President Elect, Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Speaks during the ground breaking
ceremony for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in
Washington, Monday, Nov. 13, 2006. (AP Photo/Lawrence
Jackson)
Powerful Video About a Barack Obama Presidency
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Barack Obama, Harlem New York, Nov. 29th 2007 Part 1 Chris Rock & Dr. Cornel West Endorse Obama |
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Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4th, 1961. His father, Barack Obama Sr., was born and raised in a small village in Kenya, where he grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British.
Barack's mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in small-town Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression, and then signed up for World War II after Pearl Harbor, where he marched across Europe in Patton's army. Her mother went to work on a bomber assembly line, and after the war, they studied on the G.I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved west to Hawaii.
Barack's father eventually returned to Kenya, and Barack grew up with his mother in Hawaii, and for a few years in Indonesia. Later, he moved to New York, where he graduated from Columbia University in 1983.
Remembering the values of empathy and service that his mother taught him, Barak put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment.
The group had some success, but Barack had come to realize that in order to truly improve the lives of people in that community and other communities, he needed the skills that only a more professional education could offer.
He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate, where he served for seven years.
In 2003, Barack launched his improbable race for the United States Senate. Even with many primary contenders, an imported Republican challenger and a budget six times smaller than his opponent's, Barack won a landslide victory. Even then, he stood out alone among the major candidates, opposing the war in Iraq.
As a US Senator,
Barack has continued to work on the issues that represent the ideals and
aspirations of so many. He's helped pass major measures that combat the
international trafficking of nuclear weapons, promote the use of alternative
fuels, and open up the budget process to greater public scrutiny. In all of
these efforts, he's brought Democrats and Republicans together for the common
good.
Above all his accomplishments and experiences, Barack is most proud and grateful for his family. His wife, Michelle, and his two daughters, Malia and Sasha.
The
Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
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by Barack Obama
ISBN: 0307237699
Pub. Date: October 2006
Format: Hardcover, 320pp
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
"A government that truly represents these Americans--that truly serves these Americans--will require a different kind of politics. That politics will need to reflect our lives as they are actually lived. It won't be pre-packaged, ready to pull off the shelf. It will have to be constructed from the best of our traditions and will have to account for the darker aspects of our past. We will need to understand just how we got to this place, this land of warring factions and tribal hatreds. And we'll need to remind ourselves, despite all our differences, just how much we share: common hopes, common dreams, a bond that will not break." from The Audacity of Hope
In July 2004, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. One phrase in particular anchored itself in listeners' minds, a reminder that for all the discord and struggle to be found in our history as a nation, we have always been guided by a dogged optimism in the future, or what Senator Obama called "the audacity of hope."
Now, in The Audacity of Hope, Senator Obama calls for a different brand of politics -- a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the "endless clash of armies" we see in congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of "our improbable experiment in democracy." He explores those forces -- from the fear of losing to the perpetual need to raise money to the power of the media -- that can stifle even the best-intentioned politician. He also writes, with surprising intimacy and self-deprecating humor, about settling in as a senator, seeking to balance the demands of public service and family life, and his own deepening religious commitment.
At the heart of this book is Senator Obama's vision of how we can move beyond our divisions to tackle concrete problems. He examines the growing economic insecurity of American families, the racial and religious tensions within the body politic, and the transnational threats -- from terrorism to pandemic -- that gather beyond our shores. And he grapples with the role that faith plays in a democracy -- where it is vital and where it must never intrude. Underlying his stories about family, friends, members of the Senate, even the president, is a vigorous search for connection: the foundation for a radically hopeful political consensus.
A senator and a lawyer, a professor and a father, a Christian and a skeptic, and above all a student of history and human nature, Senator Obama has written a book of transforming power. Only by returning to the principles that gave birth to our Constitution, he says, can Americans repair a political process that is broken, and restore to working order a government that has fallen dangerously out of touch with millions of ordinary Americans. Those Americans are out there, he writes --- "waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them."
Dreams
from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
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ISBN: 1400082773
Pub. Date: August 2004
Format: Paperback, 480pp
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father-a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man-has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey-first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother's family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his father's life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance.
