July 13, 2016 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Mark Obama Ndesandjo: First Brother Raps about His
Autobiography and Barack
By Kam Williams
For The Skanner News
B
orn in Kenya in
1965 to Ruth Baker
and Barack Obama,
Sr., Mark Obama
Ndesandjo is an accom-
plished musician, author,
artist and businessman.
Prior to settling in Shen-
zhen, China, he earned
a BS in Physics from
Brown University, an MS
in Physics from Stanford,
and an MBA from Emory.
A half-brother of Pres-
ident Obama, Mark con-
sults worldwide, em-
ploying his considerable
t el e c o m mu n i c a t i o n s ,
international marketing
and branding experi-
ence gained as a senior
manager at Lucent, Nor-
tel and other companies.
He is also fluent in Man-
darin, both as a speaker
“
ano CDs, “The Untimely
Ones,” “Night Moods”
and his own composition
“Reflections on William
Blake.”
He regularly gives pi-
ano lessons to orphans
in and around the city of
Shenzhen, and he was ap-
pointed Volunteer Image
Ambassador and Special
Olympics Image Ambas-
sador by China. Further-
more, he founded the
Mark Obama Ndesandjo
Foundation, Ltd for cul-
tural exchange, whose
goal is to bring art to dis-
advantaged youth.
Kam Williams: Hi,
Mark. Thanks for the in-
terview.
Mark Obama Ndesand-
jo: No, I am actually very
honored, and I’m glad
we finally linked up. It’s
been months, hasn’t it?
son in many ways. I’ve
read your interviews.
You’ve touched base with
so many interesting peo-
ple from all over.
KW: Including your sis-
ter, Maya, who touched
me at the end of my inter-
view with her, when she
said, “I won’t forget you
and I would love to meet
you someday.”
MON: That’s great!
The art of the interview
includes understanding
yourself, and if one is try-
ing to be thoughtful, it’s
a way in which one can
see parts of yourself that
perhaps weren’t so clear
before. So, you have a
very important tool, and
I can understand what
Maya meant.
KW: Did you know that
I also went to Brown and
When he said that he’d only met me for the first
time a couple of years before, when he really
hadn’t, it was very surprising and disappoint-
ing to me, because it seemed like politics were
taking precedence over family
and as a writer, and he’s
an avid brush calligra-
pher, too.
As an author, he has
published the novel,
“Nairobi to Shenzhen,”
as well as an intrigu-
ing autobiography, “An
Obama’s Journey.” Musi-
cally, he’s released 3 pi-
[Laughs]
KW: Yeah, the 12-hour
time difference can make
it a little hard to connect
by phone. I already know
that from writing for
some Asian outlets.
MON: That’s right.
You’re truly a global per-
Lear cont’d from pg 6
the Top 10 TV shows in
the country.
Despite the unparal-
leled achievement, Nor-
man occasionally found
himself facing discon-
tent in the ranks, such as
a rebellion on the set of
“Good Times.” It seems
that some of its cast mem-
bers had become upset
about the series’ portray-
al of African Americans.
Esther
Rolle,
who
played Florida, com-
plained about the buf-
foonery, while John
Amos, who played her
husband, James, became
so disillusioned that he
left the program after
three seasons at the peak
of the program’s popu-
larity. Matters came to
a head when the Black
Panthers stormed Lear’s
office, demanding that
he present some positive
African American char-
acters. That prompted
Norman to give Archie
Bunker’s irascible neigh-
bor George Jefferson his
own spinoff as a wealthy
businessman “movin’ on
up” on Manhattan’s ex-
clusive Upper East Side.
Co-directed by Os-
car-nominees Heidi Ew-
ing and Rachel Grady
(for Jesus Camp), “Nor-
man Lear: Just Another
Version of You” is an
intriguing
retrospec-
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lution of American cul-
ture. For, Lear, now 93,
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George Clooney, Jay Leno
and Russell Simmons, to
name a few.
An alternately pen-
etrating and poignant
portrait of a true trail-
blazer!
Excellent HHHH
Unrated
Running time: 91 min.
Studio: Loki Films
Distributor: Music Box
Films
To see a trailer for Nor-
man Lear: Just Anoth-
er Version of You, visit:
TheSkanner.com.
lived in the Grad Towers
while I was there.
MON: Omigosh! Anoth-
er Thayer Street refugee.
[Laughs] What a small
world it is, Kam.
KW: I found “An
Obama’s Journey” fasci-
nating.
MON: Thank you. It
was a very difficult book
Mark Obama Ndesandjo
to write.
KW: I can imagine. It’s
so revealing emotional-
ly. Plus, you had to deal
with the burden of your
brother’s being in the
public eye.
MON: I’m so glad you
liked it. Writing a book,
you have to reach very
deep inside of yourself to
share a message that will
touch the readers. Other-
wise, people will know,
and it won’t connect.
KW: Some of what you
wrote about Barack, like
how, for political rea-
sons, he lied to the press
about when he first met
you, was very revealing.
MON: One of the fo-
cuses was just to share
some of the important
facts that have shaped
lives in our country and
in individuals in my
family. Hopefully, peo-
ple can take positive les-
sons from that, and use
it to make a change or
do something positive. I
don’t speak for Barack. I
speak for myself, as you
know. There are many
things about him that
are difficult and almost
inscrutable. That’s part
of the mystery and also
part of the reason for his
success. When he said
that he’d only met me for
the first time a couple of
years before, when he
really hadn’t, it was very
surprising and disap-
pointing to me, because
it seemed like politics
were taking precedence
over family. Having been
through the excesses and
the extreme emotional
politics of family dynam-
ics had already made me
very sensitive. But that
being said, I support my
brother. He’s a remark-
able person, and he’s
changed my life in many
ways.
KW: I have asked for
permission to interview
him many times, but the
White House has repeat-
edly declined. Should I
give up at this point?
MON: I hope that you
get a chance to interview
him one day. It’ll prob-
ably happen. So, don’t
worry too much about it.
[Laughs]
See IINTERVIEW on page 11