The daddy's first year of blogging: "Celebration time. Come on!"

Listen up. The daddy is
celebrating his first year of
blogging. He began posting on
April 26, 2008. Since then, he's penned over 320 posts in 356 days. Like Holifield fighting for a meal, Malcolm making it plain, Aretha, the true Diva (sorry Beyonce), soaring into the stratosphere with nothin' but God's pipes and soul for fuel, the daddy, from day one, sought to lay it down in the field then string up a flag pole to show the real deal: to kick it from the bottom, to run it ghetto/project/taco barrio/trailer park style--to give you straight talk from a straight-up and most times fed up, crazy-ass black man! And tell the daddy true, would you really want anything less?

Evidently not. Because, from day one, you've been coming to daddyBstrong to read and comment and conversate with the daddy about all kinds of issues, expressing what's on your mind; and he wants to thank you. Check it:

1. From the moment you somehow found daddyBstrong, you saw it was no raw deal: no ideology-conscious blog with jive talking points, spin or ready cliches' to rationalize foolish behavior (black or any other color), outdated ideology (liberal, conservative or sorry right-wing), to curry favor with people in power or influence. You saw the daddy kick it from a black perspective but, nonetheless, stand with working people and folks trying to live some semblance of the American dream in this hell-hole we like to think as the greatest country in the world; and the daddy wants to thank you.

2. Though some of his homies at the coffee shop said you wouldn't listen to "all that serious mess," you got it. You knew you wanted to hear a brotha from another mother hit it like Sweet Sweetback about the things that most affect your lives. In less than a year's time, the daddy's got almost 50,000 hits. That's a lot of you coming to daddyBstrong in a year. And you keep coming.

3. Though the brothas at the coffee shop said you weren't interested in poetry, though a few said even reading is "just not manly," the daddy posted a series on poetry called "Poets You Should Know." These were great African American poets who deserve more attention for their work not only as great poets but committed social activists as well. You kept coming.

4. Though all the brothas believed that you hate talking about economics "cause they don't know nothin' about it anyways," the daddy wrote a series of posts on the economy. You kept coming.

5. Though most of his friends don't practice Kwanzaa as a holiday or live its principles throughout the year, the daddy wrote a series on it from December 26 to January 1, 2008. You kept coming.

6. Though most of his homies aren't interested in history, though they can't see its relevance to their lives today and didn't think you would either, the daddy did an entire series on history during Black History Month with the expressed purpose of showing that what happened yesterday still affects us today. In fact, the daddy penned stories about sheroes and heroes of the civil rights and black power movement; and he suggested that, if they hadn't consciously acted to make history, many African Americans, including the daddy, may not be here today. You still kept coming.

So, for finding the daddy, sticking with him, believing in him, and for showing that you believe in yourselves by making comments of your own on daddyBstrong, a brotha wants to thank you.

In the future, the daddy will continue to write posts. However, he will also offer several books that he has written. One book will include posts from the daddyBstrong blog. Another will be a book of poetry about heroes and sheroes like Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer, Bayard Rustin and Dr. Martin Luther King and Angela Davis. Another will be on black men and what it will take for them to heal.

The daddy will be putting these books on his sidebar to be purchased for two reasons: First, many of you email the daddy asking him to re-post articles, especially about music and history. By putting the best of his posts into book form, you will have them at your finger tips to read at your leisure. And, if you missed a post or two, you'll get to read them as well. Second, and the most important, the daddy has friends (teachers and former teachers) who believe that many of these posts can be used as supplementary sources in public or private schools. So, in a few months, you, teachers and book buyers for schools and community agencies and others will be able to look on daddyBstrong's sidebar and see several books available for less than $10.00 each.

But tonight, the daddy's gonna make his wine glass rise like the Phoenix in honor of his first year of blogging, say "Thank you, Lawd," then ask you to sing along with him, "Celebration time/come on!..."