she had a good run.

There's a time and a place for everything, and I think now is probably the time to wrap this blog up.

I guess for most folks, moving forward always means leaving something behind.

I doubt that this is really goodbye, but we'll see.

Until then,

~L.

GETTING BODIED AT THE BARRE: My Quest for a Bootylicious Butt

Please welcome my girl Dana to the madness that is Ignorant Art. Dana and I went to this class called Pure Barre. It's the newest celebrity fitness craze and, while painful, works your muscles so good that you'll have that bangin' summer body in no time. Here is her take on the torture--er, I mean barre techniques--that we tried out at a yoga studio right here in the District.

I must have screamed out every profanity known to man in English, Spanish and Italian. After taking Pure Barre classes at Inspired Yoga I was reminded of why I never became a ballerina (the pain factor of the class alone definitely trumped the traumatizing experiencing of having my weave fall out in ballet class as my horrified, 8 year old, Caucasian colleagues watched in terror.)Although a bit heavy on the thighs (a whole lot of shaking and baking going on) I already have a nice athletic body shape, but for a diva like myself, it is not enough. I want sexy legs like Amerie (actually I think I got that covered), sculpted arms like Ciara, a killer stomach like Janet Jackson, and a bootylicious booty like Beyonce (um…not sure my body type will allow for this but I up for the challenge, realistically I will settle for Megan Goode’s gluteus maximus). I want that Janet Jackson circa 1990’s “If” video body that will make men come home early from work, pay all my bills, and beg for mercy (Lordhammercy!) Well, you get the point. In my quest for the perfect body (and fulfilling my lost long dream of being a dancer sans the bad weave job) I have taken Kundalini Yoga, Tribal Bellydance, Flamenco, Indian Dance, Salsa, Beginner Adult Ballet, Tango, Exotic Dance, Pole, Sexual Tai Chi, and even a Hawaiian Hula class. Always looking for the latest trend, I decided to take a note from the celebrities and raise the barre by taking classes at Pure Barre.

Arming myself with a water bottle, Jackie-O sunglasses and fashionable workout clothes (if fashionable includes a wife beater and booty shorts LOL), I was convinced this class would be easy. I am thinking, “Do a plie' here, degage in 5th position, step-ball-change, jazz hands, and spirit fingers at the close…yeah…I got this.”I thought I knew…I had no idea.Pure Barre Technique is an intense and exhilarating core workout (read: even the most fit yogi will be screaming for his mama.)

The 55-minute class fuses Lotte Berk exercises, dance, yoga and Pilates for a challenging, high-energy workout. It begins with an upper-body warm-up with weights and move to the ballet barre for thigh, seat and abdominal work. Each strength section is followed by stretches to create long, lean muscles. The barre, in particular, allows you to target specific areas that can be tricky to reach other kinds of exercises. Every move has a purpose as the class switchs its focus from arms to thighs to abs to back, so a whole session is necessary for a full-body experience.

Not only did I have a full body experience, but an out of body experience. Never in my life I have sweated as much (this even includes the dope 80’s party thrown by J/K Productions). Imagine sitting in a chair position (already tortured) and doing sets of exercises in this position while holding onto a barre. Imagine standing on your tiptoe, gripping the barre, as you sink your knees into a squat and then slowly (but repeatedly) tucking your but in just for a extra shot of pain in your lower thighs and your gluteus maximus. Imagine sitting beneath the barre, pushing up with your hands while lifting your heavy legs up using your abs.

Working my muscles to fatigue, my body started shaking, I stared sweating profusely, my face started to contort, I started to scream. If one did not know better they would have thought I was having a orgasm (rather a orgasm of pain!)

But wouldn't you know it… I survived the Pure Barre Class and all I have is the pain in my gluteus maximus to show for it. Despite the torture I breathed through all the difficult positions and actually completed the process (read MESSAGE!). I felt detoxified, elongated and most of all energized. In addition it is my prediction that I will be bootylicious in no time. I have already got a class pass.For anyone who is seeking for a different fitness experience try Pure Barre. Open to men and women this technique will have your muscle and skin tone glowing with perfection for the summer season.

As for me...I plan to look bootylicious in my Freakum dress by late July (uh, oh, uh, oh, uh, oh), Please believe...I will have the picture posted on facebook!

Signed,

Your Facebook Diva

http://www.purebarre.com/

http://www.inspiredyoga.com/

"Pure Body is all about combining strength and flexibilty instead of just one or the other for a a balanced body"- Carrie Rezabek, founder of Pure Barre

thoughts on the random: summer shoes, facebook overload, and the conclusion of the l-dub blackberry saga.

The quest for the perfect summer shoes.

With the first official week of summer upon us, I thought it fitting to put up a few shoes that I have my eye on. Some of you are familiar with the hot lil shoe i posted in my last "favorite things" installment--hopefully, these won't be as "too hot for TV" as those were, but sexy and stylish nonetheless.

So I pretty much would chase a chick down for these joints. Great with a sundress or maybe some skinny jeans. Fly and funky with a dash of retro. I actually bought some black ones similar to this not too long ago--I have to say that they're pretty versatile and can transition from work to play very well.


I tend to fall back on flip flops during the summer--they're comfortable and can usually withstand my metro commute to and fro. But for some reason, the old navy 2-for-1 flip flop just doesn't do it for me anymore--and those used to be my joint sophomore year! Case in point: this great red flip flop from Steve Madden.

...Because no shoe post of mine will be complete without some Pumas, since they are my favorite brand of athletic shoe. I think now is a good time to say that my birthday is exactly 7 months away...but I am also a strong believer of Christmas in July, so if you want to pick them up for me then, that would be pretty awesome :-D

Facebook Gone Wild!

I knew Facebook would evolve into MySpace's hotter sister eventually, but I don't know how I feel about all the new features. I'm glad that they're all optional, but the notification that tells you about all the activity pertaining to your profile (who just wrote on your wall, who just commented on your comment in a photo, etc.) is simply just....extra.

Don't get me started on the honesty box. I mean really, why would you want to know everything people think about you? I can really see some broken relationships/friendships/friends with benefits situations going totally awry on account of things like this.

I am feelin' the Music features though. As a music junkie myself it seems pretty useful.

The Blackberry Saga has ended

...and it ends with L-dub actually breaking down and buying a Blackberry. I decided I no longer wanted the Pearl--the buttons were too small--but that didn't mean that I didn't need or want a new phone anymore.

You see, my current little slider phone has been acting real flippant lately. I'll slide it open and the screen just goes berserk--sometimes the colors are completely off, sometimes it's blank, sometimes they're even a little static.

That sealed it. It was time for a new phone.


So I ended up getting the 8700g model. I haven't gotten it in the mail yet, but by the end of the week I'll be totin it around in classic DC fashion :-)

Until then,

~L.

Daily Obama: Barack Obama TV Ads are on the way

Looks like the revolution will be televised after all :-) read on.


From the Associated Press:

Obama Launches Two Television Ads in Iowa
By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama is launching two biographical television ads this week, focusing on early voting Iowa in the first commercials of his presidential campaign.

The ads represent a strategic shift for the Obama campaign, which has focused on grass-roots efforts and now will introduce the candidate to a new population of voters watching at home.

