Born in Jakarta, Indonesia on August 15, 1970, Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng is a
lecturer at the University of Hawaii’s College of Education but is perhaps
better known as the sister of Barack Obama. Named after the poet
Maya
Angelou, Maya has just published “Ladder to the Moon,” a picture book
inspired by her young daughter Suhaila’s questions about the grandmother she
never knew, Grandma Annie.
Here, the First Sister talks about both her best-seller and about her
family, including what it was like growing up with a big brother who would
one day become the 44th President of the United States.
Maya Soetoro-Ng - The “Ladder to the Moon” Interview
with Kam Williams
Kam Williams: Hi Maya, I’m honored to have this opportunity to
speak with you.
Maya Soetoro-Ng: Aloha, Kam. Thank you! How’re you doing?
KW: I lost my mother a couple of years ago. I told my readers I’d be
interviewing you, so I have more questions for you than we could ever get
to. Yale grad Tommy Russell asks: What do you think the chances are that the
Obama administration will cut off financial assistance to Palestine now that
Hamas and Fatah officially reconciled their differences? Do you think we'll
see a Palestinian State in our lifetime?"
MSN: Since I’m not a part of the administration, I try to avoid questions
about policy. Generally, speaking, those are the only questions that I won’t
answer. But I don’t mind talking about my brother in terms of our childhood
and our mother.
KW: No problem, I’ll skip those. That’ll save us a lot of time. Mirah Riben
was wondering how you feel about the birth certificate nonsense.
MSN: My brother has said it all, and I really don’t have anything to add to
it. It’s a non-issue and a distraction.
KW: Harriet Pakula Teweles says that for the purposes of this interview,
President Obama will be the brother of Maya Soetoro-Ng who has a rather
remarkable trifecta of accomplishments as a researcher, writer and educator.
If you could be teaching a class right this minute what would that class be
and what would be the topic?
MSN: Well, I teach a course I really enjoy on Multi-Cultural Education which
is actually quite fun. But if we’re talking about a fantasy skill, I’d like
to teach capoeira, the Brazilian martial arts form. Have you ever seen it?
It’s so amazingly beautiful. I wish I could do it, but it requires
tremendous amounts of strength and grace which I fear it’s too late for me
to develop. I would also love to teach Argentinean tango dancing, but I
can’t do that either. [Laughs]
KW: Reverend Florine Thompson asks: How did you come up with the title for
your book?
MSN: I came up with the title after being jostled into a memory of a
postcard my mom had given me that I used to have tacked onto my bedroom wall
of a painting by Georgia O’Keefe entitled “Ladder to the Moon.” It had a
golden ladder suspended in a sea of blue with cliffs silhouetted in the
distance. It emphasized the journey, the climb, and was both mysterious and
also rather comforting. So, I thought it was very fitting to describe the
journey that Grandma Annie would take with Suhaila.
KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What message do you want kids to
take away from the book?
MSN: Namely, that they are strong and that they are powerful not only
because they will shape the future but because they can already do much to
heal today. And that the best things that grownups do, we do for the
children, and that they inspire great good in us. I also want them to
remember that the world is intertwined and that we therefore have to be
gentle in the way that we treat one another and the Earth, so that our
impact on others is benevolent and good.
KW: Patricia says: Your next book project is about peace education and
conflict resolution in high schools. As a professor, do you believe that if
world history were taught everywhere on a national and international level,
it would be a great tool to encourage the bonding of people?
MSN: I absolutely do believe that we need to not be so myopic. We ought to
throw open widely the windows on the world in order to learn more about it.
I think we could benefit from world history that is specifically taught in a
multi-faceted fashion that allows for an understanding that perspectives on
truth can be very different. I’m an advocate of an approach that endeavors
to foster empathy and which tries to find a common humanity across the
divide. And there are lots of ways to achieve that. One of the things that I
have my students do is to take a look at English-language newspapers from
all around the world in order to see the different ways in which the same
story might be told. To illustrate that point, the front cover of “Ladder to
the Moon” has the Moon from our perspective while the back cover has the
Earth from the Moon’s point-of-view. That sort of perspective shifting is
really valuable and should be used in teaching history.
KW: Marcia Evans says: I had a chance to read the recent New York Times
article about your mother.
The in-depth profile really helped me appreciate her and how she raised such
accomplished children. And it gave me more insight into why our President
has the patience and mannerisms that he does. My question is: What did you
think of the article and what mothering skills are you raising your children
with that you learned from your mother, Ann?
MSN: I thought the article did a nice job of capturing mom’s complexity. Of
course, my children’s book necessarily paints a much more idealized
portrait, the best of her, mom’s kindness, her mandate that we treat each
other well, her empathy and her broadmindedness. These are the qualities
that I try to impart to my daughters [Suhaila and Savita].. Meanness is the
one thing I do get upset about on those rare occasions when I see it.
