When we started the blog a little over one year ago, we had a rough vision of where we wanted to take it. We knew we wanted it to be social justice driven and relevant to our Birmingham community—one half of the YW’s mission is eliminating racism. Anytown and Heritage Panel, both of which have been featured on this blog, are a few examples of how the YW sets out to achieve the lofty task of eliminating racism. But we knew that we needed to do even more. One of the keys to successfully addressing any issue is bringing voices to the voiceless, and in the digital age we could think of no better way to do that than to start a blog. We certainly have learned a lot along the way as we brainstormed topics, recruited bloggers and hit the “post” button. But it’s been a successful start.
Over the past year, we have delivered 86 blog posts to almost 700 subscribers. To mark this anniversary, we looked over a few of the stats that we use to analyze how we are doing and combined them with some of our own favorites and we created a list of the Top 10 Favorite Posts. Here we go:
#10: Anger, Energy, Service and Compassion by Stacy Oliver
This post will make you think twice and reflect on your own experiences living in Alabama.
#9: Why Predatory Lending Matters to Me by Gloria Anderson
The YW’s target issue has been predatory lending for the past few years, and Gloria summed up why!
#8: Stereotypes and Socialization by Deidra Perry
The YW partners with NCCJ to bring Anytown to our Greater Birmingham Community. Board Member Deidra Perry reminds us why it’s so important for our collective future!
#7: Entering the Conversation by Noah Schuettge
Spike Lee retweeted our link to Noah’s post. Need we say more?
#6: Generation Y… W
This one was a very popular post, surprising even us! But the power of millennial to shape our future really resonated with our readers.
#5: Redskins, Rebels and Lingering Racial Injustice by Rebecca Harkless
This is one of our absolute favorites on staff! Rebecca is an AmeriCorps in the social justice department, and we were all blown away when we read for the first time.
#4: Anytown Alabama and Growth Beyond Camp by Hope Lloyd
Hope’s post about the importance of relationships and Anytown really resonated with you, our readers.
#3: “I Ain’t Comin’ Down” Kanye West and the Confederate Flag by Mary Chiles
This post is without a doubt one of the best. It’s a reader and staff favorite! We could summarize here, but the title says it all!
#2: Ice Snow and a Caring Community by Deborah Goldstein
Sometimes unexpected things happen and inspire a great story. We re-organized our calendar to include this great post from Board Member Deborah Goldstein.
#1: End Predatory Lending, #EndUsury
And your absolute favorite was this video post about Predatory Lending. Take a few minutes to watch it again by clicking the link below.
As we enter our second year, be on the lookout for more posts and be sure to share us with your friends and colleagues. Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram too!
Inspired or offended? Write us a post about it! For more information about writing a blog post for the YW, please email Jacob Smith at jsmith@ywcabham.org.
