Obama is a proud Kenyan-American

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Need to know:

All eyes have been on Obama in Kenya this weekend. He was welcomed as a "son of the soil" and indeed it is the president's personal ties to the country that add intrigue to this visit. 

For almost everyone. Obama's half-brother George, whom the US president first met when he visited Kenya as a young man, didn't get the memo — and it's not entirely clear that he cares. George says he hasn’t heard a word about any family events. “I think he's coming for some government stuff,” he said with a shrug. GlobalPost's Erin Conway-Smith caught up with George Obama in the back of a car in a parking lot at the YMCA in Nairobi — which, incidentally, is the only place George Obama would agree to conduct an interview. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum we have the president's legacy, and now Africa is a part of that. When Obama was elected in 2008, hopes in Africa were high that his term in office would lead to improvements on the continent. He briefly visited Ghana in 2009, and then didn't return to Africa until 2013, when he visited Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. Now, more than six years after he first took office, Obama comes to Kenya. Later today he is off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Obama touched on many issues while in Kenya, ranging from corruption to gay rights (the latter was as divisive as expected, just not explosively so). He even cracked a birther joke. But his main focus has been on economic development and encouraging entrepreneurship. This stance contrasts with previous US presidents, like Bush, who focused on HIV and AIDS. In this way, writes Conway-Smith, Obama may be forging a legacy of a more up-to-date American relationship with Africa.

Many young Kenyans are inspired by the visit, but not everyone is smiling. Survivors of the 1998 US embassy bombing in Nairobi were disappointed they didn't get a chance to tell their story to Obama. The US president stopped by Memorial Park and laid a wreath for victims of the bombing on Saturday, but the visit was brief. The bombing in Nairobi as well as one targeting the US embassy in neighboring Tanzania, killed a total of 224 people and injured more than 5,000 people. Most of them were Kenyans and Tanzanians.

Obama leaves Kenya today on an upswing, expressing pride to be Kenyan-American and ending on a tough love note that only family can get away with: “There’s much to be proud of, much progress to lift up. It’s a good news story," he said to a crowd of nearly 5,000 Kenyans in an arena on the outskirts of Nairobi. "But we also know progress is not equal. There are still problems that challenge ordinary Kenyans every day.”

Want to know:

One of Vietnam’s most subversive new rap songs isn’t about partying, sex or even drugs. It’s simply called “F*ck Communism.” (We added the asterisk.) It’s a six-minute revenge fantasy targeting dirty cops, crooked bureaucrats and the so-called “professional thieves” who run the Communist Party of Vietnam.

This song is dangerously rebellious in Vietnam, an authoritarian state that attempts to crush anti-government dissent. It’s also growing really popular. Since its release in January, the track has racked up 875,000 views on YouTube — and in a country with fewer than 40 million internet users, that’s a huge hit song. 

Going public with a song titled “F*ck Communism” in Vietnam is practically begging to get arrested. It was composed by a well-known rapper named Nah, a self-described “middle-class kid” from Ho Chi Minh City who makes no effort to conceal his real name: Nguyen Vu Son.

“I knew this was risky,” Nah tells GlobalPost. “I’ve thought of the consequences. Going to jail. Getting my family framed for crimes they didn’t do. They might even try to kidnap me or arrange an accident.”

Strange but true:

Back to Obama for a moment. With all the coverage his Africa visit has gotten, some of it is bound to stand out. But POLITICO's article entitled "Obama's most dangerous trip yet" has people talking for all the wrong reasons. 

Kenya? The most dangerous place the US president has ever visited? It's true that Kenya faces ongoing security threats from Somalia-based terrorist group Al Shabaab, but what about Afghanistan? Iraq? Shall we explore the dangers of another active war zone?

Kenyans and correspondents based in Kenya wasted no time lambasting POLITICO and its spurious claim. Here are some of their Twitter responses. You can almost hear the collective cringe.