Obama's Sister: His Success Rooted in Hawaii

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: Sister: Obama's Success Rooted in Hawaii
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 14, 2008

HONOLULU (AP) -- Millions of voters look at Barack Obama and see a future president. Maya Soetoro-Ng looks at her big brother and sees a father figure. Soetoro-Ng, who is nine years younger than Obama, said her mother divorced her father when she was 9, making Obama, her half brother, the father figure in her life. He toured colleges with her, showed her New York and Chicago and gave her her first novels. ''He let me know the world was large, and that I should get to know as much of it as possible,'' said Soetoro-Ng, who has been campaigning for her brother in advance of Tuesday's Democratic caucuses in Hawaii.

Obama's parents -- Barack Obama Sr., a black man from a poor village in Kenya, and Ann Dunham, a white woman whose parents grew up in Kansas -- met at the University of Hawaii and married in Honolulu. After the marriage failed, a 6-year-old Obama left Hawaii to spend four years in Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro. In 1971, when he was 10, Obama's mother sent him back to Honolulu to stay with his maternal grandparents.

Soetoro-Ng, who teaches history at the private LaPietra Hawaii School for Girls and night classes at the University of Hawaii, said her brother is a private man who deals with questions about his identity and other struggles in ''a very personal way.'' ''He's good though about grappling with them and moving on,'' she said in a recent phone interview. ''Today he is a man very comfortable with himself and peaceful with his sense of self.''

Obama honed his ability to appeal to a diverse group of people in the Hawaiian islands, a crossroad of cultures from throughout the Pacific, said Soetoro-Ng. ''Hawaii is the place that gave him the ability to ... understand people from a wide array of backgrounds,'' she said. ''People see themselves in him ... because he himself contains multitudes.'' His family's own diversity played no small part in developing that skill, she said.

Obama still returns almost every Christmas to visit family, indulge in local sushi, body surf at a beach on the southeastern coast of Oahu and look for sea turtles, Soetoro-Ng said. His parents and grandfather have died, and his grandmother is in poor health but has been following the presidential race closely on television, she said. ''Hawaii really is a sanctuary for him -- a safe place where he can just relax, where things are in many respects unchanged,'' Soetoro-Ng said. In his 1995 memoir, ''Dreams from My Father,'' Obama wrote about growing up with the island's unique food and culture: poi and roast pig, choice cuts of aku for sashimi and spearfishing off Kailua Bay. Living in his grandparents' downtown apartment, he attended the prestigious Punahou School and drove to parties at Army bases....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obama-Hawaii.html

[madrchsod]

1. she`s quite a lady....

there`s a very interesting family that will represent america on the world stage.

[juajen]

2. I have a few questions that I would really like answered, if anyone has the answers.

I have read everything I could find on Obama and Maya (I believe that's her name) and I find a few things confusing.

l. My understanding is that Maya was left behind with her mother when Obama was sent to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. If this is true, how could obama be a father figure to Maya? Additionally, if what I read is true`she was still very young?

2. Why did his mother send him to Hawaii? After being abandoned by his father when he was 2, didn't being abandoned by his mother at age 10 (which would make Maya no older than 4) crush him? By this time, she was divorced from Maya'a father, so, why send her son away. Dual abandonment by his parents is bound to have effected him horribly. Why is this ignored. I want to know how he reacted and dealt with this, instead of it being brushed aside in the articles and biography I read.

3. What is the history of his maternal grandparents? Were they wealthy? It sounds as if they were. While this is interesting news, it might also belie the story of having a normal "black American" experience.

4. At what age did Maya and she and Obama's mother go to Hawaii from Indonesia. I believe I read that Obama's mother was an anthropologist. What did she do in Hawaii?

5. Since Obama's father deserted him when Obama was only two, how could he feel anything but distaste for this man?

I would appreciate any elucidation I can get. I'm puzzled, to say the least. I believe we are being nudged away from this history unnecessarily.

