DREAMS FROM MY FATHER by Barack Obama

A memoir from the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Dreams From My Father is a book I have had sitting on my shelf for several years. There is no reason I hadn’t read it, other than I just always had other things to read.

It is no secret that Barack Obama is a wonderful orator. Regardless of political persuasion, he is objectively one of the most inspiring and engaging speakers we’ve seen, and his writing in this, his first memoir, doesn’t disappoint.

Dreams From My Father is a recollection in three parts – first, Obama’s childhood in both Hawaii and Indonesia and his only meeting with his Kenyan father, also called Barack. I couldn’t help but be engaged in in the inner confusion young Barack felt as a mixed race child born in 1960s America – he understood at once his luck of being raised in a largely white world, while being deeply aware of the challenges his heritage presented. While children these days hopefully don’t have to contend with such confusion, it was not difficult to understand how these questions shaped the course of his life.

The second part of the book focuses on Obama’s time, post-college, in Chicago working as an organiser. This was the period in Obama’s life when he began to really consider his place as a black man in America and his role in supporting African Americans to improve their lives in the face of systemic oppression and racism. I’d say this was the true beginning of his awakening to what he could achieve as a black man in America.

The third section details his first visit to Kenya, to meet his relatives, including siblings, and really get to know the other side of his father’s life and the man his father was. By this time his father was dead and there was no opportunity to establish an in person relationship. This was particularly gripping reading - parental distance is difficult at the best of the times but to only meet a parent once, a man whose life you truly don’t know about…it must have been challenging for Barack. His engagement with his Kenyan family, his willingness to be open to their stories and both listen and learn, then consider the implications of that on his own life and character - it starts to really show you the man the world came to know as the President of the United States.

I’m a little annoyed with myself for having waited to long to read this book - it is 18 years old but is timeless in the story telling.

What impressed me is the narrative writing of Obama in this memoir - he is an extraordinarily excellent writer; engaging, witty, forthright. He does not gloss over the moments in his life that most people - particularly politicians - would not welcome having in public discourse. I appreciated that - too often when politicians or famous people write memoirs or autobiography, they skip over much of what might be seen as character flaws. Obama doesn’t do this - he doesn’t offer judgment of himself, nor glorify some of his choices. The approach is matter-of-fact and that made for refreshing reading.

Overall, I enjoyed this memoir immensely and would commend it to you. It is not political in the partisan sense - it is simply a portrait of a man before he became the man we know now.