Throwing the white grandparents that raised him under the bus.
Barack Obama’s link to Kenya, where he began his first visit as U.S. president Friday, is a father he barely knew but whose influence can nonetheless be seen in his son’s presidency.
Obama has spoken candidly about growing up without a father and feeling “the weight of that absence.” A White House initiative to support young men of color who face similar circumstances has become a project dear to Obama, one he plans to continue after leaving the White House.
In Africa, Obama has used his late Kenyan-born father’s struggle to overcome government corruption as a way to push leaders to strengthen democracies. He’s expected to make good governance and democracy-building a centerpiece of his two days of meetings and speeches in Nairobi, as well as a stop next week in Ethiopia.
“In my father’s life, it was partly tribalism and patronage and nepotism in an independent Kenya that for a long stretch derailed his career,” Obama said during a 2009 trip to Ghana, his first visit to Africa as president. “We know that this kind of corruption is still a daily fact of life for far too many.”
Air Force One touched down in Nairobi Friday night. The president was greeted by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other officials, as well as his half-sister Auma Obama. The siblings shared a warm embrace.