written November 7, 2012 Shenandoah Elementary, a few blocks north from Magnolia Avenue in St. Louis, was in full swing by five in the evening to vote, when May and I (she choosing to make it a party with hip hop in my car while waiting). A good turnout in the dizzily night, all…
Tag: Barack Obama
Election 2012 Part I: The Man of Hopes and Dreams Resided on Earth the Entire Time, But That’s Okay
written November 6, 2012 Today the American people (perhaps 50% of them!) will speak. More on this later. Not being called to sub at the high school, I am glad to have today for a little quiet reflection on this past national year, the time to take the political pulse of sites like Politico…
The Pain You’re Feeling In Your Side Is Democracy (I Think)
written June 1, 2016 Something fantastical and absurd occurred yesterday on the campaign trail. After checking the history books it can confirmed it had never happened before. It made people in Toledo queasy, and others in Albuquerque absolutely anxious. The fact the many Americans cheered this same moment caused those in Toledo to feel all…
44: An Oral History of the Election of the Barack Obama
The Forward to 44: An Oral History of the Election of Barack Obama Studs Terkel died one week ago tonight. I heard about it on NPR radio the next day while driving from from Alton to Edwardsville, Illinois. An interview with Studs was being replayed on the air, in which has was describing one of…
I Might Wear This Shirt For Awhile
The following interview was conducted November 6, 2008, part of a series of discussions called “44,” with people of varied background about their reactions to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This interview is with Christina Schultze, an Obama supporter in 2008, a lesbian activist, and owner of Trash, a politically-tinged variety and clothing store….
Hitting Unpause: One Sailor Waits No Longer
The following interview was conducted December 1, 2008, part of a series of discussions called “44,” with people of varied background about their reactions to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This interview is with Jeremy Gordon, at the time a student at Rutgers University, and a former member of the United States Navy, who…
In-Betweeness as Life: Young Migrant Workers Seek Stable Education In the Face of Geographical Instability
The following interview was conducted November 25, 2008, part of a series of discussions called “44,” with people of varied background about their reactions to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This interview is with Maria Dominguez, who coordinates the Illinois Education Even Start program for migrant families. The Illinois Migrant Council is an umbrella…
An Education: An Indian International Student Wonders If Lines Have Blurred in America
The following interview was conducted December 8, 2008, part of a series of discussions called “44,” with people of varied background about their reactions to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This interview is with Megha Srivastava, an international student from Delhi, India, studying Psychology at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. I am from Delhi, which…
You Don’t Dance in the Street: One Man’s Reality
The following interview was conducted November 6, 2008, part of a series of discussions called “44,” with people of varied background about their reactions to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This interview is with Richard Carlson, a retired butcher from a small town in west-central Illinois, and the authors’s father. I include this interview…
Keeping Fingers Crossed: Will Barack Obama Be Her President, Too?
The following interview was conducted November 7, 2008, part of a series of discussions called “44,” with people of varied background about their reactions to the 2008 election of Barack Obama. This interview is with Joanne Carlson, a fifth-grade English teacher and the mother of the author. She has taught in the same small town…
The Old New Soapbox
TV news of all stripes regularly, breathlessly over-aim reality; it is par for the cable-course. So when an election of legitimately historic trajectory appears over the horizon, the bright lights and slickly produced segments’ bag of adjectives can be found wanting from past overuse. The single word, “unique,” will serve. It is not normal…
An Outlandish Note of How to Thumb the Eye of Times Like These
written May 3, 2016 “You might as well say, that’s a valiant flea that dare eat his breakfast on the lip of a lion.” -Henry V Act 3 Scene 2 The lion has run amok of the zoo, and what tamers are left? The choice may be for the flattened flea circus to take their…
No One Will Believe You 