"Blackbird is a web browser designed for the African-American community that has advanced Web 2.0 features built into the browser." - Anthony Farrior from Bookmarklet

don't really want. I don't think it's necessary. but, to each his or her own. - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

seems to be a mistake to me. we need to be using mainstream tools, not separate tools... - Anthony Farrior

i can see a social network--or a Web application-- 'designed for the african-american community' -- or for any arbitrary group, but i don't get the point of a Web browser. the tabs that roll-up the resources of interest, what are those anyway? rss feeds. how about building an aggregator instead? - .LAG liked that

Not really feeling this. - Derrick

Um... I don't get it. - ha3rvey (literally)

i dont really see the need plus it doesn't work on a mac. - Theda

I think the creators of this missed the memo: equality isn't about the freedom to have your own thing, it's about everyone being able to use everything. I mean, there's just no reason for a "African American" browser. Just as there is no need for "White Browser" (which I would bet would be received much worse...). - Matt Frog

This is dumb. Plain and simple. I don't have to explain WHY it's dumb because it seems that everyone already knows. If you think it's NOT dumb, I would certainly love to hear your side because maybe I'm missing something. - Rah-PM 2012

i agree with building communities of interest, but i'm not sure a Web browser is the way to go. i have a mac here at home, and as @theda has discovered, blackbird is an windows .exe... - .LAG liked that

Why limit your exposure and learning opportunity?? This is bad ... bad, bad bad ... - Amani

Totally don't get it. - Kenton

Sorry, it's not a teaching program. It's a black people sandbox. - Rah-PM 2012

I'm assuming nobody here has actually used it. I want to know what it does that other browsers can't. If there is an answer there, then maybe there is a point to this. - Rah-PM 2012

Sorry I haven't tried it either due to my ,linuxitus ... It appears to be a mozilla browser w/plugins surrounding urban interests. Once again I say this is wrong because it keeps one in a box. You don't learn to swim in a kiddie pool. Talk about being in an echo chamber. Anyone passionate enough about this project do like Rah said and give another rational angle... - Anthony Farrior

OK, SekhemetsHathor wrote rational points just as I was asking for them...Thankyou :) - Anthony Farrior

"you'd be considered ignorant to the technology"... Sorry, but that phrase (and several others) makes no sense. - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

What about the kids that don't have a computer? Many black people don't. They go to the library, a friend's house, use their cell (they do tend to have those). How can they use this tool? Oh, they can't cuz it's a software install rather than a web application. You still have not pointed out what it does that another browser cannot. All the resources you're talking about already exist online, don't they? - Rah-PM 2012

Those weren't rational posts. They were insulting and lacking in logic. Tell me why this browser is better than a browser that doesn't focus on one group. I've managed to create a list of black voices online that doesn't keep me in the ghetto, like Black Planet. And working with inner city youth does NOT mean you have to keep them ghettofied online too. The best part of the internet is interacting with people from all over the world. - Anika

Like hell I don't get it. You just can't seem to form coherent sentences. And saying "no disrespect" doesn't erase insults. This program looks stupid and insulting. I've never seen any other browsers focused on just one race. Like someone else pointed out above, if this was, say, "Whitebird", we'd all be pissed off about it. Kids don't need to be coddled and kept "safe", they need to deal with the real world. *All* of the real world. - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

what kamilah said. - Anika

"All black all the time" like that's something we should want to achieve, makes me want to puke. We should all be way beyond that by now. - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

Fuck you, I'm a woman. You sound like a complete airhead and I seriously fear for any children being taught by you. - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

Well, this didn't turn out well. My questions still remain unanswered. Maybe next we can start teaching black kids in a school with nothing but black students, and only black books in the library. We could also make sure there were only black teachers. Of course, all the computers will only download black content via Blackbird. We could call it Segregation 2.0, - Rah-PM 2012

Thank you, Rahsheen. It's nice to see that most of us in this thread immediately figured out that this is a bunch of garbage. - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

++++Rahsheen. - Anika

The idea behind Blackbird is fine. The implementation is the problem. It like if BET wasn't a channel on your TV, but your actual service provider. All your channels are now BET. I don't think that would be a good idea. - Rah-PM 2012

Right, a social network or similar websites are fine, but there's no need to put the whole internet through some kind of blackness filter. That takes it too far. - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

SekhemetsHathor, where do you teach or are you a Marketing Manager? Is this a public or private school? What do the parents have to say about this use of this black-focused browser? - Anika

http://myphillynetwork.com/content... You can weigh in here too - Anthony Farrior

But, but, Tiffany, she's biracial and linked you to a slam poet. Didn't that make it clear? ;P - Anika

Well I did hope this post would bring about a much needed conversation... Small thinking creates people fighting for small ideas. The world in front of us is Huge, let's just help each other look up, not down.... Thanx All :) - Anthony Farrior

I'm struggling to completely understand what exactly it is you said. 1) There are exactly 2 non-black people in this thread (Lent and Harwood). 2) You keep saying you're a teacher, though your language skills would indicate otherwise. That's why I want to know what you teach & whether it's a private or public school. Your profile says you're Mrkt. Man. 3) Don't drop the Let's Scare the White People city names, it makes no sense in this thread and I'm in LA, so I know you're full of crap on that point. - Anika

Guys, look here http://friendfeed.com/e... Then try to take SekhemetsHathor seriously. She makes me absolutely sick. She's part of what's wrong with the world. - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

The more divide created, the more the "problem" is intensified. I would say "this is for black folk" does just as much to separate so called "races" than "white people only". Racists are racists because they see a natural divide on the basis of race. Popularising the myth and total facade that is "different races" only continues the problem... that's my last go. - Matt Frog

I missed that "you people" bit. Big fat WTF?? - Kamilah Reed (K. Gill)

I agree, I don't think the people who fought hard to get rid of segregation wanted it to just pop right back up again on the web. They heart may be in the right place as far as intentions go, but I don't agree with their advertising methods. - Jeremy

Hey, Matt. I think that is why this bothers me. A website where I can find a bunch of black "stuff" all in one place would be awesome. A browser that does it is something different. Something that seems to separate us from the rest of the internet. What would a black kid think about themselves when they have to use special software to see black stuff on the net? - Rah-PM 2012

That's a good point, we finally fought and won over segregation to only put ourselves on an Internet island... - Anthony Farrior

now I am white and european so i cannot comment much on the issues, and I totally understand the feeling that this might be voluntary segragation. But it could also be seen as correcting a bias. Face it, the web has a bias, it has an age bias, a gender bias, geographical bias and most likely white-middle-class cultural bias. When you search, anything from travel to make up, the results that come up at the top, the links that are most popular, are most likely to be in the US, about men etc. If you want otherwise you have to add words, or go to page 55... So something that compensates for that bias by offering smarter search etc. - I'm not convinced but I can see that it could offer some value. - Iphigenie