Obama, from the point of view of a Kenyan living in America

Ever since Senator Barack Obama declared his intention to run for the American presidency, I've been hounded by questions as to how I, as a Kenyan living in America, feel about his run.

The questions have come while riding the Metro, eating at a restaurant, at Toastmasters meetings, at church, and believe it or not, while seated on a dentist's chair undergoing a root canal!

Kenyans are happy that a son of a son of their country is running for the presidency of the United States. It is an important time for America because a credible African-American with a real chance of winning is running. Citizens of both nations recognize that it is high time for Kenya and America to begin to work together and explore more avenues of interdependence.

Barack Obama is an American citizen. He is not running as a Kenyan. While we (Kenyans) share a connection with him because his father was a Kenyan, we do not have any claim to his attention as a possible president. If Barack Obama does become president of the United States, he has no obligation to the people of Kenya because he is an American citizen representing his people.

American missionaries have been going to Kenya for generations. The U.S. was an active supporter of Kenyan independence. And one of America's top legal minds and civil rights leaders - Thurgood Marshall, later a Justice of the Supreme Court - went to Kenya as a volunteer and helped to draft the first Constitution. Thanks to the Terminator's father-in-law, Sargent Shriver, thousands of young women and men have gone every year to live and work in Kenya as Peace Corps volunteers.

On the other hand, thanks to the "Kennedy Airlift," planeloads of young Kenyan leaders came to the United States in the months immediately preceding Kenya's independence. As a matter of fact, Barack's father came to the U.S. because of the Kennedy Administration's life-changing policy. My own father came to the United States in 1978 to study agriculture in Washington, D.C. and promptly flew back to Kenya for a senior position in the government. Right now, there are over 7,000 young Kenyans studying in colleges and universities across the United States, more than from any other country on the African continent.

Kudos to Barack for his audacity and good luck to his campaign. For those who are wondering what Kenyans are thinking about this, you'd be surprised to know that it's really not on their minds (I have an insider's ear to what's going on there). So, when we meet at the next Reds or Bengals game, I hope we'll be able to talk about the game.

Herman Najoli is an educator, speaker, author and volunteer who lives in Price Hill with his wife and son. He blogs at hermanjnajoli.com and epicflow.wordpress.com.