As a mother, as an African-American mother I am proud to witness the election of President Obama, as an adult we all know how historically important this past election was. But how do you express that importance to a child. My daughter is turning four next month and throughout the election process I introduced her to President Obama. She recognizes his face whenever she seems him on television or in pictures. She knows he’s the president of the Unites States.
On Election Day we had her walking around telling everyone, “Obama for President!”
But she doesn’t really understand how amazing it is to be able to say “President Obama,” in fact, President Obama will probably be out of office by the time she really understand the significance.
However, the New York Times has created a young reader’s edition of their book Obama: The Historic Journey. My daughter is still too young to read but I love just flipping through the book and talking to her about it.
Obama: The Historic Journey brings readers the extraordinary story of Barack Obama’s voyage from childhood through his inauguration as the 44th president of the United States of America. His election marked an unprecedented step forward in American history, shattering racial barriers and forever altering the political landscape.
There is a video on amazon.com that talks some more about The Historic Journey: Young Readers Edition, so be sure to check that out too!
The book is available for $24.95. Obama: The Historic Journey: Young Reader’s Edition (New York Times Book)
I posted a pretty extensive entry about the 2008 Election on my blog after Obama was elected president. I don’t know how it feels as an African American mother (because obviously I’m not one lol) but I do know as the mother of a biracial son the hope that my son has as a result of this election… My son was SO proud going around at school the following day telling everyone, “The PRESIDENT looks like ME!”
In my entry you will find my views as opposed to Obama’s (I don’t see eye to eye with him on many things) but the barriers he broke in accomplishing a victory like this and establishing himself as the first commander in chief with African American lineage creates greater possibilities and more abundant opportunities for men of color as society begins looking at black men differently. Even through my differing views on many important issues, I couldn’t stop myself from being extremely excited that he is the one America chose to serve this term in office…
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That is cool. I talked about the election of President Obama a lot to my girls too. They also recognize him when they see pics. I love that I am teaching them this history. I realize that they don’t know the significance either, but I still like to teach. I might look into getting that book.
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