A series featuring fabulous bloggers you should check out.
Blog Title: The Dithering of a District Diva
How long have you been blogging?
I’ve been blogging on and off for myself and for various organizations since 2008, but I’ve been blogging as the DC District Diva on my current blog, “The Dithering of a District Diva,” since November 2009.
What is your blog about?
The slogan of my blog is “Chasing God + Purpose,” and this is also my life motto. My blog is about my journey with God and the unintentionally hilarious situations He lets me get myself into and helps me get out of. As I’ve grown in Christ, my blog has evolved from being “about a boy” to being about my pursuit of God, and you can really see my journey from November to now.
Why did you start your blog?
I started the blog because I had just started my first job out of law school, and I couldn’t afford therapy! Hence the name of the book I’m writing: “The Diva Monologues: Because I Can’t Afford Therapy.” But when people started saying how much the blog posts were helping them and how much they appreciated that I shared my story, I realized that my blog is my ministry. It’s not about me. I believe my God-given responsibility is to offer praise back to God for His many blessings through my writing and to help encourage and empower as many women as I can in the process.
How do you decide what to write about?
Whatever God puts on my heart to write about, I write about, even if I don’t do it right when He tells me to. For example, I was very upset about Deborrah Cooper’s article on the Black church keeping Black women single when it came out in June, but it took me about two months to get to the point where I wanted to write a response piece that wasn’t just railing on her but would be beneficial to people who were really interested in learning about why Ms. Cooper completely missed the mark on what it means to be Christian and the role that the church plays in that. I’m hard-headed and stubborn sometimes, but if I’m supposed to write it, I’ll write it eventually- once I realize it’s not about me and get over myself!
What is your favorite post that you’ve written so far?
My most popular post was “Does Sex and the City Hate Brown People?,” and a fan favorite and hands down, the funniest post is “No This Negro Didn’t.” But my favorite post is much less popular than those two: “Light’s Out: An emotionally unavailable woman’s attempt at atonement.
What do you want your readers to take away from it after reading?
I want people to take away from it whatever God wants them to take away from it. Everyone is in a different place on her journey, and the earlier part of my blog, when I was boy-crazy, might be more relatable than the place I am at now in God. My goal is just to be as open and honest as I can and hopefully something I’m going through will resonate with the reader and serve as encouragement for that person to chase God and purpose more fully and to be more committed to that goal.
Tips for people wanting to start a blog:
There’s nothing easier than starting a blog, and it’s free. Like my mentor Aliya S. King always says, if you want to be a writer, the most important thing to do is write consistently. Everyone has a voice, and everyone has a purpose. There’s no easier way to sort out your thoughts on what your purpose might be than to get liberated from fear of what other people might think of you and just write and share with the world. You never know what impact your voice may have.
Please go here to vote for “The Dithering of a District Diva, finalist in the Best New Blog & Best Personal Blog categories for the Black Weblog Awards 2010! Follow DCDistrictDiva on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook!
Awesome interview and awesome young woman! She is both intelligent and inspiring. I read her post “Oh No This Negro Didn’t” and I am still laughing. I don’t know which was funnier her post or the comments to it. Hysterical!! She is definitely an awesome writer and I hope to see her monologues come to fruition.I think we can all relate to trying to find our place in this world and how we can grow in God in the process. If not I can see others motivated to do so. Outstanding job Jamie!!!
I just started reading Brook’s blog recently. I love her POV and writing style.
I love Brooke’s writing style! It makes me laugh and cry all at the same time. It is funny, yet serious, and always right on point!
Proud of you Brooke- keep up the GREAT work!
Aunt Hope