A new, definitive and critical account/book of Barack Obama’s identity and legacy titled “The Afrocentric Obama and lessons on political campaigning” has been published by a young Ghanaian
/African author and scholar, Dr. Godwin Etse Sikanku, a graduate of the University of Iowa doctoral program in Journalism and Mass Communication.
According to Dr. Sikanku the book which has received excellent reviews so far will be launched in two cities, Iowa in the United States of America on September 9 and in Ghana on October 8, 2016.
“As Barack Obama leaves office, as we contemplate his legacy and as we try to understand his presidency this book is a systematic foray into understanding the persona, thinking and underlying impulses and by extension governance of President Obama. This is sort of an Afrocentric guide to how Obama thinks; an Afrocentric guide to President Obama. It analyzes his philosophical and theoretical impulses from a fresh and less examined perceptive—the Afrocentric framework” Etse Sikanku has said.
The book makes the argument that we can only fully understand Barack Obama as a president, as a politician and an individual if we investigate his African background.
The book “The Afrocentric Obama and lessons on political campaigning” takes a fresh but systematic look at Barack Obama’s global identity from an African perspective. The author, Etse has worked as a lecturer (Assistant Professor), researcher, analyst and scholar at the University of Ghana and the Ghana Institute of Journalism.
The core purpose of the book is to present Obama from a less researched perspective—his African heritage or Afrocentric perspective.
It seeks to answer the questions: what drives Barack Obama? What are his values and what has contributed to making him the person he is? The book suggests that understanding Barack Obama’s Afrocentrciity is crucial—perhaps even a key requirement—to fully analyzing his presidency and politics.
In addition it answers the question: what is Obam’s legacy. The book makes the argument that Obama’s legacy cannot be quantified by dollars and drones but through intangibles such as his values and approach to politics. The author notes that Obama’s imprint has been both national and global. These are lessons America and the world can learn from. In addition the book notes that Oba’s rise to the presidency denotes a new era of positive black framing or “black redemption” for the black race. The book thus appeals to an American and global audience. Throughout the book the author also looks for lessons from Obama’s politicas for governance and leadership in Africa, the US and the world.
There is an additional attraction or selling points for the book: the publication also sets forth lessons on political campaigning from Barack Obama—once again for Africa, the US and the world.
Barack Obama and his Africanity
This book is important because it contributes to public understanding of a one of the leading political figures of the 21st century. As someone with a complex and multicultural background who has been subject to various interpretations, this work helps to grasp and appreciate the person of Obama, his worldview and the motivating or underlying factors behind his persona and policies. In other words, it’s an Afrocentric guide to an American president and a global figure.
In “The Afrocentric Obama and lessons on political campaigning”, Etse Sikanku provides another “lens”, “prism” or “model” for understanding the first African-American President of the United States: the Afrocentric model. In this book, the word Africanity is used interchangeably with Africology, Afrocentricism and Afrocentricity.
About the Author
Dr. Etse Sikanku obtained his PhD in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Iowa. He holds aMasters degree from the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Iowa State University and a BA in Political Science (Major) and Sociology (Minor) from the University of Ghana, Legon.
He received the 2011 outstanding doctoral student award for research from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa. In Ghana he worked as a broadcast journalist for Citi FM and reported for the station during the 2008 and 2012 election cycles from the United States. At the Greenlee School, he worked as a copy editor, columnist and caucus reporter for the Iowa State Daily.
He was also a reporter for the Daily Iowan at the University of Iowa. In 2003, he served as Ghana’s representative to the Commonwealth Youth Caucus. His academic career includes teaching appointments at the University of Ghana Department Of Communication Studies and the Ghana Institute of Journalism. He frequently contributes to public discourse in Ghana as a media and political analyst.
Reviews
This book has been reviewed by several luminaries within the field of political communication, journalism and beyond.
Stephen J. Berry, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative journalism with a colleague while working with the Orlando Sentinel) wrote, “Sikanku makes a convincing argument that Obama’s Africanity emerged for all to hear in his career-making speech at the 2004 Democratic convention and in his “yes-we -can” campaign mantra four years later”.
Dr. Bossman Asare, Head—Department of Political Science, University of Ghana, also said, “Dr. Sikanku has written a master-piece that will influence people of all walks of life—politicians, media practitioners, students and the pessimists. This work will surely shape political campaigning globally for years”.
Just to mention a few, this book has been acclaimed as a must-read book for people in different intellectual groups, by the reviewers, who have also commended the author’s coherence in explicating Barack Obama’s Afrocentric Identity in a reader-friendly format.
Launch Date
The book will be launched in Accra on October 8, 2016, at the British Council. Dignitaries from diverse backgrounds like the Clergy, Academics and political parties, are all expected to witness the launch this phenomenal book. Leaders of the three main political parties, President John MahamaNana AkufoAddoand Ivor Greenstreetare expected grace the occasion.
