Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

As far as we're concerned, what church Barack Obama chooses to attend in DC is about as important as the brand of mayonnaise he prefers. Some people disagree. What do you think?

A black nationalist writes in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution about how Obama's election has forced him to rethink his stances on the opportunities this nation affords African Americans. Muhammad Yungai's final conclusion: "I am still wary of the promise of these opportunities because of the gross structural inequities built into 'the system.' But given the psyche-shattering results of this election, I am willing to at least meet anyone halfway in the new pursuit of that promise."

Blacks in the financial world are predicting that Barack Obama's victory will attract more African Americans to those increasingly disastrous "markets" everyone on the TV is worried about. Ready your checkbook, Black America:

"I think Obama's election will have a resounding impact on the way blacks look at the markets," said Steven Sanders, chief executive and founder of First Genesis Financial Group Inc., a Newtown Square, Pa.-based advisory firm. "For an African-American, it's an affirmation that opportunities do exist for you. The concept of 'Yes, we can' really does resonate."

Huzzah! Thanks, Barack. Now everyone get out there and invest in those racially monolithic corporations, all of which will be happy to get your money and waste it on bullshit.

For example, many people assume Obama will worship at an African American church as he did in Chicago. But Obama has often quoted Martin Luther King's critique that America's most segregated hour is 11am on Sunday. If the first black president chooses to worship in a predominantly black church, does that call into question whether he really thinks this is a problem or perhaps imply that it's a problem only white people are responsible for fixing? Conversely, if Obama chooses a predominantly white church, many black people in this country will feel abandoned.

When we brought up the idea that Barack Obama might inspire hip hop artists to change, we were imagining something along the lines of DipSet laying down their arms in the middle of Harlem. But in a world in which the Kellys run about with pistols at ready, something like that is probably very unlikely. So we'll take what we can get, which is an Obama-themed Common track, "Changes."

It's pretty corny, but at least it's not violent.

What if Michelle Obama were white? Would it have changed your feelings about her husband, Barack?

In a new interview, a leading scholar of African and Islamic studies says he doesn't believe Barack Obama would have been elected president were he married to a white woman. Ali Mazrui, ranked by Prospect magazine as one of the world's top 100 public intellectuals, speculates that though Obama himself is the product of an interracial relationship, Americans – both black and white – would have been less willing to accept him if he also chose to marry interracially.

CONTINUED »

Wherein you, the readers, talk amongst yourselves.

Rapper Talib Kweli tells Entertainment Weekly that he thinks Barack Obama's victory will have a major impact on hip hop, one that will see rap stars moving away from negative themes like selling drugs and pimping hos. If this is the case, it will be a welcome change, but we're not so sure this isn't just wishful thinking on Kweli's part.

Do you think Obama will influence the popular rap community to better itself?

Welp, Lorne Michaels has (begrudgingly, we're sure) decided to hire a new cast member for Saturday Night Live, this one a black male who can pretend to be Barack Obama in poorly written comedy sketches for the next four to eight years. Currently, Fred Armisen, who's of Hispanic, European and Japanese descent, plays the role of Obama on SNL.

After the jump, two of the front-runners in the search for the fake Barack, Wyatt Cenac and Jordan Carlos. We think Carlos has him beat, but who knows! SNL hasn't made any good decisions in years.

CONTINUED »

The halcyon days of Hope and grand oration is over, y'all. Now, the metered movements of real politics begin.

President-elect Barack Obama will not move for months, and perhaps not until 2010, to ask Congress to end the military's decades-old ban on open homosexuals in the ranks, two people who have advised the Obama transition team on this issue say.

Repealing the ban was an Obama campaign promise. However, Mr. Obama first wants to confer with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and his new political appointees at the Pentagon to reach a consensus and then present legislation to Congress, the advisers said.
…
Delaying the congressional vote a year would give the White House time for consultation, but it would also let ban proponents organize and possibly sway public opinion, as they did in 1993.
…
Mr. Obama's gay-ban pledge was not a major campaign issue. However, he provided a policy statement to the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. gay rights group, pledging to repeal the exclusion and to invite back service members discharged under the law. He also said that he wants the Pentagon to school military people on how to treat gays.

Nate Silver, the power nerd who has of late been making it his job to take bigots to task, spoke to sister site Queerty about Prop 8's passage and the statistics behind it. Here's what he had to say about the controversial African American vote:

CONTINUED »