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The Oprah-Morrison Connection
The Obama literary cartel has spoken.
Not one to let Ted Kennedy hog all the attention, Toni Morrison has added her endorsement to Obama's collection as well. The Nobel Prize-winning author and Princeton professor wrote a letter to Obama explaining her decision, saying that "in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom." Read the full letter here.
I would be remiss not to point out the Oprah connection here. No fewer than four of Morrison's books have been selected for Oprah's Book Club: Sula, The Bluest Eye, Beloved, Song of Solomon. Not to mention that Oprah played the main character in the 1998 film version of Beloved. Who's Obama's next endorser, James Frey?
In terms of influence, Morrison is no Oprah. But as perhaps the second most prominent black woman to endorse Obama, her support might suggest to black women torn between choices that Oprah's fandom is no fluke.
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