N'DIGO Publisher Talks Out of Class About Obama
By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 22, 2011 4:40PM
Throughout the mayoral campaign we said that the search for a "consensus Black candidate" that ultimately led to Carol Moseley Braun's chaotic candidacy smacked of the same racial politics of the late-60s to early 80s, and that the group of African American politicians, pastors and business leaders were more concerned with maintaining their status quo than looking out for the needs of the greater community they purported to represent. Carol Felsenthal's interview with N'DIGO publisher Hermene Hartmann does nothing to dissuade us from our opinion.
Felsenthal interviewed Hartmann last week and, from Jump Street, talks about how she feels slighted by President Obama. Apparently, Hartmann fancies herself a kingmaker.
CF: What’s your relationship with the Obamas? HH: It used to be good. It used to be superb before they got to the White House. I haven’t been invited, and I’m insulted.
The interview continues in this vein. Hartmann tells Felsenthal of how she helped Barack Obama the young community organizer get his start in local politics and stayed by him through his ascension to the Presidency. But Hartmann really seems more peeved that she and other local black business leaders haven't been invited to the White House or attend other state functions. (As if that takes precedence over leading the country.)
"There’s a whole backroom, black community story on Barack that the white media hasn’t paid attention to," she tells Felsenthal. "Barack was launched by black businesspeople. I call them the 'Day One people.' We’ve not been to the White House; we’ve not had appointments. I have barked a little bit about it."
Conversely, Hartmann said that Mayor-elect Emanuel, whom she endorsed after putting a finger to the political wind regarding backing Braun, has been "very appreciative and very thankful" and that she's accepted an invitation to be part of Emanuel's inauguration committee. That inaugural committee, by the way, is loaded with heavy hitters including former White House social secretary Desiree Rogers. Maybe the two can discuss the sleight over the punch bowl.
Lucky for Hartmann she has a weekly magazine that focuses on local African American bourgeois — sorry, "the black urban agenda" — to voice her displeasure.