riverECHO

Dreams From My Father is a beautifully written memoir about the self discovery years of a fatherless African American. It just happens to be the story of our current president as well. Barack leads us through the early years of his life growing up in loving households with his white mother and Indonesian step-father in Indonesia and with his white grandparents in Hawaii, where the color of his skin didn’t define who he was. But something was missing . . . his father. And because he isn’t there, Barack is left to create an image of his all knowing and powerful Kenyan father through the stories told by his mother and grandparents. As he gets older and eventually moves to California for college and then on to Chicago to pursue a career in social organization, he is faced with presumptions and expectations of who he should be as an African American. It isn’t until he is accepted to Harvard Law School and long after he hears of his father’s death that he decides to return to Kenya to discover his roots and meet the other half of his family that he has never known. In Kenya, he meets his many brothers, sisters and extended family and learns of the real struggle and hardships that defined his father, who felt the same disconnect and judgment from his own father. This is an inspiring story about self discovery and the drive to help others in need, shining light onto the events and experiences that defined Barack Obama as a young man.