[RunningFromCongress]

3. You're REALLY reaching for negatives now aren't you?

[Marie26]

4. It's not a negative

I was curious about this as well. Why would his mother have sent him to Hawaii, 4000 miles away from his family? Were his grandparents good to him? I've noticed that he often mentions his mother, always with fondness, yet he doesn't mention his grandparents at all.

[Exultant Democracy]

7. I've heard him talk about his grandparents fondly often, why not read his book if you have questions

[Marie26]

9. Cause I'm lazy

And figure that Obama people would know the answer. Why did his mother send him to Hawaii? At first I thought it was because she couldn't afford to raise him alone, but it seems like she was married w/another child at the time. If it was a kind of abandonment, he would have to resent that. Yet he always talks about his mother w/love & affection. So, I can't figure it out.

[BeyondGeography]

19. Here are Obama's grandparents at his HS graduation

He was close with both of them; if you read his book, he was especially fond of his grandfather.

[Marie26]

24. Aw, cute!

I was wondering because we've never seen his grandmother on the campaign trail - I actually thought that she was dead. But she's probably just too elderly now to actively participate.

[Exultant Democracy]

6. No shit, they have nothing positive to say about how their canidate is running this race

so they just spew hatefulness.

[K Gardner]

5. Oh dear god. How sad and truly pathetic. Go sell this psychomumbojumbo somewhere else.

[juajen]

12. I really resent this. We know everything there is to know about

both Clinton's families and you are berating me because I want to know about the upbringing of someone who might be President of the US. How in Hell would you react if I gave you this crap if you asked questions about the Clintons? It's answers like yours that make me suspicious in the first place. Why are these questions being ignored? I want answers and will keep digging, no matter what names you call me.

I must admit I am rather shocked by the posts in response to my very innocent questions. What's wrong with just giving me the answers, if you know them?

[FrenchieCat]

8. My understanding is that

Obama was sent back to Hawaii because he could get a better education there. Remember that it was and Education and hope that his mother had to give Obama.

Obama was a father figure to Maya when she was in her teens. By that time she had returned to live in Hawaii.

If you haven't read Obama's book, that is why you don't know the answers. If you are truly that curious, I recommend it to you. It is not a difficult read.

here's a radio interview with Maya on NPR: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=17640524&m=17640520

In his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Obama wrote about growing up with the island's unique food and culture: poi and roast pig, choice cuts of aku for sashimi and spearfishing off Kailua Bay. Living in his grandparents' downtown apartment, he attended the prestigious Punahou School and drove to parties at Army bases
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/14/politics/main3831108.shtml


Channeling childhood memories, Soetoro-Ng recalls how Obama was never shy when it came to offering her a full spectrum of advice — on everything from what books to read to what boys not to date. And, like any big brother, Soetoro-Ng says he still knows what buttons to press when he wants to get under her skin — all in jest, of course.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17640524

[juajen]

25. This post was very helpful. Thank you so much for answering mine.

It also told me how old Maya was when Barack was sent back to Hawaii. If i'm right, she was only a year old or so. So Barack became a father figure to her when she was in her teens. I still saw no mention of how old she was when she and her mother moved to Hawaii. After so many years away, what precipitated the move back.

I am not being picky, but you will all remember the dissecting of Bill Clinton's childhood with his single mother and everything that was brought up to identify mental problems he might have had. So, this time around, I want no questions left unansered about Obama that might come back to haunt us later if he becomes President.

I, too, believe that Maya is a remarkable young woman. I am just very interested in hearing what's being left out. I'll keep digging.

Thanks so much for another piece of the puzzle.

[Skidmore]

10. Why don't you check out his book at the local library.

He tells about his life. Or at least go over to Wikipedia for a minute. Otherwise, I'd like to know about Hillary's feelings of rejection by her father.

[ellisonz]

16. And her husband...

[juajen]

18. Because it would all be from his viewpoint and he could

write anything he wanted. We know about the Clinton's background from independent researchers. Is it too much to expect that you could give me a place to go to get independent assessments? I have not read his biography, just excerpts from it online. I have read articles and bios on both, also online. I will not contribute to a candidate I do not support by reading his own book. I want an independent source. BTW, I did not buy Hillary's book. It was given to me. I believe that autobiographies are inherently biased and prefer to get my info from an unbiased source.