Candidates typically hold off on advertising during the slow summer months, but the warp-speed campaign has forced the 2008 contenders to rethink the traditional approach. Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Bill Richardson have run ads in Iowa and seen their poll numbers increase.

Obama's two biographical spots are just the start of what could be an unprecedented campaign on television. The Illinois senator has millions of dollars to spend on advertising along with other campaign activities.

The new commercials feature Republican state Sen. Kirk Dillard, who worked with Obama in the Illinois Legislature and backs the candidacy of GOP Sen. John McCain and Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe.

"Many of the reasons that I like Senator McCain are the same reasons that I've always admired Barack Obama ethics, independence and a little bit of maverick spirit that lends hope that this country wouldn't be gridlocked in partisan politics," Dillard said.

A 60-second commercial, called "Choices," focuses on the decision Obama made after graduating from Harvard Law School, opting to turn down lucrative offers from law firms and instead move to Chicago as a community organizer.

The other 30-second spot, titled "Carry," addresses Obama's work in the Illinois Legislature, where Dillard praises him for pushing ethics legislation, expanding child care and health coverage and supporting tax credits for the working poor.

"Senator Obama worked on some of the deepest issues we had and was successful in a bipartisan way," Dillard says in that ad.

Aides described Tribe, a member of the Harvard law faculty, as a mentor for Obama. Tribe praises Obama for his decisions after graduating.

"It was inspiring, absolutely inspiring to see someone as brilliant as Barack Obama, as successful, someone who could have written his ticket on Wall Street, take all of the talent and all of the learning and decide to devote it to the community and to make people's lives better," Tribe says in the commercial.

The spots also feature scenes from Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, an address which vaulted him to prominence within the party.

The Obama campaign is spending a modest amount of money to run his first ads in Iowa.

A recent poll in Iowa showed Obama bunched at the top with rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards. His appearances in the state have drawn large and noisy crowds.

The ads come soon after an extensive mailing, which included a DVD biographical film on Obama, aides said.

Daily Obama:Obama introduces a bill confronting fatherlessness

It's been a long time...shouldn't have left you...without a blog post to step to... :-)

Sorry for the delay--life has been happenin!--but here is the latest installment of the Daily Obama.

This is an interesting piece of legislation...it's true that children of all races are effected by absentee fathers and it is a good way for Obama to take advantage of the "family values" angle that his Republican colleagues are well-versed in (or so they say :-)

however, I still worry about Obama's ability to really speak on the most important political issues of the day--namely the two I words: Iraq and Immigration.

It's still early though, so I guess only time will tell what the future holds for the Barack-star.

US Fed News
June 18, 2007

SENS. BAYH, OBAMA INTRODUCE LEGISLATION TO CONFRONT ABSENTEE FATHER EPIDEMIC

The office of Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., issued the following press release:

Sens. Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL) today introduced legislation to encourage more men to take responsibility for their children and to address the challenges faced by millions of American families as a result of the national epidemic of absentee fathers.

In Indiana, one out of every four Indiana families is headed by a single mom, according to the Indiana Youth Institute Kids Count. Nationally, in the last 40 years, the number of children without fathers in America has more than quadrupled, from 5 million in 1960 to more than 24 million today. An estimated 40 percent of the children who live in fatherless households have not seen their fathers in at least one year.

The Responsible Fatherhood and Healthy Families Act of 2007 removes government penalties on married families and offers support for fathers trying to do the right thing while cracking down on men who avoid their parental responsibilities. The bill would provide fathers with innovative job training services and other economic opportunities, while expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to help non-custodial parents trying to support their families. It would also increase child support enforcement by helping governments collect a projected $13 billion in payments from those who don't fulfill their parental responsibilities.

The Bayh-Obama legislation would help ensure that money paid for child support goes directly to children and their mothers and does not result in loss of food assistance for eligible families. It would also strengthen domestic violence prevention services.

"Conceiving a child doesn't make you a man, but raising one responsibly does," Bayh said. "The fatherhood crisis is an issue many politicians would prefer to avoid, but elected officials have a moral obligation not to sit idly by while communities crumble because of the epidemic of absentee fathers. I am not na?ve enough to believe that government alone can solve this problem, but together we can play a constructive role in crafting policies that attack the root causes of this epidemic. Fatherless children are more likely to do poorly in school and have emotional and behavioral problems. They are more likely to commit crimes, smoke cigarettes, and abuse drugs and alcohol. Many of our most pressing societal ills can be addressed by tackling the fatherhood crisis effectively."

"As fathers, we need to teach our boys what makes you a man is not just having a child, it's having the courage to raise a child," Obama said. "Congress can make it easier for those who make that responsible choice--and make it harder for those who avoid it. This legislation will provide support for fathers who are trying to do the right thing in making child-support payments by providing them with job training and job opportunities and expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. It stops penalizing marriage in the tax code and makes sure that children and families, not the government, receive every penny of child support. It would also crack down on those who avoid their responsibility by increasing child-support enforcement, a measure that will collect nearly $13 billion in payments that can help raise, nurture, and educate children."

Studies show that children without fathers in their lives are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of school, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They also are more likely to have behavioral problems, to run away from home, and to become teenage parents themselves.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, companion legislation is being introduced by Congresswoman Julia Carson (D-IN) and Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL).
"This is good legislation for families across Indiana and America," Carson said. "It sends a message to our men that, once you become a parent, you have a responsibility to that child and we're going to hold you accountable, but we're also going to provide you the tools for success. The role a father plays in the life of a child is invaluable, and it's heartbreaking to consider that almost 25 million kids in this country grow up without a father in their lives. This legislation will take steps toward changing that."

"This bill is a key component of a fresh approach to family support, one which supports and strengthens families before they are at risk," Davis said. "This legislation provides the tools to strengthen relationships between fathers and their children and encourages fathers to become good nurturers and providers. The fullest positive participation by fathers helps to create a caring environment capable of fostering optimal child development, promotes humanistic cultural and community traditions while reducing poverty, teenage pregnancies, juvenile delinquency and incidents of child abuse and neglect. In the process of assuming responsibility for fatherhood, fathers themselves acquire new self confidence, new parenting skills, higher educational accomplishments and greater economic independence."

Last year, Congress passed legislation based on a proposal introduced by Senator Bayh that provided up to $50 million each year for the next five years in funding for responsible fatherhood programs nationwide as part of the spending reconciliation bill.

Daily Obama: Obama and theYouth

very interesting article about Obama's latest fundraiser at H2O Nightclub out here in DC. It's good to see him connecting with young voters, especially because we are the ones most likely to vote for him. however, I'm still curious to see how he keeps the momentum going. Read on.


from The Baltimore Sun:

Obama's appeal strong with younger voters, regardless of raceThomas F. Schaller
May 30, 2007

I'm not sure whether America is ready yet for a black president, but I do know this much: If a Barack Obama fundraiser last week in Washington is any indication, Americans under 40 sure seem amenable to the idea.

At H2O nightclub along the Potomac waterfront, more than 1,000 people shelled out $100 each to hear the 45-year-old Illinois senator give a short speech. The crowd was predominantly young, professional, racially mixed and full of what Mr. Obama might call audacious hope.
"Everywhere we've gone, we have not just big crowds but diverse crowds - crowds that span the gamut of races, of religions, of regions, of age groups and gender," said Mr. Obama. "And that sense of people coming together is a powerful thing."