Another thing was that mom was tremendously curious. And thankfully, my
daughters and my brother’s daughters share her love of exploration. I think
those traits were among my mom’s best. She was better at loving than she was
at disciplining. She always allowed us to be precisely who we were. She
never asked us to change anything fundamental at the core. That’s a powerful
way to love, when you accept your children, however they emerge, with all
their peculiarities. It’s interesting how different my children are from one
another, and the same can be said for Malia and Sasha. You do find that
children come into the world with a lot of personality already imbedded in
them.
KW: How often do you get to speak to your brother and to visit the Obamas in
the White House since he’s been elected?
MSN: I speak to him on a fairly regular basis, and I’ve been to the White
House quite a few times. He is concerned about making sure that his
daughters and all of us are able to have as much normalcy as possible. He
doesn’t want his job to be stressful for them. So, he still does many of the
same things he did before becoming president. For instance, he spends every
Christmas in Hawaii and we engage in much of the same routines as before.
And we spend summers together, and I’ve been fortunate enough to see him a
few times in between.
KW: Marcia also says that she loves Indonesian/Malaysian cuisine. She wants
to know whether you prepare Indonesian dishes for your family.
MSN: I wish I did It’s very complex food, and I’m not a very good cook. I
only make simple dishes. But I have the soul of a chef, in the same way that
I have the soul of a jazz singer, but I just wasn’t blessed with any of the
talent.
KW: Reverend Florine Thompson asks: How does it feel to be named after Maya
Angelou and have you ever met her?
MSN: I did meet her many years ago when I went to see her speak on three
separate occasions. She knows that I was named after her, but I haven’t seen
her in recent years, although my brother has. I have always enjoyed the
great rhythm in her voice. And there have been ideas she’s shared that were
very influential to me, like the notion that words are tactile and enduring
and swirling around us. That’s stuck with me and perhaps guided my choices
as a teacher
KW: Reverend Thompson also asks: What message would you give to young
students who aspire to the lofty heights of your brother, President Obama?
MSN: Go for it! My brother didn’t run for student government, he didn’t get
straight A’s, and he wasn’t perfect as a child. And he was much more
interested in basketball than in student government. The key was that he
never made any mistakes from which he couldn’t recover. They were all
mistakes which allowed him to grow and develop. We came from exceedingly
humble beginnings. So, as clichéd as it might sound to some adults, I think
that his life should remind children that they really can achieve anything
with the right support. You need support to develop both the skills and the
confidence. I think young people should be emboldened by the fact that he
managed to craft this extraordinary life by thinking about how to make his
mark, and how to make his footprints matter once he decided that his life
should serve some meaningful purpose.
KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What key quality do you believe all
successful people share?
MSN: I honestly think that it’s love. You really need to love something or
someone in order to work hard enough to be very successful. You have to
believe in something and have a certain optimism. Faith and optimism come
from love. So, I really do think that’s the starting point.
KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
MSN: [Chuckles] Huh? That’s a good question. I wish someone would ask me
what my favorite pickup line is.
KW: Okay, what is your favorite pickup line?
MSN: It’s from Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”
The character Tea Cake looks at his woman, Janie, and says, “Janie, you’re
the kind of woman who would make a man forget to grow old and forget to
die.” I always thought it was so great. Imagine being told that you’re so
extraordinary that you can stop time and biology. My husband [Konrad] never
delivered that line to me, but I decided to marry him anyway. [LOL]
KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
MSN: Yeah, definitely. I worry whenever I falter in my conviction about the
message that I deliver about the importance of optimism and continued
dialogue. That sort of thing scares me. And anger and malice scare me. But
I’m not often afraid and I try to not let any fear impact the way that I
live my life or to touch my children. They certainly deserve to be fearless.
Weren’t we also fearless at one time? [Chuckles]
KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?
MSN: Yes! I’m happy because I have a healthy family and a life that allows
me enough variety in my days. And I have interesting work as a professor
where I get to impact others while learning from young people. That’s pretty
good stuff.
KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good laugh?
MSN: Oh, I laugh every day because I have the gift of these kids. They’re
hilarious! [Laughs] I can’t help but feel joyful watching my sassy two
year-old who just loves to walk around in my high heels while wearing
sunglasses and a feathered boa. [LOL] And I could recount lots of stories
about Suhaila who is so full of feeling that she not only makes me proud of
her but also makes me laugh. For instance, she recently brought home a slug
and a worm and adopted them until I made her release them back into the wild
after a couple of weeks, at which point she wept dramatically, announcing,
“Farewell! To Wiggles and Lemon Drop!” [Laughs some more]
KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
MSN: Good strong coffee with a really good novel, which I unfortunately
haven’t had a chance to enjoy for a while because you don’t get the time
when your kids are young. I used to love just sitting in a comfy spot on a
couch, under a tree or on a porch and getting lost in a good book. I could
do so all day.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
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I also recently reread parts of “Life of Pi,” a novel about a teenager
who ends up adrift on the ocean in a lifeboat with a hyena, a zebra, an
orangutan and a Bengal tiger after the Japanese cargo ship he’s aboard
sinks.
KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What music do you like to
listen to?
MSN: Because I’m not teaching high school anymore, I don’t get to keep up
with what’s the latest and greatest from the teenage perspective. But what I
have in my car is mostly older stuff like Willie Colon and Earth Wind &
Fire. I like to sing along, but with the windows rolled up. [LOL] Good
stuff!
KW: What is your favorite dish to cook?
MSN: I like brunch. It’s the only thing I’m really good at. Eggs, omelets
with fine herbs and little bits of lovely cheeses, and salads with nuts and
fruits. I’m not a cook. Isn’t that terrible? But I can do a good brunch
which is fun because it fortifies you for the rest of the day and it’s a
nice way to get together with friends.
KW: The Uduak Oduok question: Who is your favorite clothes designer?
MSN: [Laughs] I have to confess that I don’t care very much about clothes. I
have the good fortune to be living in Hawaii where people don’t pay too much
attention to fashion. In truth, I merely endeavor to look respectable. I
admire how Michelle’s a fashion icon but I have no parallel skill or eye. I
just try to not look silly.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
MSN: These are great questions. Fun! I’m sometimes surprised by how
middle-aged I look to myself, but I am working now to embrace that.
[Giggles] I definitely see a woman who has journeyed and made mistakes but
who has an interesting map engraved into her face. A richly-layered woman
who has been alternately brave and weak but who is full of love for enough
people and things and places and ideas to give her face character and to
give her life meaning.
KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
MSN: My earliest memories are of me and my brother and mother in the house
on Poki Street in Hawaii where we lived from when I was three until I was
six. I have a clear mental snapshot of me rocking in a big chair trying to
tip it over. And I have another memory of myself standing in front of the TV
while my brother was trying to watch a basketball game, compelling him to
yell, “Mom! She’s doing it again.” A third memory is of putting all my books
and dolls on a big blanket in the middle of the hallway and forbidding
Barack and my mom to step on the blanket. [Laughs] Those are three of my
most vivid and earliest memories. I actually found those very same dolls,
including a big Raggedy Ann, when I was pregnant with Suhaila because mom
left all of those dolls in a box for my children at my grandmother’s. She
put them there the year before she passed away.
KW: How thoughtful! If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would
that be for?
MSN: World peace, of course! And on a personal level, that I manage to live
a good bit longer than either of my parents, so that I might see all of the
extraordinary things that my children and my grandchildren will do.
KW: The Rudy Lewis question: Who’s at the top of your hero list?
MSN: I’d say Gandhi and Martin Luther King, because it was so extraordinary
for them to be able to see the ways in which taking an approach which at
first glance seemed to be soft could actually be so much more powerful and
enduring than taking one which at first glance appears sharp. I think that
it required extraordinary imagination and faith to persevere and not
surrender until real change was achieved.
KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do you want to be remembered?
MSN: I would love to be remembered as a fine educator and parent. Being a
parent has become incredibly important to me. I never knew how much I would
be altered by my children. I would like to be remembered by them in much the
way I remember my mom: as loving and kind.
KW: Thanks again, Maya, for being so much fun and so forthcoming.
MSN: It’s been a delight, Kam! What an interesting format you’ve got. It’s
refreshing. I won’t forget you and I would love to meet you someday.
KW: Same here! And best of luck with the book.
MSN: It’s been a pleasure. Aloha!
.
Ladder
to the Moon
Click to Order via Amazon.com
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Candlewick (April 12, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780763645700
ISBN-13: 978-0763645700
ASIN: 0763645702
Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.9 x 0.5 inches
Maya Soetoro-Ng was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is a writer and
educator with a PhD in international comparative education. She says Ladder
to the Moon, her first picture book, was inspired by her young daughter
Suhaila’s questions about her grandmother Ann Dunham, the
mother of Maya and of our forty-fourth president,
Barack Obama.
Yuyi Morales is the illustrator of Kathleen Krull’s Harvesting Hope: The
Story of Cesar Chavez, whose accolades include a Pura Belpré Award and a
Christopher Medal, as well as the Pura Belpré Award-winning Los Gatos Black
on Halloween by Marisa Montes. Born and raised in Mexico, she now lives in
northern California.
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