Stuff Educated Black People Like

Yes these are a few of my favorite things . . . . .



#12 Barack Obama
March 5, 2008 · No Comments
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Educated Black People Like Barack Obama, but it's not for the reasons you think. Yes, Obama is an Educated Black Person, so of course we LOVE him. However, there are other reasons educated blacks like the Senator from Illinois. Another reason is that he's the first Black person to run for public office without going all Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson on America. Obama has not once gotten the NAACP or Black Panthers involved in his campaign. We also like him because he has not solicited their help in his campaign for the Presidency; because educated blacks know that these two men would hurt rather than help Obama's campaign. Al and Jessie are educated black people, so we like them; but educated blacks can only stand these two in moderation. All the yelling and rhyming annoys educated black people. When discussing politics with an educated black person, do not automatically assume they are a supporter of Senator Obama. This is almost insulting because you are basically saying that because Obama is black and they are black, the two must go together. Allow your educated black friend to discuss the issues that concern them and they will usually tell you that they support Obama because of how he stands on national issues. It is important for an educated black person to explain why they like Obama, so that they can separate themselves from the uneducated or other blacks who like Obama just because he's black.

#11 Turkey Bacon/Sausage
March 5, 2008 · 1 Comment
Educated Black people like turkey bacon and turkey sausage. At some point in almost every educated Black person's life, they want to stop eating pork. Maybe they ran across some article describing how bad pork may be for you. Perhaps it's because they had a riveting conversation with some militant or Muslim brotha or sista that rattled off a litany of reasons why it's a sin to eat "the other white meat." Some educated Black people quote specific Bible passages that dictate why people shouldn't eat pork. Whatever the case may be, they want to give up pork…. but not really.

Turkey bacon and turkey sausage allows the educated Blacks to have a happy medium. They get to enjoy all the aroma and (some) flavor of their traditional pork based breakfast sides while showing everyone that they are disciplined enough to kick out the swine. Educated Black people love when they go out to eat with friends and can order turkey sausage from the menu. They enjoy the looks and questions they receive about their selection. This gives them an opportunity to pass on their wisdom about turkey sausage being more healthy than the slab of bacon their friend just ordered… and everyone knows educated Black people like to pass on their wisdom!

#10 CNN
March 4, 2008 · 12 Comments
Educated Black people like CNN.
With the state of the affairs these days, educated Black people love to stay abreast of current events by watching CNN. Of course, educated Blacks have to stay on top of their current events. They never know when they will have to school someone on the state of the union. Above all, they tire of watching the local news because they are sick of hearing repeated stories about all the uneducated Black people that murder, rape, and rob members of the community. Educated Black people can always count on CNN to put world issues into perspective. CNN features stories, shows, and commentary that quinches their thirst for knowledge.

Educated Black people have the opportunity to catch breaking news and other stories all day, every day. That's a plus because, at the top of each hour, they can always learn something new. That sure beats watching rebroadcasts of the local news from 5 a.m. Another plus for educated Black people is CNN.com. They can get live news updates and breaking news even when they are away from the television. In fact, they probably get news feeds sent directly to their phones. Being able to quote news at the same time that it's happening will make them look especially smart and the envy of their friends and co-workers! That always makes an educated Black person happy!

#9 Town Homes
March 4, 2008 · 5 Comments
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Educated Black people Like town homes.
When an educated Black person gets a new job upon graduation, they usually purchase a town home. This is a symbol of status. It's the convenience of a starter home without the burden of doing yard work. In places like New York, most educated Blacks will purchase a brownstone.
A town home is a symbol of status because it shows the world that they have "made it." Their education has paid off–they are living the American Dream. Once the educated Blacks move into the town home, they will have what is called a "house warming party." Usually other educated Blacks and a few of the acceptable white friends from work will be invited. However, there may be a separate party for the new homeowner's family. This is usually because the educated Blacks do not want their family mixing with their friends from work because this typically produces some type of embarrassing situation–probably resulting in Uncle Joe getting drunk and hitting on a friend of the homeowner.

If you are invited to a house warming party for an educated Black person, you are required to bring a gift for the home. One of the safest gifts is a house plant; perhaps an ivy. If you are a non-Black, never EVER bring Black art–you are stereotyping your educated Black friend and will probably lose them as a friend. It is a must to compliment the size of the home, even if your bathroom is bigger than the entire house. This will make the homeowner feel proud of their purchase and ease the anxiety that they are having knowing it will take them 30 years to pay for it!

