Dreams from my Father
Categories : Africa, Politics, books |
Yesterday I happened across a news story about how one of Hillary Clinton’s aides had been fired for asking indiscreet questions about her rival Barack Obama’s history of drug use as a teenager. Coincindentally, it turns out that the day before I had just started reading the memoir in which he admits to these things. And far from making me think he’s an unfit person to contest high office, after reading this book I am very impressed wth the man. It’s been a little while since I’ve finished a book in three days.
Dreams from my Father is the story of Obama’s life up until the early 90s, when he went to Harvard Law School. It is the story of the child of a white woman from Kansas and a Kenyan man, growing up in Hawaii, Indonesia, and Los Angeles before finally settling down to work as a community organizer in the poor south-side of Chicago and then going back to Kenya to explore his roots. This is a brilliantly written book - easy to read yet profound. In it is revealed a deeply intelligent man who has struggled to define his own identity, especially in the context of the ongoing disadvantage of many black people in America, and also in Africa. In some ways it is also the story of a journey to faith - faith in himself, faith in other people, faith in family, and faith in God (although this is only gently alluded to in this book). Obama’s honesty about his struggles make him seem real - he comes across as someone who will be able to sympathize with the poor and disadvantaged in America and across the world. The drug use he mentions in relatively minor - he never had a “drug problem” as such - it was just something he played around with as a teenager like many other people. I probably wouldn’t have even mentioned it now if I hadn’t heard the story of that Clinton Aide.
Anyway it’s a fascinating book which is incredibly thought provoking on multiple levels - personal identity, American (especially black American) culture, the problems of Africa and a post-colonial world, and how to break the cycles of generational social disadvantage. And if nothing else it’s worth reading to get an idea of the character of a man who may well be the next “leader of the free world” - and in case you haven’t guessed my impressions are overwhelmingly favourable. Could you ever imagine George W writing such a powerful piece of literature as this?? Almost makes me wish I was eligible to vote in the US elections… I look forward to reading Obama’s other book, Audacity of Hope.
