Politics

Whether he wins or loses, Barack Obama has proven one thing: You no longer need to have a perm or take a trip to the seminary to make it on the national political scene. But for every step forward, the presidential contender has won for the race in the endless 2008 campaign, some kooky colored…

As our country prepares to make history next week, I have been thinking a lot about race. My father came to America from Bangladesh to pursue his education and a better life, just like Obama’s father. He expected that hard work would be rewarded. Like other immigrant families we rarely discussed race; it was assumed…

We communicate daily in languages we didn’t grow up speaking. We have learned to adapt to cultures that have not entirely adopted us. Barack Obama might call us, as he has himself, “citizens of the world.” But for Americans living abroad, it’s our chance at changing the world as American citizens that is calling many…

Mix’ology: noun. The art and science of mixings In these final days of this presidential campaign, John McCain and his supporters have been trying desperately to raise doubts about Barack Obama’s identity. They have called him a terrorist sympathizer, a socialist, an unrepentant liberal. For weeks, their tagline has been “Who is Barack Obama?” The…

After the last presidential debate both Karl Rove and Slate’s “Poll Tracker” electoral maps projected that Sen. Obama would win the presidency with 313 electoral votes if the election was held that day. This would be a massive Electoral College victory for Sen. Obama. On that same day, the Associated Press reported that perhaps as…

OK, we get it. Barack Obama has piles of money. Crazy money! Appearing on “The Daily Show” last night, he was asked to describe the unusual media buy that took over network television for half an hour in prime time Wednesday. “This is the Obama infomercial,” he said. And it was. If nothing else, the…

John McCain has decided that if he is to have any chance of winning the election, he must win Pennsylvania. It is a shrewd, maybe desperate, calculation that speaks to today’s difficult political landscape. Pennsylvania has the second oldest population, and therefore is a natural demographic target for McCain. Not so fast. There has been…

An evening at the Urban League of Central Carolinas was advertised as a discussion of the black women’s agenda with a multigenerational panel. And it followed the program, until the topic turned to Sarah Palin. That’s when it got really interesting. You think Barack Obama exposed a racial divide this election season? Bring up the…

I found Buckwheat in the woodworking shop of the Home for Retired Racial Stereotypes, chiseling something on the face of an elaborate oaken plaque. “What are you making?” I inquired. “I is here carvin’ de trophy we gonna give George W. Bush if Bro’ Barack Obama wins de ‘lection,” squeaked the famous Our Gang character.…

As Jennifer Hudson closed her eyes, holding that last note of the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in August, one can only imagine what she was dreaming in that brief moment. Certainly not about the nightmares October would bring.As much of the country is brimming with promise, poised for hopeful discussions about how…