Politics

Nov. 21, 2008—Being black in South Carolina is not the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Until recently, my sister and I had two white cleaning ladies. And it seems so humorously ironic. My grandmother, the first in our family to move from the South to the North, made a living cleaning the homes of white…

Nov. 20, 2008—My erstwhile African-American-studies-minored self would love nothing more than to publish a dissertation on why this piece in Salon, written by Erin Aubry Kaplan of the Los Angeles Times, is destructive, superficial and historically unsound. But what would be the point? I would say how dare you continue the objectification of a black woman,…

Nov. 19, 2008—The lingering tension between gays and lesbians and the African-American community over the passage of California’s Proposition 8—banning same-sex marriage—isn’t a laughing matter, but it is absurd. It has all the makings of a Tyler Perry movie starring the casts of Big Love and The L Word. Diary of a Mad Black Mormon Lesbian…

Nov. 19, 2008—Having already gone through my—now regretted—Obama tantrums in July (and on this Web site), I do not want to hear about anyone else’s. Please try to get over yours as soon as possible. Let’s clear up a few things. The right is all in a tizzy because it is trying to project itself…

There were several unforgettable moments in the Obama campaign—Barack’s impassioned speech about race, the DNC finale at Invesco, Madelyn Dunham’s death just before her grandson became president-elect—but none meant more to me than a two-minute bit of tape, a simple but monumental exchange between Michelle Obama and Soledad O’Brien. In her interview with Michelle, Soledad…

American historian Catherine Allgor recently explained on National Public Radio that candidate wives’ fashions symbolize the kind of president their husbands aim to be. As convoluted as that sounds, after seeing Michelle Obama’s outfits over the past 18 months, I believe Professor Allgor is dead right. Michelle—or rather, her clothes—worked overtime to reassure white voters,…

For generations, The Mommy Wars have largely skipped black women. For most of us, staying at home to raise our children full-time was never a choice. Our families’ survival depended on our wages—often earned from nurturing and caring for white families. With the rise of a post-civil rights generation, a critical mass of high-powered black…

Michelle Obama has loudly signaled that she intends to be entirely her own kind of first lady; her evident independence will bring her lots of attention, but Mrs. O may be a huge branding opportunity and not just for the Obama administration. In “Selling Michelle” on TheBigMoney, Lauren Sandler looks at the marketing possibilities that…

Dear Michelle, You may not remember me, but I’m Sondra Huxtable’s mom. I met you and your family during parents’ weekend back when you and Sondra were at Princeton together. Words can hardly express the type of joy I felt upon seeing you and Barack and your beautiful children walk onto that stage on Election…

I am awed by Michelle Obama. Totally taken by her. Thrilled, cheering, jumping inside with glee! It’s not just because she’s black. Or because she went to Princeton with my husband. In large part, it’s because she’s making the same choice now that I made—putting her own career aside for a time to be completely…