When I asked attendees why they were supporting him, the words I kept hearing were "new," "fresh" and "different."
Two Haitian-born sisters in their 20s who became naturalized citizens a few years ago and have never voted in a presidential election showed up at the nightclub to get a closer look.

"I'm supporting him because it seems like he's bringing new ideas," said Daphne Francois, a law student at New York University visiting her sister, Regine, an attorney from Silver Spring. "I think he's trying to be inclusive of all ideas," added Regine Francois. Josh and Micaela, a husband and wife in their mid-30s who asked that their last name not be used, both voted for George W. Bush in 2000 but switched to John Kerry four years later. They found a sitter for their two kids so they could come over from suburban Arlington to check out the first African-American male Democrat elected to the Senate.

"I cannot believe how much he's bringing a new dialogue to the table," remarked Micaela, a Latina who served in the military and is a registered Republican. "He's not the same old, same old."

"We're really hopeful that America can get swept up in a leader, because we really haven't had much leadership in a while," said Josh, who is white and a registered independent.

These are the voters the Obama campaign is trying to lure and motivate.

"Politics in this town seems to always involve power trumping principle," Mr. Obama told the audience. "We get discouraged, and half of us don't bother to vote and the other half go to the polling place and hold our noses and vote against somebody rather than for somebody."

In his speeches, Mr. Obama talks a lot about the crippling power of cynicism. On May 19, he gave the commencement address at Southern New Hampshire University. "I rebelled, angry in the way that many young men in general, and young black men in particular, are angry, thinking that responsibility and hard work were old-fashioned conventions that didn't apply to me," he admitted. "I partied a little too much and studied just enough to get by."

After he and some college buddies "trashed" a dorm room, Mr. Obama's girlfriend pointed out that her grandmother was once a custodian who spent years cleaning up the messes left by thoughtless college kids like him. That moment, he says, caused him to remember that the world didn't revolve around him.

Mr. Obama admonished the new graduates to seek goals beyond the material. "In a few minutes, you can take your diploma, walk off this stage, and go chasing after the big house and the large salary and the nice suits and all the other things that our money culture says you should buy," he said. "But I hope you don't. Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a poverty of ambition. ... And it will leave you unfulfilled."

i'm still here

:-)

...life is just gettin in the way, is all. I'll be back with more thoughts on the random, more daily obama, and more musings about life in the Nation's Capital.

loryn's list of objects worth lusting after

yes that is alliteration.

i haven't done this in a while but with summer approaching i decided it was time to do another list of things i'm lustin' after.

most of you saw my post about my upgrading to a white blackberry pearl, so i wont' repost that. (y'all lazy folks can just scroll down and see the joint). so I'll start with the dress i tried on today at banana republic:



some of you know that i'm a Zeta. well, it's time for a new blue dress. i would look devilishy phine in this thing*, and i know because i tried it on at lunch today. it's about 15o bucks but honestly: i'd drop that much for this thing cuz it's so cute. 100% silk as well.

*see, i was trying to keep from saying "devil in a blue dress" because that is corny.


okay next up:

i tried them on. they make me feel like a wanton sex kitten. i don't think there's anything else to say about these shoes. except....will you buy them for me?

and now, the obligatory greek item:

I was so in lust with this damn thing I wrote a Facebook note about it. it's good for just about any occasion---NPHC info session, sorority chapter meeting, rush, even casual friday at work. and I love the old school flair.

I may post more things. for now, this is what I got.

And yes I realize I had a Zeta blue themed-post. eh, deal with it.

Daily Obama: The Obama Girls and Affirmative Action

Good Op-Ed piece about the Obama girls and how they will or won't benefit from Affirmative Action. The author raises good points about the fact that the girls won't have as much of a challenge getting into whatever college they want but it won't be because of their race---it will be because of their class and who their parents are.

I do agree that while race is still a problem in this country, it's class that blocks or allows people to go to college. Like Obama says in the article, there are plenty of poor white children who can't afford to go to school in this country.

A Question Of Race Vs. ClassAffirmative Action For the Obama Girls?
By Eugene RobinsonTuesday, May 15, 2007; A15

Barack Obama doesn't think anyone should cut his two daughters any slack when they apply to college -- not because of their race, at least. In the unlikely event that the Obama family goes broke, then maybe.

In an interview broadcast Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Obama waded into the central issue of the affirmative action debate: race vs. class. Perhaps typically, Obama's remarks were more Socratic than declarative. He didn't really answer the question, he rephrased it. Maybe the way he posed it, though, will lead to a discussion that's long overdue.

George Stephanopoulos asked Obama whether his daughters should be able to benefit from affirmative action when the time comes for them to go to college. The girls "should probably be treated by any admissions officer as folks who are pretty advantaged," Obama said.

Stephanopoulos was driving at the question of whether race-based affirmative action programs are still needed. Another way to frame the issue is whether race or class is the more important factor in our society. Are minorities who are raised in middle-class or wealthy homes still held back by racism? Or should we now focus on socioeconomic status as the principal barrier keeping people from reaching their potential?

Obama's answer, basically, was yes. To both questions.

Obama has repeatedly gone on record as a supporter of affirmative action. But "if we have done what needs to be done to ensure that kids who are qualified to go to college can afford it," he said in the ABC interview, "affirmative action becomes a diminishing tool for us to achieve racial equality in this society."

He seemed to side with those who think class predominates when he said, "I think that we should take into account white kids who have been disadvantaged and have grown up in poverty and shown themselves to have what it takes to succeed."

It's hard to disagree with that proposition, especially as economic inequality worsens in this country. Harvard University (where Obama went to law school) has taken the lead in guaranteeing that money will not be an obstacle for qualified low-income students.

But Obama seemed to agree with those who point to the lingering effects of racism when he noted that "there are a lot of African American kids who are still struggling, that even those who are in the middle class may be first-generation as opposed to fifth- or sixth-generation college attendees, and that we all have an interest in bringing as many people together to help build this country."

That observation points to circumstances that have to be taken into account. Diversity, in my view, is very much in the national interest. But diversity is a process, not a destination. We have to keep working at it. And since a college degree has become the great divider between those who make it in this society and those who don't, affirmative action in college admissions is one of the most powerful tools we have to increase diversity.

The formal separate-but-equal framework is long gone, but de facto separation and inequality persist. Minority students are disproportionately disadvantaged by having to attend substandard primary and secondary schools. Their parents are less likely to have attended college and thus may not be familiar with all the things parents have to do to make their children competitive when it comes time to apply for college admission. And while racism is not the institutional and legal straitjacket it was 50 years ago, it persists in subtler yet still pernicious forms.

Yes, class is important. But race is, too, and while I hope we eventually get to the point where race is irrelevant, we still have a long way to go.

As for Obama's assessment of his daughters' privileged status, that's just a statement of the obvious. With such Type A, high-wattage parents, those girls probably will have the grades and test scores to get into any college. And if they don't, they will benefit from a different affirmative action program -- one that for many generations has ushered the academically undistinguished scions of prominent families into the nation's most selective colleges and universities.

