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Re-Writing Fatherhood
Four years ago, I made a promise to my newborn daughter in her hospital room. I stayed awake the entire night waiting for her to open her eyes. I’ll never forget the feeling, as if I were on top of a skyscraper, feeling the rush of greatness and being consumed by fear—fear of not knowing…
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What My Father Could Learn From Usher
On my desk, in my office, is a picture of my mother and me. I might be 2 weeks old. She’s cradling me with one arm against her chest, her slender fingers smoothing down my baby hair. She’s got a close-cropped afro, and we’re in somebody’s kitchen—maybe ours, but probably my Grandmommy’s. There’s a bag…
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The Ol’ Ball Game
Everyone has little mind games to occupy themselves when waiting unexpectedly; mine usually involve sports lineups in some way. The habit isn’t a holdover from my sports geek youth; it developed a few years ago when a Yankee fan at my corner bar kept announcing with great pride that proof of the Yankees greatness lies…
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Picture Perfect
Dad was a revolutionary. A prolific artist and intellectual, a driving force in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, founder of the artists’ collective AfriCobra (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) and retired dean of the Howard University College of Fine Arts, Jeff R. Donaldson created works that are world-renowned, brilliant and timeless. But…
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The Subtle Sweetness of 'Pig Candy'
-BOOK EXCERPT Pig Candy: Taking my Father South, Taking My Father Home By Lise Funderburg Copyright © 2008. Reprinted by permission of Free Press, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. ********** In March of 2004, just when the urge to rake out garden beds and plant summer bulbs is too strong to resist, despite…
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She's Not the One
Barack Obama’s selection of a vice-presidential running mate is an easy and obvious thing in the minds of many. To wit, he can do nothing but bring Hillary Rodham Clinton onto the ticket. He simply must do so, the logic goes, if he hopes to have a chance of winning the general election. It is…
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Running for President or Running for His Life?
Zimbabwe will hold a run-off election on June 27. Presidential contender Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader, insists that he and his party have already won. But Robert Mugabe, the wily leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party refused to accept the results and in time—an unprecedented long time—the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission…
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My Father, the Tragic Hero
I’ve boycotted Father’s Day for longer than I can remember. In content rebellion, I’d refuse to telephone my father and would avoid his call when he pined for my gratitude. I’d reject any urges to select and purchase hideous neckties or other unnecessary gifts. I’d dismiss images of sitting around a bountiful dinner table honoring…
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It's the Sexism, Stupid!
Amy Alexander’s essay dismissing the bereavement faced by Hillary supporters prompted me to make a few conclusions of my own from my vantage point as an Obama supporter working as a political organizer with Clintonites over the past two years. All I can say is: Wow! This piece is intense. What immediately came to mind…
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Good Grief: Exploiting Bereavement in the '08 Campaign
Just when I thought the unsavory litany of insults, absurdities and hypocrisies that defined the race for the Democratic presidential nomination could not possibly get any longer, the long goodbye of Hillary Clinton proved me wrong. The Grief Narrative that led up to the New York senator’s grin-and-bear-it endorsement of Barack Obama on Saturday just…