TIME Mag. Cover Story: The Story of Barack Obama's Mother

[babylonsister]

The Story of Barack Obama's Mother
Wednesday, Apr. 09, 2008 By AMANDA RIPLEY/HONOLULU


Each of us lives a life of contradictory truths. We are not one thing or another. Barack Obama's mother was at least a dozen things. S. Ann Soetoro was a teen mother who later got a Ph.D. in anthropology; a white woman from the Midwest who was more comfortable in Indonesia; a natural-born mother obsessed with her work; a romantic pragmatist, if such a thing is possible.

"When I think about my mother," Obama told me recently, "I think that there was a certain combination of being very grounded in who she was, what she believed in. But also a certain recklessness. I think she was always searching for something. She wasn't comfortable seeing her life confined to a certain box."

Obama's mother was a dreamer. She made risky bets that paid off only some of the time, choices that her children had to live with. She fell in love—twice—with fellow students from distant countries she knew nothing about. Both marriages failed, and she leaned on her parents and friends to help raise her two children.

"She cried a lot," says her daughter Maya Soetoro-Ng, "if she saw animals being treated cruelly or children in the news or a sad movie—or if she felt like she wasn't being understood in a conversation." And yet she was fearless, says Soetoro-Ng. "She was very capable. She went out on the back of a motorcycle and did rigorous fieldwork. Her research was responsible and penetrating. She saw the heart of a problem, and she knew whom to hold accountable."

Today Obama is partly a product of what his mother was not. Whereas she swept her children off to unfamiliar lands and even lived apart from her son when he was a teenager, Obama has tried to ground his children in the Midwest. "We've created stability for our kids in a way that my mom didn't do for us," he says. "My choosing to put down roots in Chicago and marry a woman who is very rooted in one place probably indicates a desire for stability that maybe I was missing."

more...

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1729524,00.html?imw=Y

[K Gardner]

1. I'm reading "Dreams From My Father".. and aside from being one of the most

well-written and insightful books I've read in many, many years, this book gives a truly in-depth look at how the people and places of his childhood shaped the man we see today. He lamented, in the opening, that if he'd known his mother was to die so young he perhaps would have written a different book. But he DID write a book about this incredible woman, in every word and every sentence.. and by the product of his life.

There is an entire chapter devoted to Rev. Wright, also, that I am truly surprised no one in the MSM has seized upon.. but then, probably because it tells a very moving and engaging story of the man he refuses to throw under the bus.

Anyone who hasn't read this book really should.. whether you "like" Obama or not. He is an extraordinary writer.

[babylonsister]

2. I'm reading it, too, but haven't gotten to the Wright chapter yet.

It is a terrific book! I've spent some time in Indonesia so his recollections were captivating to me.

I need to read this article (no, I haven't yet; heard about it this a.m.) to make sure it correlates to the book. I understand Obama also contributed his thoughts to this piece.

This will give anyone who wants one an opportunity to read about where he came from and how that shaped his life, w/o having to read the book. It's a good thing.

[1776Forever]

3. Thank you for your perception on Obama's book - I plan on reading it soon

:hi:

[catgirl]

14. Me too!

[pnorman]

10. "Dereams From My Father"

I just checked Audible.com, and it's there! Here's the listing: http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/products/ProductDetail.jsp?productID=BK_RAND_000619&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

"Audacity Of Hope" is also listed there, but I'll probably order only the first one. Prices at Audible.com are sometimes pretty steep, but are a lot cheaper for a member. And if you sign up for a Plan, they're ~$10 each regardless of price.

pnorman

[Catherina]

23. I just started it this afternoon

I bought both of his books on tape so I can take it anywhere and started with "Dreams From My Father". It's nice that he narrates them.

[NYCGirl]

4. What a remarkable and exceedingly complex woman she was. NT

[kentuck]

5. Imagine

Just being with a black man in 1960? This was before the Civil Rights Act. This was at the end of the 1950's. Imagine the name-calling and the ridicule. Imagine the shame of the "white" relatives at that time. America was not friendly to such relationships. Imagine growing up as a child under these conditions.