Let's not pretend that college admissions has ever been a level playing field. Obama graduated from Columbia; his wife, Michelle, from Princeton. This means that at those two Ivy League schools, their daughters will be "legacy" applicants, just like George W. Bush was at Yale and legions of Kennedys have been at Harvard. Given the Obamas' power and fame, admissions officers at the schools they attended -- and probably at other elite schools, too -- are going to find a way to let the Obama girls in.

ummm...let me upgrade you?

so i've been thinking recently that it's time to upgrade to a smart phone....you know the phones that let you make calls, take pictures, check email, surf the web, automatically clean yr dirty draws...

okay maybe not that last one, but i think i'm ready for a phone that does more than just make phone calls. i want the whole experience.

so my younger brother and sister both have sidekicks, and i'm thinking i may want one too. But answer me this....are sidekicks more for just teenagers? like if i get one, will i look like i'm 16?

then there was the blackberry pearl, which was sleeker, sexier, and more grown. I feel like if i REALLy wanna get my grown woman on, this would be the one to get.

Now in a perfect world where Loryn was richer than Paris Hilton, the move would be an iphone, but of course we don't live in a world where that is the case. we live in a world where Loryn goes with whatever is affordable after the mail-in rebate. So that means I'll have to just continue to lust after the iPhone from afar...besides, buying an iPhone would definitely mean moving the Cingular network, which trust me, i don't want to think about.

What do you all think? The fun sidekick to style on people with? or the Blackberry Pearl to pimp with?

Mayor Fenty, you are the bamma of the week.

As some of you may or may not know, Adrian Fenty, the mayor of DC, has been given the authority to take over the DC public schools. I originally supported that idea, and I applauded Mayor Fenty for having such a passion for changing the way our children are educated in this

city.

Then I read this article and while I still applaud his dedication to improving the school system, he loses some points for plagiarizing HIS ENTIRE PROPOSAL.

What kind of bamma sh*t is that?

Because I KNOW we all learned in grade school that copying other people's work is not the right thing to do. What bothers me is that here he is, heralding this plan as his own and yet it was lifted from someone else's work.

I showed this article to a friend of mine yesterday. He said that while he could see that the plagiarizing issue is bad, "it's a plan to improve the school system, not an application for the Nobel Peace Prize."

I get it. I also get that most policies, especially those involving urban areas, are borrowed from cities and states where those policies worked. But come on a whole document? After telling everybody and their mother that you had all these ORIGINAL plans for improving the school system? That's just embarassing.

Man, I would hate to be in his communications office right now. I bet that office is blowin the hell up. This could be a huge PR let-down for him.

Somebody call Huggy Lowdown, cuz this guy is the bamma of the week.

The Daily Obama: Michelle Obama stands by her man.

I know I'm real late with this one tonite, kids---I got caught up in the matrix that is the Jack Bauer Power Hour (24 for those of y'all in the slow class)--But here's an article about Michelle Obama camapaign for the Barack-star.

I like her more and more by the minute. When I think of her being the first lady I just smile. Hopefully she don't do nothin crazy like tellin folks to "shove it" like John Kerry's woman.

Michelle Obama Campaigns for Husband

By BEVERLEY WANG
The Associated Press
Monday, May 7, 2007; 5:33 PM

WINDHAM, N.H -- Michelle Obama said Monday that although her husband can electrify a crowd with his speeches, the Democratic presidential contender won't be perfect as the campaign drags on.

"Barack has given people that hope, but he's going to get tired. This is a long campaign," Michelle Obama told Democrats gathered for a house party in Windham, N.H. "I joke he's not going to be able to bring people to tears with every speech that he makes. He's going to make stumbles.
"And what's going to keep this going are the people around this room and around this country who are finding other people to get involved."

Michelle Obama, a 43-year-old Chicago hospital executive, drew more media coverage on her solo day trip to the first primary state than some presidential candidates. Her husband, Sen. Barack Obama, was in Detroit, speaking about fuel efficiency and the auto industry.

Obama talked about herself first and her husband second while mingling with voters at the home of a software engineer. She introduced herself as a working-class daughter of public schools and Chicago's South Side, whose parents sacrificed to put her and her brother through Princeton University.

When the topic shifted to her husband, Obama said frankly she was ready to write him off when she first met him.

"His name was Barack Obama, and I thought, 'Well, I'm sure this guy is weird, right?'" Obama said, to laughter. When she found out he grew up in Hawaii _ "Spent his formative years on an island. And I thought, 'Well you've got to be a little nuts.'"

Obama said she quickly changed her mind after their first conversation.
"I realized we had more in common than we thought," she said.

Obama also addressed what some perceive as her husband's greatest flaw as a candidate _ his lack of political experience as a freshman senator.

"I know that experience is important but experience without the sort of moral compass is not enough," she said.

"He doesn't have the check-marked experiences but he has the experience that makes a difference," she added, noting her husband's work as a community organizer, civil rights lawyer, law professor and state lawmaker.

Oh s#&t, son, it's SA-RA.

So I recently picked up this here album by SA-RA Creative Partners.

I don't know what to say really, except for the fact that I ignored these cats severely for like two years and now I realize that that was pretty lame of me.

This album is a great mix of funk, electronica, soul, and hip hop. It is a smooth, funky, sexy collection of work. Some great cameos by Erykah Badu, Bilal, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and the late great J-Dilla. The Dilla Track may be my favorite. Standout tracks include, "Glorious," "And if," "Rosebuds,", the aforementioned Dilla Track entitled "thrilla," the semi-title cut "Hollywood", and I'm also a big fan of "Sweet Sour You" if not for any other reason than for the fact that Bilal's falsetto=pure sex.

Low points: can't pick a whole lot of them, but i'm going to go with "lean on me" featuring Kurupt (though I like kurupt on here, makes me wanna throw on my blue chucks), and "Tracy"---because it sounds like a Kelis track and I would rather see Kelis on a track like this than this annoying broad I've never heard of.

I also appreciate the slight west coast flavor they bring, seeing as that I am from killa cali and they are too. Given that they share the same hometown of Los Angeles as J*Davey, I wonder if they have collaborated with them? Can someone (*cough* honorable media*cough*) confirm this for me? Furthermore, I wonder if Kanye will sign J*Davey to G.O.O.D records? That would be rather sweet.

I should add that they are Okayartists so you can check them out on that website. You can also check out a pretty decent article about them at HipHopDX.

Oh, back to J*Davey for a second. So the guy in the group, D'Leau....how about I knew him back when we were both pretty young and still living in LA cuz we went to the same church. And his mom sang in the choir and had a beautiful alto voice.

How about, aside from the fact that he had no idea I was alive, I also had the biggest crush on him ever. Yep, sure did.

sigh...DL on Don Imus

i can't deal.


it wasn't right when Imus said it, and it's not cool when DL Hughley says it either.

and there's no reason why he should be bashing our women on a national television like that.


we need to get rid of this double standard bullsh*t.

thoughts on the random

On: The Mondays

my grandfather has been really sick lately, so i went home for a few days to see how he was doing and to hang out with my siblings. i got a lot of rest and spent some good time with my family, and then by saturday nite i was back in DC.

needless to say, monday hit me like a ton of bricks. i was just so blown! this had to have been THEE worst case of the mondays i've ever experienced. i looked at my alarm clock after it went off monday morning and just wanted to cry.

and i STILL got in the office at 8:15am, almost an hour earlier than i'm expected to be there--which was probably the strangest thing about it. I was almost certain I'd oversleep and be late for work.

Musings about the metro.

