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What Obama Means: ...for Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future

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Jabari Asim has a good idea--to ask the question as to how much of Obama's historic election victory was brought simply through his intelligence and charisma and how much was his success due to the cultural environment that Obama found himself an heir to? Clearly there was an interaction between the two. Asim shows how the moment and the man came together and in doing so provides a fascinating way to understand some recent cultural history. We need to begin such an analysis by remarking as the Marxists say that it was "no accident", as that Obama's rise was preceeded by some unusual ly large media triumphs for African American showbiz and sports stars.

Before Obama's rise could be possible there is a strong argument to make that a lot of work needed to be done to break through the race barrier that had kept so many talented African Americans from being considered or for that matter considering themselves as candidates for top jobs.
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This book is shallow in its analysis. Too much of the content of this book is spent on assessing the influence of popular cultural icons on the election of Barack Obama. There is no substantive analysis of the various constituencies that lead to Barack Obama's election. Devoid of statistical analysis. The time spent reading this book is time you'll never get back.

The author explains the rise of President Obama to
the White House. The internet is cited as the means
concurrent with the political success of our new
President. An irreversible cultural trend is cited
together with growing market forces throughout the
USA. The early candidacies of Shirley Chisolm and
others helped to open the door to the Presidency.
President Obama presented himself at the right time
in Global and American history. The rest is for historians to judge.

The book has a number of very personal recitations.
For instance, Obama (in his youth) sports a # 23 on the
state championship basketball team in senior year.
The rise of the now President Obama is testimony to
a validation of self identity, fulfillment and destiny.

By this, the author means that President Obama saw himself
in the role of a President much earlier. Fulfillment of
the dream happened after a long and arduous political contest.
Destiny refers to the arrival after centuries of
groundbreaking work by people; such as Frederick Douglass
and others.

Today's problems have reached a crescendo after
decades of war throughout the world, unchecked prosperity ,
uncoordinated regulatory oversight and outright greed.
Now is the time to deal with these issues forthrightly.
My sense of the urgency is to seek out excellence .
Utilize great ideas and reward the originators in every
walk of life.