Prometheus 6

I presume this means for you that politics trumps race and you'd have nothing to do with other black bloggers so long as they are Republicans?

Oh, please. Have I had anything to do with you? Or Juliette? Have I linked to Avery? Did I break into explosive hysteria when Ambra called Andrew Sullivan a liberal? Did I (unsuccessfully) try to help Darmon when MT was dying on him?

Did I ever misrepresent anything any of you have said?

Sorry, that was a bit too provocative a question. Are you simply not interested in the merits of participating in a black group blog, or is your interest contingent upon some expectations?

I've fully explained my position and there's nothing contingent.

No, there is something else.

This misrepresentation:

P6 has a snarky report on Project 21's recent interview on C-SPAN.

He suggests that blacks are not led astray, hoodwinked or bamboozled by white liberal politics. That is putatively because political organizations like the NAACP are directed by blacks.

was not smart if you planned on asking me to join you in some enterprise.

And your question wasn't provocative. I don't know what the hell it was.

If the idea just burst upon you, you'd have done better in my case to wait a few days. I'd have still said no because I did make that statement months ago and nothing has changed such that I need reconsider.

I'll tell you true, though; the idea feels like a continuation of the same impulse that made you post that unfortunate misrepresentation.

I hear you. I'm beginning to think Cobb's got a number of distinct personalities up in that shiny cranium of his. One minute he seems an even-tempered chin-rubbing sage, then next minute I hafta get up and get some kleenex cuz his outsized ego's spewed some nasty, ropy jizz all over my screen (nevermind, i have a sneaking suspicion that's partly what this black hole exercise is about. i mean, don't we already have visioncircle?). It's maddening.

Anyway, for now I'm curious to see how this evolves. I think you suspect that it'll be another coven of right-wingers and i hope it's not that. There should be a pro-active search for "balance," but Cobb has already said there'd be no official slant required (or litmus test?) for membership. Your input would be really valuable as a counter-balance.

Cobb just needs to hope he can find twenty Black political bloggers that are willing to become "race guys." Otherwise he'll be posting exclusively at Vision Circle and his new enterprise.

As for his project, if he's just thinking an aggregator, that's easy and he can snatch up whatever feeds he likes, including P6's. I have no objection to that.

But truth, memer, I'm focusing on race much sooner than I'd planned. I had decided to shift from politics to race issues after the election (hence my decision) and got jacked that very week by a liberal blogger and wound up on this extended tear. I'm still working out the best/right/whatever way to do this.

And I've already soft launched The Niggerati Network which is intended to be a group blog even though it's currently buried under my long essays. And I do post a lot here. My hands are full, blogwise.

Finally, I've been in on the start-up of a blog the size Cobb is contemplating. It requires a strong central person because working with bloggers is like working with cats…trying to get 20 of them in a bag is no joke. I can't see either of us yielding to the other.

WELL! T-Steel and I are more interested in The Niggerati Network (we're working on some good stuff). I hate race being glossed over and your network is more hard hitting. Cobb's idea is interesting. We'll see...

Quit frankly I'd be just happy to be another seed in the watermelon, so long as it's a big friggen melon and sweet enough for everyone to get a bite.

Earl, I apologize for my misrepresentation. I'm not even going to bother trying to figure out what I was trying to do to make any point about the intent. It is literally that small. The biggest thing that post did was insult you, and for that reason I humbly recant it, trash it, bury it.

As I've just written over at Niggerati, I am not convinced this group blog /portal idea is more than just a good idea without P6. I just became reaquainted with Niggerati and haven't thought of it since the days of the back alley thing you used to have behind P6 (if that was the same thing). I didn't know such a project was taking up your time because in some ways I am ready to jump onboard. Vision Circle was intended to be that thing, but now it often seems like a counterpoint to TCB. This is fine, but it could use some whizbang and several more authors.

I am quite ready willing and able to initiate a Right group black blog, but I don't think it's necessary. I like TCB just the way it is, and so today while I have a choice, I say let's get all sides together and do something less specific and large and bring out as much attention and gravity as possible. Left and Right spinoffs can always happen down the road.

If there is no neutral ground I'm less happy. A smaller herd of cats seems nothing more than those group blogs out there. But part of my problem, as illustrated by this confusion, is that I don't even know what P6 is doing - and this is exactly the point that David Anderson so pointedly made. And it is exactly the problem solved by the big group blog / portal. Part of the problem of launching is not having a focus, but I think having a focus or a theme is something of a regurgitation of all the group blogs already out there. This is a different kind of beast.

With regard to politics, my greatest interest is to reverse the polarity with regard to who sets the agenda. I want to see broad groups of folks agree down here at the individual level that what we ought to do about x is y. I don't want to see us debating what Cosby said as reported by the mainstream media. I want us ahead of that curve. But today there's no place to put all that forward thinking and collaboration, especially if we have to skip from here to there just to get a flavor. That's not necessary in cyberspace if we do a little work.

