"I just friend-ed my President": Youth, Innovation, and the New American Politics

The election of Barack Obama changed everything. But not necessarily for the reasons you think. Rather than thinking about the 2008 election as a triumph for the Democratic party or for America's racial politics, this talk considers how youth culture, technological innovation, and new forms of political organizing reshaped the political landscape during the 2008 elections. These seismic shifts speak to new possibilities for classrooms and communities.

Melissa Harris-Lacewell is Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University. She is the author of the award-winning book Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought, (Princeton 2004) and currently at work on a new book: Sister Citizen: A Text for Colored Girls Who've Considered Politics When Being Strong Wasn't Enough. Her academic research is inspired by a desire to investigate the challenges facing contemporary black Americans and to better understand the multiple, creative ways that African Americans respond to these challenges. Her scholarly interests include the study of African American political thought, black religious ideas and practice, and social and clinical psychology; at the same time, her creative and dynamic teaching is also motivated by the practical political and racial issues of our time. Professor Harris-Lacewell has taught students from grade school to graduate school and has been recognized for her commitment to the classroom as a site of democratic deliberation on race. In addition to her scholarly work, she has provided expert commentary on U.S. elections, racial issues, religious questions and gender issues for many television, radio and print sources both in the United States and around the world. She is a regular contributor on NPR and MSNBC, and she keeps a political web log titled The Kitchen Table. Cornell West has said of her "She has to be one of the most talented intellectuals of her generation." Professor Harris-Lacewell received her B.A. in English from Wake Forest University, her Ph.D. in political science from Duke University, and an honorary doctorate from Meadville Lombard Theological School. She is currently a student at Union Theological Seminary in New York.