Major feminist blog off the air over plagiarism issues

I almost feel like I shouldn't comment on this at all given my relative unfamiliarity with the feminist blogosphere. From what I've been able to piece together (Thanks Bitch, Feministe, and Alas! among others), feminist powerhouse Brownfemipower (BFP) has pulled her blog off the web. Apparently BFP's extensive work on racism and sexism in immigration was blatantly plagiarized in an article by Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon. As Marcotte is white and BFP a woman of color, the incident raises plenty of questions beyond 'why didn't you cite your sources?'

Even without all the racist implications of a white woman writing about racial and sexual oppression but ignoring the work of a fellow feminist blogger and woman of color, you gotta cite your sources. It's not ok to exclude the hard work of others. No one is isolated from the influence of other writers, no idea is completely original, and you've gotta give credit where credit is due. This is basic research paper stuff and Marcotte should know that. At the same time, I think Holly and Amp are right, playing the blame game won't solve anything. We live in a racist society and we're not immune to its influence. We can never really quantitate how it effects us the same way we don't always now what influences our ideas.

My apologies, this is a bit of a fluff post without much original content. But I would like to say that this incident has taught me a lot, as a student journalist and writer. Also, I really hope to see BFP come back. Everyone who has written about her obviously has a great amount of respect for her and naturally I'm itching to see her work now. Hopefully she'll see how many people are behind her and revive the blog but that's a decision only she can make.

Blog Genesis

Hi, my name is Hilary. I like to write, I like to blog, I like to think and discuss and maybe argue a little bit. I've been meaning to start this blog for a long time and I'm excited if a little nervous to finally be doing it. My previous attempts at serious blogging have failed but I have a good feeling this one so here we go.

I'm currently a History major at the University of Toronto and I'm going into journalism so I need all the writing practice I can get. In this blog, I hope to write about politics, social issues, feminism, journalism, and my experiences in it. Please feel free to comment and offer constructive criticism. Add a link to your blog or a blog you like, I want to soak up good blogging as much as possible. :)