A Fond Farewell from the Tennessee Blogger

I’m a little worried, looking back on it, that I’ve made Tennessee seem like a toxic waste dump full of scary racists which you should avoid at all costs.  I just want to state explicitly that this is not the only thing happening in Tennessee, which is a beautiful and fun place to visit and live (except my neighborhood, which is full of vicious babies and man-eating moles; do not move here and suburban it all up).  And the food, oh gods, the food.

And I wanted to say that I am not only not the only progressive blogger in Tennessee, I am not even the best.  The internet and blogging has made a huge difference in our state and allowed progressives from one end to the other to get to know each other and to keep track of issues that matter to us.  It’s also allowed us to get the word out about things and to make our voices heard.

We’re at a really interesting moment for blogging in our state, as politicians and media outlets are finally aware that there’s this whole large, dynamic discussion happening out here, though they’re not yet quite sure what to do about it.

It’s a strange thing, that tickles me a great deal, to run into a politician and introduce myself as “Betsy Phillips” only to have someone say “That’s Aunt B.” and have the politician suddenly give me the stink eye.  “Oh, you’re Aunt B.” Why would any state politician ever have given two shits about me before the advent of blogging? (I’m still somewhat surprised that they do even now, but you have to roll with this stuff sometimes…)

I’m just saying that there’s a sense that what we’re doing is powerful and that it changes minds and shapes opinions.

It’s an interesting time to be blogging, that’s for sure.

I don’t have a complete list of Tennessee bloggers you should be reading, but it looks like Newscoma may have a pretty comprehensive list, so I’m going to point you to her.

I’d also like to recommend Rachel Walden’s Women’s Health News, if you don’t read it already. Like most librarians, Rachel is a one-person army of superheros and her blog is a nice one-stop shop for all your feminist-y health care news.

And I’d like to thank y’all so much for having me.  What a great treat!