%1

The Wright context: Prophetic preaching

If you were to visit Trinity United Church of Christ, a predominantly African-American congregation on the Chicago’s South Side, you would be warmly welcomed. You’d experience spirited singing that comes deep from the soul. You’d feel the palpable pain of the people, many of whom live in neighborhoods where innocent children are caught in the crossfire of warring gangs, where police officers are regularly accused of engaging in racial profiling, and where the rates of incarceration and unemployment are extremely high.

Responding to Obama: Reactions to the Philadelphia speech on race

Richard Lischer, professor of preaching, Duke Divinity School: “It’s been 40 years since we have heard redemptive language in the political arena. Like Martin Luther King Jr., Obama did not flinch from addressing the lingering pain and anger of racism in America. Like King, Obama understands how questions of race are bound up with religion. It’s no accident that the current controversy arose in a congregation.”

Focus differs on Wright and GOP friend Hagee: "Wright didn't want to nuke anybody"

Two politically attuned professors in the South called the sharp rhetoric of Jeremiah Wright understandable in the context of an inner-city, largely black church, and both experts marveled at how political opponents seized upon the former pastor’s relationship to Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama.

Obama caught between pulpit and politics: A politician and a parishioner

When Senator Barack Obama faced the cameras in a nationally televised speech in mid-March, he was caught between his roles as politician and parishioner, forced to condemn his pastor’s words as he tried to advance his own campaign for president.

Experts on the black church say the controversial comments of Obama’s former Chicago pastor, Jeremiah Wright, put Obama in an awkward and uncomfortable position. At the same time, they have given him a chance to discuss race—including the nature of the black church—with white Americans.

Delegate count: The Ickes strategy past and present

As a delegate and organizer at six Democratic national conventions (those that nominated George McGovern, Jimmy Carter [twice], Bill Clinton [twice] and Al Gore), I offer this advice to the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton: settle the nominating business before you go to Denver. Convention floor fights delight the media but damage the nominee.