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In 2008, Americans are taking a look at their best hope for a future. The creator of that hope came from a struggling childhood. His hardships made a him into a leader and a social activist. That man is named Barack Obama.

His memoir, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance described a young biracial child's life in a single-parent household. Instead of using the difficulty as an excuse, he rose above it and became history's most revered, African American politician.

Obama's mom was a white woman from Wichita (Kansas). Her name was Ann Dunham. His biological father was an Havard University economic from Kenya. His name was Barack Hussein Obama.

The elder Obama and his wife separated when their son was two. He left two years later. Unfortunately, this put a financial hardship on the family. It also took a positive male role model of Barack Obama's young life. His mother did all she could to teach her son to be a man. She and her parents told their son about his father. He grew up knowing he had a dad somewhere.

His mother married Lolo Soetoro. He was an East-West Center student from Indonesia. He provided the role model Obama Jr. was missing.

After high school, he enrolled at Occidental College. While there, he succumbed to the party lifestyle of drugs and alcohol. He studied long enough to transfer to Ivy League, Columbia College. He worked extremely hard and earned his degree. He didn't take that degree to Wall Street's financial district. He took that degree to Chicago's Alteld Gardens housing district.

In Chicago, he found his passion at community activism. He assisted with the disappearing poor and lower-middle classes. His efforts helped the impoverished in Illinois. They rewarded him by making him the senator a few years later.

Obama's political success came from his loving mother. She didn't pump negative feelings in his head about his father. She was able to provide the "man training" needed to shape this future, African-American president. Obama and his wife are equals. That ideal emerged because of his mother's rearing.

In 1995, publishers first released Dreams from My Father. In 2004, the memoirs had a second release following Obama's spectacular, keynote address at that year's Democratic National Convention. In 2006, Dreams from My Father won a Grammy award for Best Spoken Word Album.

It became #1 best seller on college campuses during the Spring 2008. It was another Obama victory from the Iowa Caucuses.

Learn more about this author, Marcus Brooks.
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