Obama Pivots

His appearance at a Chicago church wasn't well publicized. It wasn't even on the church's Website. Yet Barack Obama's Father's Day address at Chicago's Apostolic Church of God made headlines. First, Obama chose not to speak at the church he just left, Trinity United. Second, he picked a hot button topic, the need for fathers, especially black fathers, to step up and be more responsible. 

The theme isn't new. Bill Cosby has received both praise and criticism for his remarks on the subject. Obama himself has brought it up before. Yet there was new resonance in his words this time. He is now, after all, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. "Any fool can have a child. That doesn't make you a father", says Obama. He used his own experiences as a child and a father to drive the point home.

The effect of his words on fathers themselves will be tough to gauge. Demanding that any group take responsibility for their actions doesn't solve much in the short term. However, politically, it was a brilliant stroke. How better to make yourself known to a skeptical public than to talk about your own less than perfect background? Obama knows about the effect of absentee fathers because he had one. He even went so far as to say he's an imperfect father himself.

Black folks know what Barack Obama was talking about. Let's see how others respond.