Biography of Barak Obama on Brochure Shows “Kenya” as Birth Place-Truth! & Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
This is a forwarded email with a photo and biography of Barack Obama, which said that he was “born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii.”
The Truth:
The image is real, originated from a 1991 promotional booklet published by Barack Obama’s former literary agency but the Kenyan birth place on the brochure was an error.
The image recently surfaced and began circulating on the Internet with a fury. According to a May 18, 2012 article by ABC News it came from the former literary agency of President Obama, Acton & Dystel. The article also said that the editor of the bio “misidentified his birthplace as Kenya while trying to promote the then-Harvard Law grad as an author in 1991.”
The article identified the former employee of Acton and Dystel as Miriam Goderich, who released a statement saying that this “was nothing more than a fact checking error by me–an agency assistant at the time.” She went on to say, “There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can communicate to your readers that this was a simple mistake and nothing more.”
Questions and rumors about the President’s place of birth have been circulating the Internet since he first ran for the Oval Office in 2008 and TruthOrFiction.Com has findings posted. Click here for findings.
updated 5/18/12