What Obama's Presidency Means for Africans

Today denverpost.com published a guest commentary by Dr. Ajume Wingo who writes about how Africans across the continent are reacting to the first US President of African descent.

Africans certainly know that Obama is a product of the United States, and in their guts they understand that African nations have never been a high priority of American foreign policy.

They must also know that there is no hope for a surge of American generosity, given the state of the U.S. economy. Yet the celebration went on in the cities and the hinterlands of Africa. Why?

For many observers, the answer is simple: Obama is the son of an African man. In fact, that answer is not so simple, given Obama's complex identity. I think there is a simpler insight to the rhapsodic joy that Africans are feeling.

In electing Obama, a Black man, to the highest office of their land, the people of the United States of America touched something immense yet elusive that lies within the soul of every human being.

Read Dr. Wingo's entire article here, and let us know what Obama's presidency means to you in the comments below.

Dr. Wingo, a native of Cameroon, is associate professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Values and Social Policy at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and an associate of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University.

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