i'm the son of a black man from kenya and a white woman from kansas. i was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a depression to serve in patton's army during world war ii, and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at fort leavenworth while he was overseas. i've gone to some of the best schools in america and i've lived in one of the world's poorest nations. i am married to a black american who carries within her the blood of slaves and slave owners, an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. i have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles, and cousins of every race and every hue scattered across three continents. and for as long as i live, i will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story even possible. it's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional of