Kayan : 11/26 : Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama

I first heard the name of Barack Obama during the 2004 Democratic National Convention. "He's our country's best hope!", said my progressive New Yorker friend. I remember thinking, cynically, "How impressive could a Senator from Illinois be? And what kind of name is Barack Obama?" I was in for a treat.

Barack Obama delivered the Keynote Address at the DNC that night, and his speech gave me both goose bumps and a spine-tingling, refreshing new hope for the future of America. As Oprah later declared, "It felt like a new day." Obama's speech was eloquent, confident; here is a man who has spent time in the drenches, experiencing, trying to understand, the deep troubles of this country. And he yearns deeply to save this country in the things from which it ails, the ones that matter: the dying of common decency, brotherhood, opportunity, unity. Hope.

Watch / Read his speech (Get ready to have your world ROCKED)

"Dreams from My Father" is Obama's memoir, originally published in 1995. On the surface, it appears to chronicle the life of a mixed-race boy growing up in America: Obama's mother is from Kansas; his father, Kenya. But before long, we come to find Obama's story is one of self discovery. Whether it's growing up with a single parent; moving around too much in his teenage years; experiencing life as an immigrant; figuring things out in the awkward years that are called High School; finding oneself and one's purpose in the college years; every person in America can probably find at least one part of Obama's life with which he or she can relate. As is life, this story is so much more than black and white.

Obama is an extremely introspective individual. He contemplates about the world and how he fits in it. "I feel this way. That bothers me. Why does that bother me?" "The world is this way. Why? How can we salvage the situation before it becomes too late? Or, is that just the way it's going to be?" To my happiness, his visit to Kenya and his feelings about Africa resonated with my own. He is overwhelmed by the beauty of Africa - its land and its people - but he is also troubled and pained by the struggles of its people - his people - and the prospects of Africa's future.

I hope Obama runs for President, and soon. Before reading this book, I could not understand how people could *love* a President like John F. Kennedy; why people would cry and mourn the death of a President as someone deeply personal. I now understand.

Quotes from his speech:
"The pundits like to slice and dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States...and yes, we've got some gay friends in the Red States."

"The audacity of hope! In the end, that is God's greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation. A belief in things not seen. A belief that there are better days ahead."

Highly Recommended: So you know who to vote for in 2012 (and get all your friends to vote for him too)