Blogging

Remember What You Read? Write to Remember

Reading and Memory

(Photo Credit: Blavity)

Although you may think you have the best memory, and maybe you do, after reading so many pieces, you need a strategy to aid your memory about the pieces read. One of the most important strategies for helping you to recall what you read, including remembering some sophisticated analyses and observations made, is to write a summary and/or critical review of each text read. Write the summary or critical review immediately after reading a text. This type of focused writing strategy benefits all readers.

Yes, taking notes about the works one reads is a traditional method that is useful in aiding your recollection. Taking notes, however, does not involve the serious level of focus and engagement that writing summaries and critical reviews necessitates. This greater level of focus and engagement will not only ameliorate your ability to recall what you read but also significantly enhance your comprehension.

You can compose your summaries and critical reviews in a regular notebook or journal, but you might find it more fun to capture your summaries and critical reviews through blogging. By using blogging as your method of penning your summaries and critical reviews, you are able to share your writing with the world and engage and receive feedback from a global audience.

Blogger, Weebly, and WordPress are three excellent blogging platforms that you might consider using to blog your summaries and critical reviews of the pieces you read.

Most of us live busy lives. When you’ve invested your time and energy in reading a work, especially a long book or lengthy essay, do you really want to forget most or everything about the book or essay 6 months or a year after reading the book or essay? Let your summaries and critical reviews of those books and essays support your memory.

Dr. Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison       

Fridays with Dr. Glass: Entrepreneurs Should Capitalize on the Power of Blogging

Santresa L. Glass

Courtesy of Santresa L. Glass

Today, I had the distinct honor of interviewing Dr. Santresa Glass, a social media and small business expert, about why it’s important for entrepreneurs to engage in blogging. Each Friday, Dr. Glass has agreed to lend her expertise here at Revolutionary Paideia on sundry issues pertaining to social media and small business. If you have questions and/or comments for Dr. Glass, leave a comment on the site and she will respond.

Provide a brief summary of your academic training and professional experience.

My academic experience started long before graduating from high school and college. I stem from entrepreneurs, both street and academically adept. My passion for food, cooking, baking, giving back, educating, empowering other people, events and meeting planning, entrepreneurship, public relations, and writing will always rest at the core of who I am as an individual. No, I didn’t need ANY formal education to glean some of the things I’ve learned. However, the information obtained and applied from my collegiate experiences is proving invaluable to me. Earning my bachelor of arts in English from one of the best historically black universities, Albany State University, served as the foundation of my academic matriculation. I then proceeded to earn my master’s degree from Troy University in Business Management, and most recently, my educational doctorate from Argosy University in Organizational Leadership.  The combination of my layered passion and academic accomplishments have served as fuel to live my life fearlessly, love unabashedly, and laugh boisterously.

How can entrepreneurs benefit professionally from blogging?

One of the greatest ways in which entrepreneurs, the risk-takers, the doers, can benefit from blogging is to establish themselves as experts or burgeoning professionals in their field. Over time, as you continue to share your expertise, your consistent insight will make clear to industry peers and readers that you are truly an expert in your respective industry.

In your own experience as a successful small business owner and non-profit corporation executive, have you benefitted professionally from blogging?

I have benefited from blogging and most recently learned the lesson of backing up ALL files to prevent losing your hard work and priceless photographs. Blogging has helped me make connections nationally and internationally, both personal and professional.

Are there additional ways in which you’ve benefitted professionally from blogging?

One of the most invaluable ways in which I have benefitted professionally from blogging is the connections that I’ve made with industry peers and readers.  The interaction and engagement with people that you’ve never met, people you only know virtually, becomes invaluable.  Blogging and other social media platforms have opened flood gates for individuals, like myself, with layered passions to pursue them resiliently. I have also become a better writer.

What should entrepreneurs blog about? Are there things they shouldn’t blog about? 

Entrepreneurs should blog about those things, people, places, etc. that are relevant to their respective industry, interest, passion, and purpose.

Name some quality locations online entrepreneurs can begin a blog.

