The White Lady Just Doesn’t Get It: A Response to Maureen Dowd’s “Critique’ of Michelle Obama

Although she doesn’t seem to realize it (nor do I suspect she would admit as much if confronted with the fact), Maureen Dowd’s admiration for “cheeky women” who “puncture the ego of a cocky guy” comes with a caveat: the women have to be white. She can be a  Hollywood star from a bygone era, [...]

Obama Would Send 100,000 Troops…Why Am I Not Surprised.

So Obama plans to expand the military. I can’t say that I’m surprised, though I am disappointed. For the most part, I really like Obama. I feel like he’s got some phenomenal qualities, but his latest speech on foreign policy just doesn’t sit right with me. It put me into a hyper-critical mood and suddenly [...]

Booker’s Got His Work Cut Out for Him

I came across this long profile of Cory Booker and Newark that I highly recommend for anyone who really is interested in a) how Newark became the armit of America and b) why Booker is lauded as a leading politician for the 21st Century. The article manages to connect Newark’s seedy past with its contentious [...]

Patrick-Obama Part I

The Kindred Rise of Obama, Patrick
From the Associated Press
 BOSTON — Early in Deval Patrick’s run for governor, when few Massachusetts voters had heard of the maverick candidate with the odd first name, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama stopped by Cambridge for a class reunion at Harvard Law School.
Obama extolled the virtues of Patrick, a fellow Harvard [...]

Patrick-Obama Part II

Patrick, Obama campaigns share language of ‘hope’
From The Boston Globe
By Scott Helman, Globe Staff  |  April 16, 2007
Of all the things Deval Patrick’s Republican opponent threw at him in last year’s governor’s race, one charge that stuck in his craw was that his speeches were more fluff than substance — that they were, in Patrick’s [...]

Does Mayor Fenty Want to Have his Cake and Eat it Too?

Last week was a busy one for D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty. In the span of five days he marched on Capitol Hill with 3,500 residents, won control over the city’s beleaguered school system, completed his first 100 days in office and saw the House of Representatives pass a voting rights bill for the District of [...]

Notes on Obama: Virginia Tech, Violence and the Road Ahead

Immediately following the Viriginia Tech massacre earlier this week Barack Obama delivered a heartfelt address to a Milwaukee audience.  (to hear the mp3 click here)
Rather than stick to his scripted speech, Senator Obama lowered the tone of the gathering and spoke directly to what he believes is at the heart of the problem within this [...]

Deconstructing the Santa-Clausification of Jackie Robinson

Yesterday Major League Baseball did the right thing, a wonderful thing, in honoring Jackie Robinson. The 60th anniversary celebration of baseball’s desegregation couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time either. Race and sports are yet again at the forefront of public dialogue. With the suspension of Pacman Jones, and the never-ending soap opera surrounding [...]

Why Reverend Al Remains Relevant

As universally reviled as Al Sharpton supposedly is, we can’t seem to get enough of him. In the last two months ‘Reverend Al’ has been in the news non-stop. Two months ago a pair of scientists discovered a link between his slave ancestors and Strom Thurmond’s slave-holding forebears. A month ago he was accused of [...]

Rutgers and Racism: A Familiar Refrain

This isn’t the first time Rutgers basketball has found itself at the center of a racially charged controversy. Just four months prior to C. Vivian Stringer’s arrival on the Piscataway campus in the summer of 1995, the school’s African American student body was doing its best to rekindle the fire of the sixties generation. For [...]