Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, a half-brother of US President Barack Obama, introduces his novel 'Nairobi to Shenzhen' during a pre-launch news conference held by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou Wednesday.
(Bobby Yip/REUTERS)Photos (1 of 1)
Obama brother emerges from quiet life in China to promote book
President Obama's half brother emerged from his usually low-key life in the Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen to promote his semi-autobiographical book, which describes their father as abusive.
By Peter Ford | Staff Writer 11.04.09
BEIJING – By the standards of some other presidential siblings, Mark Obama Ndesandjo – the US president’s half brother who lives in China – is a positive boon.
Normally he keeps quietly to himself in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen where he lives with his Chinese wife, practicing calligraphy and teaching piano to orphans.
On Wednesday, though, he emerged briefly to promote a semi-autobiographical book he has published which he says draws on his childhood with an abusive father – who was President Barack Obama’s father, too.
“My mother used to say of my father, he’s a brilliant man but a social failure,” Mr. Ndesandjo, who took the name of his stepfather, told reporters at a short press conference in Guangzhou.
That was pretty much the image the US president painted of his dad in his best-selling memoir “Dreams From My Father”: no scandalous revelation there. And his half brother resolutely refused to discuss politics with reporters.
Ndesandjo, who will tell outsiders no more about his job than that he is a marketing consultant, looked trim and athletic, according to journalists at the press conference. He had a crewcut, a purple bandana and a pierced ear in which he sometimes wears a diamond.
No scandal there, either. Certainly nothing to compare with Juanita Castro, the sister of Cuba’s iconic Communist leader Fidel Castro, who revealed the other day that she had been on the CIA payroll in the 1960s. Nor with former President Jimmy Carter’s notoriously hard-living younger brother Billy, who became an agent of the Libyan government.
How good Ndesandjo’s novel is, however, remains to be seen; it went on sale Wednesday from Aventine Press, a self-publishing company less charitably known as a “vanity press.”
And it is in for some competition: Among other books in the works from the extended First Family are ones by another half brother, a half sister and Michelle Obama’s brother.
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2. Bonnie | 11.04.09
Sadly, Bill’s comment may be more of a commentary on our country’s educational system than a valid critique of written communication. The grammar in the sentence referenced is perfectly correct and clearly demonstrates the high writing standards this newspaper upholds. Back to school, Bill! ( from a high school English teacher)
By the way,Bill, you didn’t copy the sentence from this article correctly….
4. Mike | 11.04.09
Bill,
You copied:
“Normally he keeps himself very quietly to himself in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen where he lives with his Chinese wife, practicing calligraphy and teaching piano to orphans.”
Your quoted comments are not correctly copied as below:
“Normally he keeps quietly to himself in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen where he lives with his Chinese wife, practicing calligraphy and teaching piano to orphans.”
People who live in glass houses (or can’t even highlight and copy- for Christ’s sake it is 2009) should not throw stones.
7. Khrish | 11.04.09
No, he was born in Hawaii but he was born in America as his mother is American.
9. Arthur-B | 11.04.09
Mark Obama,there are many ways you could use your brothers popularity to sell your book.This approach is not the best of them. It is unfortunate and unacceptable that your father have beaten your mum. To have beaten you his son? it is called corporal punishment in Africa, one of the most effective punishment tools in the region for unrepentant and uncontrollable children. Because it is done as the last resort and in a loving and constructive way, and not with the intention to kill the child ( one of the reasons it was outlawed in the west),it is still being practiced and I bet it turned you into a scholar but not a school drop out, a drug dealer/addict etc. You can call it abuse or anything you want. You can call ” go to your room” “you are grounded” ” time out” as part of your disciplinary measures for your recalcitrant children to spoil them to uncontrollable proportions and call it good parenting only for them to appear on Murray and Jerry Springer show at the age of 13 to spit on your face. No African kid raised in the sub-region could even dream of some of these things let alone try to put them in action.