--Is it just me, or is the green line moving WAY faster than the red line nowadays? I live off the green line and i don't remember hte last time i waited more than 5 minutes for the next train. the red line on the other hand is really touch and go. it's a bit strange since it used to be the complete opposite.

--and while we're talking about the green and red lines, i have to say taht those two lines put together have the nicest selection of attractive men. not that i'm necessarily checking htem out, but when you spent 6 years in an all girls institution before going to a co-ed school, you never lose the urge to check out the selection. then it got me thinking: how many successful couples initially met during a ride on the metro?

trying a new recipe

so a few weeks ago, an acquaintance of mine gave me a recipe for sambusas (if you really wanna know, Google). part of the recipe called for me to deep fry the food. well, i think i made the oil too hot, cuz the sambusas were pretty much burned to a crisp.

the second time around they came out fine, but i was real bothered by the first go around because i almost never eff up a recipe. i guess there's a first time for everything.

Daily Obama: Barack Obama, Gospel And Verse And Bromide

Taken from The Day-Connecticut:

Sometimes you take a shot. On Wednesday evening I was interviewing Barack Obama and we were talking about effective foreign-aid programs in Africa. His voice was measured and fatigued, and he was taking those little pauses candidates take when they're afraid of saying something that might hurt them later on.

Out of the blue I asked, “Have you ever read Reinhold Niebuhr?” Obama's tone changed. “I love him. He's one of my favorite philosophers.”

So I asked, What do you take away from him? “I take away,” Obama answered in a rush of words, “the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naive idealism to bitter realism.”

My first impression was that for a guy who's spent the last few months fund raising, and who was walking off the Senate floor as he spoke, that's a pretty good off-the-cuff summary of Niebuhr's “The Irony of American History.” My second impression is that his campaign is an attempt to thread the Niebuhrian needle, and it's really interesting to watch.

On the one hand, Obama hates, as Niebuhr certainly would have, the grand Bushian rhetoric about ridding the world of evil and tyranny and transforming the Middle East. But he also dislikes liberal muddle-headedness on power politics. In “The Audacity of Hope,” he says liberal objectives like withdrawing from Iraq, stopping AIDS and working more closely with our allies may be laudable, “but they hardly constitute a coherent national security policy.”

In Chicago this week, Obama argued against the current tides of Democratic opinion. There's been a sharp rise in isolationism among Democrats, according to a recent Pew survey, so Obama argued for global engagement. There's been a sharp rise in pessimism about whether America can solve its problems, so Obama argued for optimism and possibility.

In other words, when Obama is confronted by what he sees as arrogant unilateral action, he argues for humility. When he is confronted by what he sees as dovish passivity, he argues for the hardheaded promotion of democracy in the spirit of John F. Kennedy.

The question is, aside from rejecting the extremes, has Obama thought through a practical foreign policy doctrine of his own — a way to apply his Niebuhrian instincts?

Conversational candidate

That question is hard to answer because he loves to have conversations about conversations. You have to ask him every question twice, the first time to allow him to talk about how he would talk about the subject, and the second time so you can pin him down to the practical issues at hand.

If you ask him about the Middle East peace process, he will wax rhapsodic about the need to get energetically engaged. He'll talk about the shared interests all have in democracy and prosperity. But then when you ask him concretely if the U.S. should sit down and talk with Hamas, he says no. “There's no point in sitting down so long as Hamas says Israel doesn't have the right to exist.”

When you ask about ways to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, he talks grandly about marshaling a global alliance. But when you ask specifically if the Iranian regime is deterrable, he's says yes: “I think Iran is like North Korea. They see nuclear arms in defensive terms, as a way to prevent regime change.”

In other words, he has a tendency to go big and offer himself up as Bromide Obama, filled with grand but usually evasive eloquence about bringing people together and showing respect. Then, in a blink, he can go small and concrete, and sound more like a community organizer than George F. Kennan.

Finally, more than any other major candidate, he has a tendency to see the world in post-national terms. Whereas President Bush sees the war against radical Islam as the organizing conflict of our time, Obama sees radical extremism as one problem on a checklist of many others: global poverty, nuclear proliferation, global warming. When I asked him to articulate the central doctrine of his foreign policy, he said, “The single objective of keeping America safe is best served when people in other nations are secure and feel invested.”

That's either profound or vacuous, depending on your point of view.

Black people, what the hell are we thinking

For those of you who don't know me, I refer to myself as a post-millenium Womanist. When I was in undergrad, I focused heavily on literature concerning critical race theory and gender studies. For one of my final reseearch papers, I wrote about hip hop feminism and how the onus is on women to change the way we are portrayed in the media. The superheads of the world are popular because we make them popular, we make it okay for Black women to exploit themselves sexually and to be exploited.

But when I saw this video, I realized for the millionth time that it starts in the home. about 45 seconds into this music video for Huey's Pop, Lock and Drop it, you see 8 and 9 year old girls doing exactly that--pop, lock, and dropping it.

I thought I had seen it all. Why is this considered acceptable behavior?

I remember when I had gone shopping about a month ago and I saw a 4 year old girl wiggling her little behind and getting into what the kids call a "3-point stance." Her mother was no where to be found.

Who is teaching our girls that being that sexual at that young of an age is cute? Why are we letting them grow up so fast?

Why do we allow adults to act that way in front of them? Because of course they're learning this at home.

I am a strong believer in girls' advocacy. I think female reproductive health is very important, but what's even more important is stressing maturity--8 years old is just too young for a little girl to be dancing that way. There is nothing cute or charming about a young black girl dancin like she's a stripper and actin like she's doin a tip drill.

A friend of mine suggested that I write a letter to BET. Not that he thought they'd actually pull the video but so that they know that at least one Black woman doesn't tolerate it. But herein lies the dilemma: I know in my mind that this song is degrading to women, with bow wow being heard in the remix tellin a woman to shake her ass and "if you not doin it for me, then do it for these dollahs." I know this song is terrible and that it's just another way that we disrespect each other. I know this, and yet when I was in H2O the other weekend with my girls and a few guys I was the first one cuttin a serious rug when the dj started playing this single. It isn't something I'm proud of, it isn't something I excuse or justify, but I think it's the dilemma that all women face. It is deplorable, and yet we can't get away from that beat.

But I digress. It's time that we stop talking about how f*cked up white kids are and look at our own children and what we're teaching them. We need to stop making videos like this one of our children and passing it off like it's cute.

It's not cute now, nor has it ever been.

Whose is it?

Now most of the time, this is a family blog, but if you're at work or around children, i'd thrown on some earphones or watch when you're alone.

I really debated for a long time about whether or not I wanted to talk about this youtube here on Ignorant Art. Then after actually reading the manuscript and then actually seeing the actual video, I couldn't just ignore this without giving my 2 cents and sharing it with all of you out there in the blog-o-sphere. Ladies and Gents, meet Dr. Alexyss Tylor. I found out later on today that she also has a myspace page, which features a crocheted model of a uterus. That alone just blows my mind.

Firstly, this ish is HILARIOUS, no doubt. Between the phrases, "He's screwing you into submission" and "don't let him hit that bottom" I must have woken up my neighbors with my laughter. It's almost like this woman just has an obsession with the crassness of the words themselves.

Now, there's is NO DENYING that this woman is crazy, as I commented on Facebook today when an acquaintance of mine posted it. But...I have to say....in some ways, she has a point. Yes (good)sex CAN give a man power over a woman. But why?

