Strollerderby : first black president

Girls More Confident Since Presidential Election

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:35:00 GMT

50 percent of girls ages 12 to 17 have more confidence since the presidential election, according to a study by the Girl Scout Research Foundation. The study of 3,284 adolescent girls also found that half of young women now believe they will be able to achieve their goals, and 55 percent feel more comfortable speaking their minds.

The Girl Scout Research Foundation speculates (unsurprisingly) that the inclusion of two female candidates—Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin—drastically affected young girls for the better.

I would guess that the election of the nation’s first black president has also increased girls’ confidence in their chances for success. Seeing an African-American family in the White House is a wonderfully concrete demonstration that glass ceilings can be shattered to smithereens.

Photo: Jezebel

Comedians From The Past Weigh In On The First Black President

Brett Singer — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 22:00:00 GMT

Barack Obama being elected is a historic moment. One way to realize just how historic is through comedy. OK, we don't actually need to realize how historic this moment is. But it is interesting to look at how the idea of a Black President was viewed in the past.

First up, this Richard Pryor sketch where he plays the leader of the free world. It's a little long, and it was the 70's, so some of the humor is a little dopey and dated. For example, there's a moment towards the end when a reporter asks about his mother. Pryor as President responds, "What did you just ask me?" The reporter says, "I’m talking about your momma!" Etc. Here's the video:

Richard Pryor, 1st Black President

This is much more interesting. Remember Eddie Murphy's Delirious? Easily one of the funniest comedy albums/tv specials of all time. Eddie had some things to say about African-American politicians, in particular Jesse Jackson running for President. Here's the video, which is riddled with four-letter words and is NOT safe for work or children (unless you decide it is):

Eddie Murphy on the First Black President

That was 1983. Looong time ago. I'd love to call Eddie Murphy and ask him if what he thinks of this election. Sadly, Eddie's not talking to me right now.

Last (this is in chronological order), here is a Chris Rock bit about a Black VICE president from Saturday Night Live. Chris said (this was many years ago, as you can tell by his unfortunate hairdo) that the country would never have a Black Vice-President. So far, he's right. As for the notion that we'd never have a Black President? Luckily, everybody was wrong about that one. (If the clip won't play, click here.)

Chris Rock, first Black Vice President

The Obamas Are a Great First Family

The Obama Kids Get a New Puppy

Girl Power in the White House

They say: Obama Wins

Barack Obama Asked If Bill Clinton Was The First Black President

Brett Singer — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:00:00 GMT

This was funny when it happened – during the Democratic Primary, way back in January of 2008. (That seems like it was more than a year ago.) Now, it's not only hilarious but of course takes on a whole new meaning.

Basically, the moderator, Joe Johns, asks Barack Obama is he agrees with Toni Morrison, who once wrote that Bill Clinton was, "the nation’s first black president." Hillary Clinton was sitting right next to him, which made the moment even more amusing. Obama's answer was measured, and quite funny.

Morrison eventually endorsed Obama for President. When asked by Time Magazine if she regretted, " referring to Bill Clinton as the first black President," she said, "People misunderstood that phrase. I was deploring the way in which President Clinton was being treated, vis-à-vis the sex scandal that was surrounding him. I said he was being treated like a black on the street, already guilty, already a perp. I have no idea what his real instincts are, in terms of race." Obama said something little different – basically, that Bill Clinton connected with African-Americans in a way that previous Presidents had not. Then he questioned Bill's dancing ability. It's quite funny, and has much more resonance now. Take a look:

They say: Obama Wins

Comedians From The Past Weigh In On The First Black President

About Ann Nixon Cooper

Brett Singer — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 22:30:00 GMT

Who is the 106-year-old woman that Obama mentioned in his victory speech?

When I was watching the speech on election night, I thought she was the 109-year-old that I mentioned in this post. Obviously I was wrong, since one of the women is 109 and the other is 106. (It was late, I was tired, and I think I lost some brain cells watching Wolf Blitzer's Magical Dancing Electoral Pants on CNN.)

Here is a little bit about Ms. Cooper from a website called The History Makers:

Ann Louise Nixon Cooper was born on January 9, 1902 in Shelbyville, Tennessee, where she attended school. After the death of their mother, she and her six siblings were separated and an aunt raised Cooper. In 1922, Ann Nixon married Albert Berry Cooper, a young dentist in Nashville, Tennessee. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where they started a family while her husband established his highly successful dental practice. Cooper has been a homemaker for most of her life, working briefly in 1923 as a policy writer for the Atlanta Life Insurance Company. Cooper and her husband counted as their friends or acquaintances such luminaries as educators W.E.B. Du Bois, Lugenia Burns Hope and John Hope Franklin, Benjamin E. Mays and E. Franklin Frazier.

CNN points out that, "she knew Martin Luther King Jr. when he was just a boy and was close with his mother." Also, "she sometimes refers to Obama as "'that young man.'" Here's a video (if it won't play, click here):

Embedded video from CNN Video

Personally, I love hearing from anyone old enough to remember how things really were. As much progress as the United States and the world have made in the last 20 or 30 years, the progress in the past 70 years is much more significant. Someone should go out and interview more people who were alive when women and people of color didn't even have the right to vote, when the idea that a person who wasn't white would run for President, much less actually WIN, seemed like a bizarre idea.

Ms. Cooper wants to meet President-elect Obama. She downplays it a little, saying, "I'd be proud to meet him as anybody else." She also doesn't sound like she wants to go to the Inauguration. (She's 106 years old. Who could blame her? I barely want to go to a party tomorrow night that's only 10 blocks away.) It kind of sounds like what she'd love -- she doesn't say this exactly -- is for our new President to stop by for a quick chat. Ms. Cooper says that she would "just like to shake his hand." I know soon-to-be President Obama is a little busy right now, but I hope he can squeeze in a cup of tea with one of his oldest supporters.

Hang on... there's something in my eye... speck of dust... talk amongst yourselves...

Sources: CNN (also photo), The History Makers

They say: Obama Wins

Morning News: Yes, He Did!

The Obamas Are a Great First Family

The Obama Kids Get a New Puppy

Girl Power in the White House

Comedians From The Past Weigh In On The First Black President

Barack Obama Becomes Popular Baby Name in Kenya

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:35:00 GMT

The election of the first African-American president in the U.S. will have a lasting impact in Kenya for years to come—not only because this historical moment has been ingrained in the people’s memories, but because “Barack Obama” will be a popular name amongst the next generation of schoolchildren.

Several mothers at a hospital in Kenya proudly told Reuters that they were christening their newborns “Barack Obama,” and that they hoped their little Baracks would grow up to possess the same qualities of success, intelligence, and perseverance that they see in America’s 44^th president.

"I would like that by the time he is in his 40s he becomes the president of this country," one mother said, indicating that not only is the American Dream live and well in the U.S., but it is being exported to other countries as well.

The Obama naming trend may also catch on in the U.S. A Florida couple named their child, who was born shortly after the election, “Obama Hall.” Obama was the first name of the president-elect’s Kenyan great-grandfather, so using it as a first name is actually makes sense.

The name Barack means blessed.

Photo: Reuters