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Tuesday, September 06, 2011

Book of the Week (September 5, 2011)

On the New Book shelf in the Library's lobby
Call Number:  HN 90 .M84 B37 20111

Barack Obama, The Aloha Zen President:  how a son of the 50th state may revitalize America based on 12 multicultural principles

By Michael Haas

Publisher's Description:  Obama's aspiration to transform the United States using Hawaìi as his model has been a conspicuous theme in his books and speeches over the years. In them, he extols Hawaìi's multicultural ethos, describing how a normative, problem-solving mindset predicated on mutual respect and harmonious interchange is inculcated in the culture, politics, and society of the Islands. Indeed, this "Aloha Spirit" is imbued in Barack Obama, is part of what made him irresistibly charismatic as a candidate, and explains why voters in 2010 were baffled at his demeanor after he became the 44th President of the United States.

This unique book examines Obama's decisions as an adult and as president and exposes how they are directly linked to the culture of Hawaìi and Obama's multicultural life as a child. The author and contributors also describe the ways in which native Hawaiians were dispossessed of their sovereignty and their land, how they steadfastly sought justice, and how their quest served as a model for Obama's mobilization of support for his candidacy.

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