Politics

An untrained ear listening to Michelle Obama speak at the Democratic National Convention might have dismissed her carefully scripted and reassuring comments as the unfortunate repackaging of a woman derided for being too strong and outspoken. But perhaps the audience was witnessing something entirely the opposite, a Michelle Obama so confident in her essential self…

Let’s start from the beginning. The concept of catharsis has a powerful pre-Freudian connection to the sacred feminine. In 355 B.C., Aristotle developed the idea of collective purging in response to tragedy based on the medical term katamenia, which described reproductive fluids. Hundreds of years later, devotees of Mary Magdalene found inspiration in his idea…

A talent show is underway to select Tavis Smiley’s replacement on “The Tom Joyner Morning Show.” It was inevitable that this process would come down to a series of on-air, laugh-out-loud challenges rivaling American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance? Perhaps it’s the spirit of equal opportunity or the clarity of competition, but…

Tonight is Michelle Obama’s night at the Democratic Convention. She will reintroduce herself to America, try to convince us that she and her family, especially her husband, are just like us and worthy of our support. Expect her to be phenomenal. Expect her to be attacked, as well. Republicans and their surrogates have already tried…

Barack Obama’s 2004 keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention contained sound-bite-worthy lines that would be replayed long after the ovation subsided. “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America,” he said. Despite his greenness—Obama had never before used a teleprompter—the reaction was titanic. Bill Clinton waited with throngs…

The great Toni Morrison once said in an interview that whenever she bumped up against some incident of racial exclusion or insult as a child, her father would shield his daughter’s tender heart by reminding her, “You don’t live in that neighborhood. That is not your home.” When Michelle Obama takes the stage as the…

On a recent broadcast of “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” the host launched into his opening monologue with customary snark. But instead of riffing on a celebrity, he detoured and took on Johnathan Rodgers, the CEO and president of the black cable network TV One. Rodgers had recently announced that his channel planned to…

Journalists like me rarely admit to liking people in the news. But I have no qualms or shame in admitting that I shed huge, salty tears after hearing that Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the Democratic Ohio congresswoman, died Wednesday from a brain aneurysm. She was 58, and she was my friend. I came to know…

As Rick Warren’s Saddleback presidential faith forum approached last Saturday, I ran to the store before it closed to pick up a few items. At the register, the conversation quickly turned from my purchases to politics. The problem with politics, the white male cashier said with more than a hint of cynical frustration, was politicians,…

My last foray into politics was in 5th grade when I lost what I’m sure was a rigged election for class president. I’ve been writing about black political issues since I was a college freshman. But aside from voting or organizing the occasional protest, I’ve never been involved in electoral politics. That was until March,…