Why I Blog: Reflections After BlogHer 2018

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

I apologize for not posting on Wednesday, but I was at the BlogHer blogging conference on Wednesday and Thursday and didn’t have time to write. Instead, I was getting my own dose of inspiration and information to bring back to My American Meltingpot. Let me just say, it was a whirlwind two days, dedicated to empowering women to use their voices to change the world. We got the message loud and clear from everyone from celebrities (Gabrielle Union, Amy Schumer) to CEOs, politicians (Senator Kirsten Gillibrand) to YouTube stars. Basically, women are going to have to step up and stand up to the patriarchal power structure that is currently destroying every ounce of civility and justice in our society. Yeah, it’s kind of a tall order, but there’s no other option.

With those marching orders, I left on a high note, believing I was really doing something important by re-launching My American Meltingpot, but by the time I arrived home, I was tired. I thought about everything I wanted to do with this blog – launch a podcast, incorporate video, get better at SEO, create a store – and started to feel overwhelmed. I have a full-time job. I have three kids. I have a naughty labradoodle with a bad chewing habit. How could I even contemplate creating a blog that’s going to change the world? And despite all of the pretty, pink hype that I just witnessed at BlogHer, could a blog really change the world anyway?

IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME
Dear readers, I had to take to my couch. I have a pink suede couch in my home office and I gave myself permission to throw myself down on it and just think. I tried to remember what I wanted to do with My American Meltingpot in the first place. As I lay there, thankfully it came back to me. I wanted to create a media outlet that I wished already existed, one that specialized in pop culture, parenting and identity politics from a multicultural perspective. My life is pretty diverse and I wanted a media product that reflected that diversity.

There’s a saying that “if you build it they will come,” and my hope in creating The Meltingpot was that if I built this product, people like me, who appreciate a world full of cultural co-mingling, would find their way here. After the 2016 presidential election, my Meltingpot mission took on a new urgency because of the rise in hate speech, racial violence and ignorant policy making by elected officials. The need for a Meltingpot community became impossible to ignore. I needed it and I knew so many people out in the world needed it too.

THE POWER IN DIVERSITY
So, I will not be daunted by the tasks ahead. I will keep building, maybe a little slower than I’d like, but I will use my voice to change the world, because I know I can. I think of My American Meltingpot as an antidote to the common, one-dimensional narrative being presented by the mainstream media that we are a country divided by race and ethnicity. Yes, there are divisions, but there is a lot of unity going on as well. I want this blog to grow so my message – that there is power in diversity – is amplified. Will the message always be pretty? No. Sometimes we have to tear down so that we can lift up, but I’m not afraid to go all in if necessary.

I got this.

Are you still with me? I hope so.

Peace!