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  Posted By:
  brucedixon at 03/07/2008 9:22:32 AM
  Comment:
  Every so often you read a piece of commentary so insightful and timely that you wish you'd written it yourself. That's what I felt when I read this one. Congratulations to Michael Dawson for putting his finger on a very important aspect of what's unfolding around us. But that's what real social and political scientists are supposed to do, isn't it?
  
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  Posted By:
  brucedixon at 03/07/2008 9:18:57 AM
  Comment:
  Sometimes you run into a piece of commentary so telling and accurate you wish you'd written it yourself. That's what I thought when I read this piece. Thanks, brother man, for spotting and explaining an important piece of what's unfolding around us. But then that's what social scientists are supposed to do, isn't it?
  
  Bruce Dixon
  www.blackagendareport.com
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  Posted By:
  hendal at 02/29/2008 12:16:12 PM
  Comment:
  Hilary Clinton has released a thoroughly despicable ad on the red phone moment in the White House. That one Democrat could be tearing another apart so viciously leaves a great deal to be desired.Could she really expect African Americans to vote for her after this ad? Not only is she short sighted, but she is continually showing the very inexperience she is accusing Obama of. Why do the GOP's job for Mc.Cain. The sooner the Clintons leave the political stage the better it will be for the entire country. African Americans must realise just what is happening here.
  Hendal2
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  Posted By:
  Ataraxian at 02/29/2008 10:49:10 AM
  Comment:
  The man is not black - he's a half breed for Gods sake; yes the other half being WHITE - not like Mr Tiger Woods (Occidental)
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  Posted By:
  annevilla at 02/28/2008 9:52:14 PM
  Comment:
  I am so proud of Obama, so thrilled that I'm alive to experience this point in our history. I can't wait until he is President; I look forward to the fresh, healing breath of air he will be for our country and the rest of the world. Hard as the media etc keeps trying (on Morning Joe, Pat Buchanan advised Hillary she should 'drop a bomb on him'!) they can't stop him - because they cannot stop the hopes and ambitions of the American people; those hopes and ambitions are what Barack is going to empower. Finally, we the COMMON people will also have someone in our corner - all across America we are COMING TOGETHER despite all the fake bomb scares Barack's adversaries can contrive.
  
  CHECK THIS OUT AND GET EVEN MORE FIRED UP:
  NEW - on YOUTUBE "OBAMA SONG PORTRAIT: WE ARE THE CHANGE by Bjarne O."
  
  As the composer, Bjarne O., writes:
  
  "I combined Latino Rhythms, Chinese Erhu, African- and Native-American Voices with the Contemporary Symphonic Orchestra - in the great spirit of Unity - for this Song in support of Obama's great and true message: "Our Time Has Come; We the People are the Change we've all been waiting for. We are the Hope for the Future - YES WE CAN."
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCQYTu8u7Sg
  