#8 Business Cards
March 3, 2008 · 6 Comments
Educated Black people like to show off their credentials and one of the best ways to do it without saying a word is through a business card. Educated Blacks like business cards because they can pack a BIG punch on just a 3.5″ x 2″ piece of card stock! After having a conversation with an educated Black, they love to direct you to keep in touch or "call if you need anything." But gone are the days where they tear off a corner of a napkin or sheet of paper. They whip out custom card cases and slide you their business card. These cards usually contain a seal or logo to let you know what school or company they work for. Their position is also listed so that you can know they have good amount of power within the workplace. We all know that only persons in positions of power get company cards!

Business cards are also a clever way for educated Blacks to let you know just how educated they are. Some business cards are abbreviated versions of their resume, listing damn near ever credential that they have. For instance, the cards will say something like,
Educated Black Person, Esq., A.A., B.A., MBA, Ph.D., RN, NAACP, AAA so that they can let you know they are educated. An educated Black person couldn't possibly let you know ALL of his/her credentials in a short conversation without seeming pretentious. However, the business card should leave no doubt that this person has been on an education grind!

#7 Advanced Degrees
March 3, 2008 · 5 Comments
Educated Black people like advanced degrees. What better way to show that you are educated than to get a slew of degrees to prove it! Educated Black people typically like to obtain their advanced degrees from universities that they find to be reputable. They have nothing against University of Phoenix, but something just doesn't seem quite right about that place. It reminds them of those "degree mills" that you hear about. And educated black people must separate themselves from all the pseudo-educated people, so they need advanced degrees from bigger and better universities. Typically educated Black people obtain undergraduate degrees from HBCU's (look it up if you don't know), then go on to pursue Master or Doctoral degrees at universities where they are in the minority. This is because, by this time, educated Blacks have pledged their beloved fraternities or sororities, so there's nothing else to do except concentrate on that advanced degree.

Educated Black People also enjoy mentioning to others that they are getting an advanced degree. Most educated Black males use this as a pick-up line for undergraduate females. The conversation generally goes something like this: The guy will go to the student union where the undergrads hang out. He will approach a female he likes and say, "Hi, I've never seen you around here." The clueless undergrad will respond, "I haven't seen you before either." BINGO! This excites the male because he knows he has the perfect response, "Oh, that's because I'm in the Law School/Business School." The clueless female will probably fall for the line and end up listening to this educated Black male talk about his advanced degree for an extended amount of time. He may even get lucky and get a date out of it. JACKPOT!

#6 Conferences
February 29, 2008 · 11 Comments
One thing educated Black people like is a conference! The rush begins when they come across the registration form. They like to attend conferences that will enable them to be around other people that are just as educated as they are. It is always a special perk when the conference is held in a city that they have never visited before. It's like a two-for-one bonus!
The rush continues as they travel to the conference. Sometimes they run across other educated Blacks at the airport who are leaving for the conference on the same flight. This enables them to exchange intelligent dialogue on the plane about all the other educated Black people they are about to meet or how much smarter they'll be at the end of the weekend. It's OK, however, if they don't find anyone on their flight because they know that once they land in the host city, they're sure to come across other educated Blacks arriving in town for the conference. They can share cabs or hotel shuttles and make up for all the witty banter they missed while on the plane.

The CLIMAX occurs when they check-in for the conference. The bright lights, the long tables covered with white tablecloths, the signs that let them know which line to stand in [A-H, I-P, Q-Z]…. And let's not forget those educated Black people that are behind the table telling them to stay in a straight line. They take a deep breath in order to take it all in. AHHHH! Their hearts begin to race when they get to the front of the line and their name is checked off from the list of other educated Black people who are sharing this experience with them. And then they receive the holy grail of conference souvenirs: THE CONFERENCE BAG!

Most of the educated Black people that attend conferences do so in order to get a bag. They LOVE to go back to their respective jobs or schools with their new bags. They even begin to use them as book bags, purses, or briefcases just so that people can know that they just came back from a conference. They love it most when their bag has an acronym for the conference printed on it so that people will have to ask them what it stands for. When (or IF) they tell them, and they catch the educated Black person smiling, it's not because they are remembering the fond memories of the conference or because they are having a good day. It's because they are revelling in the fact that the person is not educated enough to have known what it stands for and needed it explained!

