Former President Barack Obama will forever be known as our nation’s very first Black President. But what about his life before his presidency? “Dreams from My Father” is a book by Obama regarding his upbringing as a biracial child, witnessing the racism and oppression in America. Despite the title of his book, the story is equally about both his father and himself. His mother’s stories about Barack’s father are more than enough for him when he was a child because they taught him about who he is and that his father was an incredibly smart man. There is a fascinating and repeating theme of retelling stories throughout the passage. Obama only knew his father from stories by his family and he only knew of his grandparents’ past through the tailored stories they told him, themself. Though these stories had truth in them, they specifically shielded Obama from the very clear idea that he would not be treated equally for his race. He was both black and white; he was the result of two worlds colliding into one. In a way, his grandparents had that same ignorance before Obama became their grandson. Obama’s family had every best intention of protecting him from a world that would not take his existence lightly.

“That’s how all the stories went-compact, apocryphal, told in rapid succession in the course of one evening, then packed away for months, sometimes years, in my family’s memory.” (Pg 9)

This line from the book weighted heavily after the dialogue of stories about Obama’s father. I personally found that it translated that deep confusion of a teenage boy trying to understand everything that everyone told him. After all, you only trust your family to tell you your family’s history, but it was like everyone was simultaneously trying to shroud him into a fog so he couldn’t really see the aftermath.