Of Thee I
Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
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Pub. Date: November 2010
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Format: Hardcover, 40pp
Age Range: 5 to 8
In this tender, beautiful letter to his daughters, President Barack Obama
has written a moving tribute to thirteen groundbreaking Americans and the
ideals that have shaped our nation. From the artistry of Georgia O'Keeffe,
to the courage of Jackie Robinson, to the patriotism of George Washington,
President Obama sees the traits of these heroes within his own children, and
within all of America's children.
Breathtaking, evocative illustrations by award-winning artist Loren Long at
once capture the personalities and achievements of these great Americans and
the innocence and promise of childhood.
This beautiful book celebrates the characteristics that unite all Americans,
from our nation's founders to generations to come. It is about the potential
within each of us to pursue our dreams and forge our own paths. It is a
treasure to cherish with your family forever.
The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress
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Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Walker & Company (May 25, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 080271739X
ISBN-13: 978-0802717399
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
For acclaimed historian William Jelani Cobb, the historic election of
Barack Obama to the presidency is not the
most remarkable development of the 2008 election; even more so is the fact
that Obama won some 90 percent of the black vote in the primaries across
America despite the fact that the established black leadership since the
civil rights era?men like Jesse Jackson, John Lewis, Andrew Young, who paved
the way for his candidacy?all openly supported Hillary Clinton. Clearly a
sea change has occurred among black voters, ironically pushing the
architects of the civil rights movement toward the periphery at the moment
when their political dreams were most fully realized.
How this has happened, and the powerful implications it holds for America's politics and social landscape, is the focus of The Substance of Hope, a deeply insightful, paradigm-shifting examination of a new generation of voters that has not been shaped by the raw memory of Jim Crow and has a different range of imperatives. Cobb sees Obama's ascendancy as "a reality that has been taking shape in tiny increments for the past four decades," and examines thorny issues such as the paradox and contradictions embodied in race and patriotism, identity and citizenship; how the civil rights leadership became a political machine; why the term "postracial" is as iniquitous as it is inaccurate; and whether our society has really changed with Obama's election.
Elegantly written and powerfully argued, The Substance of Hope challenges conventional wisdom as it offers original insight into America's future
The
First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House as Originally
Reported by Roland S. Martin
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Includes a DVD of the author's interviews with the Obamas
Paperback: 372 pages
Publisher: Third World Press; 1 edition (January 31, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0883783169
ISBN-13: 978-0883783160
Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
About the Book
Noted African American journalist Roland Martin takes readers back down
President Barack Obama's campaign trail in this chronological journal of
events that dates back to when then Senator Obama had yet to announce his
candidacy and follows him on his journey to the presidency. Martin's
charismatic writing style is presented through his in-depth analysis of the
presidential campaign and Obama's struggles and successes. Martin gives
readers insight on how each important event played out in front of the
nation and also shares interviews from his broadcasts, including an
interview he conducted with President Obama after his win in Iowa in January
2008. Other Notable interviews include Dr. Cornel West, Rep John Lewis,
Spike Lee, Maxine Waters and Michael Eric Dyson.
About the Author
Roland S. Martin is one of the most recognized black journalists in American
Media. He is a CNN analyst, a senior analyst for the Tom Joyner Morning
Show, and the host of TV One Network's Washington Watch With Roland.
Barack
Obama in Hawaii and Indonesia: The Making of a Global President
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by Dinesh Sharma, Ph.D.
Hardcover: 276 pages
Publisher: Praeger (September 22, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0313385335
ISBN-13: 978-0313385339
Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
Barack Obama is the first American president born and raised in Hawai'i, the most diverse state in the Union, and the first American president to have spent a significant part of his childhood in a Muslim-majority nation, namely, Indonesia. What effect did these�and other early experiences�have on the man who is now, arguably, the world's most popular political leader?
