by Frank James
Toni Morrison, the Nobel Prize laureate who dubbed former President Bill Clinton the nation's "first black president" because of his affinity for African-Americans and theirs for him, has come out in support of the man who would then be the second black president if he were voted into the White House, Sen. Barack Obama.
Here's the press release from the Obama campaign:
Toni Morrison Endorses Barack Obama for President
CHICAGO, IL — Nobel Prize winning author and Pulitzer Prize recipient, Toni Morrison today endorsed Senator Barack Obama in a letter citing the need for the country to embrace this rare opportunity to vote for change. Toni Morrison has been a voice of leadership and inspiration through her many awarding winning novels and continued work in education. This is Toni Morrison’s first public endorsement of a presidential candidate.
“Toni Morrison has touched a nation with the grace and beauty of her words, and I was deeply moved and honored by the letter she wrote and the support she is giving our campaign,” Obama said.
ENDORSEMENT LETTER
Dear Senator Obama,
This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it.
May I describe to you my thoughts?
I have admired Senator Clinton for years. Her knowledge always seemed to me exhaustive; her negotiation of politics expert. However I am more compelled by the quality of mind (as far as I can measure it) of a candidate. I cared little for her gender as a source of my admiration, and the little I did care was based on the fact that no liberal woman has ever ruled in America. Only conservative or "new-centrist" ones are allowed into that realm. Nor do I care very much for your race[s]. I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me "proud."
In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.
When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?
Our future is ripe, outrageously rich in its possibilities. Yet unleashing the glory of that future will require a difficult labor, and some may be so frightened of its birth they will refuse to abandon their nostalgia for the womb.
There have been a few prescient leaders in our past, but you are the man for this time.
Good luck to you and to us.
Toni Morrison
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Comments
I hear Jane Smiley is leaning Hillary... but where does the rest of Oprah's book club stand?
Posted by: Jeff | January 28, 2008 10:44 AM
Cue Bruce, Terry, John D to call Ms. Morrison a racist...
Posted by: Translator | January 28, 2008 10:50 AM
WHo?
Posted by: Vinny | January 28, 2008 11:27 AM
"Cue Bruce, Terry, John D to call Ms. Morrison a racist...
Posted by: Translator"
Why would (the above people) want to call her a racist when the Clinton campaign is doing very well on their own.
Wow, it's amazing how your trying to blame others with different Political perspectives for what HASN"T happened (calling her a racist), and NOT mention Bill Clinton, getting Obama more votes in SC. Truly amazing.
Posted by: PG | January 28, 2008 12:00 PM
More fallout from Bubba's mouth. Hope they're paying attention.
Posted by: Tom | January 28, 2008 12:04 PM
Wow! Another celebrity endorsement!
And perusing Toni's letter i see that it's chock full of brand new, previously unused bumper sticker slogans. Start copying and pasting Obamabots.
Posted by: MJ | January 28, 2008 12:04 PM
Google "obama racist memo." Read the four-page memo outlining Obama's race strategy going into South Carolina. Obama is a liar when he claims he didn't inject race into the campaign.
Posted by: Monique | January 28, 2008 12:12 PM
This is proof of how racist the democrat party has become.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | January 28, 2008 12:13 PM
Well, that was some moving prose!
I'm voting for Barack. I support him. But, assuming he does win the nomination and the presidency, I think there is going to be a significant hangover period when all this fervor and "hope mongering," as Obama quipped, will have to take a back seat to some really ugly facts: the current state of our nation. A bogus war. A crippled economy. And some extremely expansive cultural rifts.
To mediate some of these problems with even the most modest success--painfully incremental change, that is--would equal, for me, some very great accomplishments. Hopefully, we can make some of it happen.
Posted by: Lars | January 28, 2008 12:33 PM
A person’s character is shaped and tested by their experiences which is why our next President's character should matter as much if not more than their experience.
1969: While Barack was living a life of racial and cultural diversity, Hillary was writing an admiring college thesis on Saul Alinsky whose fifth rule of political agitation was, “Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.”
1979: While Barack was involved in the South African divestment movement to end apartheid, Hillary was reaping future market profits of 10,000% and leaving taxpayers with her real-estate losses in the Savings & Loan bailout.
1989: While Barack was the Harvard Law Review’s first black president, Hillary as First Lady of Arkansas was receiving director payments from Wal-Mart where she remained silent about their anti-labor union practices.
1999: While Barack was winning bipartisan support for health-care reform and low-income tax credits in the Illinois legislature, Hillary was supporting her husband’s Iraq regime change policy to divert attention from his ethical infidelities.
Posted by: John Patrick Smith | January 28, 2008 1:11 PM
I think Ms. Morrison sets some very high standards for the junior senator from Illinois, standards against which any politician is doomed to fail. Typically, the prescience and wisdom of a leader is measured after the leader has done something, not based on lofty speeches while campaigning for office, which Obama has done unceasingly since 2003.
Posted by: JB | January 28, 2008 1:13 PM
It comes down to this. A choice between a decent young man and two confirmed and repeat liars who will crush anything and anyone in their path. Never has the selection been more clear. The vast majority of Americans are, like Obama, decent people. I am confident they will make the right choice in the Democratic primaries.
Posted by: Sandberg | January 28, 2008 1:28 PM
In the interest of fair and objective reporting I think the author should disclose which candidate his cousin is supporting. Also where does Mr. Morrison's dog's political leanings stand. I here his cat is a socialist. Clearing up this confusion would be much appreciated if we are to consider the Swamp a credible news source.
Posted by: bbruce | January 28, 2008 2:06 PM
Jeff,
Mocking and trashing Americans...way to keep it classy.
Posted by: jethro | January 28, 2008 3:05 PM
bbruce,
your ignorance is showing. "Mr." Morrison is a woman. A fact you'd have known had you bothered to read the article and even her dog probably knows the difference between "here" and "hear", which you obviously don't. Finally, everyone knows that ALL cats are socialists.
Posted by: Frank | January 28, 2008 3:15 PM
"In the interest of fair and objective reporting I think the author should disclose which candidate his cousin is supporting."
BBruce, you are aware that Toni Morrison is a WOMAN -- right?
Posted by: P | January 28, 2008 5:58 PM
Translator - please show me one instance where I have been against Barrack Obama because he is black. You can't becuase you area liar.
This will provide me with enough reasons why I am against Senator Boy Wonder:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/
Posted by: Terry | January 28, 2008 7:32 PM
Toni Morrison's endorsement will definitely swing the Black women's votes to Obama, especially because they are familiar with her Best seller "Beloved" for which Oprah Winfrey was the Executive Producer of the movie by the same name. Hmm, the Oprah connection seems to be at work for her "beloved" candidate.
Posted by: the truth | January 28, 2008 7:59 PM
Well now, can we now drop the Bill Clinton first black president garbage?
Posted by: RuthieM | January 29, 2008 12:08 PM
Sen. Obama is the REAL HOPE for ALL America.
If the voter's of this great country place John Mccain or Hillary Clinton as President , they will have stepped in it again !!!!
Posted by: Ken Collins | January 30, 2008 2:45 PM
God can be doing a work here.So open up your minds and hearts and feel the spirit.
Listen, how Mr. Barack Obama
Talks.
We must come together, for a better everything if you have LOVE in you hearts.
UNITY & CHANGE
Posted by: Mrs. CYNTHIA | January 31, 2008 1:57 PM