- Blog: From Ashy to Classy
- Niche: Culture
- Founder: Darryl Frierson
- Twitter: @Diggame
A self-described “normal brother who’s on the road to extraordinary things,†Darryl Frierson uses his blog, From Ashy to Classy, as a vehicle to pontificate on serious hot-button topics. On the pulse of the Web, he’s tackled everything from the Trayvon Martin case to seriously funny pop culture missteps like the Mary J. Blige Burger King fiasco. In fact, it’s the 31-year-old’s ability to offer musings on just about any topic–from an exploration on how a baby mama can become a wife to the untold stories of Black cowboys–that helps his two-year-old blog generate a respectable 20,000 page views per month and elicit dozens of thought-provoking comments from loyal readers on a weekly basis.
The Chicago born, St. Louis raised writer’s most popular succession are The Marcus Graham Chronicles, a brutally honest account of Frierson’s own relationship implosions, which happen to coincide with his affinity for the movie Boomerang and the main character, Marcus Graham, played by Eddie Murphy. The often funny, introspective series won him the Black Weblog Award for Best Blog Post Series and Best Culture Blog in 2011. In celebration of Black Blogger Month, BlackEnterprise.com spoke with Frierson about his approachable writing style and why the blogger is the modern day preserver of Black culture.
I started blogging…
As a dare to myself. I was working on my book and I started thinking, “Why would anyone want to read my book? Let me start this blog just to get my name out there.†And oh, did my name get out there! I totally believe that life is better than fiction and that is the main inspiration for my blog.
From Ashy to Classy stands out from other blogs because…
I push people’s thoughts and ideas. I want to make my readers take one idea or principle and flip it on its head. My blog also has so many different topics and stories. You come to From Ashy to Classy and you don’t know what you are going to see. I may be talking about the history of Black hockey players one day, the next day a post about the orgasm being a man’s moment of clarity.
It’s important for the Black blogosphere to speak out on topics like Trayvon
Martin because…
If anyone knows that media can be slanted and biased, it’s us [bloggers]. It’s a throwback to the era of Black newspapers being in every city and town across the country because issues that affected us weren’t covered [by mainstream outlets].
A blogger’s voice has power because…
We can build up people, educate, inspire, and make this world a bit more humorous and brighter.
It’s important to preserve Black culture in the digital age because…
Our culture is going farther and farther away from physical books and brick and mortar libraries. We as Black bloggers become the historians, storytellers, and bookmarkers of Black culture.
The purpose of the Marcus Graham Chronicles is…
A way for me to try and deconstruct my own relationships; give my readers more insight into my personal relationships; and give an honest and introspective vision of relationships from a male perspective.