When I was in Rochester last summer, (not to mention its temperature of about 76 degrees farenheit) i overheard this Caucasian young lady saying, "he'll get it. no doubt about that. "
Yeah, they were talkin about Barack Obama.
Now who the hell is Barack Obama? Kid, the very first black american president in the house! yo!
He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii(1961). His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya.
Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas.
His parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. Obama’s father went to Harvard to pursue Ph. D. studies and then returned to Kenya.
His mother married Lolo Soetoro, another East–West Center student from Indonesia. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro–Ng was born. Obama attended schools in Jakarta, where classes were taught in the Indonesian language.
Four years later when Barack (commonly known throughout his early years as "Barry") was ten, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents. He was enrolled in the fifth grade at the esteemed Punahou Academy, graduating with honors in 1979. He was only one of three black students at the school. This is where Obama first became conscious of racism and what it meant to be an African–American.
In his memoir, Obama described how he struggled to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. He saw his biological father (who died in a 1982 car accident) only once (in 1971) after his parents divorced. And he admitted using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine during his teenage years.
After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science.
Obama entered Harvard Law School in 1988. In February 1990, he was elected the first African–American editor of the Harvard Law Review. Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991.
After law school, Obama returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer, joining the firm of Miner, Barnhill & Galland. He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School. And he helped organize voter registration drives during Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.
Obama’s advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate as a Democrat.
During these years, Obama worked with both Democrats and Republicans in drafting legislation on ethics, expanded health care services and early childhood education programs for the poor. He also created a state earned-income tax credit for the working poor. And after a number of inmates on death row were found innocent, Obama worked with law enforcement officials to require the videotaping of interrogations and confessions in all capital cases.
In February 2007, Obama made headlines when he announced his candidacy for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. He is locked in a tight battle with former first lady and current U.S. Senator from New York, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
This is just a lil compilation of Barack Obama's biography. courtesy of biography.com
My most favorite statement that Obama has ever said and never will I forget,
"I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars." pertaining to Bush's movement against Iraq.
Medyo biased ako ng konti lang naman kasi paborito siya ng nanay ko. She always tell me na iboboto niya ito. haha, my mom never fails to influence me in terms of political advocacies.
Ayaw na ng mga kano ng Republican. And good thing, dumating si Obama. A Democrat candidate. What America need now is peace talks. Bakit, may napala ba sila sa Giyera against Iraq?
By the way, have you read Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope"? it's a book-length account that expanded upon many of the same themes he originally addressed in the convention speeches. What a refulgent work he got there. Very Brilliant.
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