Wednesday 5 November 2008

Fears Unfounded

So, the US has just voted in Barak Obama as their 44th President.

What a country, where the son of a Kenyan goat breeder can become the most powerful man in the world, and for now, it is really the land of opportunity.

And Kenya is rejoicing; Kenya is celebrating. Kenya has declared a public holiday on Thursday!

The thing that strikes me is that Barak won over the black vote. It was not a forgone conclusion. He is not like most black Americans. His ancestry did not come out of slavery. He is a first generation American from Africa. The black voters were wary of him, but he won.

4 comments:

Prousette said...

Obama Sr. was a Harvard educated economist not a goatherd.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Hussein_Obama,_Sr.

BabaMzungu said...

Barak Obama Snr. was born in a village near Lake Victoria, Kenya, spent his childhood, like his peers as a goatherd for his father.
He later received a scolarship, being an outstanding student, he was educated at Harvard.

Millennium Housewife said...

And how excited and thrilled were people all over the World. My husband woke me at 6.30am (a brave thing to do believe me) to tell me that he'd won. We celebrated with tea in bed with the children trying to explain what it all meant. I have kept a copy of the paper that day and I hope that one day my grandchildren will see it and laugh at what for us seemed new but to them (hopefully) very normal. Enjoy your National Holiday! MH

BabaMzungu said...

MH
Unfortunately, I am stuck in the UK at the moment, wondering just how I am going to get back to my second home.
But I am with you, hoping that one day, the election of a man or woman of colour will not be seen as such a big step.