--- title: Obama's Half Brother, a Kenyan American in China | TIME description: Long press shy, but now emerging as an author of a self-published novel, Barack Obama's half brother Mark speaks to TIME's Ling Woo Liu canonical: https://time.com/video/6n47rpod/ og:title: Obama's Half Brother, a Kenyan American in China og:description: Long press shy, but now emerging as an author of a self-published novel, Barack Obama's half brother Mark speaks to TIME's Ling Woo Liu og:url: https://time.com/video/6n47rpod/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6n47rpod/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama's Half Brother, a Kenyan American in China twitter:description: Long press shy, but now emerging as an author of a self-published novel, Barack Obama's half brother Mark speaks to TIME's Ling Woo Liu twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6n47rpod/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Obama's Half Brother, a Kenyan American in China > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Obama's Half Brother, a Kenyan American in China [Watch (HLS stream): Obama's Half Brother, a Kenyan American in China](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6n47rpod.m3u8) (5:59)  _Published 2009-11-23. Long press shy, but now emerging as an author of a self-published novel, Barack Obama's half brother Mark speaks to TIME's Ling Woo Liu_ --- Jul 27, 2023 1:16 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Obama’s Half Brother Will Be Trump’s Guest at Third Debate](/video/SBisFFrH/) ### Obama’s Half Brother Will Be Trump’s Guest at Third Debate [President Barack Obama's Speech in 3 Minutes](/video/Wn5DAURd/) ### President Barack Obama's Speech in 3 Minutes [Obama's War](/video/0eLcnjFZ/) ### Obama's War --- ## Transcript >> Well, the first question I wanted to ask you Mark is, you know, you-- a lot of us in the media have been interested in talking to you for the last year or so since everyone sort of discovered that President Obama has a brother in China, in Shenzhen no less, very close to Hong Kong and you were talking to the press for some time, but now you've decided to publish this book and you are talking to more reporters. Why now? Why did you decide to come forward and to tell this story, which is somewhat autobiographical? >> You know, Nairobi to Shenzhen is a book that I started about 10 years ago. And it's a book that I've-- it's part of my experience writing for many, many years. And what happened is it forced me in many ways especially the election and also just the experience of being in China. It forced me to reevaluate many, many things in my life. You look at the things that I've gone through in my life whether it's living in different countries ( China, America, and Kenya ) and living in different-- having different experiences, multiracial family, maybe from different religions at the same time. And I've written before that this book, in some ways, I was trying to capture so much of my life and I think life just prepared me for this book. And I have limited my experiences to the media because I really value my own privacy and my wife's privacy. But at the same time, I have made exceptions when it comes to charity. >> I know you had side away from using the name Obama for some time. And when your mother remarried, you took on your stepfather's last name. And now, I mean on the book, I can see that you are embracing that name again. How's-- What is that like now? >> I am an Obama, right, and my life to a certain extent for a large part of it was a certain sense of repudiation of that, but I'm very glad perhaps through my life, for example, has made me understand more about myself. And through this diary, which was called The Election and also this mixture of things called China, I came to some sort of realization. >> Now, I know the book and the main central character in the book, a lot of the theme is around David's relationship with his father. Can you describe what your relationship was with your own father? >> Well, I think the relationship that I had with my father was-- it's a difficult one. And I think part of it was that, you know, it was-- it was-- it was-- it was-- it was great pressure on my father in many ways. He was not-- Well, let me-- let me tell you something. I started this book actually as an autobiography. And as I was writing this autobiography, I started to think about my father. And I said I wanted to write about my father, but the thing is that I want to write something that's honest and true about him. I didn't have positive memories of my dad perhaps because of domestic violence. You know, the three things that I've been pressing are the book is meant to raise awareness of domestic violence and I hope it does some good in that way. I really do because I think people don't talk about this. >> Now, in dreams from my father, President Obama describes his meeting with you and he says-- I think his wording was like looking into a foggy mirror. I was curious, you know, reading that scene and then knowing that I would meet you today thinking, well, what did you think when you met him? What were your impressions of him? >> Gosh, gosh. You know, actually, I hadn't even thought so much about that until that particular scene until we're-- he's-- it's amazing how these things take on a life of their own with other people. I didn't even consider that seriously from the point of-- Well, let me put it this way. I didn't consider it in some ways that other people considered it. >> But tell me-- But you were meeting your brother for the first time. I mean, it must have made some kind of impact on you. >> It made a very strong impact on me. But like I said, I said in the book a lot of these things you realize much later, right? That's life. And actually, I'm writing an autobiography and I think this will be a good, you know-- What I want to do is I want to explain my part of that story for them. But all I can say at this point is that it was a very-- it was a very intense experience. And I'm just glad that we are family. >> I understand you're gonna see him. He's going to be in China on-- is it-- today is the 12th-- on Sunday? Shanghai and then Beijing. Are you going to one of those cities to meet up with him? >> Well, my plan-- my plan is to-- I'm so happy-- I'm so happy my brother is coming here to China because to experience-- I have experienced the warmth, the graciousness of the Chinese people. They are great hosts. Very gracious. And I know that to really-- to be-- it's a unique experience to be among them and experience this. My brother and his fantastic team already know this, but I know that when they are here, they will have a wonderful time. My plan is to introduce my wife to my brother. 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