Articulate While Black: Barack Obama, Language, and Race in the U.S.

Alim and Smitherman give a great overview of some of the contemporary issues in the study of African American English. Through the lens of Obama's language, they explore the intersection of race, class, and culture in the modern U.S. Amusing and lighthearted while maintaining its academic street cred, the book is highly recommended for scholars of language, race, and political science. Real Talk.

I enjoyed this book. I recommend.

This is an increadibly well written book. It views and analyzes "Black language" through a dual analysis of AAVE and President obama's use of language--both AAVE and SAE. The langauge the authors use transitions fluidly from AAVE to SAE and back, providing the reader with an in depth experience of both dialects through the utilization of bidialectism and code-switching, a technique that further expresses the analysis of languge. It is an excellent addition to the library of linguists, langauge students, and those involved in race/ethnicity studies.For those not faimliar with these fields, this book is very accessible. One does not need a lot of experience in linguistics or anthropology to understand the content or terminology the authors use. Their examples are relatable and often taken from the media (most of their examples can be viewed/heard on youtube), so, even if one is not familiar with certain examples given about Obama or other individuals discussed within, it would be very easy to find them.Overall, I highly recommend this book to anyone already involved in or interested in learning about AAVE language studies or langauge studies in general.

Inspiring

The book forwards a new perspective the language and attitudes that remain pervasive elements of racial and political prejudice. But it also offers much needed commentary on the rhetorical savvy of Barack Obama and it's influence on an increasingly diverse audience of constituents.

Teaching it in my Race, Language and Ethnicity class and love it. Love the code-switching and the language analysis.

H. Samy Alim has written an excellent analysis of the intersection of race, language, and President Obama. The examples are valid, the theory presented is relevant, and the book flows well.

Alim and Smitherman produce an accessible and cogent breakdown of Barack Obama's discursive production and the links to political speech, "standard" English and black rhetorical tradition evidenced therein. The authors nimbly style-shift and provide an example of hybrid discourse in their own language as they fuse academic and spoken language to convey some of the linguistic concepts that underlie their study of AAVE and the production of race in and through language. Truly fabulous book- I plan to use an excerpt for a basic writing/composition course.