Barack Obama has lived one version of the American Dream that has taken him to the steps of the White House. But a few miles from where the Democratic presidential candidate studied at Harvard, his Kenyan aunt and uncle, immigrants living in modest circumstances in Boston, have a contrasting American story.

Zeituni Onyango, the aunt so affectionately described in Mr Obama’s best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father, lives in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate in South Boston.

...

The US press has repeatedly rehearsed Mr Obama’s extraordinary odyssey, but the other side of the family’s American experience has only been revealed in parts. Just across town from where Mr Obama made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, some of his closest blood relatives have confronted the harshness of immigrant life in America.

In his book Mr Obama writes that “Uncle Omar” had gone missing after moving to Boston in the 1960s – a quarter-century before Mr Obama first visited his family in Kenya. Aunt Zeituni is now also living in Boston, and recently made a $260 campaign contribution to her nephew's presidential bid from a work address in the city.

Speaking outside her home in Flaherty Way, South Boston, on Tuesday, Ms Onyango, 56, confirmed she was the “Auntie Zeituni” in Mr Obama’s memoir. She declined to answer most other questions about her relationship with the presidential contender until after the November 4 election. “I can’t talk about it, I just pray for him, that’s all,” she said, adding: “After the 4th, I can talk to anyone.”

Hmmmm...

Times of London

UPDATE:

My Obama Yard Sign Is Proof of Citizenship

The London Times story of Barack Obama's Aunt Zeituni - like that of his penniless brother and the Kenyan grade school he promised to help - is interesting not only as a reflection on the candidate's belief that "spreading the wealth around" is a centralized government mandate to be imposed on Joe the Plumber rather than a personal act by, say, a wealthy memoirist whose  ;books repackage colorful relatives to highly lucrative effect.

But, aside from all that, this detail is lovely:

The Times could not determine their immigration status and an official at Boston City Hall said that Ms Onyango was a resident of Flaherty Way but not registered to vote on the electoral roll. However, that Ms Onyango made a contribution to the Obama campaign would indicate that she is a US citizen.

Of course. By definition, if you donate to Barack the Good, you must be one of his loyal subjects. They should make it a requirement of the citizenship test.

By the way, the argument that giving money to Obama is ipso facto proof of citizenship also clears up any question marks over those donations by "A Hitler" and "S Hussein". Congratulations!

Oh, and if you want to know why The Boston Globe's parent company ( The New York Times) has been downgraded by Moody's to junk status, ask yourself why this story is in a foreign newspaper three thousand miles away rather than the local rag. Congratulations to my old comrade from the Conrad Black trial, James Bone, for doing the job Americans (or at least their media) won't do.

The Corner