Showing posts with label helping hand. Show all posts

It is hard to believe that one year ago today, January 1, 2008, the doors of Sojourner's Place opened officially with a post entitled, Being Black in the Workplace. It was hard going there for a while, as I had no idea back then for what I was doing. But, something wonderful has happened and not SjP's has become an integral part of my life!

Today, 378 posts later, Sojourner's Place a rank of #65 on Villager's Black Blog Rankings for December 2008 out of 1516 blogs; a 1001 Technorati blog reactions and a rank somewhere between 119 - 130 (provided Technorati's system is working correctly); a recipient of 20 awards, recognitions, and honors. I am very proud to have been nominated for and received 2009 Black Web Best Commenter Award, it really does pale next to the first awards received. The first from Ms. Marva of The Marvalus View, the Rose Award and the second, from Yobachie of BlackPerspective.Net, the E for Excellent Award. And, I will be forever humbled with two of my posts being recognized and found worthy of two awards. The first, Saggin' Pants, was presented the Rising Blogger Award from Mimi Lenox of Mimi Writes. My favorite post and most personally profound, Crossing To A Destination Yet Unknown, was recently recognized as one of the best posts of 2008 by The Best Post of the Week blog.

So when a milestone is reached in the life of Sojourner's Place, The Emblem of the Helping Hand is passed along as my way of saying Much Obliged, Very Much Obliged to those who made it possible for ole SjP to keep on going. Therefore, I am passing on the first Emblems of 2009 and the 4th round of recipients from Sojourner's Place to the following spots because y'all give me the strength and encouragement to carry on and keep on telling the truth according to SjP!

Obliged to you for hearing me,
and now old SjP ain't got nothin' more to say...
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Technorati ~ ~ Del.iciou.us ~ ~ Digg This! ~ ~ StumbleUpon ~ ~ Twitter ~ ~ My Good Towels ~ ~ FeedBlitz ~ ~ Email SjP

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This has been an amazing week over here at Sojourner's Place! And it is just fitting that I share my good fortune with others. Kind of like "sharing the wealth".

So, this morning I'm passing on The Helping Hand Emblem as my way of saying Much Obliged when Sojourner's Place experiences blog-milestone. Started on June 29, 2008, the purpose of the The Helping Hand Emblem, is two-fold. First, it recognizes bloggers who have gone well beyond the call of duty by your continued efforts to "leave the pile higher than you found it" for new bloggers. And second, it says to the new blogger to keep up the good work and you're on the right track even if you think you're not.

This third group of recipients of the Emblem, keep me going day after day. Whether I'm sojourning to your spot or you to mine, you never fail to motivate me to be the best blogger I can be. Therefore, it is with a great deal of humility and appreciation that I pass on the Emblem of the Helping Hand to the following blogs. You know the mantra...Much Obliged! Very Much Obliged!

I encourage all Sojourners to visit the recent recipients of the Emblem and give them a congrats and a much obliged for all they do.

Past recipients of the Emblem passed on by Sojourner's Place:

June 29, 2008 Recipients

African American Opinion ~ Black Tennis Pro's ~ BlackPerspective ~ Electronic Village ~ MrsGrapevine.com ~ New Black Woman ~ on the black hand side ~ Regina's Family Seasons ~ The Black Factor ~ The Francis L. Holland Blog ~ The Marvalus View ~ Black On Campus ~ BLACK WOMEN, BLOW THE TRUMPET! ~ Coffee Stained News's Weblog ~ FROM MY BROWN EYED VIEW ~ HAGAR'S DAUGHTERS ~ Notes of This Native Son ~ THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD TRIBAL ALLIANCE.

August 8, 2008 Recipients

Adventures in Being ~ Black Political Thought ~ Ebony Report ~ HicktownPress ~ Mimi Writes ~ ModernMusings.com ~ Musings About A Muddled World ~ Raw Dawg Buffalo ~ SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE ~ The Synergistic Pen ~ UltravioletUnderground ~ What About Our Daughters? ~ Womanist Musings

Passed on by Emblem Recipients

pioneervalleywoman ~ elle ~ SjP ~ MacDaddy

Obliged to you for hearing me,
and now old SjP ain't got nothin' more to say...

