Michelle Obama: "An American Girl"

The Atlantic recently published an excellent article on the new First Lady...

When Michelle Obama told a Milwaukee campaign rally last February, "For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country," critics derided her as another Angry Black Woman. But the only truly radical proposition put forth by Obama, born and raised in Chicago's storied South Side, is the idea of a black community fully vested in the country at large, and proud of the American dream.

Drea and I have had the great fortune to see Michelle speak live on two occasions, once with a few hundred folks in a high school gym in Council Bluffs, Iowa, early in the primary/caucus process and later at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on the eve of the state's first-ever Democratic CAUCUS. In both cases, she was impressive as hell: intelligent, compassionate, strong and always very human. We became fans of hers early on and were pretty disappointed when she was attacked during the campaign. She really got a raw deal from some in the media and on the Right. Our experience with Michelle bore no resemblance to the caricature being put forth by the political noise machine. We always felt that if people could just get in front of her themselves, they would see and feel what we did. So, we are thrilled that she will have the next 4-8 years to correct the record...

As a woman of color herself, Drea is particularly inspired by the example Michelle Obama represents for other women of color, particularly younger sisters struggling to realize their own visions of themselves. We are proud to call her our First Lady and look forward to seeing what her contribution will be to this exciting chapter in our nation's history...

Michelle Obama Eats White Babies!!!

Over at The Root, Kim McLarin has written a funny and insightful piece - "Whiteygate: What black people call white people…and it ain't 'whitey'" - about the recent claim that there is a secret tape out there somewhere that shows Michelle Obama in full black nationalist rage attacking "whitey" from the Trinity United pulpit...

McLarin begins, "And so continues the conundrum of being a post-racial black candidate in a still-very-racial world. To speak the truth about anything involving race is to be accused instantly of dragging out that famous racial deck we've all been dealt that stands us in such good stead in America."

And continues,

The campaign of Barack Obama has had to rebut, not once but several times, the wild rumors that his wife Michelle used an insulting term for white people while railing from the pulpit of Trinity United Church in Chicago. His campaign has had to set up a website to refute the charge, and Obama himself has had to chastise mainstream reporters for spreading the lie.

What he hasn't done—because he cannot if he wants to win the presidency—is roll out the clearest and most obvious knockdown of Whiteygate. Namely this: "When the hell was the last time you heard a black person call somebody 'whitey?'"

I mean, come on. White man, please.

Speaking as a person who has been black all of my 40-plus years on the planet, I can say with some authority that no self-respecting black, African-American, Negro, colored or even "there's only one race: the human race" person I know would use the word.

Not unless they were quoting Rush Limbaugh. Or maybe George Jefferson.

Ok, now she's found her groove...

The accusation is insulting not only because it so clearly reveals the desperation of right-wing zealots terrified of losing their stranglehold on a gasping America by playing to baseline anxieties and sad, unfortunate fears of those hard-working white Americans we've heard so much about; but because, frankly, it's so ham-fisted in its mendacity.

And then, finally, exasperated:

I mean, 'Whitey?'

The woman has a law degree from Harvard, for crying out loud. If, for some reason, she was trying to rile up a congregation she could do much, much better than that.

So, according to McClarin, what do black people call white people?

[I began] to think about the terms black folks use when talking among themselves about white people.

I could barely move my pencil tip. Probably because black folks spend a lot less time talking or even thinking about white people than most white, right-wing reactionaries and their black counterparts dream in their hot little dreams. I had trouble, and, after hours and hours, the best I could come up with was this:

White folks. Whites. White people. They.

Upon greater reflection:

But really, that was pretty much it. When I was growing up in Memphis in the groovy '70s, some people tried to get the word "ofay" going, but, in my circles at least, it never really took. My mother's generation used Mr. Charlie, my older sister's cool boyfriend use to say The Man. There was redneck, of course, but growing up in Memphis, the only people I ever heard use that word were white people.