#5 Poetry Slams
February 29, 2008 · 13 Comments
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Educated Black People LOVE poetry slams. Poetry slams are events where either professional poets or audience members get up and recite original poems, songs and speeches. Educated black people are large attendees of these "slams" because we believe that this form of entertainment is much better then going to a bar, listening to music, enjoying a long walk, or anything else that uncultured people enjoy. It also allows us to show off our verbal rhythm, because true slam poets……..always…….talklikethis ……because if you don't…..thenyouare…..a…..FAKE…..poet *thoughtful look*.

The best thing about slam poetry is anybody can participate, no matter the race! If you watch the Educated black people-approved "Def Poetry Jam", you will see all sorts of races participating on the show. Non-black people have to remember that if you sit on the front row, the poet will pick that opportunity to say the one poem that will make you feel bad about all the things you've said about we educated black people, so BEWARE!

Another good thing about poetry slams could be the showcase they provide for the numerous things we like: natural hair, Afrocentric wear, tattoos with African symbolism, special teas, the black power sign, etc. If a non-white person wants to bask in the glory that comes from educated black people, attending a poetry slam is the way to go.

#4 Natural Hair
February 28, 2008 · 18 Comments
Educated Black people like natural hair. They love to show their pride for their race and culture by wearing their hair in its unrelaxed and natural state. This may include a range a styles, such as braids, twists, locs, or freestyle kinky/curly/coily tresses. Since natural hair is so versatile, they can rock any number of styles. While educated Blacks love for people to admire their hair, they hate it when someone touches it without invitation or permission. And if you do touch it, they HATE stupid comments like, "Wow! I had no idea it was so soft!" That's a surefire way to get told off. Educated Blacks also love for both Blacks and non-Blacks to comment on how much they love their hair. The standard comments are typically, "I love your hair!" or "I wish my hair could do that!" Educated Blacks love to encourage other Blacks to allow their hair to grow out in its natural state. However, what they love most is to give Blacks that wear relaxers guilt trips about how they are conforming to the European standard of beauty. It makes them feel so much better than you to know that they are educated and liberated enough to not have to be a conformist.

If you are a non-white, don't ever think that you are being complimentary if you ever wear an afro wig or attempt to wear your hair in dreadlocks. And be sure to never refer to your otherwise frizzy hair as feeling "nappy." Aside from the fact that it's offensive, it also makes you sound AND look ridiculous.

#3 Baked Chicken
February 28, 2008 · 24 Comments
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We've all heard the joke that all black people love fried chicken. That's not true. EVERYBODY loves fried chicken - white or black. It's even on the buffet at Chinese restaurants! So let's just scratch that idea right now. Educated Black People have a more sophisticated taste. We like BAKED CHICKEN. Some even go so far as to use lemon pepper seasonings, but this is only for the upper echelon blacks with advanced degrees, so don't try this at home if you only have an undergraduate degree. Now if you want to really show off your education, bake chicken breasts only! Most educated blacks prefer their chicken breasts with a side of rice and a vegetable.

By eating baked chicken, we educated Blacks feel as though we are beyond the stigma of eating common fried chicken. If you are a white person and are having your educated Black friends over, bake some chicken. But be careful because we cannot stand dry baked chicken. Baked chicken should be moist, so cover it with foil paper as you cook it. Also white people, never offer a black person fried chicken, you will probably get cursed out.

It must also be pointed out that baking chicken is much healthier than frying it. That's something you should already know. This means that by eating baked chicken instead of fried, educated Blacks are ensuring that they will live longer than those without any type of higher educational learning. It also shows that we are more sophisticated and can use the oven for things other than baking those pies that white people love.

#2 Neo Soul
February 28, 2008 · 13 Comments
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Educated Black people like Neo Soul.
For those of you who don't know what this genre of music is about, I have included a short description. Neo soul (also known as nu soul) is a music genre and an umbrella term for current soul music. The music is usually a hybrid of 1970s-influenced soul music with influences from jazz, funk, hip hop house music. The term neo soul was originated by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s. Neo soul's audience tends to be underground, preferring that the music favor underground credibility and soulfulness over mainstream popularity. Some musicians who create what is described as neo-soul prefer to disassociate themselves from the tag, due to the term's buzzword-like usage. Some of these artists simply refer to themselves as soul artists.

