Barack Obama in Kenya at 27 "A Journey in Black and White" (A Film by Auma Obama)

[Bucky]

This is a film I've heard about, but never seen. It shows a young Barack and Michelle before they married visiting the Obama family in rural Kenya and exploring Luo and Kenyan culture. He's a thoughtful young man, an American abroad, and an experienced community organizer seeing the potential and impediments in a society struggling with its colonial legacy.

Sadly, the YouTube version has been watermarked by some western party. But it's well worth the 20 minutes out of your life to see this.

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Thank you for posting!

Very interesting familial documentary.

As a note - here in the U.S., much of the focus of black scholars in African history with respect to that continent's diaspora here, relates to West Africa, which is where the majority of the slave trade took place (along with some from the southern countries). In the Obamas' case, they were/are East Africans. The continually sad thing is that both Europe and the U.S. have essentially distilled East African countries down to nothing more than a place to go to for a "safari" and to hell with the people and their ancient cultures.

Barack Obama spent his childhood entrenched in Asian culture - both in Hawai'i and Indonesia (via his stepfather) - as well as having been entrenched in European-American culture (through his mother and her family)... And being able to touch base with his ancestral African side (through his father and his family), helped to complete his entire cultural being.

He has subconsciously but adeptly adopted a variety of cultural framings based on his exposure to these cultures while growing up and has incorporated them into his worldview as an amalgam. This allows him to then successfully pick and choose certain techniques in his day to day problem-solving, that will help to give him a desired result.

I have always said that he is unique in his upbringing... able to bridge across the cultural divides, and depth and breadth of humanity.

[Coyotl]

2. K & R