Sally's World

Seeing as tomorrow is the day of Barack Obama’s inauguration, it seemed fitting to talk about his book "Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" which I originally bought for Dave for Xmas, but somehow managed to get my hands on it first.

I found the book to be an inspiring story about some of the different influences and events that helped to shape Barack Obama into the man he is today. It was written almost ten years ago now, so you are left wanting the next installment as it were. Barack openly discusses trying to come to grips with his racial identity; he speaks about a period of rebellion that included drug us and a party lifestyle.

He talks of his love of political science and becoming a community activist in Chicago. Obama is candid in his account of the racism, poverty and corruption in Chicago. The book ends in 1995 when he enters Harvard Law School, and provides a great insight into Obama's history up to that point.

As a mum myself, I would have loved him to spend a little more time writing about his mother and the influence her side of the family has had on him. This is something Obama acknowledges and expresses regret over in the preface. He talks about his mother’s help with the book even though she was ill, giving us a glimpse of the strong woman had to have been to have raised the man she did.

Obama also talks of traveling to Kenya to try and understand his father's past. He talks of his time in Kenya and how he discovered a nation with forty tribes, each of them with stereotypes of the others. I found this to be quite powerful and emotional.

This book is a very worthwhile look into the personal background of the new US President. I would recommend it, and now my son, Jordan is reading it. Dave will manage to get his hands on his present soon I should think!