There was cracker, but usually that referred to a certain, specific kind of hog-jowled, Southern racist, as in "That cracker had the nerve to make me wash his sheets—and I don't mean the ones he use on his bed!"

I know a genteel older black woman who, out of delicacy or discomfort, will never use the words white or black when referring to people associated with those hues. Instead she says "wonderful people" and "beautiful people," which I think is kinda sweet.

But whitey? Uh uh! I'm sorry. No.

Any of you lurkers out there in blog-o-land have any thoughts or reactions to McLarin's piece, or the whole "controversy" over the term "whitey"?


Here are some further online resources:

• Erin Kotecki Vest skewers the Fox News "Obama Baby Mama" smear.

• Fox News contributor and all-around conservative blow-hard, Cal Thomas, blathering on about "angry black women," as if he has a clue:


• Kim McLarin has written another excellent essay on Michelle Obama: "The Real Prize: Why Obama's Wife Makes Me Love Him More"

• Here is another interesting piece about the attacks on Michelle Obama: Marc Lamont, "The Attacks on Michelle Obama (Call)"

• And Paul Devlin wrote "An Open Letter to Michelle Obama"

Obama-mania Hits Nebraska!

UPDATE: Obama wins it big! Thank you, Nebraska...

Obama: 68%
Clinton: 32%

(Click on any of the below thumbnail photos to enlarge)

Event #1: 12,000 attend rally at Omaha Civic Auditorium (2/7/08)

Folks began lining up outside the Civic Auditorium at noon. We arrived at about 2pm. A few thousand people were there already. They told us my camera was too big to go in, but we smuggled it in anyway. To get onto the floor, you needed to go through metal detectors, so we took a seat in the first section of seats to the center-left of the stage. The place was packed and there was an excellent energy. Connor Oberst, of Bright Eyes and Saddle Creek Records fame, played a few songs to get things warmed up. After a bit of a wait, and several rounds of the wave, Mayor Fahey of Omaha introduced the governor of Iowa, who took the opportunity to endorse Obama. Next came Senator Ben Nelson, followed by the man himself, Barack. Obama spoke for about 45 minutes to an ecstatic audience. It was another soaring speech that hit all the right notes. It is clear that Obama is on his A game right now. He worked the crow with ease and grace. On the way out, there was a palpable energy and positivity in the crowd. Young people, old people, men and women, college students galore, African Americans, Latinos, whites, professionals, teachers and working-class folks, Democrats, Independents and more than a few Republicans, were all well-represented.




















Event #2: Free Obama Concert by Bright Eyes w/ M. Ward at The Slowdown (2/7/08)

Omaha's claim to music fame these days is Connor Oberst and his group, Bright Eyes. Oberst is an excellent songwriter, if a bit morose. Bright Eyes records on Saddle Creak Records. Recently, Saddle Creak built a cool club, The Slow Down, near the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha. It is a great venue. Oberst got some friends together, including M. Ward, for a free Obama concert following the event at the Civic Center. There were more than 700 people (capacity and then some) at the show.








































Event #3: Michelle Obama at the Lied Center in Lincoln, Nebraska (2/8/08)

Michelle Obama delivered a grand slam homerun of a talk. She spoke for about 40 minutes to an enthusiastic crowd of many hundred (the venue was filled). She really is impressive; I'd probably vote for her for president. She has been overlooked in this campaign and deserves more attention as a brilliant and successful woman, as well as a committed mother and wife. She models a really positive female identity!






Event #4: Street Rally for Obama in Lincoln, Nebraska (2/8/08)

From 6-8pm, along two full blocks of O Street, hundreds of students (and a smattering of older folks) stood holding signs, chanting, and soliciting honks from passing cars. Suffice it to say that it was a noisy two hours. The energy again was really positive. I've really never seen anything like this in a presidential campaign. People, particularly young people, but not exclusively young people, are really, really jazzed about the prospect of an Obama presidency. There is a palpable sense that history is being created at these events.















Event #5: The Caucus!






Event #6: The Democratic Caucus Party - Duggan's Pub, Lincoln, NE