baltimoreblackwoman

Technology can be both friend and foe, often, simultaneously.

On July 30, 2018, I received a notification from wordpress.com (the platform and primary site of this blog) that Facebook would no longer automatically share my posts as of August 1, 2018, due to new rules concerning user authenticity and other issues.

This meant that I would no longer have immediate access to my primary audience—my Facebook friends!

The notification arrived via email, just hours after The Baltimore Free University shared my poem, “You Don’t Know Baltimore Like I Do,” on its Facebook page. What a bittersweet moment that was, to receive unsolicited but welcome attention for my work and then to have that attention-getting platform ripped away.

But now, after several weeks of trying to navigate Facebook’s help page for a solution to this problem, I have prevailed.

Last night (August 21, 2018), I launched a Facebook Page, Baltimoreblackwoman@jolivia1016, so that I can continue to share my posts in real time.

This new venture has the potential to expand my brand and my reach.

I envision an interactive site in which videos and other projects might appear first on the Facebook Page, although wordpress.com will continue to be my primary publishing platform.

I started this blog in December 2015 to promote the premise that The Black Experience Is The Human Experience. I began with essays in response to a challenge from President Barack Obama to start a conversation about race. Over time, I added essays and commentaries about the stories of the day in Baltimore, including the Freddie Gray case and corruption in Baltimore’s police department. I expanded my scope to highlight new developments in Baltimore, such as local eateries and cultural events around the City. I added new categories including poetry and music, to feature my own and others’ works, and Book Reviews.

Although my audience remains relatively small, my aim now is to learn to use technology again, including marketing tools (currently, not one of my strengths), to grow this brand.

It’s another leap of faith—learning as I go. But as long as I have the will, the tenacity, and the heart to communicate about my experience as a native-born Black woman from Baltimore, this blog will continue.

I’m moving forward and not looking back!

Thank you for your support.