Goodbye, BlaqSBI. It's been an enjoyable 5 years but like all things, there must be an end.

Every time I log into Blaqsbi, the first thing that pops up is the countdown to the closing, which is now down to 5 days and counting. It is an ever-present reminder that the website is indeed shutting down. I guess most members have gotten the message and have either returned to Facebook or found other Afro-centered social media websites to join because I have noticed a significant drop in page views and engagements. Nevertheless, this is not about what people may or may not be doing, this is about what Blaqsbi was and could have been to the Black community.

I suspect that the reason why Blaqsbi is closing down is because of a lack of community support. When Black people don’t have a space of our own, we complain about exploitation, manipulation, and disrespect but when we get our own space, we don’t support it for countless reasons. “I don’t like the owners, the owners are not American, not African, not Caribbean, or another group that we identify with. The site is not Christian enough, not Muslim enough, or not Afro-centric enough. And in recent times, a new form of self-segregation has emerged in which some say they don’t want to associate with anyone who isn’t ADOS enough.”    

The common denominator is dis-unity and it's sad to say that people who identify as Black, African, or highly Melanated, will always have a unity problem because of all of the issues I mentioned above. Mr. Saint Pierre, you gave it a good try bro. As someone who has been a member for five years, I’ve witnessed a lot of the things you’ve tried to increase engagement as well as keep subverters out but, in the end, if the light at the end of the tunnel is only getting smaller instead of bigger, I don’t blame you for throwing in the towel. You have the vision and expertise, so I hope you will continue to use your talents to work on behalf of Black Unity.

Goodbye, BlaqSBI