[Marie26]

22. Try the Chicago Tribune

They've written in-depth articles about Obama's childhood & his years in Chicago.

[juajen]

27. Thanks, I will,.

In your opinion, does the Tribune give unbiased info, or, are they part of the famous Chicago political machine?

[Marie26]

29. IMO

they're one of the only media organizations that have really "vetted" Obama. It's all there - from his childhood biography to his tangled connections w/Rezco & the Chicago machine. I think they've had very good, in-depth, unbiased coverage of Obama's campaign.

Here's a link to the Tribune's series of articles on Obama - http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/

[K Gardner]

23. "I won't contribute to a candidate I don't support by buying his book".. but you have the gall to

post these misleading and negative concern troll statements regarding his past, just begging other speculators to join you? Take a nice trip to Hawaii.. or Kenya ...or Indonesia. Ask those who knew him, since nothing you read is good enough for you. This post really is one of those "take the cake" posts. I can't believe you expect anyone to take you seriously or provide you with MUCH NEEDED psychological insight into Obama's mother, grandmother, father and childhood and ramifications on his adult psyche. I just have to call utter bullshit.

[juajen]

28. If you are so upset with my questions, just put me on ignore.

Believe me, you will not be hurting my feelings. Quite the reverse, honestly.

[Raine]

50. Why don't you get the book at the library

I wouldn't want to contribute to a candidate I don't support either by buying their book. Though if you want to know about them and read their words get the book at the library. Many libraries also have the books on audio that you can check out if you don't want to just sit and read.

[juajen]

26. My understanding from what I have read (not from autobiography)

is that she idolized him and that he taught her a lot. He was a republican, so we can certainly hold that against him LOL, but I don't remember anyone ever suggesting that she had issues with her father. No so with Bill, however. That story is also an open book and how Bill is psycho-analyzed everybody knows.

I have gone to Wikipedia and read many articles about obama's early history. Still cannot find enough info to satisfy my curiosity.

Thanks so much for your reply, I think.

[Neecy]

11. I can answer question #3

His maternal grandparents were not wealthy. His grandfather, if I recall correctly, sold furniture and I believe his grandmother worked.

[juajen]

30. Thank you. Yet another puzzle piece.

NT

[Adelante]

38. Actually his grandmother was more successful than his grandfather

She had not gone to college but worked herself up from a secretary in a bank to VP of the bank. This is not to say women in her day earned tons of money as bank executives, they didn't, but she made quite an achievement of her working life. The grandfather less so, although he had a GI Bill college education. They were never very well off, in any case, but middle class.

[woolldog]

13. When did Obama

ever claim that he had the "normal black experience"? He never has.

[juajen]

33. I beg to differ. Do "the streets of So. Chicago" and "drug use" not suggest the black experience?

Male black Americans have a horrible time in this country. I don't want them believing that Obama is one of them. He just isn't. You don't believe that he is attempting to get the black american vote because of his "black american experience". I believe there was a recent article in the NYT that suggested he was lying or exaggerating his drug use for this same reason. This story is much better than private schooled, well educated maternal and paternal parents to insure he grabs the majority of the AA vote, thereby hurting Hillary's standing with a constituency that has been the Clinton's for a long time.

I appreciate your post. You did not accuse me of wrongs for asking questions. I just disagree with your conclusion. Thank you for answering my post.

[woolldog]

35. Offensive

"Male black Americans have a horrible time in this country. I don't want them believing that Obama is one of them."

Thanks for your concern for us black males. You know we're so easily fooled I don't know what we'd do without kind whites like you to set us straight on who is really black and who isn't, and who has had an "authentic black experience" and who hasn't--b/c we all know that if you're educated and didn't use drugs then you haven't had a "normal black experience."

Seriously, how much more insulting can you be?

Wow. Just wow. Your post makes me so sad and hurts. BS like this is why HRC is losing blacks 4-1. I shouldn't be surprised but I still can't believe there are people like you that are fellow democrats. Coming to this board is depressing sometimes.