I would suggest that entrepreneurs start with hosting sites that are user-friendly such as Blogger or WordPress.

How can blogging be used as an effective marketing medium for entrepreneurs?

When done consistently, blogging is an incredibly effective marketing medium for entrepreneurs. The use of blogging combined with active use of social media cultivates turning passion into profit.

Stay Connected with Dr. Glass . . .

Facebook: Magnolia’s Sweet Haven

Instagram: @magnoliassweethaven

Twitter: @magsweethaven

Facebook: Cheesecake For The Cure, Inc.

Instagram: @cheesecakeforthecure

Twitter: @cheesecake4cure

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

 Related Articles

Introducing “Fridays with Dr. Glass”

Santresa L. Glass

Courtesy of Santresa L. Glass

Beginning Friday, January 9, 2015, Revolutionary Paideia will have the distinct pleasure and honor of interviewing Dr. Santresa L. Glass, a social media and small business expert, every Friday. Recently, Dr. Glass completed a pioneering dissertation unveiling the powerful advantages of using social media platforms as vehicles for significant growth in small business. Her dissertation is one of few seriously discussing leveraging social media platforms in small business. Every Friday, Dr. Glass will provide expert insights about social media and/or small business.

Dr. Glass completed her doctoral degree in Organizational Leadership at Argosy University. She earned a master’s degree in Management at Troy University and an undergraduate degree in English at Albany State University. Dr. Glass has graduate management certificates from the University of Georgia and Clayton State University. Glass has 11 years of experience in the hospitality industry, events management, small business, organizational leadership and entrepreneurship. Dr. Glass has one year of executive leadership experience as the Founder and CEO of Cheesecake For the Cure, a non-profit corporation committed to bringing year-round awareness about cancer. She has 11 years of passionate and effective service as an educator.

On Friday, Glass will provide extant and future small business leaders with valuable insights about how to use blogging to advance their small businesses.

Revolutionary Paideia looks forward to interviewing Dr. Glass this week and each week in the future.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Revolutionary Paideia’s Focus and Objective

Revolution

(Photo Credit: Sheeple TV)

Revolutionary Paideia’s is focused on the foremost postmodern issues and problems facing those situated in America and across the globe.  Instead of shying away from controversy, Revolutionary Paideia engages controversy and looks to stimulate important discourses that emerge from controversy.  Specifically, what’s this site focused on?  It’s focused on the trending and not-so-trending controversies.  Although many writers seek to find their niche, Revolutionary Paideia has resisted becoming just another “niche site.”

This site largely features pieces on education, popular culture, black culture, sports, current events and personal development, with a special concern for helping individuals learn to be themselves.  While the aforementioned topics are the most covered topics on this site, Revolutionary Paideia refuses to classify itself as being this or that or being a part of a certain niche community.  Revolutionary Paideia does demonstrate a strong concern for issues and problems related to and impacting Black people, but it would be improper to label this site as a Black culture blog.  How would you properly label this blog?  It’s a cultural commentary blog.  It’s focused on providing smart commentary on pressing and interesting issues of our postmodern period.

What’s the primary objective of Revolutionary Paideia?  This blog longs for people across America and the globe to have a renewed interest in inquiry, ideas and debate.  We need more genuine spaces that give people an equal voice and the liberty to express themselves as they please.  Revolutionary Paideia is place where innovative ideas can be explored and those who offer those ideas can receive insightful feedback.  We become a better country and better world when we permit our ideas to lead us to solutions to many of our complex problems.  This blog is unafraid to engage people on issues that many, if not most, try to avoid, including race, religion, class and sexuality.  If you would like to have serious discourses about those aforementioned issues and many other controversial topics, then you’ve found the right place.

Revolutionary Paideia is a space where you can even feel free to request that certain topics, challenges and/or problems are addressed.  Many of the pieces that appear on this site are products of requests by readers. Never feel that your suggestions will be shot down.  All of your suggestions will be seriously considered. Readers, therefore, play a significant role in helping to shape what appears on the blog.  One of the greatest ways to demonstrate to readers that they matter is to allow them to see their ideas and feedback come to fruition on your site.