Neo Soul music makes educated black people feel like they are getting in on music that regular blacks don't know about. The most popular neo soul artist is Erykah Badu….even though some of us may feel she's a little bit crazy. Some educated Blacks have distanced themselves from Ms. Badu because too many people know about her. Neo Soul allows these educated blacks to feel they are the only people who know about these artists and are the only ones educated enough to understand this music. Once an artist "catches on," it's time to move on to the next undiscovered talent.

Other popular neo soul artists are: Angie Stone, Musiq Soulchild, Jill Scott, Macy Gray, Alice Smith, Goapele, India.Arie, Davina, Pru, Raphael Saadiq, Alice Smith, Jazzyfatnastees, Adriana Evans, Ursula Rucker, Rhian Benson and Martha Redbone. If you want to take an educated black friend to a concert, pick one of these artists. You will definitely be loved by them automatically. You should even comment on the release of a new CD by one of these artists. It'll show how well you understand educated Black culture. You may even get invited to a listening party. Then, you'll really be down with the educated Black crowd!

#1 Fraternities and Sororities
February 28, 2008 · 20 Comments
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Educated Black people like to talk about which fraternity (also called a "frat") or sorority they pledged in college. Some of them even go to college with the intent to pledge a Greek lettered organization, then drop out of school. Unlike predominately white fraternities or sororities, these Black Greek letter organizations (or "BGLOs") are for life. Many members wear Greek paraphernalia well into old age. They even continue to attend their organization's regional and national conferences. All members of these Greek organizations love to talk about how hard they pledged and continually state how much they dislike other members who did not pledge as hard as they did. There have also been a few whites people who have crossed racial lines and joined a BGLO. Of course, this person was pledged harder than any other person because they have to pay for all injustices whites have committed against blacks!

If you are non-Black and encounter a Black person wearing a shirt or something that reflects their Greek organization, tell them how much you love their organization and the community service it does. Never say, "I love those dances you guys do!" It's like saying, "I love to watch you black people dance because all black people have such good rhythm and know how to dance." You will appear racist and never have that person as a friend. Also as a non-Greek, Black or not, you are NOT allowed to wear Greek paraphernalia. Greek organizations are not sports teams; therefore, you shouldn't wear the organization's colors to show your support.
Educated Black Greeks often look at pledging as a right of passage–their educational experience was enhanced because they "went Greek." When someone talks about their experience, always look as though you are interested and truly care because this is very important to them.

are we stereotypical of whaaaatt??

are we fooling ourselves or whaaaatt????

Guest Editorial: Frank Rich Discusses The Evolving New Century

Op-Ed Columnist

The Grand Old White Party Confronts Obama

By FRANK RICH

Published: February 17, 2008

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Barry Blitt

THE curse continues. Regardless of party, it’s hara-kiri for a politician to step into the shadow of even a mediocre speech by Barack Obama.

Senator Obama’s televised victory oration celebrating his Chesapeake primary trifecta on Tuesday night was a mechanical rehash. No matter. When the networks cut from the 17,000-plus Obama fans cheering at a Wisconsin arena to John McCain’s victory tableaubefore a few hundred spectators in the Old Town district of Alexandria, Va., it was a rerun of what happened to Hillary Clinton the night she lost Iowa. Senator McCain, backed by a collection of sallow-faced old Beltway pols, played the past to Mr. Obama’s here and now. Mr. McCain looked like a loser even though he, unlike Senator Clinton, had actually won.

But he has it even worse than Mrs. Clinton. What distinguished his posse from Mr. Obama’s throng was not just its age but its demographic monotony: all white and nearly all male. Such has been the inescapable Republican brand throughout this campaign, ever since David Letterman memorably pegged its lineup of presidential contenders last spring as “guys waiting to tee off at a restricted country club.”

For Mr. McCain, this albatross may be harder to shake than George W. Bush and Iraq, particularly in a faceoff with Mr. Obama. When Mr. McCain jokingly invoked the Obama slogan “I am fired up and ready to go” in his speech Tuesday night, it was as cringe-inducing as the white covers of R & B songs in the 1950s — or Mitt Romney’s stab at communing with his inner hip-hop on Martin Luther King’s birthday. Trapped in an archaic black-and-white newsreel, the G.O.P. looks more like a nostalgic relic than a national political party in contemporary America. A cultural sea change has passed it by.

The 2008 primary campaign has been so fast and furious that we haven’t paused to register just how spectacular that change is. All the fretful debate about whether voters would turn out for a candidate who is a black or a woman seems a century ago. Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama vanquished the Democratic field, including a presidential-looking Southern white man with an enthusiastic following, John Edwards. What was only months ago an exotic political experiment is now almost ho-hum.

