Documentary Description
When he called himself “a skinny kid with a funny name” at the 2004
Democratic National Convention, his political star was already on the
rise. By the time he decimated the competition in 2004 race for the
Illinois Senate, he was the bona fide golden child of a Democratic
party desperately in need of a winner. In many ways, the story of
Barack Obama is a uniquely American tale of the 21st century, where
racial lines are blurry and the most interesting chapter is just
beginning.
This prophetic biography about the life of Illinois senator Barack
Obama was made before he began campaigning to be the Democratic party’s
candidate for the 2008 presidential race. Still, the program suggests
Obama has one or another kind of profound, Anerican destiny as a
mixed-race activist who never comfortably fit into one or another
group, and had to look deep into his own roots to understand his
identity. The son of a white American mother and black Kenyan father,
Obama was abandoned by the latter when he returned to his native
country to work for its improvement.
Raised by his mother–whom Obama credits with teaching him many of
his values–and his grandmother, Obama lived in Hawaii as a child but
moved to Indonesia for a few years when his mom remarried. There, Obama
saw cyclical poverty and the underlying factors that perpetuate it
before returning to Hawaii. Interviews with childhood friends and his
sister describe Obama’s restlessness before attending Harvard law
school and propelling himself into a life of public service and
community activism. Often accused of lacking enough political
experience to qualify him for the White House, Obama comes across in
this show as a visionary and experienced consensus-builder who can
reach across opposing points of view.
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