Auma Obama
Rita Auma Obama (born 1960) is a Kenyan-British community activist, sociologist, journalist, author, and half-sister of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama.
Quotes
[edit]- Germans always like to think that they have a very liberal attitude towards Africans. But when you scratch the surface you can see that they they still carry around the prejudices of their childhood. In German fairy tales black people always appear as the bogey man. You don't forget things like that so easily.
- [1] Auma Obama, Barack's German Connection. 2008
- I felt a kinship with him automatically. I was very nervous and worried about not connecting immediately and then having to be in his home—because I was going to be staying with him. But when I met him it was so easy. We just started talking as though we’d known each other always, and that was actually something really special.
- [2] TIME Q&A: Auma Obama on Her Famous Brother, Their Instant Connection and Her New Memoir. 2012
- My brother is authentic. He really believes in what he is trying to do. So there’s no hidden agenda. In that sense, he really is an open book. And I think that authenticity, that passion, and the image and the drive—it resonates with people.
- [3] On what makes Barack so special politically. TIME Q&A: Auma Obama on Her Famous Brother, Their Instant Connection and Her New Memoir. 2012
- I work for my own foundation, called Sauti Kuu (Powerful Voices) Foundation, which I started about two years ago. The focus of the work is to teach young people—girls, in particular—who are from underprivileged backgrounds, that there are valuable resources they can use to improve their lives before they look outwardly to see whether someone will give them relief food or clothing or all of the other things we give them so often in the humanitarian world.
- [4] About her work. TIME Q&A: Auma Obama on Her Famous Brother, Their Instant Connection and Her New Memoir. 2012
- I had really nobody in my family whom I could talk about these things with. This passion for making a difference, the passion for helping young people find out who they are, gain strength in their own identity, those were things I was struggling with as well. I realized very young that if I don’t do it myself, nobody can really do it for me. I think young people need to be helped toward that realization.
- [5] TIME Q&A: Auma Obama on Her Famous Brother, Their Instant Connection and Her New Memoir. 2012
- I manage that because Barack Obama’s in his present situation as the president of the United States is a very new thing, and it’s also something very temporary. I’ve been around for a lot longer, so I’ve already defined myself long before he became the president of the United States so in my own right I have my own identity. So in that sense I am able to, well, actually I’m learning, and I keep having to adjust to being Barack Obama’s sister, who is the president of the United States. But being me as Auma Obama, that is not an issue. It’s trying to accommodate the “new” – this new role that I’m received in, the attention I get, this visibility I get. In terms of my identity I think I’m pretty secure, as best one can be.
- [6] Auma Obama in her own words. 2012
- I don’t get tired of being called Barack Obama’s sister because I am. I get tired of being called Barack Obama’s “half-sister” because I’m not. In our culture he’s just my brother, I’m his sister, so being called Barack Obama’s sister, I have no problem with that at all. I guess it becomes an issue when people see me as an extension of him and focus on that. So I guess this sense of “we’re inviting Barack Obama’s sister”, “we’re speaking to Barack Obama’s sister” to get closer to Barack Obama and find out more about him. To an extent it is justified, but that’s not all that I’m about, so I’m very conscious of that, and I’m conscious of making people aware of that and trying to make that clear that is part of the conversation.
- [7] In Auma Obama's word. 2012
- If I’m teaching young people to use their voices and be active in making their lives a success.
- [8] Forbes Aug 16, 2016
- You can’t do this or that because you’re a girl. Or, You have to do this because you’re a girl. I asked Why? I’m a human being first.
- [9] Forbes Aug 16, 2016
- Poverty is no excuse. Development aid has to be linked to economic development,
- [10] Julius Bar 22 January 2020
- Once others hear your voice loud and clear, they realise you exist.
- [11] Julius Bar 22 January 2020
- It's special for us and for our children and for our communities because it tells every child that if you work hard you can do whatever you want in this world. You can make you future
- [12] Oprah Daily Nov 14, 2020
- I can’t believe that these young people are just trying to demonstrate for their rights and to tell them that we understand that they need to use their voices, and we are being tear-gassed. We’re being teargassed! We have flags and banners, nothing else.
- [13] Speaking to CNN soon after being tear gassed along with other demonstrators in Nairobi. 2024
- How can you tear-gas your own people? Listen to them. Listen to these children; they’re the future.
- [14] Obama urged Kenyan leaders to listen to the young protesters. 2024
- Why am I taking part? Because I love to dance. And whether I can dance well—I'm like those who sing in the shower. I think I can dance well, but we’ll see in a few days if it’s really the case.
- [15] Her response as a participant in Let’s Dance, a dancing show that’s Germany’s answer to Dancing with the Stars.
