Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

From blackwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance was firstly published in 1995 by New York: Three Rivers Press. The autobiography was written by Barack Obama. The book is explaining how his journey from his fatherless childhood, stressful and narcotics teenagers, contributing as a community organizer, and eventually, learning the life as a black American after meeting his African side of his family[1].

Plot

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race Book Cover[2]

Barack Obama was the son of Barack Obama Sr. a Kenyan scholar at the University of Hawaii and a white woman. As he grew up with biracial heritage, he saw the reality of discrimination and prejudice towards black people. But, he saw that even the black people would mock the other black people with "n-word" and meaner to the white people. This confusion had led Obama to turns to drugs and alcohol during his teenage life. After realizing what he aspires to be, which is mostly resolving poverty issues, he gave up on drugs and alcohol and went to Columbia University. As he became a student, he heard the news where his biological father died who he barely knew. Later on, he visited his African side of his family to Kenya, and by the time, he realized that being a black people are loaded with genuine values and settled his heritage for being African American[3].

Black Empowerment

Obama is never feel discouraged despite the struggle he faces to handle poverty issues. He wrote to every civil rights organization, black elected officials, city councils asking for to collaborate in handling poverty issues where most who inflicted by it was black Americans. Still, through this book, Obama aspires to people that there is still some hope where reconciliation between every race is applicable. He said people would come to work together for a better future that abolished racism completely[4]. Obama even reminds his reader that being black people should not feel intimidated, they should be proud of who they are, as he always remembers "To be black was to be the beneficiary of a great inheritance, a special destiny, glorious burdens that only we were strong enough to bear."[5].

Controversy

During his childhood, he realized that being a black American might not be something to be proud of since he saw a picture of a Black man used skin lightening creams. While in Hawaii, his friends were prejudiced towards him where there were only two black kids at his school. At his first job, he saw that structural racism had existed for a long time, and a black Mayor would fix all these problems in the near future. As he tried to work on the job center subject in Chicago, he was frightened that actually there was not a clear enemy to persist because what he had to face was a greedy bureaucracy with structural bigotry. For that reason, he believed that poverty and homelessness, which frequently a problem that Black Americans struggle with, were a systemic issue not only in the Altgeld Gardens but also across the country[6].

References

  1. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. Goodreads. Retrieved January 26 2021
  2. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance Book Cover. Goodreads. Retrieved January 26 2021
  3. DREAMS FROM MY FATHER Kirkus Media LLC. Retrieved January 26 2021
  4. Dreams from My Father: on Principles & Values OnTheIssues. Retrieved January 26 2021
  5. Dreams From My Father Quotes Bookroo. Retrieved January 26 2021
  6. Dreams from My Father Summary LitChart. Retrieved January 26 2021