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Technorati ~ ~ Del.iciou.us ~ ~ Digg This! ~ ~ StumbleUpon ~ ~ Twitter ~ ~ My Good Towels ~ ~ FeedBlitz ~ ~ Email SjP

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Yes! I'm demanding a recount! I just can't believe that Sojourner's Place was not only nominated but WON the 2009 Black Web Award in the Best Commentator category. Somebody pinch me! I'm over here feeling like Sally Feilds "you like me...you really like me"!

Words can not express how humbled I am with receiving this award. Y'all all know that I'm still pretty new at blogging, having launched my first official post on January 1 of this year. During that time, Sojourner's Place has gone threw a whole lot of looks and directions as I tried to find my voice - or as Villager says - my flow. I so appreciate your patience, continued support and encouragement. Much obliged, y'all! Very Much Obliged!

Special H/T to the Torrence, Raw Dawg Buffalo, for "droppin' the dime", or else I never would have known. I owe you big time!

Please make sure to send a shot of congrats to other 2009 recipients you might know, including:

Barack Obama.com - Most Important Site for Black America & Most Original Site
Black Women in Europe Blog - Best Black European Site
Black Blog Watch - Best Black Blog Directory
You Betta Recognize - Best Education
Raw Dawg Buffalo - Best Business & Political
Black Tennis Pros - Best Site for Athletes

And while the 2009 Black Web Award is truly an honor, it pales by comparison to the award recently received from Villager. Earlier this week, he bestowed on Sojourner's Place the "I Love Your Blog" Award. To be donned by you, Villager, as one of your "favorite blogs in the universe" is truly overwhelming. Cause, if SjP's could be even a tenth of what Electronic Village is, I will have died and gone to blog heaven. This recognition coming from you means more than I can ever express in mere words. You gotta know that you are my hero!

Between the "I Love Your Blog" and "Black Web" Awards, you gotta know that I have to share these blog blessings. So, this week-end I will be handing out some "Emblems of the Helping Hand" as my way of simply saying Much Obliged and Paying it Forward.

P.S. Did Barack kick butt tonight or what? "cool-cool/ super-cool/ real cool" Barack!

Obliged to you for hearing me,
and now old SjP ain't got nothin' more to say...
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Technorati ~ ~ Del.iciou.us ~ ~ Digg This! ~ ~ StumbleUpon ~ ~ Twitter ~ ~ My Good Towels ~ ~ FeedBlitz ~ ~ Email SjP

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Much obliged to my blogging sister, Danielle Vyas of ModernMusings.com, for revitalizing this weekly meme called Thursday Thirteen. The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

Danielle used this meme to recognize her Twitter "friends and followers". I'm so glad to be among her "crew" and in fact, she was the first to begin to follow me on Twitter. Much obliged Danielle, still learning how to make Twitter work for me :>).

Anyway, the last couple of weeks have brought Sojourner's Place several blogging surprises including nominations for the Black Blog and Black Weblog Awards, the recipient of a Rising Blogger Award for the Saggin' Pants post, moving up in Villagers BBR to 114 out of 1329 blogs, and reaching a Technorati Authority over 100! All this, and Monday (8/11) is my birthday! Whoopie!



So, in coming up with my Thursday Thirteen, I am passing on the second The Emblem of the Helping Hand to 13 bloggers who have shown Sojourner's Place much love and support. Much obliged y'all for all you do! Go here to find out more about the Emblem and how to display it on your site.

Much obliged to each and everyone of you! Couldn't do it without you!

1. Adventures in Being
   
2. Black Political Thought
   
3. Ebony Report
4. HicktownPress
5. Mimi Writes
6. ModernMusings.com
7. Musings About A Muddled World
8. Raw Dawg Buffalo
9. SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE
10. The Synergistic Pen
11. UltravioletUnderground
12. What About Our Daughters?
13. Womanist Musings

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Its hard to believe that on Tuesday, July 1st Sojourner's Place will have been "open for business" for six whole months. When I began this adventure, I certainly had no idea what this "blogging thing" was all about. All I knew is that I needed an outlet to rant, rave, ramble, and even celebrate the things and people important to me.

Had to learn a whole new language. Feed... rank... Technorati... tags... link... cross-posting... Old School Fridays... and Wordless Wednesdays. WTH (had to learn what all those acronyms meant, too)! What had I gotten myself into? Would anybody care about what I had to say? Would anybody out there in the blogsphere even drop by Sojourner's Place, post a comment, or most of all even return? Yes, those first couple of months were very scary and very intimidating.