Just go re-connect with the President, he might not directly do anything, but only one introduction by him or his friends will get you set. If beaten by your father is all you can remember, God Bless you. If you are looking to be a voice against corporal punishment in Africa, go ahead and start. Dr.Barak Obama of blessed memory will not spare the rod and spoil the kid( prov:13:24). Thank God, he has the foresight to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” Prov.22:6 To instill the culture of discipline into my children, their formative years will have to be spent in the sub-region until they are old enough to decipher good from evil.
10. William Armstrong | 11.05.09
Has anyone thought of the fact that the Chinese government has a possible “hostage” to President Obama? The US government routineley disqualifies people for security clearnaces becuase of families living in foreign countries, especially those with which we have political differences.
Why didn’t the press hunt all this down before the election?
11. elena | 11.05.09
“Why didn’t the press hunt all this down before the election?”
You must be joking!! They didn’t want to know!!!!
13. Odikro | 11.05.09
Did anybody know his age? When did Obama’s dad died and at what age. Could he have been the real father of this so-called half-brother? Or could this guy’s dad was rather a brother of Obama’s dad? Could someone clear the confusion here……..I’m beginning to smell rat here. Or could it be the Republican and or Fix News at work here?
You be the judge.
14. pdiane | 11.07.09
Unfotunately, African men, particularly under Islam, have no respect for women and quite often children. The Holy Quarn sanctions corporal punishment, particularly of women so there we go. There is no balance, Ma’at under Islam. The man is the dictator, the master, the wife beater, the more than one wife marrying fool who thinks he is all that and who has no one to answer to. Wonder why Africa is so messed up? Christianity and Islam, bottom line.
Solution: A balanced spirituality that focuses on the respect and love of women and children. Unfortunately, this won’t happen because men do not want to give up their control. So there we have it! I could be wrong.
15. diamond | 11.08.09
I thought this guy was a successful businessman in Hong Kong. It is also my understanding that he is Stanford University trained Physicist. My question though is, why is he only now writing this book? I watched him on Larry King live, he looks just like President Obama. He paused a lot while talking just like the President. His seemed to display what appeared to be raw emotions (tears) about being physically abused by their father, who he also acknowledged had a lot if issues that stem from losing his mother at such a young age. I also recall from one of the President’s books that when he met the President many years ago, he had nothing good to say about their father. As a matter of fact, he was stated as declaring that he had no desire to keep the Obama name as he viewed their father as a social failure. Well what do you know? The last name Obama seems to quite fashionable these days, isn’t it? President Obama’s half brother, Mark Ndjesanjo is now Mark Obama Ndjesanjo. Go figure!
16. Djphoenix | 11.08.09
Arthur: I know that you don’t want Africans to look bad here, but the fact remains. This guy states that not only him, but his mother and his brother were also abused by his father. I guess it’s the practice in Kenya to beat your wives too, and this should be defended by your culture argument. The guy made no references to Africa as a whole, only his family. You appear a bit defensive. I understand that American children can sometimes be too spoiled. Point taken. But, corporal punishment in Africa or elsewhere is not good. We all have to re-evaluate our practices periodically. If Africa or any one of its countries were leading the world, I would say that this method has worked, but we see the outcomes. Additionally, I have read memoirs and talked to Africans who complain about this treatment. The guy has a personal story to tell. Let him tell it. Barack Obama told his story
17. XAVIER | 11.18.09
Well the President brother may be running for President of China in 4 yrs.
and i’m going over there to vote for him.
BaP.
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1. Bill | 11.04.09
“Normally he keeps himself very quietly to himself in the southern Chinese boomtown of Shenzhen where he lives with his Chinese wife, practicing calligraphy and teaching piano to orphans.”
Sir, your grammar is terrible. Seriously, do you get paid to write this stuff? If so, I know a few 4th graders who need work as writers. Apparently, CSM has pretty low writing standards.