The Obama Time Capsule: World History in the Making
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THE OBAMA TIME CAPSULE showcases one of the most important
presidential races in American history through the eyes of the
world's top photographers. Spanning a two-year period, the book
provides behind-the-scenes images encompassing President Barack
Obama's road to the White House, Election Day, the Inauguration
and his first 100 days in office. Including essays from TIME
magazine's Joe Klein, The Huffington Post's Arianna Huffington,
General Colin Powell and President Obama's sister, Auma Obama.
The book also includes fascinating infographics from
world-renowned graphic artist Nigel Holmes, the human stories
featured in this fascinating book capture the challenges and
opportunities facing America's 44th president as he takes his
place on the world stage.
THE OBAMA TIME CAPSULE also offers a groundbreaking new feature:
After you answer a few simple questions and upload your own
photos to the publisher's website, a personalized copy of the
book will be created just for you, seamlessly weaving President
Obama's extraordinary journey together with your name, your
photos and your thoughts.
6 Fun Ways to Personalize Your Book
Personalizing your book enables you to weave President Obama's
journey with yours in numerous locations throughout the book. A
step-by-step guide walks you through the fun and easy steps.
I am Barack Obama
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by Charisse Carney-Nunes, Illustrated by Ann Marie Williams
Hardcover: 36 pages
Publisher: Brand Nu Words (April 25, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0974814245
ISBN-13: 978-0974814247
Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
I Am Barack Obama is not a book about Barack Obama. Rather, it allows children to see themselves through the inspirational story of President Obama growing up as an ordinary child asking, Who will change the world? Ultimately, he realizes that he will. I Am Barack Obama is also the first children's digibook available interactively along with its companion print edition.
The
Greatest Gift I Could Offer: Quotations from Barack Obama on
Parenting and Family
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Paperback: 112 pages
Publisher: Berkley Trade (April 7, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425231402
ISBN-13: 978-0425231401
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.8 x 0.4 inches
Words of wisdom on raising a family, from President Barack
Obama.
Barack Obama's eloquent words have inspired many. Here, in the
only collection of its kind, are his thoughts on parenting and
family. Each of his quotes is set in a context of insightful
background on Obama's family experiences'a child of divorce,
raised by a single mother, woven into a blended family, reared
for years by his grandparents, then going on to embrace his
multi-racial roots and blood relatives'and how each of these
experiences helped to shape the choices he made in starting his
own family.
Distinguished by its selection of photos of President Obama in
casual family settings, this is an inspiring keepsake and a
wonderful gift for baby showers and birthdays'as well as for the
first Mother's Day and Father's Day that Obama will be in
office.
Barack Obama: The
Man and His Journey
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Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD
formats.)
Number of discs: 1
Rating: Nit Rated
Studio: Vivendi Entertainment
DVD Release Date: January 20, 2009
Run Time: 80 minutes
Share the incredible, inspirational story of President Barack
Obama , the 44th President of the United States. See how one
man inspired us with the refrain Yes We Can! In this defining
moment, America has proven once again that her story is
constantly evolving towards greater freedom and justice for
all.
Free Digital Download of Exclusive Brian McKnight song.
Limited Edition Collectible Presidential Card- Holographic foil
stamp, numbered and registered.
Obama:
From Promise to Power
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by David Mendell
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Amistad; 1 edition (August 14, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0060858206
Book Description
David Mendell has covered Obama since the beginning of his campaign for
the Senate and as a result enjoys far'reaching access to the new
Senator''both his professional and personal life. He uses this access to
paint a very intimate portrait of Obama and his life pre and post
Senate, including Obama's new status as a sex symbol now that going into
a crowd to shake hands with constituents carries the added concern of
being groped by women, and the toll this has had on his marriage.
Mendell also describes the dirty tactics sanctioned by Obama''who has
steeped his image and reputation on the ideals of clean politics and
good government '' to win his Senate seat by employing David Axelrod, a
Chicago'based political consultant (consultant to the John Edwards's
campaign) with what the author describes as "an appetite for the Big
Kill."
