"This is a Borzoi book"--T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references (p. [617]-623) and index.
Contents:
Prologue: The Joshua generation -- A complex fate -- Surface and undertow -- Nobody knows my name -- Black metropolis -- Ambition -- A narrative of ascent -- Somebody nobody sent -- Black enough -- The wilderness campaign -- Reconstruction -- A righteous wind -- A slight madness -- The sleeping giant -- In the racial funhouse -- The book of Jeremiah -- "How long? Not long" -- To the White House.
Summary:
Through extensive on the record interviews with friends and teachers, mentors and disparagers, family members and Obama himself, David Remnick demonstrates how a rootless, unaccomplished, and confused young man created himself first as a community organizer in Chicago, then as a Harvard Law School graduate, and finally as President of the United States. "By looking at Obama's political rise through the prism of our racial history, Remnick gives us the conflicting agendas of black politicians : the dilemmas of, heroes of the civil rights movement who are forced to reassess old loyalties and understand the priorities of a new generation of African American leaders. The Bridge revisits the American drama of race, from slavery to civil rights, and makes clear how Obama's quest is not just his own but is emblematic of a nation where destiny is defined by individuals keen to imagine a future that is different from the reality of their current lives." -- from publisher description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.