by
Zadie Smith
[...] A hesitation in the face of difference, which leads to caution before difference and ends in fear of it. Before long, the only voice you recognize, the only life you can empathize with, is your own. [...] I believe that flexibility of voice leads to a flexibility in all things. My audacious hope in Obama is based, I'm afraid, on precisely such flimsy premises.
on being invited to a "crazy reggae bar" in Harlem on the night that Obama was elected
her hope in Obama is based on the fact that in Dreams From My Father, he's able to write other people's voices so well