:(

[NOLALady]

47. I hate to admit it,

but I encouraged my son to join the military. Of course, this was before 911.

I wanted him far away from this neighborhood because I suspected drug usage among some of his friends. It seems that I couldn't get it into his head that his friends (all white) would get a slap on their wrists while his life would be ruined if they were to get into trouble. We were the only blacks back here for some time and he grew up with these kids.

This is not SO Chicago, nor is this an urban area. IOW, I don't see much difference in drug use between the races. There is a difference in how blacks are criminalized. Is this what you mean?

[ariesgem]

48. The majority of us black folks (30+ million strong) experience

getting up every day and going to work so we can live a decent life, just like white folks. I find it insulting that you minimized "The Black American experience" as you call it, to hanging out on the streets and taking drugs.

Do you live in a non-integrated area where there are NO black folks around for miles? If not, don't you see us sitting in rush hour traffic on our way to work? You've never noticed black professionals wearing suits in the city, secretaries, truck drivers, salesmen, retail workers, city workers, service workers, health care workers, teachers, etc... You must have decided to ignore them so you can be free to believe the stereotypes.

In every race there's a economically depressed segment of the population where you can find folks hanging out and doing drugs. Whether it's in a major city or a trailer park it's the same damn thing and doesn't come close reflecting the experience of an entire race of people.

[ellisonz]

15. His grandparents were not wealthy. He went to Punahou and much of college

on scholarship.

The rest of it I'm not going to deal with and if you really care there is ample information on the net.

[Marie26]

21. Here's some answers

l. My understanding is that Maya was left behind with her mother when Obama was sent to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. If this is true, how could obama be a father figure to Maya? Additionally, if what I read is true`she was still very young?

- "Maya Soetoro-Ng's older brother came back from his freshman year in college and found her working on a math problem from a grammar-school grade level lower than the one she was in.

"He scolded me. He said, I should -- if anything -- work on a set for an older age, a higher age," Soetoro-Ng recalled in a 2004 interview. "He was bossy. He was domineering." Her brother -- actually her half-brother -- is Barack Obama. But when their mother and Soetoro-Ng's father divorced, Obama took on a more fatherly role, she said.

"He was always pushing me to sort of, at that point, exceed my own lazy inclinations," Soetoro-Ng said in 2004. "My mother and father divorced when I was 9, so I think he started giving me a great deal of guidance as a big brother. And he helped me find my voice and my passion and helped to work to offer a lot of guidance."

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/familytree/545473,BSX-News-wotreehh09.stng

2. Why did his mother send him to Hawaii? After being abandoned by his father when he was 2, didn't being abandoned by his mother at age 10 (which would make Maya no older than 4) crush him? By this time, she was divorced from Maya'a father, so, why send her son away. Dual abandonment by his parents is bound to have effected him horribly. Why is this ignored. I want to know how he reacted and dealt with this, instead of it being brushed aside in the articles and biography I read.

- Finally found the answer to this: Obama's mother moved back to Hawaii w/her two children so that he could attend an elite private school there. She decided to move back to Indonesia, and he asked to stay in Hawaii with his grandparents.

"Whatever misgivings Obama had about Punahou, attending the school was largely his decision.

When his mother, a woman said to have been born with a keen sense of wanderlust, announced she was returning to Indonesia, Obama, then a teenager, asked to stay in Hawaii, according to Soetoro-Ng, 36, who still lives in Honolulu. Once again, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham, who had been as much parents as grandparents throughout the young man's life, said he could live with them.

"I don't imagine the decision to let him stay behind was an easy one for anyone," Soetoro-Ng said. "But he wanted to remain at Punahou. He had friends there, he was comfortable there, and to a kid his age, that's all that mattered."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0703250359mar25,0,4596397.story?page=4

3. What is the history of his maternal grandparents? Were they wealthy? It sounds as if they were. While this is interesting news, it might also belie the story of having a normal "black American" experience.

- "Her parents, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham -- he was a boisterous, itinerant furniture salesman in downtown Seattle, she worked for a bank and was the quiet yet firm influence at home -- moved to Mercer Island in 1956, after one year in a Seattle apartment. The lure was the high school that had just opened and the opportunity it offered for their daughter, who was then 13.

