# Black Weblog Awards

The Black Weblog Awards was an online awards event which recognizes bloggers of African-American descent for their contributions in blogging, video blogging, and podcasting. The Black Weblog Awards started in 2005 with 11 categories, and grew to include 36 categories. Former Black Weblog Award winners include blogger and radio host B. Scott, comedian and YouTube personality Elon James White, comedian, television host, and New York Times best-selling author Baratunde Thurston, LGBT activist and media personality Keith Boykin, hip-hop artists D-Nice and Kanye West, musician and DJ Questlove, and model/media personality Tyra Banks. Other Black Weblog Award winners have also appeared in traditional media outlets, such as The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and NPR.
The 2015 winners were presented at the final ceremony in 2016.

## Nominations and voting

The Black Weblog Awards had a seven-week nomination period for blogs; users submit their blog for consideration through the Black Weblog Awards website via their online nomination form. After the nomination period has ended, there is a vote audit, and the top three to five nominated blogs in each category become the finalists for their respective categories. The public has a month to vote for the finalists, and the winners are announced the first week of September before Labor Day.

## Judges

In 2007, judges were introduced to the Black Weblog Awards. In addition to the regular voting process from the public, a panel of judges with extensive knowledge about blogs and bloggers of color were chosen to select winners in each of the award categories. Each category has two winners—one winner is chosen by the public (known as the "Popular Vote"), and one winner is chosen by the judges (known as the "Judges' Vote"). These winners are announced the first week of September before Labor Day.

## Award categories

Award categories for the Black Weblog Awards changed annually. Some categories were renamed, while others split to become separate categories.

### Awards

* Best Blog Design
* Best Blog Network
* Best Blog Post Series
* Best Business Blog
* Best Cooking or Food Blog
* Best Culture Blog
* Best Faith-Based Blog
* Best Fashion or Beauty Blog
* Best Film Blog
* Best Gaming or Comics Blog
* Best Gossip Blog
* Best Group Blog
* Best Health or Wellness Blog
* Best Hip-Hop Blog
* Best Humor Blog
* Best International Blog
* Best LGBT Blog
* Best Microblog
* Best Music Blog
* Best New Blog
* Best Parenting or Family Blog
* Best Personal Blog
* Best Photography Blog
* Best Podcast Series
* Best Political or News Blog
* Best Science or Technology Blog
* Best Sex or Relationships Blog
* Best Sports Blog
* Best Teen Blog
* Best Travel Blog
* Best Video Blog Series
* Best Writing in a Blog
* Blog of the Year
* Blog to Watch

### Special awards

* Aaron Hawkins Award

### Retired or deprecated awards

* Best Blog Community
* Best Blog Post or Blog Post Series
* Best Celebrity Blog
* Best Entertainment Blog
* Best Niche Blog
* Best Original Content
* Best Pop Culture Blog
* Best Topical Blog
* Blogger of the Year

## Live awards ceremony

On July 18, 2010, the Black Weblog Awards announced a Kickstarter fund-raising campaign for financial support in establishing a live awards ceremony for their 2011 awards installment. The campaign was not successful, and ended on September 1, 2010 reaching only 6% of their goal.

## New ownership

In 2011, Black Web 2.0 reported that the Black Weblog Awards was acquired from Atlanta-based media company 3eighteen media by GEMPIRE Interactive headquartered in Austin, Texas.