Local
Buzz for Obama echoes around globe
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
January 13, 2009
D.C. is not the only major city in a frenzy for Barack Obama.
In London, an Internet site dedicated to Obama fans has sprung up. Tickets to the inaugural are being offered for up to 2,000 pounds apiece.
There’s messages and chat rooms in Bangalore, India and Singapore.
On Craigslist in Johannesburg, Obama “framed art collections” are for sale at up to $20,000 each.
Student Mbhekwa Dlamini, 29, a native of Swaziland, is making his first trip to D.C. He’s studying in Atlanta for two years but won a scholarship to study the presidency just in time for the inauguration.
“It shows you that in this world, things do not remain the same,” Dlamini said of Obama’s presidency. “Things are bound to change. The future is today.”
Chido Nwangwu, Houston-based publisher of USAfrica Online, said he was not surprised to hear Dlamini talk like that.
“The fact of the matter is Obama’s election has had an aspirational and inspirational effect on the younger class of Africans who’ve suffered from the brutal incompetence of their leaders,” Nwangwu said.
“There’s this gerontocracy that has held back the possibilities of the continent,” Nwangwu said.
“ ‘Yes We Can’ goes beyond a theological chant to a realistic position: Anything is possible in politics. The impact of that is a profound force for many Africans.”
In London, an Internet site dedicated to Obama fans has sprung up. Tickets to the inaugural are being offered for up to 2,000 pounds apiece.
There’s messages and chat rooms in Bangalore, India and Singapore.
On Craigslist in Johannesburg, Obama “framed art collections” are for sale at up to $20,000 each.
Student Mbhekwa Dlamini, 29, a native of Swaziland, is making his first trip to D.C. He’s studying in Atlanta for two years but won a scholarship to study the presidency just in time for the inauguration.
“It shows you that in this world, things do not remain the same,” Dlamini said of Obama’s presidency. “Things are bound to change. The future is today.”
Chido Nwangwu, Houston-based publisher of USAfrica Online, said he was not surprised to hear Dlamini talk like that.
“The fact of the matter is Obama’s election has had an aspirational and inspirational effect on the younger class of Africans who’ve suffered from the brutal incompetence of their leaders,” Nwangwu said.
“There’s this gerontocracy that has held back the possibilities of the continent,” Nwangwu said.
“ ‘Yes We Can’ goes beyond a theological chant to a realistic position: Anything is possible in politics. The impact of that is a profound force for many Africans.”
