President [Barack] Obama's pick of Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education was abysmal.

This is a column collection, or as one colleague called it, "history in real time," recounting my perspective on the highs and lows of this presidency from an African-American perspective. More than simply a column collection, the book has a substantial introduction that frames the [Barack] Obama presidency, explores the way Obama was treated by the political establishment and also how this first black president treated "his" people. In the epilogue, I use numbers to tell the story of African-American gains and losses during this presidency.

Sometimes, I repeat myself, and that was a second elimination [of Barack Obama]. I worked with a team, including a great editor who, as the project came together, suggested other additions and eliminations. It was a process.

Some of the federal programs to help homeowners were never fully implemented.

References to everybody just disturb me, and it also disturbs me that the people who make policy are not the same people who live policy. When we talk about everybody, we are leaving a whole lot of bodies out.

While people are prepared to talk about Social Security, about marriage equality, about any number of other issues, people are not prepared - your layperson is not prepared to have a conversation about foreign policy.

When public policy is directed toward urban spaces, it is directed toward people who sit at the margins.