Barack Obama's Aunt and Uncle Found Living in Poverty

[WhiskeyGirl]

Barack Obama's Aunt and Uncle Found Living in Poverty

Aunt Zeituni Mentioned in Dreams from My Father

Barack Obama has another relative living in squalid poverty, in this case an aunt who resides in a slum in South Boston. Her name is Zeituni Onyango, a native of Kenya, and Barack Obama's father's sister.

Zeituni Onyango, who was prominently mentioned as "Aunt Zeituni" in Barack Obama's memoirs Dreams from My Father, lives in a disabled access apartment in a rundown section of Boston. Zeituni Onyango lives with her brother Omar and are the children of Barack Obama's Kenyan grandfather by his third wife. Zeituni Onyango is apparently without employment, but does some volunteer work and contributed some money to her nephew's campaign.

Omar, known as "Uncle Omar" in Barack Obama's memoirs, has also had hard times since moving to America. He was evicted from a previous apartment, lost a business, and was once attacked in an armed robbery.

Barack Obama, who is a millionaire and lives in a tony section of Chicago, has had to endure controversy before when it was revealed that his half brother George lives in a shack in a poor area on Nairobi, Kenya. Eyebrows have been raised at why a politician, who often touts the virtues of sharing and "spreading the wealth," seems unable or unwilling to help out relatives who are in need.

(snip)

It is as if the kindergartener Barack Obama, instead of sharing his own toys with another child, forcibly took a toy from one child to give to another. The former is called sharing and is rightly considered a virtue. The latter is called theft, except, of course, when a government does it, and then it's called "sharing the wealth."

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1164232/barack_obamas_aunt_and_uncle_found.html

This seems to be one of the big headlines today.

[WhiskeyGirl]

(snip)

...Uncle Omar, as the uncle is called by Obama in his book, ‘was beaten by armed robbers with a “sawed-off rifle” while working in a corner shop in the Dorchester area of the city. He was later evicted from his one-bedroom flat for failing to pay $2,324.20 (£1,488) arrears, according to the Boston Housing Court.’

As The Times pointed out in its report, ‘the US press has repeatedly rehearsed Mr Obama’s extraordinary odyssey, but the other side of the family’s American experience has only been revealed in parts. Just across town from where Mr Obama made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, some of his closest blood relatives have confronted the harshness of immigrant life in America.’

Aunt Zeituni indicated that she was willing to talk about Barack, but only after the November 4 election. “I can’t talk about it, I just pray for him, that’s all,” she said, adding: “After the 4th, I can talk to anyone.”

George Hussein Onyango, Barack Obama’s half-brother in Nairobi, confirmed to The Times that aunt Zeituni was who she said to be. He explained that his and Barack’s aunt “left to find work and I suppose she thought her life would be better there.” He added: “She was kind and caring.”

Although it is ludicrous to argue that an individual should help all his relatives, all the time, it seems a bit strange that the man who accuses ‘the rich’ of being unwilling to help ‘the poor,’ and who described Zeituni Onyango so affectionally in his autobiography has done nothing to help her in any way.

http://www.poligazette.com/2008/10/30/obama%E2%80%99s-aunt-zeituni-onyango-living-in-a-slum-in-boston/

Where is all this negativity coming from?  Nobody knew this woman lived here before?   

[WhiskeyGirl]

Barack Obama’s campaign has confirmed that a woman living in a South Boston housing project is indeed the senator’s aunt, a little-known relationship that was only revealed this week - five days before the election.

(snip)

Onyango received a small stipend over the past year working six hours a week as a volunteer resident health advocate for the BHA complex she lives in, said BHA deputy director Bill McGonagle.

McGonagle said Onyango has lived in Boston public housing for five years.

(snip)

read the rest here


http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/2008/view/2008_10_30_Barack_Obama_s_aunt_living_in_South_Boston_housing_project