Monday, June 8, 2009

Top 10 Black Blogs (Jun 2009)


Hotep Villagers! I can't seem to get this monthly update posted on the 1st of the month any longer. But, the wait for the June 2009 Black Blog Rankings (BBR) is over.

I'm happy to report that we have 1,704 blogs in this month's rankings. Two new blogs (This is SOHH.com and Womanist Musings) enter into the Top 10 this month. Living Life Abundantly (BBR #13) and La Shawn Barber's Corner (BBR #14) dropped out of the Top 10.

Currently, we track 1,704 blogs ... up 45 from last month. One thing I noticed this month is that the overwhelming majority of Black-owned blogs have declining Technorati Authority scores. This means that we have less links to our blogs today than we did six months ago. Methinks that this is direct result of links related to the 2008 presidential election dropping from the mix.

We recognize that not every Black-owned & operated blog is on our current list and we are counting on you to let us know about any Black-owned and Black-operated blog that should be added to the BBR.

Without any further ado, here are the Top Ten Black Blogs for June 2009:
  1. Pam Spaulding: Pam's House Blend (Authority: 918 / Rank: 1,841) - [Politics] Pam's blog continues in the BBR #1 for the 12th month in a row. Pam is a leading voice in the LGBT community as evidenced by her recent Huffington Post commentary. She will be a presenter at the 2009 Blogging While Brown Conference later this month. This blog was BBR #2 in June 2008.
  2. Ahsmi Rawlins: Nah Right (Authority: 678 / Rank: 3,023) - [Entertainment] Ashmi (a.k.a., ESKAY) is the top-ranked gossip or entertainment blog on our list. In fact, Vibe.com recently named Nah Right as the 'The Best Rap Blog'. I'm still waiting on some villager to give me the 411 on his blog logo!?! I was born and raised on St. Andrews Place in Los Angeles so the irony intrigues me every time I log onto Nah Right. This blog was BBR #4 at this time last year.
  3. The Bossip: Bossip.com (Authority: 625 / Rank: 3,677) - [Entertainment] Moguldom Media Group, which owns Bossip, is run by Marve Frazier and the founder who seeks to keep her anonymity. So, I guess that I've finally figured out that The Bossip is a woman. One thing that I know for sure ... Gabrielle Union is pissed off at The Bossip. This blog was BBR #1 in June 2008.
  4. Felicia Palmer and Steven Samuel: This is SOHH.com (Authority: 592 / Rank: 3,677) - [Entertainment] SOHH stands for Support Online Hip Hop and is a blog based in Jersey City, NJ. SOHH.com is a destination site for fans of hip hop music. The site was created in 1997 as a more cost-effective information alternative to a monthly print publication called 4Control Media, which launched two years earlier. This blog was not ranked a year ago.
  5. Angel Laws: Concrete Loop (Authority: 504 / Rank: 4,702) - [Entertainment] Angel Laws is the 24-year old sister who who owns and operates popular entertainment blog. Her blogging history will be a compelling backstory for this presenter at the 2009 Blogging While Brown Conference later this month. Unfortunately, not everyone is a fan. SandraRose.com (BBR #20) showed her animosity in a recent blog post. Anyhow, Concrete Loop is a popular destination on MySpace. This blog was BBR #3 in June 2008.
  6. Natasha Eubanks: Young, Black & Fabulous (Authority: 439 / Rank: 5,725) - [Entertainment] Natasha Eubanks has been in the blogging game since July 2005. This 27-year old nubian from Alexandria, VA was called a blogger to watch by Newsweek. She also has a popular site on MySpace. This blog was BBR #6 a year ago.
  7. Oliver Willis: Oliver Willis (Authority: 401 / Rank: 6,446) - [Politics] Oliver recently shared his thoughts on the Republican Party in the Huffington Post. Oliver has developed some blogging enemies in the four years since he started his blog. But, whatever you think about him ... it is nice to have a non-entertainment blog in the BBR Top Ten! This blog was BBR #5 in June 2008.
  8. Baratunde Thurston and Cheryl Contee: Jack and Jill Politics (Authority: 382 / Rank: 6,988) - [Politics] Baratunde and Cheryl will share their unique Black bourgeoisie perspective on U.S. politics at the 2009 Blogging While Brown Conference later this month. Cheryl wasn't in Cairo for Obama's speech last week, however, she did follow him to Europe for the G-20 Summit in April. This blog recently expanded into other social networks such as Facebook. Does anyone know the backstory on the half-eaten watermelon that serves as their logo? This blog was BBR #9 at this time last year.
  9. Wayne Bennett: The Field Negro (Authority: 327 / Rank: 8,556) - [Social Commentary] Wayne is my favorite blogger, although I must admit that RiPPa is making a run for that title. This practicing attorney was born in Jamaica, however, he considers himself a citizen of the world. His blog is revolutionary in nature with no-holds barred commentary on the worlds of entertainment, sports, and politics. He operates on a blogspot.com platform and refuses to cross-promote on any other social network. This blog was BBR #14 in June 2008.
  10. Renee Martin: Womanist Musings (Authority: 322 / Rank: 8,747) - [Social Commentary] Rene proudly laid out her Womanist Manifesto in April 2008. Her blog has risen faster and farther than anyone else in the past year. Once you understand the passion that this Canadian mother of two possesses it is not surprising to see the success of her blog. She speaks her truth as a anti-racist woman of color. About the only thing that Renee is mistaken about his her review of the iconic television series, '24' ... but, that is a story for a different day! This blog was BBR #860 at this time last year.

This ranking is open to any blogger of African descent who owns/operates a blog. Villager's 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 added clickable links to the Word version of the Villager's Black Blog Rankings. Let me know if you want a copy of the Word version. In the meantime, I would be interested to hear from you. Is it worth the effort to update this list each month?

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