"In the annals of American slavery, this painful story would be utterly unremarkable, save for one reason: This union, consummated some two years before the Civil War, represents the origins of a family line that would extend from rural Georgia, to Birmingham, Ala., to Chicago and, finally, to the White House."
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Sends shivers up my spine to read that line. Coincidentally, I re-listened to Zadie Smith’s extraordinary lecture at the NYPL from the last winter – both pieces call me to reassess, somehow, my understanding of how race is constructed in America. Can the times really be changing, even if only a bit?
# In First Lady’s Roots, a Complex Path From Slavery - NYTimes.com
# Speaking in Tongues – Zadie Smith live from the NYPL
