The woman who raised Obama to greatness

Then she taught him something else that stayed with him: empathy. He says a tribute documentary, “The only time I ever saw my mother really angry was when she saw cruelty; when she saw somebody being bullied or somebody being treated differently because of who they were. And if she saw me doing that she’d be furious.

She’d say to me, ‘imagine being in that person’s shoes, how would that make you feel?’ ”

Ann Dunham did a great job raising America’s 44th president.

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My detailed plans to attend Obama’s January 20 inauguration in Washington were near complete. Then I found out that to get a ticket to the event would be about as easy as securing a seat on a space ship. So here’s what I’d suggest to more sensible Kenyans.

Focus on a parallel inauguration at Kogelo. Firm instructions should go out that for anyone driving from Nairobi, parking begins at Kericho. People should leave now, if they don’t want to park in Nakuru.

The writer is a communication consultant for Unicef in New York. These are his opinions, not of the UN.