Book Review: Who Should Be First?

A review of Who Should Be First?: Feminists Speak Out on the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Edited by Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Johnnetta Betsch Cole, SUNY Press.

The Danger of False Divides
by Janell Hobson

The 2008 Presidential campaign not only tested our nation’s readiness for change, it catapulted feminists into a firestorm of competing priorities. Much was at stake for racial- and gender-identity politics in the Democratic primaries that pitted then-Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama against each other—the first time a man of color or a woman had emerged as a leading candidate for the presidency. During those months, Guy-Sheftall and Cole were gathering personal archives of written material related to the unprecedented campaign. They have honed their collections into an anthology of writings on the subject, including personal reflections, open letters, op-ed pieces, petitions, critical essays and speeches, most of them contemplating or agonizing over the nagging question: Who should be first?

The result is a contemporaneous record of a riveting rhetorical battle, especially among feminists, over the preeminence of race or gender. Guy-Sheftall and Cole’s compilation of the perspectives of journalists, professors, public intellectuals, students and bloggers—including such influential voices as Gloria Steinem, Katha Pollitt and Mark Anthony Neal—has captured the mood of this momentous event.

Read the Full Essay @ Ms. Magazine

Obama-Biden for Women?

special to NewBlackMan

The Chisholm candidacy didn't forge a solid coalition of those people working for social change; that will take a long time. But it began one.

-Gloria Steinem

“Real Fe Fes Speak: Obama–Biden for Women
by Stephane Dunn

Perhaps that long time from then is now. In 1973, Ms. Magazine captured the historic significance of Shirley Chisholm’s run for president. She didn’t win, of course, but she disturbed the notion of the run for presidency as a white male domain. Last week the Feminist Majority and NOW (National Organization of Women) along with several other women’s organization announced their strong support of the Obama-Biden ticket. Feminist Majority Political Action Chair Ellie Smeal declared that “women simply cannot afford a President McCain.” While gender has been in the swirl of public debate and media attention since Hilary Clinton entered the race for the Democratic nomination, the entrance of Sarah Palin into the high voltage political spotlight dramatizes the ways that the nation still fumbles at gender based dialogue.

The sexist overtones in the media attention on Palin’s appearance, gender and family, and the very significant visibility of the two major female candidates of the year-Clinton and Palin as well as the manipulation of them by supporters have encouraged women to confuse real feminist representation and potential radical change with the visibility of a woman. The recently declared support of the Obama-Biden ticket by the Feminist Majority and NOW should be all over the news given the charges of sexism against Obama and the fact that “gender” like “race” is the hot word of this election year.

Finally, McCain’s and the Republicans’ weak pro-woman’s political empowerment front might finally be addressed as the group voices who have long labored for true radical social change and progress for women have a chance to be more visible in the media’s spotlight. This has been one of the key problems with the talk about Palin, Clinton, women voters, and gender in general-much of it has taken place without seriously engaging the publications and the host of major organized women’s groups who do the work of unraveling gender in between election years and whether the candidates are male or female.

It might be too completely radical for some folk-women and men-to think that the ticket without an actual female on it might be the most progressive best choice for more women and men just as it might be too much for some to believe that the ticket with the black guy might indeed be the most rationale choice that America can make right now. When Chisholm ran, she knew that the stakes were higher than the actual win because one brave step has to be made for other steps to finally lead from a long time to a now.

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Stephane Dunn, Ph.D, MFA, is currently an Assistant Professor in the English Department at Morehouse College. She has also taught at Ohio State University. A scholarly and creative writer, she specializes in film, popular culture, literature and African American studies. She is the author of articles and commentaries and the book, Baad Bitches & Sassy Supermamas: Black Power Action Films (University of Illinois Press 2008).

Hillary vs. Barack: What's a Black (Male) Feminist to Do?

from CRITICAL NOIR @ Vibe.com

Hillary vs. Barack: What's a Black (Male) Feminist to Do?
by Mark Anthony Neal

That Ms. Clinton is still married to a man involved in the most visible sexual harassment case in American history, does little to enhance her viability as the candidate that could more adequately address gender inequality in our society. Where was Ms. Clinton when her husband rode workfare programs--the premise being that women who are home taking care of young children are not really working--to his reelection in 1996? In contrast to Senator Clinton though, what has Mr. Obama done, really, to justify the large number of women supporters that he has drawn to his campaign--other than be a tall, handsome, articulate and not particularly threatening version of black masculinity?

Read the Full Essay at CRITICAL NOIR @ Vibe.com