Like the political novel, Charlie Wilson's War, (converted into a highly successful film), A Personal Agenda examines a contemporary phenomenon that is taking place beneath America's political veneer, but having broad socio-political implications. Set largely on Capitol Hill, A Personal Agenda explores the sources of intra-racial tensions among native black Americans and black immigrants to the United States, opening a window on a less well known prejudice among these groups and its insiduous effects. While long an open secret among native black Americans and black immigrants to the United States from Africa and the Caribbean, most Americans are unaware that similar tensions exist among these groups. These tensions and rivalries have been examined from a sociological/academic perspective, but A Personal Agenda is the first novel to place this phenomenon in a fictional context, where the issues are examined from the perspective of a black American immigrant in political America. The novel provides an authentic, behind-the-scenes view of how Capitol Hill and Washington movers and shakers wheel and deal. Like the recent debate debate among black Americans as to whether Presidential candidate, Barack Obama was black enough to represent them, the novel demonstrates that the issue of race and its variations remains a salient and controversial topic in the United States.