Kenya is a country located in East Africa along the Indian Ocean. Apart from Kenya having one of the best beach destinations in the world, its terrain is composed of beautiful lakes, mountains and vast areas of savannah. It is also home to the famous Maasai people and ( at one time) one of the most powerful people on the planet, America's 44th President, Barack Obama.
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Young Barrack Obama "Barry" and his parents. |
Kenya had been in the world limelight ever since Barack Obama joined the United States politics. Obama first visited Kenya at age 27, this time he was a young man who was in search of the knowledge of self.
Probably this time he would have been that young black conscious African American who was concerned about his history. This time, Obama arrived in Kenya in the late 1980s. He was received by some of his family members in Nairobi, Kenya's capital.
Well, it is evident that Obama loved his paternal land. He would keep on visiting Kenya from time to time. Obama is said in an article by ABC News that he immediately took Mitchell to his father's homeland so that they would have, his paternal grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama's approval and blessings.
His initial trips to Kenya were very ordinary, fun and sometimes faced challenges, he complins in "Dreams From My Father" that his luggage got lost on one of the trips. The fun part of his trips was how he wandered and partied in the streets of Nairobi. He seemed to have a good connection with his ancestral home.
Decades later since his first trip, Obama would visit Kenya in 2015 as the president of the United States of America. This visit was that of a world king who is highly protected, dedicatedly served and even adored by the Kenyan citizens. Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta was also ready to give him a state welcome.
The Story of Obama's Parents
Barrack Obama Sr. (a former top Kenyan government official) met Ann Dunham (an American anthropologist) when he was studying at the University of Hawaii under the Africa Airlirlift programme. When Ann became pregnant, the two decided to get married in 1961, Barrack Obama was born in the same year. Unluckily, the new couple separated and further divorced in 1964.
"I am the son of a Blackman from Kenya and a Whitewoman from Kansas."
Obama, Philadelphia campaign rally, 2008.
According to Oprah Daily, it is further believed that the couple did not technically divorce. Their lives were still interwound and they enamoured each other. However, Obama spent most of his childhood being raised by his mother. It is further alleged that Obama Sr. may have left America to escape racism.
The duo had successful careers. Ann was a remarkable anthropologist and a philanthropist while Obama Sr. was a successful economist in Kenya holding various government positions.
Obama Sr's Career life in Kenya
Obama Sr. first worked for a Kenyan oil company.
He later served as an economist in the Kenyan Ministry of Transport before being promoted to the senior economist in the Kenyan Ministry of finance.
In the book 'The Other Barracks', Sally Jacobs admits that Obama Sr. at a times visited Ann to spend time with his son. Obama has always spoken well of his father even though he never had enough time with him. At one dinner, he says:
"I only remember my father for one month my whole life, when I was 10. And it wasn't until much later in life that I realized, like, he gave me my first basketball and it was shortly thereafter that I became this basketball fanatic. And he took me to my first jazz concert and it was sort of shortly thereafter that I became really interested in jazz and music."
Ann died in Hawaii in 1995 from ovarian cancer while Obama Sr. died in Kenya in 1982 after being involved in a second fatal car accident, the initial accident had already crippled him.
According to Wikipedia, Obama Sr. also had a bad relationship with the Kenyatta regime. After the assassination of Tom Mboya, Obama Sr. lived in premonition. Being a top critic of the government, he was fired and blacklisted, finding it impossible to find a job.
President Obama has always spoken publicly that all his parents had a great impact on him. His love for Kenya also can not be ignored.
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Barrack Obama when serving as the 44th president of the USA. |
Upon his retirement from serving the USA as its president, most Kenyans thought that Barrack Obama would leave for Kenya or even vie as Kenya's president.
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