barack obama irish descent

DREAM COME TRUE

In 1963 when Martin Luther King Jr gave his “I have a Dream” speech at the U.S Capitol, little did those present at that gathering and the world at large know that dream would be fulfilled 46 years later. A dream where he spoke of his desire for a future where blacks and whites, among others, would coexist harmoniously as equals.

Today, January 20th, precisely by noon EST (17:00UTC), Barack Hussein Obama would be sworn in as the first African American and the forty-fourth President of the United States of America at the U.S Capitol, the same venue where Martin Luther King, Progenitor of such a day like this gave his speech 46 years ago. Indeed dreams do come true!

A critical look at the Man Barack Obama and his achievements, reminds one of the phrase “can anything good come out of Nazareth”?

Born at the Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Ann Dunham, a white American from Wichita, Kansas of English and Irish descent, and to his father Barack Obama Sr., a Luo from Nyang’oma Kogelo, Nyanza Province, Kenya, Obama has proven to the world that being credible and achieving one’s dream has got nothing to do with the colour of your skin.

Going by his intelligence, charisma and commitment to fairness and justice, the Columbia University and Harvard Law School Graduate where he was the first African-American President of the Harvard Law Review, has always been a man of “Firsts”, little wonder he is President elect today of the world’s most Powerful country.

Talking about his early childhood, Obama recalls his childhood “That my father looked nothing like the people around me — that he was black as pitch, my mother white as milk — barely registered in my mind”. His victory over his Republican opponent, John McCain, put to rest the notion that America could never elect a non-white president to occupy the famous Whitehouse, the official residence of the world’s most powerful leader.

All eyes are certainly on him. The stakes are so high and the challenges so enormous that much fear that he is bound to disappoint his supporters. With his inauguration today, Obama will switch from a promise maker to either a promise keeper or promise breaker.

His victory as President of the United States of America is in no doubt a plus for Africa as Africa looks forward to a more beneficial relationship between her and the US under President Obama whose father hails from Kenya. Africa may be entitled to that expectation but whether Obama will oblige is also a matter of time.

The new American president deserves to be given the benefit of doubt as he takes over the toughest, albeit, most influential office in the world.

We wish him and his cabinet well, and we do hope that at the end of his tenure, his reign would be that of promises made, promises kept.

Another Voice Of Reason – Janeane Garofalo