Politics

For those of us who identify with the American Left, the last month or two has been disheartening. This election campaign should be the best chance in decades for the Left to be relevant in the national political discussion: U.S. imperialism is more unpopular than ever, and the current economic situation is calling attention to…

David Swerdlick is an associate editor at The Root. Follow him on Twitter. 

That’s the message Barack Obama should glean from the trouncing he received last night in Pennsylvania. If he wants to be President, he first has to defeat Hillary Clinton in both North Carolina and, more important, in Indiana two weeks from now. To do that, he is going to have to behave less like Jay-Z,…

As most experts predicted, Hillary Clinton defeated Barack Obama in Tuesday’s Pennsylvania Democratic primary. Given his recent resurgence in momentum, however, many believed that Obama could close the gap to a respectable 5 or 6 percent. Instead, Clinton garnered a commanding 9.2 percent victory that will justify her extended stay in the increasingly volatile primary…

On summer afternoons in the Dexter-Davison neighborhood of Detroit where I grew up, my brothers and I would return from the party store around the corner from our house with snacks of sugar-filled goodies. My older brother Che favored “Now and Laters,” while I preferred Faygo Red Pop (65 cents a bottle) and Jay’s Red…

It’s been a long six weeks since Clinton and Obama set their sights on Pennsylvania and finally, today is the day we can put all the speculation to rest and cast our votes. My husband and I, along with our two young children, Yannick and Olivia, arrived at the polls at 8:00 am this morning.…

My first brush with Obama’s Pennsylvania problem came during a visit to the dentist. As a light-skinned black man, I sometimes pass undetected “behind enemy lines.” Such was the case at the dentist’s office last fall when the oral hygienist—a young, white gal from small-town Western Pennsylvania with the ironic first name of Hillary—stated firmly…

I had a dream recently that involved two people who, ordinarily, are never in my dreams: Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter Chelsea. It was set in the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia where Hillary and her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama had just finished their “debate.” Although maintaining her toothy smile…

Yeah, you love meat. In countless cultures, both in the U.S. and abroad, eating meat is aspirational—a sign of the good life. But as more of the earth’s residents choose to eat meat, we imperil the planet. Getting beef, lamb and chicken on your plate uses and pollutes billions of gallons of water in the…

When it comes to saving money on home heating and electric bills, our parents have said it all: Turn off the lights! Turn off that tap! Put on a sweater! Go outside!  These are all great starting points, but to really go green—and save green—you can do much more. Efficiency is the single easiest way…