I'll always have my own agenda and jizzy ego. But I hardly think that this should be about me. I can always go in my own direction, but I can't always have a focal point among the many minds. That's what I want more than blogging on my own blog which is why I am just another troller in commentville until this thing is real.

Let me add one more thing. Like it or not LaShawn Barber is the the biggest black blogger on the planet. She is down for this, so long as it isn't an excuse to bash her. The same is true for Juliette (Baldilocks) and George Kelley is down too. OK this is Malcolm and Martin, WEB and Booker. If we walk away without trying, we are underlining irreconcilable differences because of prejudice. Again, you'll always have a chance to do for yourself and your own agenda. It's what we've all been doing up to this point.

Ask not.

As I've just written over at Niggerati, I am not convinced this group blog /portal idea is more than just a good idea without P6.

You'll find out, I suppose.

Like it or not LaShawn Barber is the the biggest black blogger on the planet.

How much do you think that matters to me? How much do you think it should?

She is down for this, so long as it isn't an excuse to bash her.

LaShawn came through here once and left one of those "hard earned dollars" talking points. I said I don't understand her and I'd be willing to talk…after the election.

Michael, I have fundamental differences with your politics. I have even more with LaShawn's. I don't know why you even felt the need to make that point. Unless it's for the audience.

And I know George is up for a unity move and I know Juliette promised you three posts per day.

If we walk away without trying, we are underlining irreconcilable differences because of prejudice.

Nice spin. But I'm literally the last one you could accuse of that. Not to mention that all I've said is any such participation on my part won't happen before the election is over. You can call that walking away without trying if you like. You can call it prejudice if you like.

Item 1: Post #6261
Well, since you bring up the point again, my thrust was simply this: blackfolks depend on whitefolks for money and infrastructure in their organizations. It was always thus and ever will be. If Mfume has a point to make about the influence of white republican dollars on black politics, he does so as a hypocrite. The only thing black about his position is that it is majoritarian. I think it is arrogant in the extreme to suggest that such a majoritarianism (which I percieve to be lazy) is legitimate with the sufficiency to make judgements about with whom African Americans should cast their political lot. But this is what I percieve to be the basis of most criticism of Black Republicans - that they are illegitimate simply because the majority of blackfolks are not down with that program. It is anti-intellectual and disrespectful and it seldom goes beyond that. Is that the P6 position? I don't even bother to parse. My point stands regardless of your position - your post simply put this concept in mind. I misattributed? Sure I'll cop to that. So what? Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place? Do you think that's air you're breathing now?

Item 2: LaShawn & the flexibility of the Black Commons
I am satisfied with the traffic and traction that I get with my own blog. Considering how long I have been writing out here on the net, I could almost care less if I get another hit. The integrity of the work is all I care about, and I strongly led to believe the same is the case for you. The point of collaboration is greater influence, that means greater traffic. If the whole isn't greater than the sum of it's parts, it's not worth doing. We might as well all go home with some satisfaction that somewhere in some elite university, somebody has the truth and it's being taught. We are all popularizers here. Nobody is paying to read Cobb or P6. You may not like that intelligence can be marketed, but that's F'Real too. If my ideas are not reaching your audience and your ideas are not reaching mine, then we both stand to benefit by collaboration whether or not we agree. All anybody asks for is civility and some dedication to the entity. If that's too much to ask of anyone I won't ask it twice. Your fundamental differences don't amount to a hill of beans if you're preaching to a little bitty choir and evidences nothing by the way of public spiritedness. I'm challenging us all to rise above that.

Item 3: Leap of Faith
Black unity is a tough sell. I begged off it almost 20 years ago. I honestly believe class trumps race. So I am skeptical that such a project would come naturally. I'm not saying it can't be done. I'm not saying once done it will be magnificent. I simply think it's a good idea, and the value of the idea increases exponentially with the quality of bloggers it attracts. I have no prescriptions for what it will be. I simply believe it can be. You know what makes me get happy about it? Market share.

Conclusion: Thangs to do.
So we're off to see the wizard and we'll see you when we see you. Keep that RSS feed open. It serves no purpose to accuse you of anything. I don't presume to. Actions speak for themselves, and I've got actions to do. You are always welcome.

Do you believe that my being stronger or faster has anything to do with my muscles in this place?

Heh.

This is quite the interesting conversation.

I'm curious to see what type of audiences both the niggerati network and the black hole ultimately bring.

My guess, also, is that while the black hole desires to be inclusive, it will end up being a majoratively black conservative space. I don't think there are enough black "political" bloggers (in that I mean that their sole focus is politics) for those that are out there to feel comfortable sharing the space. The number of divergent voices doesn't seem quite enough for convergence.

crossposting my comment at Cobb's place.

What I'm doing at the other joint isn't…quite…political. Definitely has political connotations, though.

I don't expect everyone to do what I'm doing, though.