‘An Inspiration to us All’

2006

NelsonMandela.org

Thank you CarolDuhart

Africa, 2013

August 2006: Senator Barack Obama peers out of what was Nelson Mandela’s prison cell on Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa (Photo: Pete Souza)

Washington Post: President and Michelle Obama will leave Washington on Wednesday for a week-long trip to three African nations, focusing on economic development, democracy building and private sector investment.

Among the highlights for the president will be bilateral meetings with the leaders of Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, visits to Senegal’s supreme court and a power plant in Tanzania, tours of a slave museum in Gorree Island and the site of the prison where Nelson Mandela was held for two decades on Robben Island.

Obama also will tour a community center with Archbishop Desmond Tutu in Cape Town.

The centerpiece of the trip will be the president’s speech at the University of Cape Town, where he will deliver a message that the United States intends to significantly boost its presence on the continent….

…. Michelle Obama, too, will have a full schedule. She will speak to girls at a Senegal middle school and with students at a South African high school, and she will participate in a first ladies summit hosted by the George W. Bush Institute. Former first lady Laura Bush also will participate, along with first ladies of African nations, officials said.

More here

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2006:

August, 2006: Sen. Barack Obama, Michelle, daughters Sasha, Malia and other children help plant a tree with 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, Nairobi, Kenya

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Photos from then Senator Obama’s visit to Africa in 2006 – all taken by Pete Souza, then working for the Chicago Tribune:

…. touring Robben Island with Ahmed Kathrada, a former prison mate of Nelson Mandela

….. visiting a health clinic in a township near Cape Town, Sen. Obama talks to Sisisipo Mngeni, 3, whose mother Nomathamsanqa Mngeni (top right) is HIV positive

….. viewing a 1976 photograph of the fatally wounded Hector Pieterson at the museum in Soweto, named for the 13-year old victim of apartheid violence. Antoinette Pieterson, Hector’s sister, accompanies Obama

wangari maathai 1940 – 2011

See here for a Guardian article on Wangari Maathai

August, 2006, in Nairobi, Kenya: Then Sen. Barack Obama, wife Michelle, daughters Sasha, Malia and other children help plant tree with 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai

President Barack Obama greets Kenyan professor Wangari Maathai in the doorway of the Oval Office, Oct. 5, 2009

‘why would anybody volunteer for that job?’

CBS: George Clooney plays a presidential candidate in the political drama “The Ides of March,” but he’s not looking to be one in real life. Clooney told reporters at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday that he has “no interest” in heading to the White House.

“As for running for president, look, there’s a guy in office right now who is smarter than almost anyone you know, who’s nicer and who has more compassion than almost anyone you know. And he’s having an almost impossible time governing. Why would anybody volunteer for that job?”

More here

Thank you What is Working

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Flashback:

April, 2006

the charlie rose interviews

November, 2004

October, 2006

flashback … oprah, 2006

2006 – the full show

Thank you miffy4obama! 😉

the pizza guy

CNN: The queen of talk, the president and first lady of the United States together again. The President and Mrs. Obama will sit down with Oprah Winfrey for a taping of her talk show April 27th, a White House source confirms to CNN.

Ah, a good time for a flashback……

2006

the charlie rose interviews

November, 2004

October, 2006

rak bama

Here you go Obamalia – Conan O’Brien, 2006

(Sorry for the poor video quality, will try to find better)

the pizza guy

2006