Sankofa Perspective

“I stand before you as a proud American.  I also stand before you as the son of an African.   Africa and its people helped to shape America and allowed it to become the great nation that it is.  And Africa and its people have helped shape who I am and how I see the world.  In the villages in Kenya where my father was born, I learned of my ancestors, and the life of my grandfather, the dreams of my father, the bonds of family that connect us all as Africans and Americans. 

As parents, Michelle and I want to make sure that our two daughters know their heritage – European and African, in all of its strengths and all of its struggle.  So we’ve taken our daughters and stood with them on the shores of West Africa, in those doors of no return, mindful that their ancestors were both slaves and slave owners.  We’ve stood with them in that small cell on Robben Island where Madiba showed the world that, no matter the nature of his physical confinement, he alone was the master of his fate.  For us, for our children, Africa and its people teach us a powerful lesson – that we must uphold the inherent dignity of every human being “