Obama Is A Trekkie



African-Americans exert a magnificent cultural influence over the United States -- the greatest superpower of all time -- that doesn't reflect their actual population, which is under 15 percent. Watching television, going to the movies, it certainly doesn't seem like African-Americans are less than 15 percent of the population (reading Conde Nast magazines, however ..). There is a certain chic to African-Americans, partly having to do with that pesky historical oppression issue. Science Fiction, though, is one of those delicate subjects that African-Americans don't quite like to talk about outside of school. It detracts from the chic.

African-American chic, in all its varieties -- media, comedy, the music industry, dance, sports -- developed through centuries of tough times. Jazz, for example, was forged in the underground speakeasies on the DL, away from the prying eyes of Johnny Law, aka "The Man." It embodied, in its time, rebellion and Art and sexiness. In a sense, being "The Invisible Man" fostered an improvisatory character among African-Americans that has become the epitome of cool. Just ask the Beats, whose ethos is almost wholly "White Negro," or ask today's suburban kids searching for an identity, studiously trying to sound like they come from the inner city (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment).

Despite all that inherent chic, African-Americans, though we are loathe to admit it, love Science Fiction. And comics. We drink it up. And not just the new stuff, either. African-Americans are connoisseurs of Sci-Fi. While you will rarely, if ever, see an African-American sitting on line a week before the release of the latest Star Wars episode (too thoroughly not cool), you would be surprised at how many African-Americans speak enthusiastically about our favorite Twilight Zone episodes. Shhh... -- hush your mouth; don't tell anyone.

Old Twilight Zone episodes, Quantum leap, that creepy X-Files vibe, and, of course, Star Trek. We love that stuff. Young Latinos in Spanish Harlem do too, we've noticed, especially when high on the sweet leaf (pffffft!).

But Obama -- arguably the coolest Presidential candidate since JFK -- and a card-carrying African-American proved our love of all things SciFi. According to Page Six:

"THAT Leonard Nimoy was at a recent Barack Obama event when the candidate spotted him in the crowd and acknowledged Mr. Spock with the Vulcan hand signal."

The cat's out of the bag.