Stanley Dunham died in 1992, and the Obama campaign declined to make Madelyn Dunham, 84, available.

The Dunhams were full-time working parents, renters and strugglers in pursuit of the next opportunity. After the war, Madelyn worked in restaurants while Stanley managed a furniture store on Main Street in El Dorado."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-0703270151mar27,0,5157609.story

They weren't rich & I don't think Obama has ever claimed to have a normal "black American" experience.

4.At what age did Maya and she and Obama's mother go to Hawaii from Indonesia. I believe I read that Obama's mother was an anthropologist. What did she do in Hawaii?

- "Dunham loved to travel around the world, pursuing a career in rural development that took her to Ghana, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal and Bangladesh. In 1992 she earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Hawai'i. Her dissertation, "Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia: Surviving and Thriving Against All Odds," was 1067 pages long. <5>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Dunham

[ecstatic]

32. Interesting. Thanks for this info nt

[juajen]

36. Gosh, thanks so mucn.

This does give me some more answers, but also more questions.

His mother came back to Hawaii with his sister, Maya, and another half brother. Who is he and where is he. Don't give me any lip on this people. We all know about Billy Carter and Roger Clinton. I want no secrets about Barack, even if he wants to keep them. Believe me, there was a lot that the Clintons did not want to talk about. They had to, anyway. If he becomes our nominee, no stone will be left unturned by the republicans. We need to learn it first.

As to his grandparents, we go from a furniture salesman and a possible clerk or teller at a bank on Mercer Island, WA in 1956 to Hawaii. There are so many years left out of this. It was not easy in the sixties to even afford visiting Hawaii, let alone earning a living there. How was this accomplished?

Just moving to Hawaii would have been horribly expensive. Another question: Is Barack his grandmother's legal guardian? After all, it is Maya who still lives in Hawaii. I thought that was rather interesting, that Barack's campaign will not make his grandmother available to the press. Perhaps she is infirm and cannot or would not like to answer questions. That should have been stated, instead of the autocratic "The Obama campaign will not make her availabe" or some such like that. Some people over 80 would surprise you. Some should not be bothered by anyone asking questions. Just wonder which it is.

I really love John McCain's mother. She's a great asset to his campaign. So lovely and feisty for someone over 90 years old. It actually helps John McCain when people consider how long he will be mentally alert enough to run this country. Of course, his mother didn't spend five and a half years a captive of the Vietnamese. She, did, suffer a great deal while he was in their hands, or I'm not a mother. Brave woman, also.

[ariesgem]

39. WTF is "having a NORMAL black american experience"? nt

:eyes:

[NOLALady]

45. I also would like to know.

I wonder if that is similar to a "normal white experience".

[grantcart]

14. more information and pictures in this thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x4559090



http://images.huffingtonpost.com/ge

[FrenchieCat]

17. Wow! What a cutie!

Geeze, OBama's people are really, really good looking!

Her husband is Chinese Canadian.


Obama is related to the fucking world!

[BeyondGeography]

20. They're close, too

[Stephanie]

40. She's beautiful

What a good looking family!


http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080214/480/dd55ccbd16da42e790e8d601da1343cf/


http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//080214/480/ff0d3537920e4aad9d0ad0f3dae17652/

Maya Setoro-Ng, sister of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama, speaks to reporters at the Hawaii for Obama Volunteer Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008.
(AP Photo/Lucy Pemoni)

[rug]

31. That is really a fascinating childhood.

[WHAT]

34. punt

:P

[Scurrilous]

37. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Stephanie]

41. Oh, I didn't know he went to Punahou

That's the best school in Hawaii. I had several friends in college who went to Punahou. Oh, they loved it! They were very loyal to that school.

[sloppyjoe25s]

42. ''People see themselves in him ... because he contains multitudes.''

It's true.

I've been supporting Obama since long before he even got in the campaign. The main reason was his international heritage.

I spend over 2 years in Bangladesh when I was a child (my father a physician with the VA - was working there on Small Pox and Cholera).

