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August 2013


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Helen Thomas Inspires Generation of Journalists


Another Obama FROM PAGE 1


literacy as well as health, good farming practices and citizenship. The Library holds copies of the


first two volumes. The authorship of Vol. 1 is unclear: An illustrator is credited but no author is listed. Printed on the inside cover of Vol. 2, “Wise Ways of Farming,” however, is this note: “Written by Barack H. Obama for the Education Department of Kenya under the direction of Elizabeth Mooney, literary specialist.”


In his 2012 biography of the


BY NATASHA DADO Legendary White House


correspondent Helen Thomas passed away peacefully on July 20 at her Washington D.C. apartment, while surrounded by family and friends. She was 92.


Still, Thomas will always live in the work of others she inspired.


“I will always carry a piece of her


in how I approach things. She was an inspiration to who I am,” said Siham Awada Jaafar, a television host and producer for WDHT TV in Michigan.


Speaking to The Arab American


News, Thomas’ niece, Suzanne Geha, says that it was her iconic aunt who inspired her to go into broadcast journalism. A few of Thomas’ other nieces and nephews who she had influence over, and some of their children have also pursued careers in the profession as well.


Thomas, a Lebanese American,


emerged as one of the most prominent White House reporters, during a time when the profession was dominated by men. Generations of women in the profession have been influenced by her work.


“Helen Thomas began her career in


the 1940s, as a young woman, working in a man’s business and overcoming many institutional barriers that kept women from gaining equal access. Through her tenacity, integrity and willingness to follow-up any lead and work any hour of the day or night, she reached the pinnacle of her profession and paved the way for generations of women to follow,” a statement released by Thomas’ family, following her passing, read.


“Aunt Helen was our mentor,”


Geha said. She said Thomas had spoken to her about how hard it was for her to break into the profession when she first started and prove that a woman could do the same job as a man.


Thomas covered 11 presidents from


Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama for the United Press International and Hearst Newspapers. She wrote five books and was the first female member of the National Press Club, White House Correspondents' Association and the Gridiron Club, which announced her death.


Thomas’ ability to vigorously


question U.S. presidents and other high-powered officials are what made her stand out. She never shied away from asking the tough questions, or expressing unpopular views.


She made it clear at White House press conferences that she opposed the


Iraq war, while other journalists across the country were being criticized for not asking enough hard questions about the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.


Thomas traditionally sat at the


front of presidential news conferences, but during the Bush Administration she was moved to the back row. When she was once asked why she was seated in the back row, she responded, “They didn’t like me, I ask too mean questions.” As a senior correspondent at the White House, Thomas ended dozens of presidential news conferences with her famous phrase, “Thank you, Mr. President.”


Thomas devoted her nearly 70-year


career in journalism to the pursuit of the public’s “right to know.” She was a champion of the First Amendment, fervently advocating for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.


For years, she proudly occupied


her front row seat in the Press Briefing Room at the White House, considering it the people’s chair in the people’s house.


Geha says that Thomas felt it was


her responsibility to get answers for the public from people it didn’t have access to.


The statement released by


Thomas’ family went on to say that she always acknowledged the privilege of being the eyes and ears of the public, and she boldly and unabashedly asked the hard questions to hold our leaders accountable.


Arab American Community


Defends Thomas In 2010, Thomas retired from


Hearst Newspapers after making controversial remarks about Israel, Jews and Palestine. Although she apologized afterwards, efforts were made to get a statue of Thomas removed from the Arab American National Museum in Dearborn, but were not successful.


She later made additional remarks


that caused more controversy, while speaking at a workshop on anti-Arab bias in Dearborn at Byblos Banquet Hall, when she said, “Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists. No question in my opinion..."


The day after, her alma mater,


Wayne State University (WSU), revoked the “Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award” and, later, the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) also removed the “Helen Thomas Award for Lifetime Achievement.”


Osama Siblani, publisher of The


Arab American News, is the recipient of the “Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award” and a member of the Congress


HELEN THOMAS PAGE 11 You are cordially invited to attend...


City Council meetings... Norfolk - regular meetings are held on the first and fourth Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. and the second and third Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.


Chesapeake - regular meetings are held on the second, third and fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m.


Newport News - regular business meetings are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month at 7:00 p.m.


Suffolk - regular meetings are held on the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.


Hampton - typically take place on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:30 p.m.


Virginia Beach - meets on the first four Tuesdays of each month. In July the meetings are scheduled on the first two Tuesdays only. Formal session begins at 6 p.m.


Portsmouth - meeting dates are the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m.


president, “Barack Obama: The Story,” author David Maraniss writes that Obama Sr. was performing clerical duties at the literacy program offices when the managers decided to publish primers in five tribal languages. Mooney chose Obama to write the Luo version.


“He was interested in bringing


modern techniques to his homeland, and he realized he could make a bit of money through writing,” Maraniss wrote. “So for a time he willingly put himself into the mind of his wise fictional protagonist, Otieno.”


Obama’s tenure at the literacy


program office ultimately was most important not for the book but for the connection he made with his editor, Mooney. “Betty” Mooney was an American who spent her life promoting adult literacy in India, Africa and the United States. In Nairobi, she headed a British government project that helped adults read in the local tribal languages.


In addition to the writing job,


Mooney also offered to help Obama continue his education in the United States. According to Maraniss, entrance exams, served as a reference and provided financial support.


And crucially—though by


chance—she helped Obama find the school he would attend. Leafing


The Hampton Roads Messenger


3


through the Saturday Evening Post magazine, she saw an article about a “colorful campus of the islands”—a school with a beautiful setting and a multiracial student body. She passed the article to Obama, who liked what he saw and chose to attend the University of Hawaii. There, he met Ann Dunham. They married and had the son who later became an American president.


The Library of Congress acquired


its copy of “Otieno, the Wise Man” in March 1967—41 years before the author’s son was elected president and the historical significance of the book could be fully understood. It is believed that the acquisition was made possible by the Library’s Field Office in Nairobi, which was established the previous year.


The book, Deeb said, illustrates


the importance of collecting a wide range of material, even though some material might seem puzzlingly obscure at the time it is gathered. Such material often proves valuable—decades later, in many cases—in ways unimaginable when it was acquired.


For scholars, the book also is


useful in ways other than the historical importance of its connection to President Obama. It shows Kenya at a time when it was rapidly evolving technologically, socially, economically and politically. In 1963, four years after the book’s publication, Kenya declared its independence from the United Kingdom.


Volumes such as “Otieno, the


Wise Man” also play an important role in the preservation of indigenous languages. UNESCO estimates that half of the more than 6,000 languages spoken today will disappear by the end of the century.


“It is important that at least one


place in the world be a repository for those languages,” Deeb said. “When those languages are preserved in a place like the Library of Congress, the whole world thinks more highly of them and wants to preserve them as well.”


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