Let me say that I initially welcomed the Great Purge of 2011. I am a long-time member of this community, and the atmosphere around here was becoming increasingly toxic. There were lots of diaries that I did not feel comfortable even entering, and there was persistent trolling. Many other long-time members were leaving the site. We were seeing zombies and call-out diaries, and regardless of how many HRs a troll received, auto-ban never seemed to kick in properly. I was thrilled when the ban hammer finally hit a few of these persistent trolls. I also noted that a few folks on both sides of the Obama sux/Obama rox ongoing pie fight got the ban hammer.
I am also a long-time member of the Black Kos community. The BK diaries are part of what I came to Daily Kos for in the first place. I am looking for stories and information that I cannot find in the traditional corporate media. When I went into Black Kos this afternoon, I was stunned to find out that some of the most powerful voices in the BK community had had their ratings privileges removed. Both editors of the Criminal Injustice Kos series have lost their ratings privileges, along with a number of other powerful African-American posters. I was particularly saddened to see the number of women who had lost ratings privileges.
I am a YELLOW DOG Democrat and an activist. I worked with Moveon.org in 2004 to try to elect Kerry. I was devastated by his loss, and I started lurking at DK right after the election. I opened my account in July of 2005. We all know that the typical reader of DK is older, white, and male. The Democratic coalition tends to be younger, more female, and includes many more people of color. DK does not look like the Democratic party It worries me greatly when powerful African-American voices are silenced on this blog. African-Americans are the most loyal members of the Democratic coalition. I want to take back the house in 2012. I do not want to be saying hello to President Perry. I would ask you, Kos, to rethink the withdrawal of rating privileges and silencing of so many members of the Black Kos community.