I'm Earl Dunovant. If you're reading this particular post, you probably know that. It's not a really significant fact, so if you didn't know, you haven't lost anything thereby.

Sylvia's introductory post summed up the "what" of Intrapolitics.org nicely. The basic answer to the "how" is Drupal, a bag of contributed modules and some custom programming. The detailed "how" will shift and flow a bit...both my partners and I have ideas that will require the site to evolve.

The "why" of it...well, let me give you mine.

Basically, I'm trying to influence not what you think, but the way you think. It seems a lot of Black bloggers have developed the itch to organize. If I can help with that in a way that helps connect and clarify the relationships between issues and us, that would represent a lot of progress toward my goal in and of itself.

The new site is the result of a conversation Sylvia, Nanette and I had on the Afrospear blog, about creating a hub, a connector site for Black blogs that has more functionality than a group blog. For now it doesn't look a whole lot different than a group blog. The organization is quite different, though.

I want you to recognize our Black constituencies as Black, to see their interactions as relationships...hence Black Intrapolitics. I want you to see Black people as peer to all the other in-groups in America (and I don't think you do)...hence National Intrapolitics. I want you to know about the political and economic forces that shape the world we and our allies must respond to...hence World Intrapolitics.

We also have a forum for the general membership to start shit and a general site blog for linking, cross posting and such.

The next major features to be completed will be a means of setting up and maintaining a custom Google search engine for sites belonging to registered members and Sylvia wants a wiki for some reason. It will be the only place on the site were you'll be safe from me.

The next major function that is available, we just need to figure out the best way to do it, will be the creation of soapboxes...essentially topic specific mini-blogs with their own RSS feed and membership lists.

The pipes and ductwork are still showing, but it's tight enough to begin work. And so we shall.