Help! - Can Anyone Name 5 Black Women Working For Obama's Campaign?
Where are the high profile black women working on Barack Obama's campaign? I don't mean supporters or affiliates. And Oprah does not count! I'm talking about folks he hired because they are experts for his political campaign. Black women cast an awful lot of votes for Obama and I rarely see a black woman standing around in the inner circle.
I was highly irritated to see Caroline Kennedy named to his VP decision team. I understood the move and why she was rewarded, but I was irritated just the same. When has he named a black woman to anything? What black woman heads up a committee or an important segment of his campaign?
I don't know what Obama may be able to do for black folks when he gets elected, but I do expect to see a significant black contingent working for him. I am sick and tired of all the years of reading about how young white folks are working in Washington for some Senator or the President with extremely limited experience or education. Where are the young black women on Obama's campaign?
Can anyone name any sista with a significant position in his campaign?
9 comments:
I don't know what Obama may be able to do for black folks when he gets elected, but I do expect to see a significant black contingent working for him.
How about a friendly wager. I bet that no more than 3 (and I'm being generous) Senior level cabinet/staff positions will be filled by Black people male or female. (Think Adrian Fenty in DC - he's only got 1 senior level staff that's Black. In DC for goodness sake.)
I predict however you will see a bevy of white women and Hispanics and everyone will coo on how "diverse" his cabinet/staff positions are.
Just look at his current campaign. Just about all (if not all) of the senior level staff is white. The next tier has a decent amount of Blacks but their not the ones making strategy decisions.
Wanna take me up on that wager? LOL.
Part of the problem is that black people who are qualified to be on that level started out in Hillary's campaign.
NONE of them thought he had a snowball's chance in hell, and they only came to his side when they started getting massive flak from their constituents.
Therefore, I will TEMPORARILY give him a pass for not having a whole lot of blacks on the highest rungs, but I WILL be watching to see who gets included on future designations.
BTW I actually like Caroline Kennedy and thought it was a good choice for her in that particular role.
Hello there,
I have to weigh in on this since I have been the political teams being formulated...VERY OFTEN...white people leave their paying jobs in order to work for the candidate that they are deeply committed to...
Often, when a paying position is opened, those who were working for free for months and months are given preferential consideration in the hiring process....
Is this wrong? Not really. But it does mean that the sharp, sophisticated black women who applies for the position does NOT walk into the selection process with brownie points already earned.
I think this has something to do with the hiring decision....
The other piece has to do with nepotism...those who are giving enormous sums of money to politicians have children and friends' children and THEY too can count on favoritism when they step into the hiring process....do you think the Chief of Staff has not indicated WHICH resumes in the stack represent the children or friends of their largest donors?
Unfortunately, many black folks are still operating with the DELUSION that the best qualified will get the positions....please...will someone start the coffee maker so they can wake up and smell the aroma?
Peace, blessings and DUNAMIS!
Lisa
Sorry SheCodes,
I have to disagree with you a bit. Your are absolutely right that the "old heads" supported Clinton, but there are plenty of sharp, political, young black women who supported Obama and should be working for his campaign. I guess I'll have to create a short list.
And it really troubles me that no one can name one sista working for him NOW!
Actually I can name a few sistas Prof Tracey, but don't think that I should throw their names out on the internet without their permission.
I don't know of any blacks on the 'higher rungs', but that doesn't meant that they don't exist either. I simply do not know. I look forward to reading your list.
1) Dr. Susan Elizabeth Rice, born 1964, was the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from October 1997 until January 20, 2001. Rice is currently on leave from the Brookings Institution to advise Democrat Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama on foreign policy.
There are so others as well, I read an article in Ebony I believe that listed them but, I do not have there names on hand.
A total of 2 that I have found so far:
1)Susan E. Rice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Rice
2) Cassandra Q. Butts
http://www.americanprogress.org/experts/ButtsCassandra.html
Its not campaign manager or communications director. Valerie Jarrett doesn't have an official title. She is a senior adviser who has been with him since the beginning of his political career. She's credited with turning his campaign around when he was a distant second to Clinton.
I've loved everything I've seen from Susan Rice thus far. She's been on many shows doing interviews, and considering Obama's weakness is foreign policy experience, her role (sr. foreign policy adviser) is pretty crucial. When she gave Mika and Scarborough the 1-2 punch on Morning Joe I was laughing. Had to give her props. I wish they put up the video because I wanted it.
I hope there are many.
great question
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