So this is a weird post. Maybe you're familiar with all of these things already. But here are a few suggestions from one white liberal to another on how to dilute the painful whiteness of most of our internet reading experiences. I mean, I'm not going to say that opinions you enjoy reading are not valid if they come from someone who is the same as you in terms of demographics, but over the last few years I've made an effort (and due to the dominance of White Dudeness and White Feminism in the blogosphere, "effort" is an appropriate term) to make the perspectives I expose myself to a little less homogeneous. I am a white dude, I am more likely to Get other white dude humor, writing style, and perspective, and they are more likely to get mine. I don't think any of us need to apologize for that, but it's worth recognizing that we're looking into the mirror a lot when it comes to the perspectives we see online. Yeah, everyone gets their dose of Ta-Neshi Coates. Here's some other good stuff I've found that fits the product category, "Things a Gin and Tacos reader will probably like."
Yesterday I linked some Damon Young. You should read basically everything he says, including but not limited to VSB (Very Smart Brothas). I first became aware of this thanks to….
Samantha Irby, who does Bitches Gotta Eat, a great Facebook page of the same name, a best-selling book and soon a TV series on FX based on said book.
Luvvie Ajayi similarly has a best-selling book, an active FB community, and a website updated regularly with long-form stuff. The sense of humor is a little less twisted and more Normal Person compared to mine or the above Irby material, but I think it's still funny without being cornball or wandering into Wayne Brady / Dave Coulier territory.
Wain Bennett's Field Negro has one of my favorite comment sections on the internet. I've had people compare me to him in terms of willingness to go full R-rated in his writing. The assumption, though, is that if you're in for Gin and Tacos nothing over there will shock you much. People are very candid on that site.
Anyway, that's just a sample. The internet is cruel in a sense, there is always more good stuff than any one person can reasonably consume. But if you're looking to freshen up a stale set of daily reads, you could do worse than sampling a few of these.
Emerson Dameron says:
He hasn't been too active lately – his partner died suddenly a year ago – but I've been a big fan of Jay Smooth's commentary for years:
http://illdoctrine.com/
Mike Furlan says:
I am following VSB on twitter now, thanks. Can't find a twitter handle for any of the others. And, I try to stay off of Facebook.
democommie says:
I used to like Steve Gilliard. It was largely because of him and some of his notoriety that I have absolute disdain for fucktoolz like Cruddstain.
scott (the other one) says:
Maybe it's just a bad day, maybe I'm just misunderstanding, or maybe this post of yours changed things over there, but right now the top post at Wain Bennett's surely seems to be pretty heavily troll-infested.
LDon says:
I was about to come and say what scott(the other one) said. Holy shit the racist fucks that crawl out of the woodwork on a black blogger's comment section.
slimlove says:
Because of the work I do, I consume a lot of Native American news media. And as I am unfortunately reminded a lot in the course of my work, mainstream America really doesn't see or understand Native life and issues terribly well. A good starting point for learning more is Indian Country Today (http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com).
duquesne_pdx says:
I'm particularly fond of Imani Gandy at https://rewire.news/ablc/
She does smart, funny, trenchant commentary on politics, culture and legal issues.
Safety Man! says:
"I've had people compare me to him in terms of willingness to go full R-rated in his writing. The assumption, though, is that if you're in for Gin and Tacos nothing over there will shock you much."
God as my witness Ed, I never considered your work or the comments here noticeably vulgar, but I guess that just says something about me.
Dave Dell says:
What safety man! said. I've not found anything here but – with the exception of a troll or two – to be anything but rational PG thought. Of course in the Marines we could fit five "fucks" in a sentence so my idea of R rated is something that makes my wife scowl at me if it escapes my mouth.
Major Kong says:
You're certainly no Rude Pundit.
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/
S M McBean says:
Thanks, Ed and everyone else. I guess I'll finally create the bookmark file I've been meaning to for such sites.
