http://www.boston.com/news/politics/primaries/massachusetts/articles/2004/07/14/democrat_barack_obama_to_deliver_convention_keynote_address/Democrat Barack Obama to deliver convention keynote address
By Emily Fredrix, Associated Press Writer | July 14, 2004
BOSTON -- Barack Obama, the Democratic Party's candidate for the Senate in Illinois, will deliver the keynote address at the convention, officials announced Wednesday.
Obama, a law professor and state senator, will speak on July 27, the second night of the convention, with Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. Obama will talk about the future of America that a Democratic administration would provide, along with the need to make jobs, families and communities top priorities in the lives of Americans.
"Barack is an optimistic voice for America and a leader who knows that together we can build an America that is stronger at home and respected in the world," Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said in a statement.
Obama has a compelling story: His father was a member of Kenya's Luo tribe, born on the shores of Lake Victoria. He met Obama's mother, who was white, when both were students at the University of Hawaii.
When Obama was 2, his father left the family, returning to Kenya, where he eventually became a senior economist in the Ministry of Finance.
Obama graduated from Columbia University in New York, and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. He became the first black president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review.<snip>