Mau Mau in Harlem?

From the inception of a British colony in Kenya in the late 19th century, the United States was intimately involved in its development. Simultaneously, African-Americans too were attracted to Kenya early on, not least because the apparent "black-white" conflict there seemed to mirror what they were experiencing in the U.S. Thus, when the African majority revolted in the early 1950s - termed "Mau Mau" - occurred at a time when African-Americans were surging toward equality. The struggle in Kenya was coming to symbolize Africa's struggle for freedom from European colonialism. It was thought that lessons could be learned from Kenya, symbolized when Malcolm X suggested a "Mau Mau in Harlem" might be necessary. Simultaneously, John F. Kennedy was among those who backed a campaign to bring Kenyans to the U.S. for higher education - included among these students was Barack H. Obama, Sr., who was brought to the University of Hawaii. Based on extensive archival research in the U.S., the U.K. and Kenya, this book not only sheds light on the historical forces that created a U.S. President, but also illuminates the unshakeable bonds that historically have conjoined Black America, Africa, and the United States as a whole.