Mendell also positions Barack Obama as in fact the Savior of a fumbling Democratic party, who is potentially orchestrating a career in Senate to guarantee him at the very least a vice presidential nod, if not a nod for the top job in 2008. The dream ticket would be Hilary Clinton'Barack Obama given his reception at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Because he enjoys popularity among Whites (particularly suburban White women) and Blacks, it might not be such a far'fetched idea.
About the Author
David Mendell, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, began writing about urban issues and politics for the Chicago Tribune in 1998. During his eight-year tenure at the Tribune, Mendell has also covered breaking national news including the Columbine High School shootings and the Seattle riots spurred by meetings of the World Trade Organization. He lives in Oak Park, Illinois.
A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited about
Obama And Why He Can't Win
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Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Free Press (December 4, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416559175
ISBN-13: 978-1416559177
Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
In Shelby Steele's beautifully wrought and thought provoking new book, A Bound Man, the award-winning and bestselling author of The Content of Our Character attests that Senator Barack Obama's groundbreaking quest for the highest office in the land is fast becoming a galvanizing occasion beyond mere presidential politics, one that is forcing a national dialogue on the current state of race relations in America. Says Steele, poverty and inequality usually are the focus of such dialogues, but Obama's bid for so high an office pushes the conversation to a more abstract level where race is a politics of guilt and innocence generated by our painful racial history -- a kind of morality play between (and within) the races in which innocence is power and guilt is impotence.
Steele writes of how Obama is caught between the two classic postures that blacks have always used to make their way in the white American mainstream: bargaining and challenging. Bargainers strike a "bargain" with white America in which they say, I will not rub America's ugly history of racism in your face if you will not hold my race against me. Challengers do the opposite of bargainers. They charge whites with inherent racism and then demand that they prove themselves innocent by supporting black-friendly policies like affirmative action and diversity.
Steele maintains that Senator Obama is too constrained by these elaborate politics to find his own true political voice. Obama has the temperament, intelligence, and background -- an interracial family, a sterling education -- to guide America beyond the exhausted racial politics that now prevail. And yet he is a Promethean figure, a bound man.
Says Steele, Americans are constrained by a racial correctness so totalitarian that we are afraid even to privately ask ourselves what we think about racial matters. Like Obama, most of us find it easier to program ourselves for correctness rather than risk knowing and expressing what we truly feel. Obama emerges as a kind of Everyman in whom we can see our own struggle to accept and honor what we honestly feel about race. In A Bound Man, Steele makes clear the precise constellation of forces that bind Senator Obama, and proposes a way for him to break these bonds and find his own voice. The courage to trust in one's own careful judgment is the new racial progress, the "way out" from the forces that now bind us all.
Renegade:
The Making of a President
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by Richard Wolffe
Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: Crown (June 2, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307463125
ISBN-13: 978-0307463128
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
Before the White House and Air Force One, before the TV ads and the
enormous rallies, there was the real Barack Obama: a man wrestling with
the momentous decision to run for the presidency, feeling torn about
leaving behind a young family, and figuring out how to win the biggest
prize in politics.
This book is the previously untold and epic story of how a political
newcomer with no money and an alien name grew into the world's most
powerful leader. But it is also a uniquely intimate portrait of the
person behind the iconic posters and the Secret Service code name
Renegade.
Drawing on a dozen unplugged interviews with the candidate and
president, as well as twenty-one months covering his campaign as it
traveled from coast to coast, Richard Wolffe answers the simple yet
enduring question about Barack Obama: Who is he?
Based on Wolffe's unprecedented access to Obama, Renegade reveals
the making of a president, both on the campaign trail and before he ran
for high office. It explains how the politician who emerged in an
extraordinary election learned the personal and political skills to
succeed during his youth and early career. With cool self-discipline,
calculated risk taking, and simple storytelling, Obama developed the
strategies he would need to survive the onslaught of the Clintons and
John McCain, and build a multimillion-dollar machine to win a historic
contest.
In Renegade, Richard Wolffe shares with us his front-row seat at
Obama's announcement to run for president on a frigid day in
Springfield, and his victory speech on a warm night in Chicago. We fly
on the candidate's plane and ride in his bus on an odyssey across a
country in crisis; stand next to him at a bar on the night he secures
the nomination; and are backstage as he delivers his convention speech
to a stadium crowd and a transfixed national audience. From a teacher's
office in Iowa to the Oval Office in Washington, we see and hear Barack
Obama with an immediacy and honesty never witnessed before.
