I grew up on the South Side of Chicago in Hyde Park, the neighborhood that houses the University of Chicago, the leader of the Nation of Islam- Luis Farrakhan, the Midway that held the World’s Fair in 1893, and… Barack Obama and his family. Ahh… it makes me so proud. I love to read stories about the good ole Obama days when Chicago was his main stomping ground- especially as the names and places of my childhood pop up so frequently throughout them.

Tonight I read an amazingly in-depth article in the latest issue of the New Yorker that closely chronicles an impressive chunk of Obama’s past in the Chi- a story of an ambitious and remarkable outsider working his way into the historically nepotistic landscape of Chicago politics. One of my favorite quotes (from a speech in 1999),

I’m not part of some long-standing political organization. I have no fancy sponsors. I’m not even from Chicago. My name is Obama. Despite that fact, somebody sent me. . . . The men on the corner in Woodlawn drowning their sorrows in alcohol . . . the women working two jobs. . . They’re all telling me we can’t wait. 

Definitely read this article, it’s incredible. And if you’re from the South Side of Chicago- be prepared to fall in love with home all over again. 

Photograph by Marc PoKempner