Author: sreid01 | Total views: 46 Comments: 0
Word Count: 1235 Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:49 AM

History on The Parents of Barack Obama

For many Americans there are a few questions about our new President that we are not real sure on. One question is who were the parents of Barack Obama? Another question is concerning his race mix. Is he really half white and half black? There is a lot of intrigue in the new President concerning his past and those that influenced him. Having an opportunity to look into his past and see how how or who groomed him helps anyone to see how he attained greatness today. Here is a brief bio on the parents of Barack Obama.

Barack Obamas father was an African born in 1936 in a village called Nyangoma Kogelo in Kenya. Kenya obviously is located on the continent of Africa. His father had a pretty normal childhood while in Kenya. He attended a missionary school in his youth and when it was time for him to work he started out goat herding and then later in his adulthood became a clerk in Nairobi, Kenya.

In 1957 at the age of 21 Barack Obama Sr gets married to his first wife an African girl named Kezia. The same year the couple gives birth to the first member of their family, a son they named Abongo. In 1959 Barack Obama Sr. is given the opportunity of a lifetime to study abroad in the United States. There was a scholarship program that afforded Kenyan students the privilege to be educated at an American university. The community that Barack Obama Sr lived in persuaded him to take the scholarship in hopes he would use it to help further develop Kenya after he finished with his studies. He later decides to attend the University of Hawaii where he would major in economics and thus leave behind a family of three in Kenya (a pregnant wife and a 1 year old). At the University of Hawaii he would meet the Ann Dunham (Barack Obama Jrs mother).

Stanley Ann Dunham was a American white woman born on November 29, 1942. She was born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to parents Stanley Armour Dunham and Madelyn Dunham. She was named Stanley because her father wanted a son and made her first name Stanley. Ann Dunhams father was a furniture salesman and her mother eventually became Vice President of a bank.

At the age of 13 her family relocates to Mercer Island in Washington. Her high school years are spent on Mercer Island attending Mercer Island high school. She graduated high school in 1960 and her family decided to move to Hawaii for business reasons. While in Hawaii she attended the University of Hawaii and there met Barack Obama Sr.

After only a few months of dating, Barack Obama Sr and Ann Dunham decided to get married in 1961. At the time of marriage she was pregnant with Barack Obama Jr and also she did not know Barack Obama Sr already had a family in Kenya. It is obvious to note during those times it was a major decision between both of them to get married considering the state of race relations during those years. Both received opposition from their families concerning the marriage. Barack Obama Sr consulted with his wife at some point about this marriage to Ann Dunham. It is a custom that African men can marry more than one wife. On August 4, 1961, the couple gave birth to Barack Obama Jr.

The following year Barack Obama Sr. gets accepted into Harvard on a scholarship where he majored in economics thus moving from Hawaii to Massachusetts. He left his second family (Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Jr) behind in Hawaii.

In 1964 after only 3 years of marriage the parents of Barack Obama Jr divorce. The divorce took place when Barack Obama Jr was just two years old.
At the age of 29 Barack Obama Sr. earned his Masters degree in economics from Harvard. After completing his Masters degree he left for Kenya. While in Harvard he meets a lady name Ruth Nidesand whom he makes his 3rd wife. At some point upon returning to Kenya Barack Obama Sr begins working in the Ministry of Economic Planning as an economist.

After divorcing the parents of Barack Obama Jr separate paths. Barack Obama Sr continues back to Africa and Ann Dunham leaves college for a brief spell to take care of her son. She later returns to the University of Hawaii when Barack Obama Jr is around two years old. She at some point meets an Indonesian foreign student name Lolo Soetoro whom she would later marry in 1967.

While in school Lolo had to return to his home country of Indonesia. With a change of leadership in his country there was a decision made to recall all students that were studying in other countries. This recall forced the parents of Barack Obama to make a decision to leave for Indonesia. While in Indonesia, Barack Obama Jr attended the local schools until the age of 10 years old. While there Ann Dunham (Barack Obamas mother) taught English at the US Embassy. Being concerned about her sons education, she would awake Barack early in the morning and give him English lessons. With a lack of African American influence in his life and to keep him aware of African American culture she would find African American literature for him to read and music for him to listen to.

In 1971 Ann Dunham decides to send Barack Obama Jr back to the US, particularly Hawaii to live with the grand parents of Barack Obama Jr, Stanley and Madelyn Dunham. This decision was partly because she wanted her son to be raised in America in a more suitable environment for him. He was enrolled in Punahou prep school by his grandparents. Also in that year Barack Obama Sr returned to Hawaii to visit Barack Obama Jr which would be the last time they would spend together.

In 1972 Ann Dunham returned with daughter Maya to live in Hawaii who was born in 1971. In 1974 Ann Dunham left for Indonesia in order to complete her Ph.D. in Anthropology. While there she did a lot of anthropological field work towards getting her degree which she obtained in 1992 from the University of Hawaii. Ann Dunham also assisted with organizing a microfinance program that helped provide financing to poor families in Indonesia.

The parents of Barack Obama Jr divorced (Ann Dunham and Lolo Soetoro) in 1980. Two years later in 1982 it is learned that Barack Obama Sr died in an automobile accident which was a shock to her son who barely knew his father. In 1994 Ann Dunham returned to Hawaii to be with her family. When she returned she discovered she had ovarian cancer and died in 1995.

This is an informative history lesson on the parents of Barack Obama. His background is very interesting and his parents had a good understanding on the value of getting an education. You can see they were not around many years of his life but his grandparents obviously guided him in the right direction. Looking at the various decisions his parents made in their lives should make us appreciate his story even more. Somewhere and somehow Barack Obama Jr garnered the desire to be the best he could be despite not having a perfect upbringing. This should speak volumes to every reader.