There is a part of "The Audacity of Hope" - where Obama talks about being a young boy, wandering in the fields and markets of indonesia, playing with his friends - not really knowing how different he was to be able to have US Citizenship, and to be able to later in life take advantage of the wonderful riches and opportunity of the USA. He saw those around him - young indonesian boys and girls - as just other human beings.

I saw myself in him. My childhood memories of Bengali friends in Bangladesh flooded back to me.

I knew then that i wanted this man as my president. Someone who truly knows the oneness of all people's of the world.

[zonkers]

43. Brah, sounds to me like Obama is "surfer" president. And when I say

surfer, I mean that that laid back, deep yet cool way of thinking and being that growing up near the surf gives you. Sounds like we could use a surfer president right now,

[npincus]

44. how interesting- thanks for posting.

:)

[Peace Patriot]

46. Thank you for this thread--even Mr. Pesky Questioner! I think Barack Obama

will be a great representative to the world of the REAL America. Born of a Kenyan and a Kansan! Raised in Hawaii, America's finger out to the rest of the big world, like Adam's finger out to God on the Sistine Chapel, reaching for that spark of life that makes us great: our cultural diversity!

I was urging folks to read the Asia Times the other day--a great progressive newspaper that covers, well, Asia, for starters, but also does in depth coverage of the U.S. (You won't regret it!). But my point was that it's a big world out there, which does not consider us to be the center of it. There are amazing events going on in South America, for instance--a huge leftist democracy movement has swept the continent, and a lot us don't have a clue about it. And Asia is an almost total mystery. If you want to know about the U.S. vs. Asia arms race, why China is not a military threat to the U.S. (but the U.S. may well be to China), what Chinese investors are doing in India, and the Congo, the scoop on Pakistani and Iranian elections, reports from Afghanistan from the Taliban side of things, a report from the side of the Iraqi resistance in Fallujah, the rodent epidemic in Asian rice fields, and read a writer with the remarkable name Mohammed Cohen and his reports on the U.S. presidential primaries, and the hilarious, witty, brilliant "Mogambo Guru" and his analysis of the U.S. economy--Asia Times will give you this and more. It has headquarters in Hong Kong and Thailand, and is a substantial and extremely well-written on-line publication.

http://www.atimes.com/

And don't miss the "Best of Pepe Escobar" (travels in the U.S.)

------------------------

I find Obama's background--and even just his half-sister's name--exciting. To think that only a hundred years ago, and even less--into the 20th century--our white European culture was so diseased with bigotry that black citizens could be lynched, in the southern states, with complete impunity, and only forty years ago--in living memory--we could still see the abomination of "whites only" drinking fountains throughout the south. Accompanying those horrors were other other horrors--against Asians, against Latin Americans, against Jews, against Catholics. We still have a long way to go, for sure--but that Barack Obama, of the diverse background, is drawing so much support, and could well become President of the U.S., says a lot about the REAL America, the one that has been so eclipsed by Bush fascism: tolerant, generous, justice-loving, peace-minded, progressive, and "fighting leftist" America--the America that accomplished this miracle, against great odds. The America of labor unions, and the civil rights movement, and the women's movement, and the gay rights movement, and the indigenous rights movement (notable in Hawaii). Inclusive America. Fair-minded America. Diverse America.

Always a struggle, truly. But this is why America has been admired throughout the world before Bush. Many countries and peoples have had reason to hate our government for its many outrages (--fascist coups in Latin America, and Africa, and Iran! --blood-drenched imperial wars like Vietnam; suppression of democracy; fostering the economically ruinous weapons trade, and on and on). But they didn't hate us. This is why. They could perceive who the American people really are--our famous tolerance and love of justice outweighed all other considerations. We have been a ikon to the world that change is possible--that society's strictures, and bigotries, and injustices are not forever.

Hillary Clinton represents this admired quality of the American people to some women. But I think that Barack Obama may represent it to a much wider spectrum of people, including those in other countries. His election would be like a lightning bolt to the world--America is back! The real America.

[K Gardner]

49. Agreed.. it has been a very informative thread !