Given that the American story has been so inextricable from the struggle over race, the Obama triumph has been the bigger surprise to many. Perhaps because I came of age in the racially divided Washington public schools of the 1960s and had one of my first newspaper jobs in Richmond in the early 1970s, I almost had to pinch myself when Mr. Obama took 52 percent of Virginia’s white vote last week. The Old Dominion continues to astonish those who remember it when.

Here’s one of my memories. In 1970, Linwood Holton, the state’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction and a Richard Nixon supporter, responded to court-ordered busing by voluntarily placing his own children in largely black Richmond public schools. For this symbolic gesture, he was marginalized by his own party, which was hellbent on pursuing the emergent Strom Thurmond-patented Southern strategy of exploiting white racism for political gain. After Mr. Holton, Virginia restored to office the previous governor, Mills Godwin, a champion of the state’s “massive resistance” to desegregation.

Today Anne Holton, the young daughter sent by her father to a black school in Richmond, is the first lady of Virginia, the wife of the Democratic governor, Tim Kaine. Mr. Kaine’s early endorsement of Mr. Obama was a potent factor in his remarkable 28-point landslide on Tuesday.

For all the changes in Virginia and elsewhere, vestiges of the Southern strategy persist in some Republican quarters. Mr. McCain, however, has been a victim, rather than a practitioner, of the old racial gamesmanship. In his brutal 2000 South Carolina primary battle against Mr. Bush and Karl Rove, Mr. McCain’s adopted Bangladeshi daughter was the target of a smear campaign. He was also pilloried for accurately describing the Confederate flag as a “symbol of racism and slavery.” (Sadly, he started to bend this straight talk the very next day.) He is still paying for correctly describing Jerry Falwell, once an ardent segregationist, and Pat Robertson, a longtime defender of South African apartheid, as “agents of intolerance.” And of course Mr. McCain remains public enemy No. 1 to some in his party for resisting nativist overkill on illegal immigration.

Though Mr. Bush ran for president on “compassionate conservatism,” he diversified only his party’s window dressing: a 2000 Republican National Convention that had more African-Americans onstage than on the floor and the incessant photo-ops with black schoolchildren to sell No Child Left Behind. There are no black Republicans in the House or the Senate to stand with the party’s 2008 nominee. Exit polls tell us that African-Americans voting in this year’s G.O.P. primaries account for at most 2 to 4 percent of its electorate even in states with large black populations.

Mr. Obama’s ascension hardly means that racism is kaput in America, or that the country is “postracial” or “transcending race.” But it’s impossible to deny that another barrier has been surmounted. Bill Clinton’s attempt to minimize Mr. Obama as a niche candidate in South Carolina by comparing him to Jesse Jackson looks more ludicrous by the day. Even when winning five Southern states (Virginia included) on Super Tuesday in 1988, Mr. Jackson received only 7 to 10 percent of white votes, depending on the exit poll.

Whatever the potency of his political skills and message, Mr. Obama is also riding a demographic wave. The authors of the new book “Millennial Makeover,” Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais, point out that the so-called millennial generation (dating from 1982) is the largest in American history, boomers included, and that roughly 40 percent of it is African-American, Latino, Asian or racially mixed. One in five millennials has an immigrant parent. It’s this generation that is fueling the excitement and some of the record turnout of the Democratic primary campaign, and not just for Mr. Obama.

Even by the low standards of his party, Mr. McCain has underperformed at reaching millennials in the thriving culture where they live. His campaign’s effort to create a MySpace-like Web site flopped. His most-viewed appearances on YouTube are not viral videos extolling him or replaying his best speeches but are instead sendups of his most reckless foreign-policy improvisations — his threat to stay in Iraq for 100 years and his jokey warning (sung to the tune of the Beach Boys’ version of “Barbara Ann”) that he will bomb Iran. In the vast arena of the Internet he has been shrunk to Grumpy Old White Guy, the G.O.P. brand incarnate.

The theory of the McCain candidacy is that his “maverick” image will bring independents (approaching a third of all voters) to the rescue. But a New York Times-CBS News poll last month found that independents have even a lower opinion of Mr. Bush, the war, the surge and the economy than the total electorate and skew slightly younger. Though the independents in this survey went 44 percent to 32 percent for Mr. Bush over John Kerry in 2004, they now prefer a Democratic presidential candidate over a Republican by 44 percent to 27 percent.

