Rather than a few generic paragraphs about Ann Dunham, the mother and inspiration behind Barack Obama, which you can find up and down the Internet, I thought it would be more effective to highlight the pillar moments in her life before, up to, and after Barack Obama Jr. was born - and on that note I introduce you to Barack Obama’s mother Ann Dunham, in a snapshot. They say behind every strong man there is an even stronger woman - and in the case of the United States first African-American president, this is definitely true.
1942
On November 29, 1942, in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Stanley Armour Dunham and Madelyn Dunham give birth to a baby girl, which they named Stanley Dunham because they were expecting a boy.
Their daughter, not too fond of having a boys name starts to introduce herself as Ann as she grew older.
1956
At the age of 13, Ann Dunham and her family move to Mercer Island, Washington so Ann can have the opportunity to attend a newly opened high school there. She will end up attending school on Mercer Island from 8th grade through the finish of high school. While in school, Ann was deeply impacted by two controversial teachers: Val Foubert (English Teacher) and Jim Wichterman (Philosophy Teacher) who both encouraged their students to challenge authority and what would be considered the “norm” in society. Such books provided within the curriculum are the Communist Manifesto - which caused great an uproar from the parents and ultimately had both the teachers fired.
It’s also at this point during high school that Ann Dunham declared she is an Atheist, and has no desire to be married or have children later on in life.
1960
At the age of 18, Ann and her family make the move to Hawaii, where Ann begins to attend the University of Hawaii, Honolulu campus. In a Russian Language class Ann Dunham meets a vibrant and passionate boy named Barack Obama (Sr) who is a foreign student from Kenya, and attending the University of Hawaii on a scholarship program to study Economics. Ann is immediately intrigued by his personality and the two begin dating shortly after they meet.
Ann eventually tells her parents about this boy she met, and they invite him over for dinner.
1961-1963
Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Sr. get married on February 2, 1961. The marriage, held in Maui, is a secret with no one invited. At the time of their marriage, Ann is already 3 months pregnant with Barack Obama Jr.
August 4, 1961 Barack Obama Sr. is born. With Ann only being 18 and still attending university, she drops out to take care of her newly born son.
When Barack Jr. is 1 year old, his father picks up and leaves his mother to attend Harvard and pursue a Ph.D. in Economics on scholarship.
Ann Dunham decides to go back to college when Barack Jr. is around 2 years old, and her parents help out as much as they can to take care of their grandson, despite money being scarce.
Ann meets a boy by the name of Lolo Soetoro after going back to school. He is a foreign student from Indonesia.
1964
Ann eventually files for a divorce from Barack Obama Sr. and he willingly signs the papers.
1967-1970
After dating for a few years, Ann Dunham and Lolo Soetoro get married. Lolo moves back to Indonesia after school is finished, with Ann and Barack Jr. following shortly after.
For a while the newlyweds live in Lolo’s house on the perimeter of the Indonesian capitol, Jakarta. This was definitely an adjustment for Ann, as power failures were quite frequent in this neighborhood.
While in Jakarta, Barack Obama Jr. attends a Catholic school.
Lolo is eventually promoted, and is able to move his wife and her son to a better neighborhood, and Barack Jr. begins to attend a public elementary school.
During this period Ann begins to feel distant from her husband, finding out that they have less and less in common. She accepts a job at the U.S. Embassy as an English Teacher.
Starting to grow concern for the quality of education that Barack Jr. is receiving, Ann begins providing daily English lessons for her son every morning at 4 a.m. - it is around this time that she also introduces Barack to Black music, culture and reading to ensure he is educated on his roots, and to compensate for the lack of African-American presence in his life up until this point.
August 15, 1970 Lolo and Ann give birth to a daughter, Maya Soetoro, who is Barack Obama Junior’s half sister.
1971
With the interest of Barack’s education at hand, Ann sends young Barack back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents at the age of 10. With the lending hand of his grandparents, Barack Obama Jr. applies to the acclaimed Punahou prep school, and is accepted on a scholarship.
