded by dopper0189. He is the Managing Editor.
The first Black Kos Week in Review (which is now on Fridays at 4PM EST) hit the pages of DKos on Fri Mar 28, 2008.
This is what he had to say back then:
Welcome to Black Kos! The diary series where issues affecting Americans of African descent, and others are highlighted as our great nation begins to heed the call of A More Perfect Union and move forward. Come, sit a spell and join the discussion.
This diary series isn't meant to balkanize, ghettoize, or separate. It is not a campaign or candidate diary. Instead, it is designed to highlight issues that a significant portion of the Democratic electorate faces daily, whether we live in the inner city or we're solidly middle class suburbanites or we're young urban professionals, or retirees on pensions and social security. America has a rich story, made up of all of us. This is just one small chapter of that story. Take a read
As a social scientist I love qualitative and quantitative data collection and I've been following the stats that jotter has collected for Black Kos - since it debuted here.
I've also paid close attention to remarks made by posters to Black Kos who have commented for the first time.
Many have have been from Kossaks who have been hesitant to comment - in the series, though they read it- simply because they are "not black".
They are surprised to find out that the majority of Black Kos community members are not black, including one of the Editors.
Black Kos is not just a series of news, commentary, arts and culture - it is also a Daily Kos community. Black Kos community members gather twice a week on what we call The Front Porch". A nice place to gather, discuss the diary, what's going on in our lives - and make new friends - crossing racial and ethnic lines.
Could you please take the time to take the attached poll. And for those of you who lurk and read - can you delurk to comment please.
Why are we a front porch?
There's an old tradition in our community of gathering on the front porch, sometimes to just "set a spell" and talk with kin folk or neighbors. Sometimes just to watch the world pass by. Or read the newspaper. Other times it’s a good place to get some work done–shelling peas, or plucking chickens, mending or sitting one of the kids down to braid their hair. We gossip, talk about the news of the day, recite poetry–hum, or sing or even pray. Some folks bring instruments, and impromptu music sessions occur.
We love music cause it feeds the soul.
Now it isn't always a porch–in the city it might be a stoop, or a fire-escape.
In cyberspace it’s a string of letters–but never forget that there are real people behind the fonts.
Sometimes that slips our minds.
Whether country, or city or cyber–the front porch is a place where we can gather together. In harmony.
Doesn't mean we always agree–we have had many a heated discussion on porches, but they should always be rooted in love and respect.
Folks bring food, in the spirit of sharing.
Folks bring their problems–in the spirit of caring.
We call the porch on Tuesday (5PM EST) "Tuesday's Chile" 'cause Tuesday's child is full of grace. On Friday's we gather at Black Kos Week in Review to review the week and celebrate the weekend to come.
We know a lot about grace. It gets us through the day.
We welcome everyone to the porch–somehow some folks have gotten the impression that only black folks are gathered here. That's far from the truth. We are a bit like gumbo–a heady mix of ingredients goes into the pot and we wind up with a savory stew.
We ask newcomers to introduce themselves when they drop by. Most of us have known each other for quite a while, but we are always open to expanding the family. And we are a family. We tend to call each other brother or sister. It's not a church thing–it's a kinship thing. It helps strengthen the bonds of friendship and community.
We have comfy chairs, a rocker in the corner and a glider. There's a hammock slung from the beams–but it is usually occupied. We figger if you find a comfortable place to sit–you'll stay awhile and make some new friends.
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What is interesting about the stats for Black Kos is though it has finally gotten to the point where it makes the rec list each week (just barely) and there are always a lot of comments (we are a chatty bunch) it still has a relatively small number of viewers each week. Which means that a majority of Dkos commenters and lurkers don't even click on it to take a look.
For example - last Fridays diary according to jotter's stats had 98 viewers.
I'd like to know why. Especially from those of you who have never clicked to view.
Perhaps the name of the series "Black Kos" is off-putting - or people are being polite and think that they don't want to intrude in a "black space".
Granted - we don't have snappy headlines.
But we do think we have a little something for everyone - each week.
I'm biased - and I think we do a great job pulling together a twice weekly series. It takes a lot of work.
History, politics, art, poetry, music, science, education, economics, LGBTQ issues....we run the gamut.
So please do us the favor and take the poll, and answer the question in comments.
If you would like an invitation to join the community so that we will be in your "stream" give us a shout out in the diary.
Thanks for reading. Please excuse us for doing a promo - think of it as a pre-welcome.
Please join us - we post Tuesday at 5PM EST and Friday at 4PM EST but we hang out in the diary - often till the next day.