JONETTA ROSE BARRAS is the author of the bestseller Whatever Happened to Daddy’s Little Girl? The Impact of Fatherlessness on Black Women (New York. One World/Ballantine, May 2000). Her biography of longtime D.C. mayor Marion Barry, The Last of the BlackEmperors: The Hollow Comeback of Marion Barry in the New Age of Black Leaders (Baltimore. Bancroft Press, June 1998), received critical acclaim. Other works by Ms. Barras include poetry and fiction that have been anthologized. She is the political analyst for NPR affiliate WAMU-FM (88.5); her commentaries can be heard each Thursday during “Morning Edition.” Rated one of the top 50 journalists in Washington by Washingtonian magazine, Ms. Barras has more than 20 years experience commenting on social, political, and cultural trends. She has been contributing political editor for Washington City Paper. She was a columnist for the Washington Times, and her essays and opinion articles frequently appear in The Washington Post.Her writings have also been published in The New Republic, TheCrisis Magazine, The American Enterprise Magazine, USA Today, Blueprintmagazine, and the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Ms. Barras has appeared as a political analyst on CNN, C-SPAN, CBS’ “60 Minutes,” WUSA-TV, NBC 4 in Washington, D.C., and PBS’ “Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg,” and “This is America with Dennis Wholey.” Since the release of her book Whatever Happened to Daddy’s LittleGirl?, Ms. Barras has been a highly sought-after speaker. She has spoken before tens of thousands of people throughout the United States and in France on the effects of father absence on women, including several conferences funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Barras is a resident of Washington, D.C. but still calls her native New Orleans hom