Renegade provides not only an account of Obama's triumphs, but
also examines his many personal and political trials. We see Obama
wrestling with race and politics, as well as his former pastor Reverend
Jeremiah Wright. We see him struggling with life as a presidential
candidate, a campaign that falters for most of its first year, and his
reaction to a surprise defeat in the New Hampshire primary. And we see
him relying on his personal experience, as well as meticulous polling,
to pass the presidential test in foreign and economic affairs.
Renegade is an essential guide to understanding President Barack
Obama and his trusted inner circle of aides and friends. It is also a
riveting and enlightening first draft of history and political
psychology.
Obama
Guilty of Being President While Black
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by D.T. Pollard
Paperback: 182 pages
Publisher: Book Express (September 22, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982460627
ISBN-13: 978-0982460627
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
Obama Guilty of Being President While Black examines how the shadows of oppressive Jim Crow laws played a role in the hate spewed towards the 44th President of the United States. The role of race and gender was front and center during the presidential campaign. How a woman was used as a human shield by the Republicans is also clearly illustrated. Barack Obama received a mandate in the general election. A few months later, it was a curious sight to witness people gathered around town hall meeting sites bearing signs depicting the President as Hitler, socialist or a tyrant. Some even carried guns and a pastor prayed that Obama would die. A Republican Congressman even called President Obama a liar on national television during his health-care speech to a joint session of CongressThere was something much deeper at play with President Obama and it centered on his race. Find out how questions about the President's birth, religion, economic policies and patriotism were all smoke screens for feelings as old as the United States itself.
American Tapestry: The Story of the Black, White, and Multiracial Ancestors of Michelle Obama
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by Rachel L. Swarns
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Amistad (June 19, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061999865
ISBN-13: 978-0061999864
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inchesMichelle Obama's family saga is a remarkable, quintessentially American story—a journey from slavery to the White House in five generations. Yet, until now, little has been reported on the First Lady's roots. Prodigiously researched, American Tapestry traces the complex and fascinating tale of Michelle Obama's ancestors, a history that the First Lady did not even know herself. Rachel L. Swarns, a correspondent for the New York Times, brings into focus the First Lady's black, white, and multiracial forebears, and reveals for the first time the identity of Mrs. Obama's white great-great-great-grandfather—a man who remained hidden in her lineage for more than a century.
American Tapestry illuminates the lives of the ordinary people in Mrs. Obama's family tree who fought for freedom in the Revolutionary and Civil Wars; who endured the agonies of slavery, the disappointment of Reconstruction, the displacement of the Great Migration, and the horrors of Jim Crow to build a better future for their children. Swarns even found a possible link to the Jewish Reform movement.
Though it is an intimate family history, American Tapestry is also the collective chronicle of our changing nation, a nation in which racial intermingling lingers in the bloodlines of countless citizens and slavery was the crucible through which many family lines—black, white, and Native American—were forged.
Epic in scope and beautifully rendered, this is a singularly inspiring story with resonance for us all.
Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs
Click to order via AmazonHardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (November 4, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393077470
ISBN-13: 978-0393077476
Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8 x 0.9 inchesA stunning, visual biography of Michelle Obama that finally puts her phenomenal fame into a cultural and historical context we can all understand. There has never been a First Lady like her before. While there have been a slew of Obama celebrity books, none contain the message of Deborah Willis and Emily Bernard's eye-opening book. With nearly 200 compelling photographs, these two noted scholars capture Michelle Obama's dramatic transformation from working mother to First Lady, from her first tentative steps on the campaign trail to her spontaneous hug of the Queen, to her fairy-tale-like "date night" on Broadway. Not since Jacqueline Kennedy has there been a First Lady who has so enchanted America, but in her down-to-earth dealings with all Americans'schoolchildren, military families, and home gardeners alike'and in her diverse fashion taste, from J. Crew to Jason Wu, Michelle Obama is inexplicably all pearls, all business, all mother. The authors show how Michelle Obama represents the culmination of America's evolving views on women, race, motherhood, and beauty. Much more than a mere catalog of style, Michelle Obama is a remarkable pictorial story of one woman's hold on our imagination. 150 full-color photographs.