Revolutionary Paideia is truly appreciative of how its many readers have contributed immensely to the site’s success over the last four and a half years.

This site strives to meet the needs of real people.  If you’re struggling with challenges and problems that have gone unmet, this site wants to research and develop the solutions you need.  Don’t have any fear about asking for help here.

Revolutionary Paideia wants to empower you to find your voice, express your ideas, and be yourself.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

What Bores Me? Reading Freshly Pressed on WordPress

WordPress Blogging

(Photo Credit: Freelance Folder)

WordPress showcases a number of blogs each day on Freshly Pressed, but there is a conspicuous lack of diversity in the bloggers featured.  When one examines the bloggers that WordPress staff members elect to feature on Freshly Pressed, those bloggers are overwhelmingly White.  One hardly ever finds a Black or other racial and ethnic minority blogger being featured on Freshly Pressed, and this is quite unfortunate, considering numerous minority bloggers using WordPress deserve to be featured.  One of the fundamental reasons why many minority bloggers aren’t being featured on Freshly Pressed is WordPress has a staff deficient in diversity, especially when it comes to staff members who curate Freshly Pressed.

If one reads Freshly Pressed, he or she may come away with the idea that most of the really good or great bloggers using WordPress are White.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Since I’m penning this piece about the dearth of racial diversity in those featured on Freshly Pressed, WordPress staff members will never select me.  If WordPress staff members never elect to feature me, I will be fine with their decision.  I have a highly successful blog and a large readership.  I will survive.  Unfortunately, many minority bloggers, especially Black bloggers, using WordPress need to and deserve to be showcased on Freshly Pressed.  A number of successful Black bloggers use WordPress and have been nominated and/or won awards for their blogs, but WordPress continues to ignore the success of their blogs.

One has to wonder if WordPress really even cares about Black bloggers, their blogs, and the issues that matter to them.

Freshly Pressed is becoming increasingly boring to read.  While WordPress staff members can assert that there are multifarious topics curated on Freshly Pressed, they cannot point to a significant number of those sundry topics being composed by minority bloggers.

As a means of demonstrating that they’re not biased to minority bloggers, I would recommend that WordPress staff members put me on its staff as a Curator.  I don’t need or desire to be paid.  I certainly have the qualifications to be a successful Curator and have an academic and professional record, which includes being extensively published, that would offer some much needed diversity to the WordPress staff.

While I very much love WordPress and posit that it’s the best blogging platform available, the way in which blogs are being curated for Freshly Pressed is unfair and unappealing to many minority bloggers.  It’s my hope that WordPress will begin to feature a tremendous number of minority bloggers on Freshly Pressed.

Many minority bloggers simply see Freshly Pressed as a boring showcase of blogs.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Revolutionary Paideia’s Third Blogoversary

Blogoversary

It’s my blogoversary!  I have officially been blogging for three years now.  Since I began blogging on February 14, 2010, it’s easy for me to remember the anniversary of Revolutionary Paideia—it’s on Valentine’s Day.  Revolutionary Paideia has been tremendously successful in its three years of existence.  I’ve been able to amass an unbelievable number of readers.  Even early on in this blog’s history, WordPress named it “One of the Fastest Growing Blogs.”  WordPress only gives this distinction to the top blogs that are attracting the most readers.  I’m thankful to my readers for making the success of Revolutionary Paideia possible.  If it was not for you, Revolutionary Paideia would be just one of the numerous blogs that has no readers or very few readers.

This blog has added to my success and has enabled me to create valuable new friendships and alliances.

For those who are unfamiliar with this blog, it’s a cultural commentary blog offering frequently published pieces on many diverse topics, including education, sports, literature, film, music, black culture, popular culture, self-help, and etc.  I post pieces 4 to 5 times a week.  For some of the other online publications I write for, take a look at my “Portfolio” page.

