Emancipation is not just a political event; it is a multifaceted process toward a just and post-racial society.
“The legal end of slavery did not immediately bring physical freedom to all former slaves,” Donna Brazile said of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. “Oppression and suppression — servitude, if not slavery — [kept] a lot of black people in the South for generations after the Civil War.”
Donna Brazile has seen great strides toward a post-racial society, but she doesn’t believe America is quite there yet.
Brazile, vice chair of voter registration and participation at the Democratic National Committee, will speak at today’s 2 p.m. lecture in the Hall of Philosophy on “Emancipation: From Proclamation to Achievement.”
Week Three Chaplain the Rev. William D. Watley will keynote the week’s Interfaith Lecture Series on “Emancipation: Where Do We Go from Here?” with today’s 2 p.m. lecture in the Hall of Philosophy.
Watley replaces previously announced Harold Holzer.
The 2012 election between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney has often been compared to the 2004 election.
The line between Americans’ dissatisfaction with United States politics and the trust the public has in Obama compared to Romney leads to a close race.
Brazile and Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist, had a conversation with retired “PBS NewsHour” anchor Jim Lehrer as part of Week Two’s programming on the theme “The Lehrer Report: What Informed Voters Need to Know.” Ayres and Brazile discussed why they believe each candidate should win the election and the recent Supreme Court health care decision’s role in the 2012 elections.
The Glenn and Ruth Mengle Foundation will co-sponsor today’s morning lecture featuring retired news anchor Jim Lehrer and political strategists Whit Ayres and Donna Brazile in the Amphitheater.
D. Edward Chaplin, vice president trust officer acting for the trustee First Commonwealth Bank, said the foundation chooses to sponsor programs that are captivating and thought-provoking.
“We take a look at what seems to be timely and appropriate,” Chaplin said. “This was one we thought would be interesting and something worthwhile for the foundation to sponsor.”
The topic for our discussion is “What Informed Voters Need to Know.” The topic itself is informative. It presumes that there are some voters who are — and will remain — uninformed. It presumes that some knowledge — some set of facts — is essential to being — or becoming — an informed voter. It thus, by implication, privileges some form of “knowing.” And finally, it presumes that voters, having acquired the knowledge necessary to be classified as “informed,” will vote based on how that knowledge interacts with their principles and philosophies, and not on something else — say, who has the broader smile or the grayer hair. Or whose supporters have been able to out-buy and out-shout the opposition.
I think the first presumption, that some voters are and will remain uninformed, is a fair one. Unfortunately. Obviously, one of our goals at this institution is to reduce that number as far as possible. But let’s consider for a moment why voters — so many voters — remain uninformed. After all, this is the Information Age. Though print versions of newspapers may be dwindling, newspapers themselves are doing OK on the Internet. TV options have mushroomed — perhaps that’s not the best word — radio has gone in the last 50 years from almost all music with some news to at least an even split between entertainment and talk. And even the entertainment includes sports journalism. Blogs, websites, Google, Twitter, Facebook — we have more information than we know what to do with. If information were food, everyone would have a three-course gourmet feast at every meal.
In continuing this week’s theme, “The Lehrer Report: What Informed Voters Need to Know,” GOP pollster and strategist Whit Ayres and Democratic strategist Donna Brazile will join Jim Lehrer at 10:45 a.m. today in the Amphitheater.
“Long-term forces are at work in this presidential election,” Ayres said about the upcoming showdown between incumbent President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney.
The major variables include the economy, the nation’s satisfaction with the country’s direction, world affairs and the job market.
Nick Glunt | Staff Writer Donna Brazile’s sister Sheila, who had suffered from a benign yet mentally debilitating brain…
Donna Brazile’s career has taken her from advising Al Gore’s presidential campaign to rebuilding houses in the slums of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
On a week that focuses on the role of women in society, Brazile’s lecture at 10:45 a.m. today in the Amphitheater will focus on how women of New Orleans made contributions to the cleanup after Katrina.
The Chautauquan Daily 
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