Where did we get to a point where sexual prowess=world power (so to speak)?

Where did we get to a point where sexual prowess=exertion of dominance in the relationship?


It makes you think about why sex and sexuality can drive the way men and women relate to each other.
















It also makes you wonder about the answer to life's eternal question: "can a woman REALLY have two g-spots?"

am i wrong for hopin the girl can read?

i mean....it's cool that she can dance....but i hope she's putting as much attention into her books as she is into walkin it out.

do they have her A+ tests on the refrigerator?

the ONLY Don Imus post that matters.

So as most of you know, Don Imus came under fire for his calling the Rutgers Women's Basketball team "nappy headed ho's" among other things (Click here if you have been living under a rock).

He's gotten a lot of flack for the comments...being called a racist, being called a sexist, and recently being taken off the air for two weeks.

Do I think he should be fired? absolutely not. I don't think they were meant to be hateful comments. I do think they were inappropriate, and probably offensive, but I also think this brings up the same type of issue the Michael Richards n-bomb fiasco brings up, and that is this: maybe we, Black people, need to stop calling our women hoes.

I realize that not using the N-word--even if it ends in an 'a'--won't change the racist attitudes of some white people--but it bothers me that when a black man calls a black woman a hoe we look the other way, but let a white man say the same thing to a black woman and it's a travesty.

Tell me, why do we hold white people to a higher standard than we hold ourselves?

I'm not really even talking about the references to bitches and hoes in hip hop--i think that's talked about enough--but this is about every day references to black women as hoes.

Just the other day one of my male friends said he doesn't buy drinks for "hoes in the club"

i've heard "there were some fine hoes there"

"this hoe jus rolled up on me"

and I'm sure there is a black man out there callin his sister/wife/girlfriend/jumpoff etc. a "nappy headed-hoe."

The point is, before we get on a white shock jock's case for degrading our women, maybe we need to check ourselves first.


And that is ALL I am going to say about that.

i had to post this

you gotta love the logic.

"but if he's gonna come in here, he's gonna kick MY ass!"

I don't normally like to talk about the girl, but...

this, ladies and gentleman, is beyonce's best song. period.

don't argue with me on this one.

alanis morrissette covers "my humps"

i am dyin laughin. alanis morissette is stylin on fergie hard right now.




i like it more than corinne bailey rae's jazz cover of "sexy back"; folks talked about the chick really bad after this, but i secretly dig it.



what is the deal with all these artists re-making pop hits? i mean it's funny but i'm wondering where the trend came from.

nelly furtado re-made Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy"...it was ehh, but if i find it i'll post it up.

Daily Obama: Jesus Christ, what's next?

i don't really know what to say about this one..so for now, i will say nothing.

From the Washington Post:

Sculpture of Obama As Jesus Causes Stir
By NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ
The Associated Press

Monday, April 2, 2007; 6:02 PM

CHICAGO -- He wears Jesus' robes and a neon blue halo, looks like Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and is causing a stir at a Chicago art school.

An undergraduate student's papier mache sculpture of Obama as a messianic figure _ entitled "Blessing" _ went on display Saturday at a downtown gallery run by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. By Monday, word of the piece had spread on political blogs, and the school had been flooded with calls.

David Cordero, 24, made the sculpture for his senior show after noticing all the attention Obama has received since he first hinted he may run for the presidency.

"All of this is a response to what I've been witnessing and hearing, this idea that Barack is sort of a potential savior that might come and absolve the country of all its sins," Cordero said. "In a lot of ways it's about caution in assigning all these inflated expectations on one individual, and expecting them to change something that many hands have shaped."

Obama's campaign worked Monday to the distance the Illinois senator from the artwork.
"While we respect First Amendment rights and don't think the artist was trying to be offensive, Senator Obama, as rule, isn't a fan of art that offends religious sensibilities," said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Cordero said the school had fielded plenty of calls about his work, "some of them from angry people." He also said he had heard from a few potential buyers.

Bruce Jenkins, dean of the art school's undergraduate program, said response to the piece _ part of a student exhibition _ has been mostly positive. He said people should take a close look at the sculpture and the context it was created in before judging it.

"When you see it, when you spend time it with it, you understand that it's not a provocative work at all," Jenkins said. "It opens a set of questions."

The Archdiocese of Chicago had not seen the work as of Monday afternoon and could not comment on it, said spokeswoman Dianne Dunagan.

The piece comes amid Catholic outrage in New York that led to an art gallery canceling an exhibit featuring a nude 6-foot-tall, anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ.
Artist Cosimo Cavallaro said Saturday that he has received threats as a result of the sculpture, called "My Sweet Lord." Cavallaro said the controversy spurred "thousands" of e-mail messages from people offering help, donations and exhibition space.

Kanye West-The "I'm Good" Mixtape

I was just thinking about this album this weekend. It actually defined my sophomore year at GW. That was the same year that College Dropout dropped, and also Kanye came to perform at my school as well.

Anyway, it was the soundtrack to my first summer in DC as well. constant play on my big massive stereo in Schenley fo-oh-fo' (404, y'all). My stereo was such a beast, you could hear it all the way down the staircase.

listen to the mix tape here.

Thoughts on the Random: The double date phenomenon, de la soul, and why working in gtown sucks.

On: Double Dates

I'm going on my first one soon. I'm not sure how these things go.

I mean it's usually under the pretext of "maybe your friends can get with my friends, and we can be friends." Am I correct?

It sounds easy enough....well, provided that you have a good wing(wo)man.

It seems like it would be a distraction. I mean you're chillin trying to get to know your date but you also have to talk it up with the other couple, and who wants to do that all night?

Do people even double date anymore? I mean really.

On: Stakes is High

I've had this song on repeat all night. This song is flawless. J-Dilla produced it. (RIP) Which would explain why it's flawless. That is all I wanted to say.


Gtown is the devil

Let's talk about this for a second. I happen to work in Georgetown, where all the shops and boutiques are in DC, among other things. I've worked in that area for almost 2 years, and it has never really been much of a distraction. But lately...I find myself strolling through the H & M store during lunchtime more than ever. First, I'll go in and say, "Nope, I'm not gonna buy anything. NOTHING. not at all. not even a barette." It starts when you see a cute something on sale. "well...it's only 10 bucks...I guess I can buy it..." Then you go back...and you see a cute something not on sale but you decide, "well what's the harm in trying it on?" and it just magically fits perfectly. So you buy it.

Last week it was a grey sweater dress.

Today it was a red belt that matches my red peekaboo toe heels.

I may need to go to rehab soon.

Daily Obama: we get it, you never supported the war

So what else are you gonna tell us, O?

this "i'm against the war" thing is already tired, and we're not even halfway through '07.

do better, please.

However, good job of not directly criticizing Hilary for her stance....yet.

http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/03/22/news/iowa/464dab42860d70f7862572a60004dc67.txt

Obama says he's always opposed the war
By Charlotte Eby, Journal Des Moines Bureau

DES MOINES -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told reporters Wednesday he has been against the Iraq war from the start, countering questions from the campaign of Sen. Hillary Clinton in recent days about the sincerity of his opposition.

On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Obama said he didn't know what would be gained from the parsing of his position of the war."I think that my position on the war has been consistent. It has been unequivocal, and that's the only presentation that I've made during the course of this campaign," Obama said.

