As conservative activist Candace Owens is finding out right now, it’s a dangerous thing to provide personal information – even to a friend. Though I have been blogging for some time under the nom de guerre 'baldilocks,' I’ve never concealed my real name. But, even when I have revealed personal stuff, I took some comfort in the fact that each member of the American side of my family has a different last name than I do. Even considering that, I did ask Mom’s permission before posting this story.
It’s a matter I consider over and over again whenever I talk about personal matters – much more so than when I first started blogging. There’s a specific reason for this.
Yesterday, President Trump say that he would pardon conservative writer and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza. That made me happy and it made me think about the fact that I’m slightly acquainted with Dinesh because I was slated to appear in his documentary 2016: Obama’s America.
Why? Because I am a mirror image of a president.
I started this blog 2003. Then, in 2004, an Illinois state senator named Barack H. Obama gave the Democrat National Convention keynote address. I had never heard of him before that, so I did a little reading and discovered something amazing: his father was Kenyan – of the Luo tribe -- and his mother was American.
What was so amazing about that?
That is my exact same ethnic make-up and, before he came along, I had never met anyone else who had that same parentage. But that “coincidence” barely scratched the surface of those to follow.
- I was born in August of 1961.
- My biological father is Kenyan and of the Luo tribe; my mother is American.
- My parents met when both were attending the same American college.
- My parents divorced when I was very young; afterward, my father returned to Kenya.
- For half of my childhood, I was raised by older relatives of my mother.
- My mother suffered from ovarian cancer.
- My maternal grandmother died in 2008.
- One of my "half" sisters is nine years younger than I am. She is married to a man of a different race than she.
- I am left-handed.
And then there are all the disparities.
- I am a woman.
- I am a conservative.
- I was raised by my great-aunt and great-uncle in the first half of my childhood. President Obama was raised by his grandparents in the last half of his minor years.
- Barack Obama’s mother, and, therefore, his grandmother, were white. My maternal grandmother was “one-drop-rule” black. (In reality, Grandma had a white appearance, but both of her parents had some black ancestry.)
- My mother survived ovarian cancer; Former President Obama’s mother did not.
- My mother, biological father, and “step” father are all living; his have all passed away.
And then there was the discovery that my biological father -- Philip Ochieng-- and Barack Obama Sr. had been friends. This was something that was all over the news in 2008 and, therefore, Dinesh flew to Kenya to interview my father for a segment in Obama’s America. And it’s the reason that Dinesh reached out to me and asked me to appear as well.
My part was filmed but ended up on the cutting room floor. Dinesh said that test audiences were confused about who I was.
Honestly? I was relieved.
Why? Because I knew that Barack Obama was perfectly capable of taking down anyone he or his handlers deemed threatening. I wasn’t worried about myself, but I do have a large family on two continents that I love.
The persecution and prosecution of Dinesh D’Souza confirmed my conclusion and there are several other examples of the former president’s vindictiveness, including his weaponization of the IRS against conservative not-for-profit groups
Many who knew about the Obama parallel suggested that I write a book about it, but I resisted that notion and I’m glad I did. I find the whole thing a tad boring now – it was hard enough to get motivated to compose this post. I’m over myself … mostly.
But Dinesh's impending pardon and the slow reveal that the Obama Administration probably okayed the spying operation on the Trump candidacy reminded me of my fear.
Besides, when he got elected, I figured that my job was done and that I had failed. But I also had this in mind:
“You’ll see.” (I'm old enough to remember being called racist -- against white people -- for surmising that, if Barack Obama became president, America wouldn't elect another black president for 100 years. Ah, the good old days!)
And we did see. We all saw what Barack Obama tried to do to this country and we are still seeing it.
Am I afraid now? No, but the new administration has little to do with my lack of fear.
I am much further along in my relationship with Christ and I have experienced things which I would have never thought I could handle without losing my mind, including the loss of nearly all material possessions and homelessness. I found out that the promises outlined in Psalm 91 are valid.
When one hangs his/her being out into the public anything can happen to your body, your personal belongings and your reputation. But if you ask for God's protection, your soul is unreachable and you have nothing to fear.
If there's anything for which I am grateful to Barack Obama, it's that.