Synopsis
Who is the real Barack Obama? Dinesh D’Souza once called him a “Kenyan anti-colonial”. Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Congress and former Presidential candidate, affirmed D’Souza’s labeling saying, “What if (Obama) is so outside our comprehension, that only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior, can you begin to piece together [his actions]? That is the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior.” Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York, also lamented at a dinner that Obama was not brought up like a typical American: “He wasn’t brought up the way you were brought up…”
So how exactly was Obama brought up? What is his world view? Is he really “outside our comprehension?” and is the “Kenyan anti-colonial behavior” the best model for describing him? In “The Afrocentric Obama and lessons on political campaigning”, Etse Sikanku provides another “lens”, “prism” or “model” for understanding the first African-American President of the United States: the Afrocentric model. In this book the word Africanity is used interchangeably with Africology, Afrocentricism and Afrocentricity.
The book does not argue that Obama is African but through a systematic analysis of original data including some major speeches, texts and newspaper representations, it suggests that one of the less researched areas of Obama’s identity — his African heritage — may contribute to our understanding of his multi-dimensional personality. Most previous publications have examined the role of race in American politics but there are limited studies regarding how Africanity featured in Obama’s own texts and how the media refracted this aspect of his identity. Africanity refers to one’s African heritage or African roots.
This book is an inter-disciplinary work that hopes to fill this gap in media, political, sociological and communication studies. It argues that in order to holistically understand Obama’s multifaceted identity it is important to consider the African or Afrocentric component of his identity as well. If we accept that Barack Obama’s race and ethnicity is multicultural, then the rationale or objective for the book is justified by the fact that it helps to address one component of his identity — his Africanity — in order to contribute to a more complete understanding of one of the defining figures of modern American and global politics.
To be specific, it seeks to unearth those aspects of Obama’s rhetoric that can be linked to African values, beliefs and viewpoints. In other words, the book unpacks the presence and role of Africanity in the personal narrative and media representations of Barack Obama.
The second aspect of the book also addresses lessons on political campaigning from Barack Obama and observations from democratic campaigns in the US in general.
The concluding aspect of the book diagnoses some challenges facing the author’s specific country, Ghana, and Africa in general; and suggests how a value-laden approach with some lessons from Obama’s underlying values or predispositions in politics could provide a more lasting way of addressing electoral campaigns and democratic governance.
Since Barack Obama’s rise to national and global stardom much has been written about him from several standpoints: politics, leadership, communication, race and social media use. His identity has been a particularly vexing issue, attracting debate within the public sphere. These discussions have been endless and would probably continue even long after he has left the Oval Office.
This book is significant for a few reasons. First of all, it contributes to a public understanding of Barack Obama’s personhood by deconstructing narratives from an Afrocentric perspective. To be specific, it is one of the few books to come out of mainland Africa addressing his identity from an African or Afrocentric viewpoint. Secondly it extends the concept of media framing and political framing to the issue of identity-building, race and ethnicity by grounding it within political, sociological, geographical and cultural perspectives. The presence of Africa in Obama’s texts cannot be taken for granted because it provides space and presence for Africa in a way never experienced in US Presidential elections. More than that, this book provides productive ground for contemplating the legacy of Obama beyond dollars and drones: his values. It calls attention to certain Obama values which aren’t antithetical to African belief systems: communalism, collectivism, fellow feeling, roots/heritage, respect, harmony, and self-belief.
Africa became an instrument through which Barack Obama expressed his unique identity within an exceptional America. The continent and his heritage gave him a prism or foundation through which he was able to hinge his identity and make sense of his personhood. In the political campaign this became useful as he used his African roots as the premise for framing his identity within the political and social world. The narrative of Africa therefore plays both a personal and socio-political function for Obama in terms of providing him with a sense of stability, belonging, self-presentation, self-actualization, and life-meaning.
This nuanced analysis and commentary presents the true genius of Obama in contemporary campaigns and modern realpolitik: his ability to appeal to various audiences by underwriting his American campaign or narrative with his Afrocentric biography, multicultural values and distinct life story thereby making him a true global political “icon”. In the end the “Obama way” and his approach to politics —“new politics” inspired massive audiences both within and outside the United States. Overall, this book posits that, Africans and the world as a whole can gain more from Obama by considering some of his values and approach to politics. In other words his values and beliefs constitute some of his most enduring legacy and contribution to humanity. Finally the book also presents cogent lessons from Barack Obama, someone who is considered a “campaigner-in-chief”. For anyone interested in learning about political campaigns and Barack Obama’s run for the White House, this would be a useful book.
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