[babylonsister]

8. Obama's grandparents were pretty remarkable, too.

They weren't racist but witnessed it in a move to TX; they moved on. There was that wanderlust in her father; must be where she got it from. :) But it could not have been easy for her, which makes it all the more remarkable.

[SoCalDem]

15. Without having read either book or the article, I'm guessing that

Hawaii was a great choice BECAUSE of the multi-cultural aspect of the place.. Kansas would NOT have been a good place for them to live..

I don't know if that's why they lived there, but it's what popped into my head.. Hawaii had not been a state all that long, and in the 60's it was still a very laid back, accepting place :) (probably still is)

[angie_love]

6. A woman well ahead of her time as Richard Stengel said today on Morning Joe

[H2O Man]

7. It looks really interesting.

[flpoljunkie]

9. It is. Barack Obama's mother was a fascinating person.

[babylonsister]

11. Pls. share your impressions, H20 Man, after you've read this.

I have to run out but will try to get through it upon my return. I'm having ISP issues and feel like I'm on dial-up instead of what I'm paying for. :grr:

[me b zola]

12. Stanley-Ann. The original feminist for Obama

Her life condensed to seven fascinating pages, I could have read seven-hundred.

Thank you, Ann.

[Adelante]

13. Fascinating story

She was a natural feminist.

[Bucky]

16. Finally, a northerner who knows how to get southern votes.

I can't feel comfortable voting for a man if he won't talk about his mama. If Kerry or Dukakis had just talked about their mamas a little more, we'd've had more presidents from Massachusetts.

[Binka]

18. Bill Talked About His Mama But I've Never Heard Hillary Speak Warmly Of Hers

Anyone know the story behind that relationship? I'm at work and really can't google at this moment.

[Bucky]

28. I've seen her talk about her father a bit.

But no, she's a typical northern politician, always with the issues, issues, issues... never a peep about how folksy she is.

Sigh, I just don't get these people.

[BeyondGeography]

17. She lives on...how nice it would be if she could see this

[babylonsister]

19. Nice sentiment; she'd be delighted, I imagine, but not surprised. nt

[woolldog]

20. Interesting factoid from that article:

Hillary is old enough to be Obama's mother! Per the article, Obama's mom was born only 5 years before Hillary was.

I guess I didn't realize the age gap between them was so large.

[Scurrilous]

21. Thanks for posting this.

K & R :thumbsup:

[Cha]

22. Fascinating, babylonsister..thank you!

"Both marriages failed" but what amazing gifts she recieved. Obama looks a lot like her, too.:)

[stillcool]

24. Damn...that's an amazing life..

I really like the way the article is written. By AMANDA RIPLEY/HONOLULU
"it has something to do with having had a parent who gazed at different cultures the way other people study gems."

"With each failed marriage, Ann gained a child and, in one case, a country as well."

[Frank Booth]

25. What an amazing person. She gave so much to the world.

It's no surprise she had such an amazing son.

[grantcart]

26. thank you sister

[FrenchieCat]

27. Excellent! Boy her story made me cry. But then I cry often these days.

In some ways, Obama's mother led a similarily exotic life to the one my mother led, although my Mom did not accomplish nearly as much as Obama's mom and never was well educated--instead, she grew up during WWII in Paris, France, where she and her 16 siblings and her parents lived on a large barge that traveled the River Seine. like Stanley Ann, my White Mom became a teen aged mother at 19 and gave birth to two Black children (me and my brother--who are only 11 months apart-6 week checkup I guess). Our Black Dad left her shortly after I was born(a few years earlier than Obama). France was relatively racially tolerant early on. Later, the tolerance abruptly ended when France gave independence to its colonies, and a large influx of people of color emmigrated into France. My brother and I were often mistaken for Algerians (not good, considering the French/Algerian War was recent.....although we were simply Mixed Black and White). So my Mom decided that we would move to the U.S., the land where the streets were paved with Gold, or so we believed. We moved to Berkeley, Ca., and I can say, there was no Gold. Eventually, I found DU.

[Bucky]

29. There's gold

But it ain't a metal.

Anyway, I'm glad you found DU

[Lakerstan]

30. Great article - required reading - K&R. nt