By Lesroy W. Williams
Observer Reporter
(Basseterre, St. Kitts)—Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, Chairman of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party has sent a congratulatory message to Sen. Barack Obama on his historic nomination as the Democratic presidential candidate.
“I congratulate you on this historic and signature moment. Your meteoric rise to the leadership of the U.S. Democratic Party as its presumptive presidential nominee has excited people everywhere. The magnitude and historic nature of the moment has been magnified for persons of the African Diaspora who instinctively came to believe in your vision and now more than ever have the audacity to hope for a better world,” Dr. Harris said in his letter.
On June 3, 2008, Sen. Obama officially became the presumptive Democratic nominee for the presidency, 16 months after announcing his candidacy.
Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. was born on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Kenya-born Harvard educated economist and Ann Dunham, a Caucasian Anthropologist.
His father left them when he was two years old.
His father returned to Kenya, and saw his son once more. His father died in 1982. His mother remarried and moved Barack to Indonesia. He returned to Hawaii at age 10 to live with his maternal grandparents. He graduated from the respected Punahou School with honours. His mother died of cancer in 1995.
Sen. Obama holds a B.A. in International Relations which he gained in 1983 from Columbia University. He received a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Dr. Harris in his letter reminded Sen. Obama that the policies and actions of the United States affect people everywhere directly or indirectly because it is a world power.
“As you now move on to your next challenge of winning the Presidency in November we in the Caribbean are awaiting to hear proposals regarding your vision of the wider responsibilities of America on issues of food security, poverty eradication, climate change and environmental security, and indeed your view on the Caribbean on its relations with the USA. For our part, we want an amicable relationship with America anchored on respect, partnership and a shared vision for the peace, prosperity and development of the Caribbean and USA” Dr Harris stated in his letter.
