Barack Obama
Happy Martin Luther King Day and why we must keep on dreaming
Happy Martin Luther King day! I wrote a piece for The Guardian – “King dream meets Obama’s reality” - on Obama’s first year in office and what it means for Martin Luther King’s vision for America.
The crux of the piece is that one person cannot singlehandedly change everything, particularly in the space of one year. We [...]
What happened to politics for the people?
This evening President Obama made his highly anticipated address to Congress. With the healthcare reform plan having come under so much fire in recent weeks, the president had a great deal of work to do tonight. He did a great job in clarifying his proposal and came out strong in setting out his vision and [...]
I’m back again!
I’ve been away on a hiatus… but I’m back in force. I must admit that I have been sucked into the abyss that is Twitter (follow me!) and am just dragging myself out. There really is something to be said for micro-blogging.
In any case, I have still been writing. So here are some pieces for [...]
How to hold Obama accountable
I have been accused of being an Obama butt-kisser. Apparently I am not critical enough of him.
There have been some people, especially in the black community, who feel that it is their duty to criticize the president at every turn. This, they believe, keeps him ‘accountable’ and helps him to do his job properly. Except [...]
Is Sotomayor pick a bad case of identity politics?
I have a lot to say about Sotomayor and the whole ‘identity politics’ debate. Personally I think the whole ‘identity politics’ argument is BS and I wish her all the very best.
For now, watch me debating the issue on CNN. A post on identity politics is to come…
Embedded video from CNN Video
Kenyan Women Say NO to sex – Are black people 8x more criminal? – British Far Right party threat
I want to hear your views on these issues! Let me know your thoughts!
Here are a few interesting articles/comment pieces that have come to my attention in the past couple of days…
From the UK:
The Guardian: “Don’t Leave Migration Policy to the BNP”.
For those who don’t know, the BNP stands for British National Party – it’s [...]
Stories from around the web
Racial over-sensitivity?
In this story, a company that made a special edition Obama doll which sprouted grass from its head (see picture) was shocked to find out that the doll has been pulled from the shelves at Walgreens stores in Chicago and Tampa after customers complained about it. Apparently some people thought that the grass growing from [...]
Changing Race in the UK
Yet another book on how “The Age of Obama” is changing things for minorities in the UK and the US.
This is quite an interesting one (note: I’ve only read a sample chapter and not the whole thing) and based on research by Harvard’s Robert Putnam (in conjunction with Manchester University) who says that he believes [...]
The Obama Effect in the UK
I have written a soon-to-be released essay on how the UK can use the momentum from Obama’s presidency to progress. Watch this space for that. It will be interesting to see how the Obama effect will be harnessed and what its actual effects, beyond symbolism, are in the UK.
But according to a new report by [...]
Race – an international perspective
When I was on CNN in January, the anchor Jim Clancey asked me an interesting question. He said that similarly to Obama, I have an international background (my parents are Nigerian, I’m a first generation born Briton who was raised in London and have lived in S Africa – all interesting hot spots for racial [...]