Obama’s Victory from a White Woman’s Perspective

By Nancy L. Ross

I can’t remember a time in America when so many tears of joy were shed as when Obama won the Presidential election last week.  As a blond, white woman, I was particularly moved because of the malicious cruelty of racism I had endured in my own childhood.

All of us who have prayed for racial tolerance and unity in our country have our own personal stories of how deeply the Civil Rights Movement affected our lives.

When I was 12-years-old, I went to spend a year with my sister in Greenwood, Mississippi.  I guess I didn’t notice the questions that the Principle asked me as I was registering for school, but on the first day, when I was introduced to the assembly of 500 students, he introduced me as Nancy Ross who goes to school with Niggers.  I was devastated as the whole assembly turned around and glared at me and for the whole year afterwards, constantly referred to me as a “Nigger Lover” and often put stamps on my arms saying, “Go home you Yankee Nigger Lover.”  My skin might well have been black. [Read more]

President-Elect Obama Observes Veterans Day

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama and double-amputee Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth place a wreath at a veterans memorial in Chicago Nov. 11. Duckworth is director of the Department of Veteran Affairs for Illinois. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

GUESTS Who Are Coming to Dinner

President-elect Barack Obama and his First Lady Michelle Obama joined President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush as they visited the White House on Monday.

Letter from Alice Walker to Obama

The following letter was written to President Elect Barack Obama by Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker and has been circulated widely since it’s release on Nov. 5.

Dear Brother Obama,

You have no idea, really, of how profound this moment is for us. Us being the black people of the Southern United States. You think you know, because you are thoughtful, and you have studied our history. But seeing you deliver the torch so many others before you carried, year after year, decade after decade, century after century, only to be struck down before igniting the flame of justice and of law, is almost more than the heart can bear. And yet, this observation is not intended to burden you, for you are of a different time, and, indeed, because of all the relay runners before you, North America is a different place. It is really only to say: Well done. We knew, through all the generations, that you were with us, in us, the best of the spirit of Africa and of the Americas. Knowing this, that you would actually appear, someday, was part of our strength. Seeing you take your rightful place, based solely on your wisdom, stamina and character, is a balm for the weary warriors of hope, previously only sung about.

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Michelle Obama Coretta Scott King draw comparisons

This photo collage, courtesy of BlackNews.com, is a striking comparison of the similarities between future first lady Michelle Obama and Coretta Scott King, wife of Civil Rights Leader Dr. Martin Luther King. [Read more]

Obama Around the Globe

News of Barack Obama being elected as the first African American president dominated news papers throughout the week. The Post has compiled a slideshow of how newspapers around the world covered the event. For more Obama coverage, click here.

Lee Calls Obama Victory a “Transformative Moment”

By Post Staff

Local Congresswoman Barbara Lee praised President-elect Barack Obama’s historic victory, saying the stage is set for the country once again to  respect human rights, tackle poverty and promote opportunity.
Lee, who served as Western Regional Co-Chair of Senator Obama’s campaign, overwhelming won her  own reelection campaign, receiving 86 percent of the vote.
“This is a transformative moment in United States history,” she said. “When Dr. King spoke a generation ago of the dream he held for America, he envisioned exactly this type of moment, where a man was judged by his character, his intellect  and his hard work –and not by the color of his skin or his race or his ancestry. [Read more]

Bay Area Celebrates Obama Victory

By Ken A. Epstein

Bay Area residents were walking on air Tuesday evening, exuberant and celebrating Barack Obama’s momentous victory, while expressing a sense of awe that we are living in a moment of  profound historic change.
Excited and happy throngs filled Oakland’s Jack London Square around Everett & Jones Barbeque, and long lines of cars on Broadway honked, as drivers and passengers waved and flashed Obama signs from the windows.
At clubs, homes and restaurants around the city, residents gathered to watch election results and celebrate with relief as the guarded optimism of recent weeks slipped away.
“I’ve been cautiously optimistic since the beginning of October – I peeked at all the polls, but I didn’t want to have my heart broken; twenty months ago I would never have believed it,” said Keisha  Nzewi, Oakland/Berkeley Chapter President of Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), which held its election night party at Skyline Pizza on Keller Avenue. [Read more]

Lillie Cage, 108, Votes

Oakland resident Lillie Cage said “I never thought I would live to see the day when a Black man would become President. This is the day that the bottom rail has come to the top.” Cage, a retired nurse with an active drivers license, was assisted by Registrar Dave MacDonald.  He also helped her son John Cage, 91, vote from her car. Elizabeth Cartwright, Cage’s assistant, said she voted the entire ballot. Photo by Gene Hazzard.
Mayor Ron Dellums and his wife Cynthia, above, shared election victories with  Rebecca Kaplan (center). Photo by Godfrey Lee.

Yes We Can Change America!

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