I've enjoyed checking in on Zandar Versus The Stupid. Not lots of punditry but he calls out bullshit on current events with an eye on Ohio and Kentucky politics. And like G&T, only one troll.
http://zandarvts.blogspot.com/
ConcernedCitizen says:
Yesterday I linked some Damon Young. You should read basically everything he says…
I kind of wish I hadn't. Judging by his take on Mark Lilla's well-argued "The End of Identity Liberalism" in the NYT, he seems to think that the liberal ideal is a sham and that any attempt to emphasize it should be dismissed as "Whitesplaining."
I'll stay tuned though.
Mo says:
ConcernedC – dunno. After reading Democracy for Realists, Lilla seems pretty much boiled noodle. Identity politics is the major strength of the Democratic party.
Miles Bjornstam says:
the marines are the most racist of the military branches and no longer serve any useful purpose. they should be disbanded and we should not be tapping marine brass for any greater leadership positions. the only downside about getting rid of the marines is that all the usual idiots who become marines would be part of the general population here in the USA causing problems
ConcernedCitizen says:
Identity politics is the major strength of the Democratic party.
That doesn't make it right.
Net Denizen says:
Surprised nobody here has mentioned http://www.mahablog.com/
Mo says:
Major – yep on The Rude Pundit. Nearly cracked my jaw today when he came up with this one:
Vice-President Elect Mike Pence, a man who looks like he slowly and angrily masturbates to kitten-stomping videos.
Mike Furlan says:
"Surprised nobody here has mentioned http://www.mahablog.com/"
I've been banned there. Not sure if it was a lifetime ban.
Tim says:
I like Chauncey DeVega at chaunceydevega.com He also has pieces in Salon
Brian M says:
Re: Identity politics: It also does not make it very effective.
April says:
These are all good sites and I thank everyone for the recommendations, but I'm at the point where the news just terrifies me. And being where I am, aside from donating money to organizations that are fighting back and signing internet petitions (does that do anything? Really?) I'm totally useless in fighting for the cause.
I need to just watch fluffy kitten videos and play online backgammon and stay away from the rest of the internet. Just call me April the ostrich.
LDon says:
Thanks Major Kong and Mo. I've got a new blog to follow.
mago says:
Thank you to all of the above.
Sorry Ed. You're 4.5 on the Richter.
Arjun Jobil says:
I like the atheist roo for his frank views on everything. I like Bearing, too, but i was really disappointed that he stole his avatar. It was like when it came out that Donna Brazille told the Clinton campaign one of the questions in the town hall, just as i was beginning to think she was pretty smart.
Berkeley '74 says:
And where is 'The Weekly Standard' and the 'National Review' on your reading list ? You gotta keep your eyes on them, ya know ?
geoff says:
http://blackagendareport.com/
"Although the billionaire hotel magnate [Trump] is surely no heretic to the capitalist faith, his verbal assaults on Wall Street’s relentless export of capital and jobs and his oft-stated desire for a more cooperative relationship with Russia provoked a pell-mell stampede of the ruling class, its national security attendants, and the corporate media into Hillary’s Unified Imperial Corporate War Party, which fully expected to assume office on January 20th."
Mo says:
[taking advantage of a long pause in the convo]
ConcernedC & Brian –
What makes this new book by Achen and Bartels so unsettling is
its withering assault on both popular and scholarly conceptions
of democracy.
Thomas Mann with the shorter on Democracy for Realists
And now here we all are.
Frank says:
I have listened to Elon James White for several years. Imani Ghandi is a regular there.
http://thisweekinblackness.com
sluggo says:
@net denizen and Mike Furlan
I got banned at maha as well. She is really picky and thin-skinned and only wants to hear what she wants to hear. So she will ban people at the drop of a hat. After the last time I 'banned' her, so I haven't read her site for over a year.
Chris says:
It's Ta-Nehisi
Mike Furlan says:
sluggo
I really don't mind. Her blog, her rules.
As mentioned above, there is way more content than time.
Dan says:
Black Twitter is a thing. Start with @ShaunKing, @Deray, @XLNB.
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