Kickin’ it earlier today in the Big Tent with Garlin of The SuperSpade aka Black Thought at the Highest Level, I asked him about Joe Biden’s speech tonight. He had some interesting comments. He’s not too bothered about Biden’s loose cannon ways.

They’ve got some great realtime coverage over there in addition to some analytical opinion. Let me fix ya a plate:

I found it fitting that both Obama & Clinton, archetypes for women’s rights and advancement, set the stage for the future of this country’s Democratic agenda. Specifically, both women will be re-defining what their next positions as First Lady and Senator/Former Presidential Candidate mean and how they are managed. Both Mrs. Obama and Sen. Clinton were tasked with re-presenting themselves to the people, for different reasons. Obama had to give us a new image because hers is being assaulted by the conservative press…

Creating an Era of Understanding

Michelle Obama’s speech (full text & video) was one of the most tactically written, beautifully executed addresses in this generation, and she isn’t even a politician. Her and her speech writers successfully reframed both her and Sen. Obama as family people, as Americans, as people who have a Black version of white America’s experience. The reason that she even had to give that speech is because there is a fundamental misunderstanding between Black people and other people about the similarities and differences between one another’s life experiences. One would think that in a society where Black and white have been juxtaposed for approaching 400 years, white people’s pre-conceived notions about Black women would bear some semblance of accuracy. This is not the case, and it is up to the future First Lady to do what Black men & women have to do all too often: carry the image of their entire race on their shoulders in everything that they say and do.

As for me, I’d really like to hear Biden convince me that he understands that

1) he’s made some wrong calls in the past (including supporting the Iraq War) and that

2) he is committed to representing all Americans equally and to treating all Americans with dignity and respect

3) he will be a force for change in America because he’s learned from his mistakes

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