Found Relatives

Barack family members have been found living in public housing in Boston. George must be jealous.

Barack Obama has lived one version of the American Dream that has taken him to the steps of the White House. But a few miles from where the Democratic presidential candidate studied at Harvard, his Kenyan aunt and uncle, immigrants living in modest circumstances in Boston, have a contrasting American story.

Those that's got shall get
Those that's not shall lose
So the bible said and it still is true
Mama may have
Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

Zeituni Onyango, the aunt so affectionately described in Mr Obama’s best-selling memoir Dreams from My Father, lives in a disabled-access flat on a rundown public housing estate in South Boston.

Well the strong seem to get more
While the weak ones fade
Empty pockets don't ever make the grade
Mama may have
Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

A second relative believed to be the long-lost “Uncle Omar” described in the book was beaten by armed robbers with a “sawed-off rifle” while working in a corner shop in the Dorchester area of the city. He was later evicted from his one-bedroom flat for failing to pay $2,324.20 (£1,488) arrears, according to the Boston Housing Court.

Rich relations may give you
A crust of bread and such
You can help yourself but don't take too much
'Cos Mama may have
Papa may have
But God bless the child that's got his own
That's got his own

The US press has repeatedly rehearsed Mr Obama’s extraordinary odyssey, but the other side of the family’s American experience has only been revealed in parts. Just across town from where Mr Obama made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, some of his closest blood relatives have confronted the harshness of immigrant life in America.

When you got money
You got lots of friends
Crawling round your door
When the money's gone
And all your spending ends
They won't be around no more

Speaking outside her home in Flaherty Way, South Boston, on Tuesday, Ms Onyango, 56, confirmed she was the “Auntie Zeituni” in Mr Obama’s memoir. She declined to answer most other questions about her relationship with the presidential contender until after the November 4 election. “I can’t talk about it, I just pray for him, that’s all,” she said, adding: “After the 4th, I can talk to anyone.”