Hey you all.....you know i just couldn't let this man, who happens to be the fifth African American Senator in U.S. history, and the only African American currently serving in the US Senate, pass by without my two sence on the subject...for the last couple of days or so, if there's one person who has put kenya on the world map, then you will agree with me that it has got to be Senator Barack Obama and his visit to Kenya.....yes, this guy has grabbed all a piece of all the headlines you can think of...LA Times, New York times, Washington post, Chicago tribune, and so many others that would probarbly fill this page.. even online, this guy has featured every where, with some describing him as Kenya's most prominent citizen ..which is a good idea, at least for an African state that only seems to make headlines in these same papers when its a big disaster or some pictures of some malnutritioned kids or better still, on how corruption is rampant.......infact one of those papers had this to write- As the only African-American in the U.S. Senate, Obama is seen as an inspiration in this east African country where more than half its 33 million people eke out a living on less than $1 a day....wooow and many more had similar lines which i don't want to get into now.


Any way moving on......What caught my attention was this- one of the same same papers had this write or say( whichever)..." Kenyans have claimed Obama as one of their own, even though he was mostly raised in Hawaii and did not know his Kenyan father well "..... that got me thinking,..As a kenyan, and i mean KENYAN not tribe, can we claim him to be our own? Need i remind you that he is an Illinois senator??


According to the Chicago Sun times, the Senator had this to say, " Now, I just have to remind everyone that I'm not a Kenyan politician.,....................I'm going there as a United States senator, but just personally. This gives me an opportunity actually to reconnect and find out what is going on and what folks need..............I want to remind people that I'm the senator from Illinois, and my responsibility is to my constituents back home........Kenya is not my country. It's the country of my father, I feel a connection, but ultimately, it's not going to be me. It's going to be them who are climbing a path to improving their new lives". Hmmm food thought don't you think?


....So, are we just riding on a euphoria state of mind that is just about to die down as soon as he gets in that flight and goes back???..well till he comes back again? After the expectations how, though, will we perceive him when his motorcade is leaving the city? Will he receive as glorious a sendoff after it becomes clear that he has no ability to solve the problems of this impoverished nation?

Vinnie