Posted February 8, 2008
If you’d like to get some serious insight into Barack Obama and where he’s coming from, you should read his book, Dreams from My Father. Even if you have no interest in him as a candidate for president, his book is still an insightful and beautiful read.
Believe me, I am quite critical when it comes to worthwhile reading, but I find myself drawn back again and again to this book, because his personal story is so amazing!
I had no idea his family background on his mother’s side is very similar to mine, rural Kansas farmers of European-American descent. And he was raised by his Mom and grandparents in Hawaii in an all white family. His father returned to Kenya soon after his birth, so Barack rarely saw him.
Being raised in Hawaii is unique enough, because it is one of our most multicultural states, but Barack also learned to speak Indonesian as a child so he could attend school there for his grade school years. Having lived in Thailand, Hong Kong and China for a few of my own formative years, I know that kind of direct exposure to other cultures changes you, and opens your eyes to third world poverty and the limitations of freedom people in other countries must live with.
From this book, it is also clear that Barack understands race issues. Can you image the confusion of being black, but raised in a loving European-American family? Barack explains:
“Away from my mother, away from my grandparents, I was engaged in a fitful interior struggle. I was trying to raise myself to be a black man in America, and beyond the given of my appearance, no one around me seemed to know exactly what that meant.” (pg.76)
This book captures his many moves and interior struggles as he finds his way to his own sense of identity. What does he need to become in the world and why? This book is simply a profound telling of the story of one man’s struggle towards a solid identity and sense of self, with the added complications of racism and cultural differences thrown in.
On page 79, I found a brilliant example of his subtle way with words. Barack describes our adolescent struggles towards our own sense of self this way: “Each of us chose a costume, armor against uncertainty.”
And our eventual realization that life is truly a “do-it-yourself” job: “I knew for the first time I was utterly alone.” (pg.91)
Please consider reading this book. It is fascinating!
