Thursday, May 14, 2009

O'Bama

music

I read The Audacity Of Hope last week. I read it very quickly. It's a good book featuring Obama's thoughts on US Government, Money, Race, God, Policy, Family, etc.
I'm reading Dreams From My Father this week. Now, that is an infinitely interesting book. I'm glad it's so long. I really like the end, which narrates, finally, his Kenyan family history. (I had to read the end before I properly got there; you feel his relief at finally KNOWING where he's from.)
I wish many "lost" Black people in America could come out here, even on short visits, 'cos it's rare to feel at home, in the regal sense of the word, in America when you're Black.
I wish I read more of the AfrAm works that we did in that blitz of a course with Charles Metze III in Freshman year at HU. Now I see what a diligent kid I was, how diligent many of us foreigners were, to have got As in these courses in spite of not having the background knowledge - slaves, OK I had seen "Roots", but we hadn't heard of Thurgood Marshall, Richard Wright, even Toni Morrison, and we had just one semester. The main text for the course was fantastic: From Slavery to Freedom, A History of African Americans by John Hope Franklin.

My sister Kehinde graduated last weekend with a degree from The Mecca. The real H.U. She studied Business: Hospitality Management. (Anybody hiring? Seriously. I would hire her in a heartbeat.)

Last week's news:
New Poet Laureate of England - Carol Ann Duffy
New on the Time 100 List - Rafael Nadal
Still the best in the world - Dinara Safina

5 comments:

Erik Donald France said...

Good thoughts. My sister-in-law, a Canadian librarian, is the only person I know who read Obama's books when they came out. She also met him briefly -- he spoke to a bunch of librarians in DC!

Good news, too -- cool!

mona said...

missing you girl

SOLOMONSYDELLE said...

Hey babe!

A professor at my college once discussed the reason why she makes sure to visit the African continent as often as possible. She said she just was astounded at seeing so many people who looked like her and who acknowledged her as an equal daily.

The continent is definitely wonderful and good for one's soul whether that person be white, black, or whatever.

Anyway, how you dey?

t said...

Obama and the librarians. :)

I dey o. Thanks for visiting, Girl.

casa da poesia said...

"Negema wangubinti"