Go, Tell Michelle: African-American Women Write to the New First Lady
Click to order via AmazonEdited by Barbara A. Seals Nevergold and Peggy Brooks-Bertram
Paperback: 287 pages
Publisher: State University of New York Press (January 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1438429185
ISBN-13: 978-1438429182A collection of letters written by African American women to Michelle Obama.
"You are me. When I look at you, I see me. I see the young African American woman who, through good family values, strong roots, hard work, and perseverance, has come into her own ... Though your journey may not be easy in the coming days, weeks, months, or years, think of us to ease your burden and pain. Think of those who you inspire. Think of those who you have given hope to. Think of those whom you have filled with pride. Think of your sister ... Think of your favorite cousin. Think of your mother. Think of me. We are the same.""To you Michelle I take off my African woman hat from Cameroon, my motherland. You have given us African women the courage and the hope to move on and up. You keep your head high and hold your husband close to your heart. Keep praying my sister, you are the best. You have lived the dream of every ebony woman. Ride on sister, we are with you."
"You are the song, you are the proverb, and you are the symbol of human dignity."
"When you and your family go to the spot under the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, where Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, you will take with you our history of dreams deferred; however, you will also take with you our prayers and hopes for an America that is ready to build and dream anew."
"Thank you for your courage to say yes, to step from behind your private veil into the public eye, to step forward with the grace of boldness, to carry a message that `Hope is a wise decision' and also teaching the importance of learning to prepare oneself because with hope, things can change. I sat next to my daughter, praying that all women would tell this message to themselves, their daughters and sisters, nieces and neighbors, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, friends and sisterfriends, strangers and mates. But most of all, I thank you from the bottom of my heart to remind me to keep being hopeful so I can keep flapping my wings and not be afraid to fly."
"What I really want to say is thank you for existing and remaining visually the kind of woman I've always wanted to be. I'd given up hope. I'd given up hope that Black men could affectionately and passionately adore a woman publicly the way that your old man adores you. I'd given up hope that I'd get to keep my booty and succeed in the commercial production world of NYC. I honestly didn't believe I'd be able to be intelligent and sexy at the same time and be taken seriously ... You two have revolutionized what I believe to be possible in Black life. Black, young, sexy, beautiful, brilliant, and powerful. How marvelous."
"We are one woman, blessed to be born Black in America ... I rejoice for every little girl, every teenager, young adult and yes even every senior, who like me, can look at you and see herself. I rejoice for the mothers who loved their children as much as you and I do, yet could not protect them."
"Thank you for making me reconsider bringing my Black babies into this world."
Passionate, shattering, and tender, this astonishing book gathers together letters to Michelle Obama, written by African American and African women. Shortly after the election, the Uncrowned Queens Institute in Buffalo, New York, sent out a call across the country for African American women to share their hopes, fears, and advice with the new First Lady. Hundreds of letters and poems poured in, signaling both an unprecedented moment in our nation's history and a remarkable opportunity for African American women to look at the White House and see and speak to one of their own there.
These very personal letters and poems, written by African American women from all ages and walks of life, celebrate a newfound hope for our world and children, speak to a strong sisterhood with the First Lady, confess often very private fears and dreams, and acknowledge and remember the generations before who endured so much for so long.
Michelle Obama: Meet the First Lady
Click to order via Amazonby David Bergen Brophy
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Collins (January 6, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061779911
ISBN-13: 978-0061779916
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inchesMichelle obama has been by her husband's side throughout his historic presidential campaign, a dynamic personality whether she is delivering speeches or hitting the dance floor on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Follow the story of a hardworking girl growing up on the South Side of Chicago and how she has inspired our nation to believe in the American Dream that her life exemplifies. In her own stirring words: America should be a place where you can make it if you try.