I want to thank one of my best friends, Santresa L. Glass, the person who gave me passionate pushes to go ahead and begin blogging.  I had expressed to her my desire to start blogging, but I was striving for everything to be perfect before I would begin.  Santresa would not settle for this.  She persistently insisted I begin immediately.  After getting tired of listening to her nag me about going ahead and launch my blog, I went ahead and launched it.  Thanks for your constant nagging, Santresa!

I look forward to many more years of blogging.  Revolutionary Paideia will bring you many exciting things this year and I don’t want you to miss any of them.  I will continue to maintain my commitment to “unsettling, unnerving, and unhousing” you.

Again, I thank all of my readers for helping to develop Revolutionary Paideia into the great success it is today!  Happy Blogoversary to Revolutionary Paideia!

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Related articles

Prewriting: A Neglected Stage of the Writing Process

 

The Writing Process

If you’re to become an effective writer, you’re going to have to embrace the notion of writing as a process.  A carefully prepared piece is one that takes full advantage of each stage of the writing process.  Unfortunately, prewriting, the first stage of the writing process, is often omitted by many writers.  Many writers feel like prewriting wastes time.  If one would fully understand that prewriting is not simply about using strategies like clustering, freewriting, mapping, and etc., he or she will begin to embrace prewriting more.

The prewriting stage of the writing process does not require you to conduct all of your efforts on paper.  When a writer discusses his or her ideas with another person, this is a meaningful part of the prewriting process.  You will find that engaging in serious discourses about your topic during the prewriting stage will benefit you tremendously.  You might discover that the idea you thought was a novel one is really something that many others have done.  However, the person or persons you discuss your topic with can assist you in coming up with novel approaches to doing something others have already done.

Discussing your topic with others during the prewriting process can enable you to gain new ideas and refine your extant ideas.  People can lead you in the right direction on your topic.  You might have been headed in a direction that would lead you to say, “I have writer’s block.”  What you would experience is not “writer’s block” but the frustration that emerges from a lack of meaningful discussion about your topic before you moved into the drafting stage of the writing process.  If you experience “writer’s block” during the drafting stage, then it could mean you completely abandoned the prewriting stage or you did not devote enough time to the prewriting stage.

I have an opportunity to read a number of essays and blogs weekly.  I have discovered that many writers and bloggers could benefit from dedicating more time to the prewriting stage of the writing process before they begin drafting their pieces.  Many writers and bloggers begin with an idea that they’ve given themselves only a short amount of time to think about and then they move immediately to the drafting stage.  You can detect the weaknesses of their ideas when you see how their ideas lack development and/or when they go off topic often.

It would not hurt you to begin a conversation with someone about a topic you have in mind for an essay or blog piece before you start to compose it.  You will find that your writing will improve dramatically when you start to embrace the prewriting stage of the writing process.  Even when you think you have everything figured out about a piece you plan to write, don’t omit prewriting—engage in at least one prewriting activity.

Before you begin drafting your next piece, be sure you devote enough time to prewriting to give yourself the best opportunity to have a truly well-written piece.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Related articles

 

Revolutionary Paideia: Semi-Finalist for Black Weblog Awards

Black Weblog Awards

Vote for Revolutionary Paideia!

 

I need all of my readers, supporters, friends, and family to vote for Revolutionary Paideia, my blog, on as many different computer as possible for the Black Weblog Awards Best Writing in a Blog Award and Best Blog Post Series Award.  Vote by clicking on this link: http://www.blackweblogawards.com/vote-here/.  Revolutionary Paideia is in the semifinals in both categories and I will need all of the votes possible to move on to the final round of voting.  With all of your help, Revolutionary Paideia can win both categories.

While there are some good nominees in both categories, Revolutionary Paideia is far superior to them all.

After you have voted, share this piece with others and get the word out about voting for Revolutionary Paideia on social media, including Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.

I very much appreciate your vote and your help in making Revolutionary Paideia the winner in both of these categories.  Thank you!