Obama denied that his support in the Senate for funding the war undermines the idea he is a longtime opponent, arguing troops had to be adequately protected."I've always been clear and consistent on the notion that we should not get in there, that once we were in there, then we had to make the best of a bad situation," Obama said.

Obama has called for a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq beginning on May 1, with a goal of having troops out by the end of March 2008.

His early campaign rallies have brought their biggest applause when he talks about a war "that should have never been authorized."

Obama was not yet a member of the Senate when the vote was taken in 2002 authorizing force in Iraq, but he said Wednesday he would have voted against it."I am certain that I would have voted to oppose this war," Obama said. He said intelligence showing Saddam Hussein did not, in fact, have weapons of mass destruction was available at the time the vote was taken."There was a lot of ambiguity in the case that the (Bush) administration was making," Obama said, noting that dissenting voices in the intelligence community had been widely reported in the media.

Obama was careful not to directly criticize Clinton or Sen. John Edwards, both of whom voted in favor of the resolution authorizing force in Iraq and are his top rivals in the Democratic presidential primary."I prefer not to, you know, state it in the negative. I'm, I think, making an affirmative statement about my judgment when it came to this critical issue," Obama said.

Obama on Wednesday also pointed to his 2002 speech at an anti-war rally in Chicago, which he said has turned out to be a "fairly accurate assessment of the consequences of invading."According to a speech text provided by the campaign, Obama outlined the dangers of military action in Iraq.

"That's what I'm opposed to," he said at the time. "A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics."Clinton spokesman Mark Daley declined to directly respond to Obama's claim he has been unequivocal on the war.

"Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama have had the same voting record in Congress on Iraq, and they are united in the need to bring an end to the war," Daley said. "As Democrats, our shared beliefs are much greater than our differences."

State Sen. Joe Bolkcom, a Democrat from Iowa City, said it remains to be seen whether Iowa caucus-goers will hold it against Clinton and Edwards for their votes authorizing the use of force."I'm interested in who's got the best plan to get us out of Iraq, and bring our soldiers and troops home n get them out of harm's way," said Bolkcom, who is undecided whom he will support in the Iowa caucuses.

in case you missed it:

Campaign ad created by an Obama supporter. I thought it was pretty dope.

Daily Obama: Analysis of his "Magical Negro" comparison

From Media Matters:

Latching onto L.A. Times op-ed, Limbaugh sings "Barack, The Magic Negro"

On the March 19 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Rush Limbaugh highlighted a March 19 Los Angeles Times op-ed that described Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) as "running for an equally important unelected office, in the province of the popular imagination -- the 'Magic Negro'" -- a term used by critics of pop culture to describe certain benevolent African-American characters. Limbaugh stated: "The term 'Magic Negro' has been thrown into the political presidential race in the mix for 2008. And the term 'Magic Negro,' as applied to Barack Obama has been done by an L.A. Times columnist, David Ehrenstein." Limbaugh later asserted: "I'm going to keep referring to him as that because I want to make a bet that by the end of this week I will own that term," adding, "If I refer to Obama the rest of the day as the 'Magic Negro,' there will be a number of people in the drive-by media and on left-wing blogs who will credit me for coming up with it and ignore the L.A. Times did it, simply because they can't be critical of the L.A. Times, but they can, obviously, be critical of talk radio." Limbaugh continued to refer to Obama as the "Magic Negro" throughout the broadcast -- 27 times, to be exact -- and at one point sang "Barack, the Magic Negro" to the tune of "Puff, the Magic Dragon." Limbaugh defended his use of the song, stating, "Well, that's what we always do here. We do parodies and satires on the idiocy and phoniness of the left."

The Times op-ed, written by cultural critic David Ehrenstein, is headlined "Obama the 'Magic Negro.' " Ehrenstein invoked the cinematic trope of the "Magic Negro," which he defined as follows:
The Magic Negro is a figure of postmodern folk culture, coined by snarky 20th century sociologists, to explain a cultural figure who emerged in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education. "He has no past, he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist," reads the description on Wikipedia [].
He's there to assuage white "guilt" (i.e., the minimal discomfort they feel) over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history, while replacing stereotypes of a dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sexual congress holds no interest.
As might be expected, this figure is chiefly cinematic -- embodied by such noted performers as Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Scatman Crothers, Michael Clarke Duncan, Will Smith and, most recently, Don Cheadle. And that's not to mention a certain basketball player whose very nickname is "Magic."
Ehrenstein concluded: "Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help, out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he seems, the more desirable he becomes. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him."
Limbaugh criticized the op-ed as racist, claiming, "The left's saying all these things. Now he's the 'Magic Negro,' which is a convenient trick for the L.A. Times to blame a bunch of white people for being racist. OK. Let's find out who the -- just get an auction block and grab as many blacks as you want to put them up there and let's start the sales, L.A. Times, and let's see who it is that fetches the highest prices. Isn't that essentially the way they're approaching this?"
From the March 19 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: Yeah, get this headline. Who wrote this? David Ehrenstein is his name. L.A. based, writes about Hollywood in politics. The headline of his column: "Obama the 'Magic Negro.' " Kid you not. "As every carbon-based life form on this planet surely knows, Barack Obama is running for president. Since making his announcement, there's been no end of commentary about him in all quarters -- musing over his charisma and the prospect he offers of being the first black president in the country. But it's clear that Obama also is running for an equally important unelected office in the province of the popular imagination -- The Magic Negro. The Magic Negro is a figure of postmodern folk culture, coined by a snarky 20th century sociologist to explain a cultural figure who emerged in the wake of Brown vs. Board of Education. 'He has no past. He simply appears one day to help the white protagonist,' reads the description on Wikipedia" of the Magic Negro. Well, "he's there to assuage white guilt ... over the role of slavery and racial segregation in American history while replacing stereotypes of a dangous [sic], dangerous, highly sexualized black man with a benign figure for whom interracial sex[ual] congress holds no interest." The problem is that Ehrenright, Ehrenstein says -- he's not real. Al Sharpton's real, Snoop Dogg is real, but Barack Obama is not real. He's just there to assuage white guilt. In other words, the only reason Obama's anywhere is because whites are willing to support him because they feel so guilty over slavery. Now, before you reject this, Shelby Steele has written a great book about the whole concept of white guilt and how it is allowing our society to become more and more passive about any number of transgressions that the country has made from its inception.

Here's the close: "Like a comic-book superhero, Obama is there to help out of the sheer goodness of a heart we need not know or understand. For as with all Magic Negroes, the less real he becomes and seems, the more desirable he gets. If he were real, white America couldn't project all its fantasies of curative black benevolence on him." So those of you white people out there who are supporting Barack Obama, you are racists. That is the point that David Ehrenstein's made. So your attempt to assuage all of your white guilt by supporting Obama is worthless because you're just -- you're just exhibiting racism because you know he's not a real black. As [Sen. Joeeph R.] Biden [D-DE] said, he's clean and articulate. What else did he say? Clean -- yeah, clean, good looking, articulate, one of the first. But he's not real. This is -- this is more of the drivel and the bilge that we get from the drive-by media. In order to be a real black, you've got to be a [Rev. Al] Sharpton, you've got to be a Snoop Dogg, you've got to be a [rapper] Ludacris or something like that. Obama can't possibly fill this role because nobody knows anything about him, and we don't want to know anything about him. The only thing that matters is that he's black and he sounds good and it allows you white racists to assuage your guilt. Well, there is white racism out there. Much of it is on the left where the plantation mentality still resides.

