Hello! Magazine has a new interview with Barack Obama’s step-grandmother in Kenya. 87 year-old Sarah Onyango Obama raised Obama’s now-deceased father, Barack Sr., after his mother left. The President Elect calls her “Granny Sarah,” and she is known as “Mama Sarah” in her small village in Kenya. Things have changed for Mama Sarah since Barack won the election. The road leading up to her village has been fixed by order of the Kenyan Prime Minister and she now has a security team and a fence around her house.
Sarah has met Obama several times and is excited to be going to the inauguration in the US along with members of her family. She’s kept in touch with her step grandson over the years and says she has some advice for him about working for peace in the world. She was last in the US for Obama’s inauguration to the Senate in 2004 and met his daughters, Sasha and Malia, at that time and again when they visited Kenya in 2006 with their family.
Mama Sarah is blessed to have the future US President in her family, but she says there’s still one person she wants to meet – US Senator and Barack’s former rival, Hillary Clinton. Sarah spoke to Hello! through an interpreter:
There have been a lot of changes since I visited you last March. You have a fence, police protection – you are like an African queen…
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”So you are going to the inauguration?
“Yes, we are leaving for Washington soon. We received one invitation for every member of the family who is going. It is a very important inauguration. We know people are going to be happy.”How long will you stay?
“More than four to five days. Our stay is being coordinated by Barack’s office in Washington.’What would you like to see in Washington?
“I like the statues. But I would just like to walk around and see many places.”Are you going to stay at the White House?
“We don’t have final details. I will stay in the White House or at a place nearby, that’s what I was told.”But would you like Barack to give you a private tour of the White House?
“Of course! I expect both of them, Barack and Michelle, to give me a tour of the White House.”What about their daughters, Malia (ten) and Sasha (eight)? When did you last meet them?
“I met my great-granddaughters when I went to Barack’s inauguration when he became the senator of Illinois. Then I met them again when they came to visit me here at my home.”When you next see your grandson, the President-elect, what are you going to tell him?
“I am going to ask him to work hard to achieve world peace and to stop all the fighting in many places around the world. We need peace!“I am also going to ask him to work hard for a better economy around the world…
Who is one person you would like to meet in the US beside your grandson and his family?
“Hillary! I want to meet Hillary. I would like to thank her for helping Barack to win the elections. Then, I would ask her to continue to help him and to work with Barack to ensure that he will not disappoint the people who elected him. I think Hillary and I will get along very well.”
[From Hello! Magazine, print edition, January 20, 2008]
Obama’s grandmother seems like a spry lady. She must have followed the election closely and know that Hillary fought Barack tooth and nail in the primaries but eventually came around to support him. There’s a kind of forgiveness in her desire to meet Hillary, the presumptive Secretary of State, and ask her to continue to work with Obama for the common good.
I thought this story was really sweet. Obama could have easily forgotten his Kenyan relatives, but he kept in touch with them over the years and is even making arrangements to have them come to the inauguration. I can’t wait to see the photos and watch the coverage on television during this historic time in the US. We’re on vacation in Miami right now and although I’m a little heartbroken to have missed the election (I did vote though absentee ballot though!) this is also a great time to be in the US. There are countless growing problems in the US and in the world but it’s reassuring that we’ll soon have a leader with a message of hope and redemption. He sure has a lot of work to do though.
‘Granny Sarah’ sounds like a hoot!
She should be at the inauguration of her grandson. She has every right to be proud.
that’s pretty cool!!
on election night we were watching bbc, and they had some great coverage of her and the family in kenya.
so glad this new day is just around the corner! it’s been a long 8 years!
OMG Granny Sarah is a sweetie! I think it’s wonderful that she will be attending the inaugration. What a historical event this will be!
Thanks for this story and how you covered it. Very nice, good for Granny Sarah; and she does seem feisty and strong for her age.
LOL she’s great. How come I get the impression that he’ll get a clip around the ear if he doesn’t work at peace – she looks like a no-nonsense woman does Granny Sarah.
I watched that BBC coverage too of the Kenyan side of the family, it was very touching. Bet Mama Sarah steals the show!
dr.grrl, I saw that coverage too. It was amazing.
I love to compare images like this with images of George’s family. What a stark contrast, and a testament to the people of our country. I feel really proud.
I’m hopeful we can undo the damage we’ve done to ourselves and the world.
A look at things to come: Obamas seedy relatives. I am underwhelmed. Hang onto your seatbelt, it is going to be a bumpy 4 yrs.
I feel good.
That’s just kind of how I feel about all of it. Weird right?
But seriously, I do. And reading this woman’s little interview, I kept thinking, man, it’s a good day in America. And a good day around the world.
Mama Sarah is seedy? Good grief.
Anyway, the family has no real relevance in politics; they don’t sign any laws or divvy up any taxes.
@RReedy the American people have held on long enough! Goodbye Bush n good riddance!
@ RReedy- why would you say that obama has “seedy relatives”? because they are from a different country than you?
you have NO basis for that comment, really. get a grip.
@ r reedy: how are obama’s relatives seedy? i don’t recall any of them being 17 and pregnant, or getting arrested for drug dealing (palins). i also don’t recall any of them getting arrested for DUI once (bush) or getting arrested for DUI multiple times (cheney). come on admit it …in your world, seedy = black, right
LOL Kate:
Hey, there’s one in every crowd…
I think that it’s hitting below the belt to suggest that George and Barbara Bush played a casual round of golf after losing their much adored young daughter to leukemia.
It is documented that Barbara Bush suffered a long and debilitating depression, not to mention the fact that her hair turned prematurely gray, after her beloved daughter died.
Thanks for the correction Tess. I apologise for dragging up this allegation and will ask the Mod to edit my original post.
Thanks for the write-up Celebitchy. It put a smile on my face and a spring in my step!
Mairead:
Very graceful. Quite lovely. Appreciate your most recent comment re: the Bush seniors.
….. (giggle)….. It’s gonna be like extream makeover home edition ….but BIGGER !! (he he) have fun Obama family! God Bless
Is this the granny Sarah that said Barack was Kenyan-born? Whoops.
Obamas seedy relatives. Hang onto your seatbelt, it is going to be a bumpy 4 yrs.
And you can thank Bush licking the sweaty recesses of his big business buddies behinds for that too.
Nothing like a little borderline racism to set the tone of your agenda, eh ?
Hanna,
No one says He was Kenyan born except crackpot conspiracy theorists.
His grandma said she was present at his birth, not that it was in Kenya.
Tin foil’s out, pork pie is in
-whoops…
I am loving the big bow on her head in the header photo 🙂
Thrilled to pieces about Obama!
I am loving the big bow on her head in the header photo –
Thrilled to pieces about Obama!
She is such a sweet lady.
In Africa, there is nothing like step grand mother. It is just grandmother. She raised Obama Sr from infancy to adulthood and was his mother and is considered as such.
Another Zen-like experience in stupidity that was.
I’m so excited. A SMART person in the White House, what a concept.
Been in Africa its heart warming to read such a nice article.
What I like about Obama is that he has such a rich multi cultural background. I truely believe he will tackle each challenge with integrity, with no chip on his shoulder, no hero this and that, he comes across very well, very wise.
I am sure we all have high hopes for him, god bless you all!
She finally attended one of the great days in history, She must be very proud and happy.
All this fuss about Obama’s granny Sarah attending the inauguration. There was no mention of her and no photo’s you’ed think the Media would be all over it, did she attend or not.