The man called Barack Obama
This man was relatively unknown in the States until he declared his intention to run for the most coveted position – the position of the most powerful president in the world. Obama is a black man whose great grandfathers were muslim slaves from Kenya. Her late mum dropped out of school at 18 after been impregnated by a polygamist (Obama Snr) who had four wives. As a man destined to make history, he was dumped by his African father at the tender age of one. Both were later separated by a divorce when Barack was just 3 years old.
He was brought up by his single mother and her parents until he was 6 years old when he had a step-father. His joy of having someone to look up to was later truncated by the penury suffered by his new family which prompted his mother to send him to her parents when he was just 10 in order to get him educated. He could have been an uneducated man today – thanks to the scholarship package prepared for him by his grandmum. In 1980 (when barrack was 19), his mother filed another divorce case against her second husband and it’s probably safe to say that barrack had very little influence from the two men.
His mother, Ann unfortunately died in 1995. But the current US Presidential hopeful is definitely a man that no one would give any chance. He declared his interest after spending less than 100 days as a Senator in the US congress after which he was branded as inexperienced by many political theorists and proponents in the God’s Own Country. And in spite of the serious campaign of calumny against him by his political detractors, Barack continues to wax stronger. Many of them said that he lack character and he’s not familiar with White House politics. But Obama proved the books wrong. Having been totally convinced by his dream, he rose up against all odds to win the minds of the majority of the delegates (both pledged and super delegates) in his party through his HOPE and CHANGE campaign. He is on the threshold of entering into bigger books of history as he becomes the first black president of America.
In saner political climes like the US and UK, any election is won by the team that has the best points to sell to the electorates. Certainly, Barack has the best ideological team now – a team made up of messianic zealot.
What can be learnt from this man’s life?
The life of this 49-year old man is surely a testimony. He navigated through the murky waters of life to become a pearl without price. After years of turbulence, with an unpleasant childhood, this man has created a niche for himself in the political circles. The black race must learn that it’s not about today. It’s about the future. No matter what we have gone through in life in the past (probably years of economic and social inadequacies), the future awaits us in good light. We can always make it through our own decisions and steadfastness. Though Obama did not get to his present status through complacency, he remained dedicated, firm and resolute to his dreams.
The Black race should rise up to the challenge. Africa can re-write history. We now have Black people and Africans making waves in all walks of life. But time will surely tell if we will sustain this.
