Pittsburgh's Black Digerati - Prophets Without Honor?

Today I sent Facebook friend requests to some people whom I do not know.

For me, that is unusual. I joined Facebook in 2009 to expand the audience for my work as a reporter with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Therefore, I have been quite liberal with granting friend requests to people, whether I knew them or not. But I don't remember when I last asked someone I didn't know to be Facebook friends. Indeed, I don't remember when I last asked someone I do know to be Facebook friends.

I made the friend requests today because the people whose Facebook friendship I sought are members of an accidental club. We are Black Pittsburghers who have what some consider to be a significant online presence - whether as bloggers, or on Facebook or Twitter or Google Plus, or as contributors to print publications - and who were not included in a recent list of Pittsburgh's noteworthy online personalities.

The list was published by Pop City last week under the title, "Sixteen Pittsburgh social media mavens to follow."

Vernard Alexander, himself no small presence on Facebook, noticed that it was pretty homogenous, and called Pop City out in a Facebook status:

Another Pittsburgh LIST..............No people of color...........

But he went beyond a general complaint. He made it specific by tagging Black people on Facebook whom he considers worth following - and more than that, whom he considers to be worth recommending:

No Kimberly DrGoddess Ellis, No Paradise Gray, No Bluey Blackashell, No Ceo Raw, No Damon Young, No Rob Wilson, No Elwin Green, No Stephan Broadus, No Wadria StyleandSteel Taylor, No Shimira Williams, No Jasiri Xtra.........No LOVE...........

I am honored to be in that group, and told Mr. Alexander (and the world - it's Facebook, after all) that I would rather make his list than Pop City's. Which is true. I care more about having a good reputation with Vernard Alexander and among his circle than with Pop City. Not that I want a bad reputation with Pop City. I simply don't care as much about Pop City. At least, not for my own sake.

I care more for the sake of others who have achieved more than I have so far.

Kimberly ("Dr. Goddess") Ellis has presented at South By Southwest. Paradise Gray's One Hood Media Academy has received more than $200,000 in grants from The Heinz Endowments, and the man himself is a walking history of Hip-Hop. His collaborator Jasiri X's music and activism allow him to hang out with Harry Belafonte. After being featured recently in the Post-Gazette, Shimira Williams is attending a business briefing tomorrow - at the White House. Damon Young is a contributing editor at Ebony Magazine; Stephan Broadus, web editor at the New Pittsburgh Courier. Bluey Blackashell, I can't even describe.

ALL of these people are HIGHLY regarded by a bunch of people.

So, does Pop City not know any of them, or does Pop City not consider any of them worth recommending?

I can't help thinking about August Wilson, who, as far as I can tell, became famous in Pittsburgh after gaining accolades in the larger world. Do Black folk have to become famous out there in order to be noticed here?

In any case, I care less about Pop City's ignorance than I do about my own. So today I sent Facebook friend requests to the people on Vernard Alexander's list whom I do not know - Cardell Collins (Ceo Raw), Rob Wilson, Wadria Taylor. Because Mr. Alexander's recommendation is enough for me. And the ones I do know, I will work to get to know better. Because my limited knowledge says they're worth it.

As for me, I'm perverse. I want Pop City to continue paying me no mind, until my work advances to the point where they have to take notice, and they say, "Who the hell IS this guy?" - and then, "How the hell did we not know about him?"

That's why I have not included a link to their list, because that might bring me to their attention.

Do me a favor, OK? Don't tell 'em.

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On magazine ads, Afros, Viola and Wendy

On a recent grocery-shopping trip, I picked up a few magazines: Upscale, Uptown, Ebony. Doing my affluent Black culture thing.

As I started flipping through them, I saw this:

And this:

And this:

And within five minutes, I had a transformative moment: Suddenly, I was tired of seeing Black women with straightened hair. Gut-tired. Deep-down-in-the-bone tired.

What I said to myself was: "I don't care if I ever see another Black woman with straight hair in my life."

I ain't mad at Queen Latifah (come on - she's gorgeous) or anybody else for their choices. But I'm really, really tired of the assumption that Black women need to do all that much to their hair. I want Black women to wear the hair God gave them.

Wear it short. Wear it long. Wear twists, locks, braids or rock a downright dangerous 'Fro like Angela Davis or Roberta Flack did back in the day - y'know?

That feeling has been coming on for a long time, and there have been times when I have approached total strangers, women who do not know me from a can of paint, to thank them for wearing the hair God gave them. In fact, I did that just a few days ago. On Sunday afternoon, I volunteered at the August Wilson Center, helping to staff the ticket table for the performance of the HIV/AIDS-oriented stage piece, "Who Me?" I noticed that a security guard there was a lady with an Afro, and I told her about my transformative moment, and thanked her for her hair.

That night, for the first time in a long time, I watched the Oscars broadcast. When the camera panning the audience focused on Viola Davis, who was nominated for Best Actress for her role as Aibileen in "The Help," I noted that she was prettier than she looked in the movie - so much prettier that I didn't recognize her.

I didn't realize that I was watching a culturally significant moment, that Ms. Davis' appearance at the Oscars would be a matter of controversy. And by "appearance," I don't mean her being there. I mean the way she wore her hair.

Now, thanks to this piece by Kimberly "DrGoddess" Ellis, I've learned that there's a whole thing going about how Viola Davis wore her hair on Oscar night. Apparently, the always-bewigged talk show host Wendy Williams made disparaging comments about Ms. Davis natural look, comments that sparked an Internet firestorm.

Really, Wendy? In 2012, you have a problem with a Black woman wearing a natural hairstyle to a formal event, a hairstyle that even the L.A. Times said was "a hit"?? Really???

Dr Goddess (and on YouTube, beautifulEhuman) have responded eloquently as Black women. As a Black man, here's my ineloquent response: stuff a sock in it.

Black women, is there a Natural Hair Day? If not, let's declare one. Let there be ONE day out of the year when Black women everywhere feel free to wear the hair God gave them.

Who's in?