1972-1980
With her daughter Maya, Ann Dunham returns to Hawaii and her and her two children live in a small apartment around the Honolulu area. Money is definitely tight at this time.
In 1974, Ann makes the decision to go back to Indonesia to begin fieldwork for her Ph.D. Barack Jr. who is now 13, makes the decision to stay in Hawaii with his grandparents. Ann Dunham files for divorce from Lolo Soetoro in 1980.
1988-1992
During the 1980’s Ann Dunham continues her research in Indonesia, for her Ph.D. in Anthropology. This eventually leads to her assistance in building the foundation for a micro finance program for which low-income families in Indonesia can receive financial aid services.
In 1992, Ann earns her Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Hawaii. Her dissertation was appropriately titled: Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia - Surviving and Thriving Against All Odds.
1994
While in Jakarta, Ann begins having abdominal pains which is diagnosed by a local doctor as common indigestion. These were the first signs of Ann’s ovarian cancer.
1995
Back in Hawaii, Ann Dunham finally receives proper diagnosis which reveals she does indeed have ovarian and uterine cancer. Ann Dunham passes away on November 7, 1995 at the young age of 52.
Some say the best way to get to know a person better is to find out where they come from - and in President Barack Obama’s case, where his parents are from. So who are the parents of Barack Obama? Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham. Barack Obama’s parents met while attending University, and though their time together was limited due to an unfortunate divorce, their individual stories are very rich and contrasting.
1936-1955
Born in Kenya, in the village of Nyangoma Kogelo which is located on the shoreline of Lake Victoria in the Siaya District.
Attended missionary school as a child, and eventually worked as a goat herder in his village.
1956
At the age of 20, Barack Sr. took a job as a clerk in Nairobi, Kenya, and later that year met a young girl by the name of Kezia. Kezia falls in love with Barack Sr. and follows him to Nairobi one night, causing her father and brothers to seek after her - needless to say they weren’t too pleased.
1957
Barack Seniors father sends 14 cows to Kezia’s parents to make amends, and shortly after Barack Sr. and Kezia were married in a tradtional tribal ceremony. The young couple later moved to Jericho - a district within Nairobi.
1958
Barack Sr. and Kezia have their first son, named Abongo.
1959
Barack Sr. receives a scholarship from a program in the United States which offers educational opportunities to students in and around Kenya - in hopes that Barack Sr. would use this schooling to assist in the development of Kenya.
After writing to over 30 colleges and universities across America, Barack Sr. finally receives an acceptance letter from the University of Hawaii. The chance to study economics in America comes once in a life time for a young man like Barack Sr. so he packs his bags and heads for Hawaii - leaving his pregnant wife and their 1 year old son in Kenya.
1960-1961
At the ripe age of 24, Barack Sr. meets a student named Ann Dunham in a Russian language class they shared together. Ann is 18 and just relocated to Hawaii from Washington. They start dating.
After less than a year of dating, and now 25, the two get married with Ann being 3 months pregnant and clueless of Barack Senior’s family back in Kenya. On August 4th, 1961 Barack Hussein Obama Jr. is born.
1962-1964
Barack Sr. is awarded a graduate scholarship to Harvard University, and after enrolling in September of 1962 he packs up yet again and leaves behind Ann and Barack Jr. to take a Ph.D in economics.
Two years later Ann Dunham divorces Barack Obama Sr.
1965-1981
At 29 years of age, Barack Obama Sr. received his Master’s Degree in economics from Harvard University. With his degree he moves back to Kenya with an American teacher named Ruth Nidesand - who later becomes Obama Seniors third wife.
Back in Kenya, Barack Sr. begins working as an economist for the Ministry of Economic Planning. While working he writes and article that is printed in a popular African publication in which he criticizes the African government’s take on economical planning - which ended up putting him on bad terms with Kenyan president, Jomo Kenyatta. This event combined with Barack Seniors cruelty and tendency to boast eventually led to the destruction of his career and the poverty and excessive drinking which followed.
