July 1, 2013
Catie Curry
Columnist
POTUS
From Washington, D.C., Catie Curry, POTUS Columnist
It’s been a historic week in Washington, D.C., particularly at the Supreme Court. While the court voted to give gay and lesbian couples new rights to marry, the worldwide quest to bring NSA leaker, Edward Snowden back to the United States went into overdrive. President Obama returned from a trip to Europe, spending a couple of days at home before leaving for another international trip.
The president and his family were showing no signs of jet lag as they returned home from a whirlwind trip to Europe on June 20. Obama made one of his first appearances after returning from Europe on June 2, when he joined FBI Director Robert Mueller to announce his nominee for replacement, James Comey. The event was held in the Rose Garden with other government officials present, including CIA deputy director, Mike Morell and director of National Counterterrorism Center, Matt Olsen.
When Comey joined Obama and Mueller on the stage, it was revealed he was much taller than both the president and the director. President Obama laughed about the height difference. He remarked that Comey “stands very tall for the rule of law and justice.”
The president and his family left the White House later in the week for their next official trip. The president, the First Lady, his daughters, Michelle’s mother, and one of the president’s nieces boarded Air Force One just before 9:00 a.m. and landed in Senegal around 8 hours later. As they stepped off the plane, the president was greeted by officials dressed in suits and well-wishers dressed in traditional African garb.
After arriving, President Obama traveled to the presidential palace of Senegal. Along the route, the Senegalese people stood along the side of the road holding large signs and waving American and Senegalese flags. Women dressed in traditional African clothing danced nearby to the beat of drums and whistles. As the president stepped out of his car to greet the men, he was received with a big embrace from Senegal’s President Macky Sall. The two presidents chatted as they walked into the palace, accompanied by their wives.
President Obama finished his busy morning with a visit to Senegal’s Supreme Court. He was greeted by the president of the Supreme Court, Papa Oumar Sakho. They sat at a table filled with chief jurists from other countries. The president began his comments to those gathered by saying, “One cannot fail to see therein an act of important symbolic value.” As he gave his introductory statements, he remembered his grandmother. He told onlookers his grandmother wanted him to be a judge and would be very proud of him for having the opportunity to meet with a group of judges from Africa.
The next day, the president and his family journeyed to Goree Island to take a private tour of Maison des Esclaves. The museum is housed in an old slave house. The family listened to the museum’s curator, Eloi Coly explain the history of the house and lead them through some of the rooms where the slaves were housed. At one point, the president stopped to look through the “door of no return,” the last exit before slaves would board a ship for the Americas. The door looks out over the Atlantic Ocean. The president stood looking out into the water thoughtfully for a minute before his wife joined him.
The president seemed genuinely moved by the experience, calling it a “very powerful moment,” helping him to “fully appreciate the magnitude of the slave trade.” He said, “I think more than anything, what it reminds us of is that we have to remain vigilant when it comes to the defense of people’s human rights—because I’m a firm believer that humanity is fundamentally good, but it’s only good when people stand up for what’s right.”
As the president left Goree, he was welcomed by a crowd of people nearby the dock, where he stopped to shake hands and posed for pictures. Nearby, drummers played, prompting the president to dance a little to the beat.
His upbeat spirit carried over into the next morning when President Obama visited a small marketplace for technology. Booths filled a grassy area behind the hotel where Obama was staying. The booths focused on information about farming and agriculture. After listening to the President of the Fédération des producteurs de maïs du Saloum, Nimna Diayté explained how creating a large group of farmers helped them compete with larger companies, Obama became amazed at the prospect of the young woman driving a tractor. At the end of the conversation, he joked, “I want to see you on that tractor.” Later during the visit, when farmer Oumou Gadio showed him a fortified sweet potato, the president said, “So this is not your average sweet potato. This is your super duper sweet potato.”
As the day continued, at an agriculture booth, Obama showed part of a rice plant to some of his staff saying, “Have you guys ever seen rice?” He then joked with the people at the booth, saying “These are city people. This is where rice comes from.” He laughed, asking how the rice tasted before declaring, “We’ll try some at the White House.”
On June 30, President Obama and his entourage got a monumental history lesson when he visited the prison and the jail cell where Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 years. The president and his family took a tour of Robben Island, led by Ahmed Kathrada, a former inmate as well as the same guide who led Obama on a tour of the prison in 2006. During the tour, the president was able to see the courtyard the prisoners used for recreation and a bench where Mandela hid his manuscript for his autobiography, A Long Walk to Freedom.
When the family reached the cell, the president became introspective as he walked around the small room. The cell was only big enough for a person to lie down in, containing a stall with a toilet bucket, and a mattress with a blanket and pillows. The window had thick bars. Obama’s family stood in the cell for a minute before leaving the president alone. He walked around the cell, picking up a small wooden bowl and looking at it before putting it back down. He stayed quiet and observant as he looked around the room. Obama’s thoughts most likely were on the 94-year-old former South African president as he remains in intensive care at a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa.
Later on in the afternoon, the president stopped by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s HIV Foundation Center to meet with dignitaries. Archbishop Tutu gave a touching opening statement, telling Obama, “We are proud of you. You belong to us. So thank you.”
After the meeting, President Obama interacted with some of the children at the center who were there for after-school support program. One of the young boys had a copy of a book the president wrote for children titled, “Of Thee I Sing.” Obama signed the book, laughing as he said, “They were wise to buy my book.” Archbishop Tutu told the boy, “You can go and sell it.” The president also met a boy who said he was a rapper. The president asked the boy to rap for him, smiling as the boy performed his rap titled, “Hell on Earth.” It sounds as if the president’s trip to Africa is anything but hell on earth.
