Timuel Black- a civil rights leader, scholar, and educator- reflects on the political careers and public lives of Barack and Michelle Obama. Black shares memories from his long life and career in the predominantly-Black neighborhoods of Chicago, discusses African American history and the history of African Americans in Chicago, and remembers notable political figures and episodes with which he was closely associated. He also describes the importance of Michelle Obama to Barack Obama's connection to African American communities in Chicago, Obama's 1996 campaign for the Illinois State Senate, the 2000 Democratic primary campaign for Illinois' first congressional district, the controversy surrounding Reverend Jeremiah Wright during the 2008 presidential campaign, and the importance and agency of young people
Presidents--United States; Political campaigns--Illinois; African Americans--History--Chicago; Black, Timuel D., Jr; Obama, Barack; Obama, Michelle, 1964-; Wright, Jeremiah A., Jr
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
22 pages
Note (Biographical)
Timuel Black was a veteran, a trained sociologist, a teacher, a labor and political leader, and an author and oral historian of Chicago. He organized and led the Chicago delegation to the 1963 March on Washington. Black also played crucial roles in pr ominent local political developments impacting Chicago's Black residents, from the Chicago Freedom Movement in the 1960s, to the 1983 election of Harold Washington, to Barack Obama's various campaigns culminating in the 2008 presidential race. He passed away in 2021 at the age of 102
Note
Interviewed by Adam Green on March 31, 2021. This interview is part of the University of Chicago: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Timuel D. Black, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023