Why blogging matters

I’m taking some of my time at a DH workshop at Howard University to talk about the value of blogging, especially its value for African American literary studies and African American Studies. For now, I focus on the following 4 reasons why blogging matters:

1.) Serialized, extended commentary over time represents one of the vital possibilities for blogging. For me, that has involved producing entries about:
• Poetry
• Writers & cultural figures 
• Assorted special topics

2.) The creation of extensive and manageable resources has been one of the most useful services that I have provided on the blog, assisting visitors filter or navigate large bodies of information. 
• Timelines (i.e. Black Poetry 1854-2015 – An Afrofuturism-based timeline, 1998 - 2016 – Awards)  
• Coverage of Ta-Nehisi Coates and Between the World and Me  ––  6 notable reviews
• A checklist of poems featuring ex-slaves

3.) Gathering and publishing news items creates opportunities to track developing stories in real-time. It's also possible to utilize blogging to reflect on events across the course of a year.   
• Coverage of Mike Brown
• The year in African American poetry, 2015

4.) Writing for an immediate audience has greatly strengthened my capabilities as a writer and thinker. My work as a blogger has also made me more mindful of the divergent interests of audiences.

Related:
• "Seshat: A Digital Humanities Initiative" at Howard University 
• African American Language and Culture Lab