  
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  Posted By:
  chinggism at 02/28/2008 11:08:39 AM
  Comment:
  One of the things that was alluded to in Obama's comments on wither Bill Clinton was the USA's 1st "black" president is that (and as all of us formerly known as colored people actually experience) being "Black" is not so much a race as it is a nationality with all the political, social, and cultural implications that are bundled along with that. So called "black people" much like native americans really have a tribal or national view about the group they consider as their 'own". That means that membership in the group, (or as we called it back in the day, the coveted "ghetto pass", read citizenship in the NATION), is not dependent on your skin color of facial features. It is dependent on wither you are "down" with the economic and political aspirations of people of African decent (and mixed descent) as well as other human beings of colors. This is our strongest asset: inclusiveness and a willingness to accept all that show respect and interest in the common good. Obama is half white while I am all black, according to my birth certificate (issued by a hospital in Harlem N.Y.) yet I look much more European than Obama does, and indeed the African ancestry in myself is barely at all detectable. I say this with a degree in anthropology to underline the point that acceptance into the Nation is a matter of the heart. Unlike euro racist, technical, physical, race does not matter, as all people that have the Black nation's interests at heart do feel pride to see the day come upon us so quickly when a "brown" face has a chance to show the accumulated pride, hope, wisdom and experience the colored nations have amassed and we knew always had, during the past 500 years of European dominance of our affairs and lives. Obama represents that fusion of cultures and in the distinguished way he conducts himself and his ability to lift himself above the fray, reminds me a bit of Malcom X in his later career.
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  Posted By:
  point.two.eight at 02/28/2008 3:08:47 AM
  Comment:
  Some of Obama's centrist views trouble even us white liberals, but we're hoping (with good reason) he's toned himself down to get elected. I'm okay with that. The political pendulum has simply swung so far to the right that centrist views are now seen as quite liberal enough. The national identity has regressed, and now we need to retake steps in order to progress again - and that might even happen within his Presidency. I also agree, perhaps circumstantially, with the politics of black nationalism; as long as race divides us, equal representation by race -is- essential in our republic.
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  Posted By:
  Devin at 02/27/2008 11:21:47 PM
  Comment:
  I really appreciate your analysis of the multifaceted response of Black communities to Senator Obama's campaign. Still, I'm a bit surprised that you seem to characterize Senator Obama as being more right of center (more conservative?) than many African Americans. I'm white, and one of the major reasons I'm voting for him is because of his long record of grassroots organizing among poor and working-class residents of Chicago's South Side and his efforts to secure voting rights for disenfranchised people as a civil rights attorney. As an example of Obama's other efforts to fight discrimination and work for minority right, he also sponsored legislation to eliminate discriminatory mandatory minimum sentencing for possession of relatively small amounts of crack cocaine. According to his web site, this law has resulted in extremely high incarceration rates for nonviolent Black and Latino drug users, who would benefit much more from drug treatment than jail time. Contrast this with the differential approach taken toward powder cocaine, where imprisonment is mandatory only if the offender possesses very large amounts associated with drug dealing. I tend to be much more radical and certainly don't necessarily back all of his policies or ideas, but I do think he's for real, and that he'll be responsive and responsible to the needs of poor and working-class people as well as very proactive in defending the rights and improving the lives of all minorities in this country.
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  Posted By:
  luvuka at 02/27/2008 10:11:28 PM
  Comment:
  What attracts many African Americans of various political stripes to Obama, including the Nationalists, is that he actually has wjat it takes and for the first time Black Americans have taken note. What makes Barack Obama unique is that he represents on many levels, the core values of black middle class and working class. In other words, he stayed on the straight and narrow and dedicated himself to education as a means of personal and professional upliftment.
  The courage he exhibited through this whole process shows that indeed, black folks are some of the courageous people on the planet. Black Americans can now say, yes indeed, if you pay the price and stay in school ,the dream is possible, what ever it may be.
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  Posted By:
  titanman33 at 02/27/2008 11:38:50 AM
  Comment:
  I really don't think you get it. Like many pundits and media-types, there seems to be a disconnect with what the People are saying, and your analysis of it. I am middle-class 30-something African American, I went to an HBCU and I am acutely aware of the social and political context that frames most discussions Mr. Obama's campaign. The reason I support him is, I admit, not a matter of his voting record, his granular attention to the plight of my disenfranchised brothers and sisters, or anything of the sort. It DOES have to do with what I perceive to be his vision for our country and his philosophical outlook on the world. I am skeptical of ALL politicians with regard to their proposals regarding poll-tested issues. They are, after all, just proposals that have not yet been introduce into the legislative process. The debates that are shown on TV are more like interviews with both applicants in the room at the same time. They are "reality" TV. What I think resonates with me as a Black man about Mr. Obama is that he is a strikingly positive example of the best of our community. In terms of his familial makeup, he had some of the same challenges that many of us have. What is powerful is that due to his exposure of different cultures and a dedication to education, he was able to set his sights far beyond the horizon and position himself into what he has become today: The Most Powerful Man on the Planet. I think that narrative is what draws me to him the most. I also think that the bonus for everyone is that, even though he's Black and there must be something wrong with him or us for supporting him, HE CAN ACTUALLY DO THE JOB. Will he make mistakes? Probably. Is he perfect? No. But he is one of US (take that how you want) and I think we are all better than we think.