Election Countdown "A to Z" (A is for African American)

I've decided that out of sheer ambition and a dose of chutzpah, I'm going to do a post every day between now and the election (26 days from today) and tie it to a letter of the alphabet. All the posts, in order, from A to Z, will be election and politics oriented, and no subject is off limits. Here goes nothing.


A
African American: Personally, I'm not down. I prefer the word "black." It just says it better, without trying, uncomfortably, to be polite or PC. As a Bahamian-born American citizen, I'm not even technically African American. In fact, usually when I hear somebody use the term, I assume 1) That they don't have (many) black friends or 2) They're in some politically correct industry such as advertising or media and they've been trained well. No offense, just say I'm black. And proud.

And speaking of black and proud, Donna Brazile, former campaign manager for Al Gore and major Democratic strategist/TV pundit had a little something to say about race in the race recently. On October 4, the New Yorker Festival held a panel discussion that featured party supporters, I assume, to discuss the contentious state of politics in the presidential race.

Brazile launched into a heartfelt diatribe about growing up in the segregated south and Obama's challenges as a black man. She recounted her time spent in the back of the bus, and vowed to never be there again, while also celebrating how far the country had come. It wasn't Richard Trumka's speech, but it's well worth viewing.