Then it happened! After a month of posting, surfing, and commenting I got my first comment! Oh yeah! I'm on a roll now! Then after another 2 weeks, I got another comment! Damn! What am I doing wrong? Should I stop this? Can't stop now...I'm consumed...gotta keep blogging...just got to! Then, thank you HRC! Thank you so much for delivering that Shame on You Barack Obama rant! I wrote about it and I got 3 comments! Not just any comments - but comments from New Black Woman, Villager, and Regina's Family Seasons ! And oh what comments they were...maybe they like old Sojourner's Place!

I could go on and on about the first few months of my blogging experience. But, I don't want to bore ya'll with a whole lot of sentimental s*it; and besides that ain't the reason for this post. What's the reason? Well, last night I checked my Technorati Rank and Authority. In January, my rank was some ungodly number like 4 or 5 million. Last night it was 86,054!! Villager! I broke that 100K mark! And my Authority is 75! Just 25 points away from my goal of 100! I'm shooting for August!

I wanted to do something special to say Much Obliged and to celebrate reaching this personal milestone. Because I have committed my life to "leaving the pile higher than I found it", I wanted to "pay that help and support forward" to those new to the blogsphere. As such, I have created this "Emblem of the Helping Hand" as a token of my appreciation for my blog mentors and a source of encouragement for those who are up and coming.

The Rules:

1. Select 10 bloggers: 5 you consider your blogging Helping Hand then "Pay it Forward" by extending your "Helping Hand" to 5 additional bloggers in support and encouragement for their efforts.
2. In passing on the Emblem, each recipient must provide the name of blog or blog author with a link for others to visit.
3. Each recipient must show the Emblem and put the name and link to the blog that has given it to her or him.
4. Link the Emblem to this post: Helping Hand: Much Obliged and Paying it Forward so that others will know it origin and impetus.
5. If you have not already done so, show your recipients some love by adding them to your blog roll, Technorati Favorite list, or in any other way to further let them know that their blog voice is important to you and being heard.
6. Add your name to The Helping Hand meme at my new blog entitled The Emblem of the Helping Hand and don't forget to leave a comment as a permanent record of all Helping Hand recipients.
7. Display the rules

To my Blogging Mentors, please accept this "Emblem of the Helping Hand" as a symbol of just how much your help, support, and encouragement has meant to me during the past 6 months. As the originator of the Emblem, I'm breaking the first rule by selecting more than 5 blogs (smile).

1. African American Opinion: much obliged for thinking that my rants and rumblings were worthy. when i think of you, i just want to say"it's nation time" !


2. BlackPerspective.net: you help me keep it real and on track. still trying to live up to that 'e' for excellence; it was my first award! much obliged


3. Black Tennis Pros: never knew there were so many black tennis pros! coming to your site is a joy!


4. Electronic Village: could do a whole blog on you - the eternal optimist! the griot! you will never know just how much you have influenced and helped me...i suspect that i'm not the only one who feels this way!


5. Francis l. Holland Blog: wow! you let me know that its quite all right to "come with it" and "come with it hard". as my mamma says, you always tell it like it t - i - is!


6. Mrs. Grapevine: special...just special! you keep me informed and in the know! couldn't do it without you!


7. New Black Woman: you were one of the first to leave a comment. i'll never forget the feeling that maybe i was on the right track to have warranted a comment from such an important blogger! much obliged!


8. Regina's Family Seasons: you are simply a wonderful and much needed source of encouragement to me. whether your comments or your own post, you enlighten and lift my spirit.


9. The Black Factor: i swear we must work at the same place! every time i visit your blog its as if you must work in the office next to mine. yours is one of the very first blogs i came upon, and there i learned that i was not alone!


10. The Marvalus View: soaps, flavor of love, 10spot! guuurrrllll! you know that you are my rock!


11. Vanessa: Unplugged and On the Black Hand Side : you were there before i even knew you! what can i say? you know the rest! so glad i found you!

I'm "Paying it Forward" to the following blogs. These are blogs that are doing it and doing it well. Each has a very special place reserved just for them at Sojourner's Place. I encourage you to visit, leave a comment, and if are so inclined give them a FAV. Cause we new bloggers are fragile and need your support and encouragement.