In Barack Obama's native Hawaii, "ohana" means "family". Hawaiians and other local residents use 'ohana when referring to both blood-related and extended families. 'Ohana emphasizes that family and friends are bound together and members must cooperate and remember one another.
Finding common ground, working together, and being unified in pursuit of a better America are the cornerstones of Barack Obama's campaign for the Presidency.
Barack Obama is the first and only presidential candidate who has a personal connection and deep understanding of the issues and experiences that impact our community. Obama was born in Hawai‘i, which boasts the largest concentration of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. He later lived abroad in Asia, before returning to America at the age of 9.
Obama's sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, is Indonesian American and his brother-in-law, Konrad Ng, is of Chinese ancestry. As Maya shared, "We strongly believe that Barack’s connection to the Asian American and Pacific Islander community is reflected in his politics – he believes in values such as hard work, family, spirituality, education and security. We recognize that the Asian American and Pacific Islander community is a heterogeneous and complex group that will make informed judgments by considering a variety of perspectives and affiliations.
Barack himself asserts that we can be rooted in ethnic and racial communities while not being limited by them. But we feel quite strongly that, once everyone in the community gets to know Barack’s character, policies, and substantive vision, they will surely support him. Our community has the opportunity to support a presidential candidate who has a personal connection to the Asian and Pacific American community."