After two children and seven years of marriage, Ruth divorces Obama Senior as he is not stable and too difficult to be around.
In 1971, Barack Sr. visits Hawaii and his 10 year old son Barack Jr. and this is the last time the two will ever see each other again.
1982
Now 46 years old, Barack Obama Sr. is involved in a serious car accident which leaves him with both his legs amputated. Shortly after, in another car crash, Barack Obama Sr. dies in Nairobi, Kenya.
Now that Senator Obama is now President Obama, there seems to be an increase in curiosity about his life, his work, and various facts about Barack Obama that the average person might not know. President Obama is definitely an interesting character with a diverse background both personally and professionally - and his uniqueness allows him to connect with people from all walks of life.
Some of the more popular questions are where was Barack Obama born? What nationality is Barack Obama? Who are the parents of Barack Obama? He’s half white, half black, and is now the President of the United States of America. Some might call this strange, but I think it’s a beautiful thing! Here are 25 facts about Barack Obama - a little snapshot of our favorite politician.
President Barack Hussein Obama born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961 to his parents Barack Obama Sr. and Anne Dunham - who met each other while attending university in Hawaii. His father, who was enrolled as a foreign student, was a native to Kenya and his mother from Kansas. When Barack was two years old his father left him and his mother - who eventually filed for divorce and remarried - and she picked up an moved Barack to Indonesia to be with her new husband, and Baracks new step father. After some time, Barack took the initiative and made the move back to Hawaii to live with his grandparents and later moved to New York where he ended up graduating from Columbia University around 1983.
After graduating Barack put his law degree on hold and moved to Chicago, where he now calls home, to become a community organizer helping to improve the living conditions of poor people in lesser developed areas of the local area. He would assist in the process of acquiring service jobs for less fortunate people through various agencies as well as helping them to get their plumbing and heating fixed if needed. Though he was very much dedicated to his church through this work, he never lost sight on his law degree and passion to make change from within the political system - which he realized was needed in order to really help those who are less fortunate. It was around this time that Barack met his wife Michelle Robinson while working at a law firm.
in 1991 Barack Obama earned his law degree from Harvard, where he was the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. What a lot of people don’t know is that when Obama first applied to Harvard Law School he didn’t indicate his race on the application form in fear of being rejected. Shortly after graduating, he moved back to Chicago to pay his dues and practice as a civil rights lawyer while teaching some constitutional law on the side. This eventually led him to work as the chairman of the Public Health and Welfare Committee for the Illinois State Senate in 1996. In 1999 Barack and Michelle gave birth to their first daughter Malia, with their youngest Sasha following shortly after in 2001.
In 2004, after eight years in the Senate, Barack made the move that some would say marked his rise to political stature by writing and delivering the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. This action led to his elect into the U.S. Senate a few months later with a 70% of the vote landslide victory, and it was at that moment Time Magazine named him “one of the most admired politicians in America”. Riding this wave of success with his family supporting him, Barack made a formal announcement on February 10, 2007 for his candidacy in the 2008 presidential election.
Barack was actually a budding author before he even stepped foot in the Senate, writing his 1995 memoir “Dreams From My Father” which talked about his early career and memories from childhood. This book was later republished in 2004 containing the written version of his Democratic keynote address earlier that year, and the audio book edition earned Barack Obama a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. Within that same year Barack signed a contract to write another three books, which led to his 2006 New Tork Times Best Seller follow up “The Audacity of Hope”. Visit our President Obama Store for posters, t-shirts and more…
Concept and Creation:
Heike Cimato, Shon Price and Gideon van Dijk
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Half way through it started raining. It washed our mural but not our spirits.
Onelove.
Compilation footage from the Oregonian News of various Barack Obama campaign clips from around the Oregon area.
Great High Definition footage of an Obama rally in Sunrise, Florida.
You can really feel the energy in the room.
Barack Obama introduces Joe Biden as his running mate in Springfield, IL.
It was very exciting to see them in person.
Music Video for the Obama campaign.
Great song - Great message.
