Barack Obama
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An Elegy for Obama
I am in mourning. As the presidency of Barack Obama draws to a close, I keep thinking about a piece I wrote for The Root eight years ago when he was sworn in for the first time. Back then, I couldn’t stop singing anthems of joy and patriotism, grounded in what now seems like a…
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Obama Commutes Sentence of Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera
After over 35 years in federal prison on charges of conspiracy and sedition, political prisoner Oscar López Rivera, 73, will be released on May 17, 2017, thanks to an 11th hour commutation by President Barack Obama, El Nuevo Dia reports. Here is the commuted sentence of Oscar Lopez Rivera pic.twitter.com/urHeuFPyhT — lucas vazquez (@Lukesvazquez) January…
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America Didn’t Deserve Michelle Obama
I forgot exactly where we were in Pittsburgh. Maybe driving from the Target in East Liberty to the YMCA in the Mexican War Streets. Or, perhaps, at my wife’s grandmother’s house in the Hill District, eating smothered turkey burgers with smoked kale greens and washing them down with Pineapple Faygo. But I do remember who…
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Hail to the Hypocrite
On Tuesday night, along with millions of Americans and millions more abroad, I watched our exiting commander in chief, Barack Hussein Obama, give his farewell presidential address. As is characteristic of the speeches made during his two terms (and prior), the address was a study in charisma, eloquence and elegance; made all the more poignant…
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David J. Johns: Thanks for Making Me Feel All the Feels, President Obama
The illustrious poet Maya Angelou taught me that most often, people will forget what you say; they may struggle to recall what you did; but if you show up, on purpose, they will never forget how you made them feel. As I sat Tuesday night in a television studio in the middle of Times Square…
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Obama Tells Democrats to ‘Stay Strong’ While Fighting to Protect Obamacare
Congressional Republicans Wednesday began to make good on their promise to dismantle Obamacare, even though they have said they have no full plan to replace the much needed health care program. Vice President-elect Mike Pence met behind closed doors with House and Senate Republicans, and while he offered no details about what a new health…
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President Obama Is Really Leaving, Will Deliver Farewell Address in Chicago
As we move closer to the final days of an actual adult presidency, the reality that we’re letting go of scandal-free years is starting to set in. President Barack Obama didn’t help matters when he announced Monday that he would be delivering his farewell speech in his hometown of Chicago on Jan. 10. “I’m just…
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The Blackwashing of President Obama’s Legacy
There is a deeply embedded danger in the collective black American consciousness to defend the cultural and political blackness of President Barack Obama. On the surface, his very presence in the Oval Office is an act of political revolution, an unprecedented response to this nation’s inherent anti-blackness. But when his destructive neoliberal politics prioritize white…
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President Obama Says He Could Have Beaten Trump if He Had Run for 3rd Term
In an interview released Monday, President Obama said that he could have beaten Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump “if I had run again.” Former Obama adviser and longtime friend David Axelrod, a CNN analyst, interviewed the outgoing president for his podcast The Axe Files, CNN reports. In the interview, Obama says that Hillary Clinton’s campaign…
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6 Stages of Grief in the Last Days of Obama
As we count down the last few weeks of the Obama presidency, many of us feel anxiety, fear or wistfulness about the prospect of living life without Michelle and Barack in the White House. To help you get through this process, we present to you “The 6 Stages of Grief Over the Obamas Leaving the…
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