I’m reading Barack Obama’s "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" ($8.97 at Amazon.com). This book is not a political tract but is something much more important and beautiful. It is a deeply thoughtful literary work about what it means to be a Black man, an autobiography on a literary par with "Manchild in the Promised Land" and the "Autobiography of Frederick Douglas", with the narrative fluidity and honesty of E. Lynn Harris' novels. "Dreams from My Father" is about Barack Obama’s successful personal journey to becoming a Black man who values himself and commits himself to making a difference in the world rather than succumbing to self-hate, insanity or self-destruction.
"Dreams from My Father" recounts Barack Obama’s determined and successful struggle to piece together a positive black man’s identity and self-image from the heritage of his mother’s white family (who raised him) and his father’s African roots, while coming of age in Hawaii, Indonesia and, finally, the United States. "Dreams from my Father" ultimately tells how Barack Obama became the first black editor of the Harvard Law Review, which at Harvard is an accomplishment similar to a lawyer being appointed to the US Supreme Court. As such, this autobiography is about accomplishing historic achievements in the face of tremendous odds and monumental obstacles.
Barack Obama wrote "Dreams from My Father" right after graduating from Harvard Law School. This book is straight-out honest discussion of how Blacks and whites interact, with some very powerful insights into the reasons why. I have read only the about a third of this book so far, but I may well finish it before the sun is completely risen today. This is a compelling and timely read which I enthusiastically recommend to others, particularly in light of Mr. Obama's seemingly likely entry into the Democratic presidential contest.
When I ordered "Dreams from My Father" ($8.97) from Amazon.com, I also ordered Senator Obama’s second and most recent book, "The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream" ($13.75) . I’m looking forward to reading "The Audacity of Hope" as soon as I finish "Dreams of My Father".