Now, let me ask you a question. The term "Magic Negro" has been thrown into the political presidential race in the mix for 2008. And the term "Magic Negro," as applied to Barack Obama, has been done by an L.A. Times columnist, David Ehrenstein. What do you think? If I keep referring to Obama as the "Magic Negro" from this day on, I will eventually get the credit and/or heat for this. "Magic Negro." It is a term, and it's exactly as described here. Its purpose is to allow whites the guilt-free support. But in Barack's case, it's only 'cause he isn't a real black. And the L.A. Times, by the way, this is the not the first of these types of columns. The L.A. Times has been two or three columns like this, "is Barack Obama black enough?" and so forth. So there's a racist component out there on the editorial page of the L.A. Times that's obsessed with the race of Barack Obama and is with all leftists. While they are obsessed with race, accusing everybody else of being racist. We'll be right back.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: David Ehrenstein, the L.A. Times today, "Obama the 'Magic Negro.' " It's just infuriating. It is the left that continues to besmirch these people. It's the left that continues to question their so-called authenticity. These people are all human beings. Talk about Sharpton, Reverend [Jesse] Jackson, these people are all human beings. Now some of them are in the race business. I understand that. But look at who it is that keeps focusing on whether they're authentic enough. Authenticity based on skin color. Who is it doing this? It's the left. You know what, I got a suggestion for those of you at the L.A. Times. Let's cut to the chase. Go get an old-fashioned auction book and put it in the town square. Put it somewhere where it looks like it's real and just bring all these black people up there and auction them off and find out who it is that sells for the highest price. That's essentially what you're doing with all of these nonsensical categorizations -- Obama's not black enough, Obama doesn't have -- he's not down for the struggle, Obama doesn't have a legitimate civil rights -- civil right background. Obama's ears don't look like a black person's ears, they're too big, Obama doesn't sound like a black person, he's clean and articulate. The left's saying all these things. Now he's the "Magic Negro," which is a convenient trick for the L.A. Times to blame a bunch of white people for being racist. OK. Let's find out who the -- just get an auction block and grab as many blacks as you want to put them up there and let's start the sales, L.A. Times, and let's see who it is that fetches the highest prices. Isn't that essentially the way they're approaching this? These are commodities. These human beings are simply commodities, and they are there for some purpose other than their own human existence? You doubt the racism and the groupthink and the superiority of the leftists in this country, you'd be making a grave error.
[...]
LIMBAUGH: For example, you could take 10 seconds of me saying, "Obama is the Magic Negro" and make it look like I said it, rather than the fact that I'm repeating it from an L.A. Times column today. So the BBC is getting ready -- and we declined their permission to use this in that regard. We said, "If you want to do it just on Rush, and we'll send you a compendium of what's been said." "No, no, we're not interested in that." So they're doing a hit piece on talk-show hosts in America, the way they're talking about Obama, which is precisely my point. It's the L.A. Times, and it's Joe Biden, and it's all these other people who are raising questions about his authenticity. In fact, there was an honest story, but even it, and I forget where it was -- last week, might have been a blog, I forget. And this -- the person writing this story begrudgingly admitted that even Rush Limbaugh is saying there's something to this Obama guy and so he's not being overly critical of Obama, but then the snide follow-up was, "That's because so many people are excited about -- so many people on the left are being critical of Obama for one reason or another that Limbaugh is not being genuine in his respect that he's showing for Obama." It's got -- of course, it can't be, obviously. I mean, things are 180 degrees out of phase here. The L.A. Times today referring to Obama as the "Magic Negro" -- and I'm going to keep referring to him as that because I wanna make a bet that by the end of this week I will own that term. By the -- by the end of the day. [laughs] By the end -- the broadcast engineer shouting at me over the IFP -- people -- what is an IFP? It's an intercom, it's just a -- it's a private -- you can't hear 'em there, I have people chattering at me all the time. And I don't know what IFP stands for, it's a television term, but we use one here, it's a closed-circuit loop. At any rate, he's shouting at me, "You'll own it by the end of the day if you keep referring to Barack Obama as the 'Magic Negro.' " We'll give it a shot, we'll see what happens with this.
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LIMBAUGH Well, that's -- no, no, see -- glad you asked that. Because my point is that the L.A. Times raised it. The L.A. Times columnist, Ehrenstein, writes about it, and I simply said: If I refer to Obama the rest of the day as the "Magic Negro," there will be a number of people in the drive-by media and on left-wing blogs who will credit me for coming up with it and ignore the L.A. Times did it, simply because they can't be critical of the L.A. Times but they can, obviously, be critical of talk radio. It's such -- something beneath us all.
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LIMBAUGH: We've been discussing today -- I just want to touch on this briefly if you missed it. We've been discussing today a column by a guy named Paul Ehrenstein [sic] in the Los Angeles Times entitled "The Magic Negro." And it's all about how white people supporting Barack Obama can't possibly be doing it on the basis of substance because there's nothing about him. He's an empty vessel. Nobody knows enough about him to support him on the basis of policy or substance. And so the white people who are supporting Barack Obama, the "Magic Negro," are doing so precisely because he's the "Magic Negro." By supporting him, white people get to assuage their guilt over this nation's history with slavery and the Confederacy and all this other tripe. And this has led to a number of points being made by me, brilliantly so on this program, that it is the left in this country that looks at people and sees their skin color or their gender or their sexual orientation as the first things they notice about them. The whole point of this piece is to accuse white people of being racist. They don't really like Obama, they don't really like black people, they feel guilty over what this country's done to black people, so they support Barack because he's the quote-unquote "Magic Negro."

This is the same newspaper that has run a couple of stories on "is Barack Obama is black enough?" This prompted a drive-by caller, Dan from Fruitport, Michigan, to suggest that the Democrats, since they feel so bad about this, should offer black credits to someone like Obama who is not black enough in the eyes of the L.A. Times and other liberals. So he could go out there and buy black credits, so he could -- like Gore, you know, offsets his carbon use with carbon credits, Obama the "Magic Negro" could offset his lack of blackness with black credits. Then say he could down for the struggle [sic] and that he has roots in the civil rights movement. Reverend Sharpton's upset, you know, "Obama, where were you when we marched for justice in Selma?" and so forth. So clearly, it is a -- I mean, it's just remarkable to continue to witness the actual racism that exists on the left, using the term "Magic Negro" to apply to you white people who are supporting Obama. Singing a song in my head here during the break: "Barack, the Magic Negro, doo doo do doo."

Uh-oh, Dawn's shaking her head on that. What are you saying, if I do that, I then will own the term, because I will be taking it above and beyond how it's been used? Well, that's what we always do here. We do parodies and satires on the idiocy and the phoniness of the left. We could throw in -- yeah, we could put an L.A. Times lyric in there to make, you know, make it obvious who it was who actually used the term. I mean, don't start telling me to shy away from this stuff. That's why I'm where I am, that's why I'm who I am, and for which I make no apologies. I'm very proud and happy.

this is just another "is obama Black enough" article. i promised myself i would not include these in the Daily Obama but the magical negro thing attracted me. let me know what you think. also, click on the link to see the video.