Yes We Can by Garen Thomas

Author:Garen Thomas [Garen Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-312-53709-8
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Published: 2008-03-07T16:00:00+00:00

“The history of Africa

is a history of ancient kingdoms

and great traditions;

the story of

people fighting to be free

from colonial rule;

the heroism of not only

great men … but also

ordinary people who

endured great hardship”20

CHAPTER

TWELVE

Barack Obama was admitted into Harvard Law School. But before he started, he decided to take that trip to Kenya he’d been planning for many years. He read a book on the plane about the history of African countries. Though he understood the problems that colonialism (when a country, like England or Holland, rules other nations, exploiting them for its own benefit) had inflicted upon African nations and that many Africans had fought for independence from the colonizers, Barack started to get frustrated. Many of the people on that continent were still suffering from the laws and hierarchies colonialists had instituted and left in their wake.

Barack was also nervous that he would find out that Africa, and Kenya in particular, was not his home—that he would not feel welcome there. He had spent so much time building up Kenya in his head, he was afraid he would feel let down, just as he had been let down gradually by the cracks in the mythology of his father.

When he landed, Barack could not find his suitcase. A woman who worked for the airline asked him his name. When he told her, she asked if he was related to Dr. Obama. She went on to tell him that her family had known his father well. Barack was surprised to learn that, in a nation as large as Kenya, his father’s name and influence traveled far. People had known his dad and so they understood a part of him better than he did himself. That was reassuring.

Auma met Barack at the airport and introduced him to their aunt Zeituni, his father’s half sister, who greeted him with the words that mean “welcome home” in Swahili. And when she left their company that first day, she made Auma promise not to let Barack get lost again. She meant that she didn’t want Barack to go away for very long or lose touch with his people or family.

Auma and Barack drove to her apartment. He settled in and took a nap. When he woke up, he saw a troop of monkeys nearby. But he didn’t own any of these animals, as he had in Jakarta. These monkeys roamed free.

When Auma and Barack walked through the marketplace, he saw figurines like those his father had brought to him in Hawaii. Barack was also aware of the fact that he didn’t stick out from the rest of the crowd. His physical characteristics were common here. No one would ask to touch his hair—it was just like theirs. He blended in and didn’t have to try to justify why he belonged there or what he was doing. He would not be mistaken for a criminal because of the color of his skin. He would not be judged or asked to choose sides in a debate on race.

When he

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