Mr. McCain could get lucky, especially if Mrs. Clinton gets the Democratic nomination and unites the G.O.P., and definitely if she tosses her party into civil war by grabbing ghost delegates from Michigan and Florida. But those odds are dwindling. More likely, the Republican Party will face Mr. Obama with a candidate who reeks even more of the past and less of change than Mrs. Clinton does. I was startled to hear last week from a friend in California, a staunch anti-Clinton Republican businessman, that he was wavering. Though he regards Mr. McCain as a hero, he wrote me: “I am tired of fighting the Vietnam war. I have drifted toward Obama.”

Similarly, Mark McKinnon, the Bush media maven who has played a comparable role for Mr. McCain in this campaign, reaffirmed to Evan Smith of Texas Monthly weeks ago that he would not work for his own candidate in a race with Mr. Obama. Elaborating to NPR last week, Mr. McKinnon said that while he is “100 percent” for Mr. McCain and disagrees with Mr. Obama “on very fundamental issues,” he likes Mr. Obama and what he’s doing for the country enough to stay on the sidelines rather than fire off attack ads.

As some Republicans drift away in a McCain-Obama race, who fills the vacuum? Among the white guys flanking Mr. McCain at his victory celebration on Tuesday, revealingly enough, was the once-golden George Allen, the Virginia Republican who lost his Senate seat and presidential hopes in 2006 after being caught on YouTube calling a young Indian-American Democratic campaign worker “macaca.”

In that incident, Mr. Allen added insult to injury by also telling the young man, “Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.” As election results confirmed both in 2006 and last week, it is Mr. Allen who is the foreigner in 21st century America, Mr. Allen who is in the minority in the real world of Virginia. A national rout in 2008 just may be that Republican Party’s last stand.

"Why" Barack Obama -

A President Like My Father

By CAROLINE KENNEDY
(originally published for the Opinion Page of the New York Times Sunday, January 27, 2008)

OVER the years, I’ve been deeply moved by the people who’ve told me they wished they could feel inspired and hopeful about America the way people did when my father was president. This sense is even more profound today. That is why I am supporting a presidential candidate in the Democratic primaries, Barack Obama.

(On behalf of the source of this article, the New York Times, here are some related topics):

Times Topics: John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Times Topics: Barack Obama

My reasons are patriotic, political and personal, and the three are intertwined. All my life, people have told me that my father changed their lives, that they got involved in public service or politics because he asked them to. And the generation he inspired has passed that spirit on to its children. I meet young people who were born long after John F. Kennedy was president, yet who ask me how to live out his ideals.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.

We have that kind of opportunity with Senator Obama. It isn’t that the other candidates are not experienced or knowledgeable. But this year, that may not be enough. We need a change in the leadership of this country — just as we did in 1960.

Most of us would prefer to base our voting decision on policy differences. However, the candidates’ goals are similar. They have all laid out detailed plans on everything from strengthening our middle class to investing in early childhood education. So qualities of leadership, character and judgment play a larger role than usual.

Senator Obama has demonstrated these qualities throughout his more than two decades of public service, not just in the United States Senate but in Illinois, where he helped turn around struggling communities, taught constitutional law and was an elected state official for eight years. And Senator Obama is showing the same qualities today. He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people — known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics — to become engaged in the political process.

I have spent the past five years working in the New York City public schools and have three teenage children of my own. There is a generation coming of age that is hopeful, hard-working, innovative and imaginative. But too many of them are also hopeless, defeated and disengaged. As parents, we have a responsibility to help our children to believe in themselves and in their power to shape their future. Senator Obama is inspiring my children, my parents’ grandchildren, with that sense of possibility.

Senator Obama is running a dignified and honest campaign. He has spoken eloquently about the role of faith in his life, and opened a window into his character in two compelling books. And when it comes to judgment, Barack Obama made the right call on the most important issue of our time by opposing the war in Iraq from the beginning.

I want a president who understands that his responsibility is to articulate a vision and encourage others to achieve it; who holds himself, and those around him, to the highest ethical standards; who appeals to the hopes of those who still believe in the American Dream, and those around the world who still believe in the American ideal; and who can lift our spirits, and make us believe again that our country needs every one of us to get involved.

I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans.

Caroline Kennedy is the author of “A Patriot’s Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories and Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love.” As my colleague personally endorsed her for President in a previous post, I thought it would be nice for our readers to hear some of her thoughts and perspectives directly.