Written by David Bergen Brophy, this in-depth biography captures the heart and soul of the First Lady behind the campaign for change.
Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope
Click to order via Amazonby Elizabeth Lightfoot
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: The Lyons Press (December 11, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599215217
ISBN-13: 978-1599215211There is no one quite like her. Michelle Obama. This is the first book to tell the astonishing story of a woman whose intellect, verbal flair, and poise are certain to make her one of the most influential First Ladies in history. A woman whose remark, 'For the first time in my adult life I am really proud of my country,' did her husband's campaign no good. A woman whose impassioned speech to the Democratic National Convention may have helped win him the Oval Office. A woman touted as a future presidential candidate herself.
Readers are given a revealing and intimate look at Michelle Obama's remarkable life'from her Chicago childhood to her education at Princeton and Harvard, from how she first met Barack Obama at the prestigious law firm where they were the only African-Americans, to her role as his closest adviser, and to her own political beliefs. For Michelle, family comes first, and'like so many women who struggle between family and career'she seriously weighed her husband's presidential ambitions before giving her stamp of approval. Apparently she struck a hard bargain: he had to give up smoking.
The
Adventures of Sasha & Malia at the White House
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by Carol Francois and P Segal, Illustrated by Jay Mazhar
Paperback: 48 pages
Publisher: New Vision Works (March 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 098319310X
ISBN-13: 978-0983193104
Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.3 x 0.3 inches
Living in the White House is a great adventure for young Sasha and Malia . . . especially when they discover a mysterious, moving bookcase that leads them into a passageway through time! Before they know it, the two curious sisters find themselves back in the time of slavery and faced with a very important challenge. Will they find the courage to help free the slaves and change the course of history forever?
Malia
and Sasha Obama
Click to buy via Amazon.com
by Jennifer M. Besel
Reading level: Ages 8 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Capstone Press (August 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1429650001
ISBN-13: 978-1429650007
Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 0.3 inches
Malia and Sasha Obama used to be normal girls who traveled to school on a
bus. Today they ride in a motorcade, surrounded by Secret Service agents.
Papparazzi snap their pictures wherever they go. There were even dolls
created to resemble them. Learn how the Obama girls are handling their
newfound fame.
Related Links
Two very different perspectives on President Barack Obama. (April
4, 2011)
http://aalbc.it/obamaprocon
What's Really Behind The Frustration With President Obama by Earl
G. Graves Sr. (Oct. 26, 2010)
http://aalbc.it/gravesonobama
Craig Robinson (Michelle Obama's Brother) The "A Game
of Character" Interview
http://aalbc.com//reviews/craig_robinson.html
President
Obama Addresses NAACP Convention: Well-Received Speech Stresses
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http://reviews.aalbc.com/obama_naacp_convention.htm
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Clinton As Vice President Would Be a Disaster for Obama
http://authors.aalbc.com/clinton_as_vp_would_be_a_disaster_for_obama.htm
Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. (Minister of Church Obama Attended)
http://authors.aalbc.com/jeremiah_wright.htm
As Obama Rises, Old Guard Civil Rights Leaders Scowl
Article - As Obama
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A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited about Obama And Why He Can't Win -
Book Review
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Obama at the Apollo Comments
http://www.thumperscorner.com/discus/messages/179/31800.html
Article - African Americans Figure Prominently
in Presidential Debate
http://reviews.aalbc.com/aa_pres.htm
U.S. Senator Barack Obama Presidential Exploratory Committee
http://www.barackobama.com/
Barack Obama U.S. Senator for Illinois
http://obama.senate.gov/
Al Sharpton and Barack Obama Wow Democratic National Convention
Rev. Al Sharpton stole the show
http://www.nathanielturner.com/alsharptonandbarackobama.htm
Obama's Sister Reflects on their family and her new chidren's book (May 4, 2011)
Two very different perspectives on President Barack Obama. (April 4, 2011)
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Washington D.C. Office
713 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2854
(202) 228-4260 fax
(202 228-1404 TDD
Email Obama's office