Sincerely,

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Let Your Blog Be What You Want It to Be

 

Black Man Writing

While there’s certainly nothing wrong with seeking and taking the advice of individuals about blogging, don’t let anyone place restrictive limitations on how you blog.  When you listen to advice given by successful bloggers, don’t take that advice as being a law.  You need to make sure the advice offered is appropriate to what you want to accomplish.  When you hear bloggers telling you that you have to limit your blog to a highly specialized niche, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to do it.

I have read in various places that people have a problem with individuals who are willing to cover any topic on their blogs.  They argue that readers will not be able to define what type of blog one has when he or she writes about any topic of choice.  Additionally, they contend that search engines will not find the posts on the blogs of those individuals who write about a diverse range of topics instead of topics in a highly specialized niche.  Revolutionary Paideia proves them to be wrong.  Revolutionary Paideia is a cultural commentary blog providing articles on a constellation of sundry topics.  This blog does not simply focus on politics, relationships, sports, education, music, or etc.—it covers diverse topics on all those categories and many more.

Revolutionary Paideia was featured by WordPress as the second fastest growing blog.  For those successful bloggers who say not having a highly specialized niche will cause your posts to not be picked up well by search engines, my recent post “Open Letter to Todd Akin”  was picked up so well by the search engines that it reached Rebecca Hamilton of the Oklahoma state House of Representatives.  She also blogs and “liked” the aforementioned post on Revolutionary Paideia.

I mention those things about Revolutionary Paideia because it’s one of those blogs that’s not in a highly specialized niche.  In two and a half years of existence, Revolutionary Paideia has amassed well over 250,000 readers.  Therefore, the search engines are picking up the posts quite fine without a highly specialized niche.

Don’t let someone force you to create a relationships, politics, education, sports, music or news blog if that’s not what you want to do.  Never be afraid to go against the recommendations of successful bloggers.  They don’t have all of the answers.  If you have your own innovative ideas, they’re probably going to be best served by not following all of the suggestions of successful bloggers.  Instead of concentrating on a highly specialized niche, produce great content.  Great content will bring readers to your blog.

Some successful bloggers will try to persuade you into writing pieces that fit only into a highly specialized niche because they’re not talented enough write about a range of diverse topics.  Their recommendations for you to not pen pieces on a range of diverse topics emerge from their belief that “some people try to do too much on their blogs.”  Just because people are writing about diverse topics on their blogs does not mean they “try to do too much on their blogs.”

For many of these bloggers who attack people because they’re not able to simply define what type of blog people who write about a variety of topics have, I could attack them for not writing pieces that reflect the use of good grammar and punctuation and careful editing and proofreading.  However, I choose not to do it at this point.

If you’re going to be a blogger who has real value, then let your blog be a blog that reflects who you truly are and what you truly want to accomplish.

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

Read and Follow Everyday Street Bible

My best friend, Santresa L. Glass, and I have created a new project, Everyday Street Bible, which is a blog we use to offer practical and real-world commentary about Christianity, mundane life realities, controversial social, political, and cultural issues, challenges, and problems, and so much more.  The site is located at http://everydaystreetbible.blogspot.com.  I encourage you to become a follower of the site.  We let you know how two real Christians live a real life in this real world.  We truly keep it real.

On the site, we have and will continue to address most of the things that your pastors won’t dare address, but things you need to have some guidance about, considering you don’t spend every day in church.  Santresa and I understand that every day is not Sunday.  We know that you’re going to confront many challenges and problems that are not discussed in your church.  Our site, Everyday Street Bible, is committed to filling the gaps on many issues that preachers across the nation don’t want to address.

Santresa recently composed Sensitive Mean People and I penned Black Megachurch Preachers and Teenage Pregnancy for our site.  Be sure to check those two pieces out and leave a comment on both pieces to let us know what you think.  Show your support by reading and leaving a comment.

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thestreetbible and “Like” Everyday Street Bible on Facebook.  Santresa and I will greatly appreciate your support.

Thank you in advance,

Antonio Maurice Daniels

University of Wisconsin-Madison