Review - Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

Over the weekend I read President Obama's autobiography, "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance". It was a good way to get to know the next president a little better. The biography was written about a decade ago before he was married so it is outdated, but it was nice to learn about his childhood and the experiences that shaped him. He decided to write the book after he was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He was offered a book contract, and he wrote the memoir of his life to that point. It is a life that let him experience a great deal of the world and diversity. He was born in Hawaii in 1961 to a white American woman and a black Kenyan student. He was raised in by his mother and her parents after his father left to return home to Africa. We learn about his years in Indonesia after his mother remarries, experiences in school and his visit to Africa to visit his father and relatives.

We also get to learn about his early career days. After college, Obama became a community organizer in Chicago before going on to law school followed by a career in civil rights law and politics. I think I was most impressed learning about his quest to learn about his family and his identity and the conclusions he came to. Let me know if you want to borrow the book.