Black birds

I went out and bought this book because I wanted to get to know our new president on a more personal level. Even though I'm only halfway through it, I found that the book demonstrates how sensitive, intelligent, honest, insightful, and human President Obama is. He's the kind of leader our country needs right now. Reading his memoir also made me realize that he and I have some things in common -- mostly little things.

For example, he moved to Indonesia with his mother and her new husband when he was young -- maybe 8 years old. His mother, Stanley Ann Dunham (another person I could identify with), got a job at the American Embassy, and Obama would go there sometimes. He'd entertain himself with magazines in the waiting room while his mother worked. He would observe each picture and guess the context before reading the caption. I did that all the time when I was a kid, just for fun. I also did that a lot while watching movies and TV shows that didn't have subtitles. I'm sure most people have played that game, but it was kind of neat to have something like that in common with the current leader of our country.

I highly recommend this book -- not just to Obama supporters, but to everyone in general. This book addresses race and dealing with one's own racial identity, and I think it applies to everyone in different ways -- not necessarily regarding race, but everyone's own differences.