PreservingBlackHIstory

By ARLETTE SAENZ and CONOR FINNEGAN

President Obama kicked off his historic trip to Kenya today with his first public events on his four-day visit to Africa, a continent he said was “on the move.”“I’m proud to be the first U.S. president to visit Kenya,” the president said at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. “Obviously, this is personal for me. There’s a reason why my name’s Barack Hussein Obama. My father came from these parts.”

His first full day in Kenya culminated in a news conference with the country’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, outside the state house where they discussed gay rights, terrorism, and economic partnerships.

Obama also promised Kenyans that he would return without a suit but with special guests to the country where his father was born.

“Here’s what I can guarantee: I’ll be back,” he joked. “The next time I’m back I may not be wearing a suit.”

He added that Michelle Obama and his daughter would accompany him on a future trip. Obama also vowed continue his philanthropic work in Kenya.

“I’m not going to stop being interested,” he said.

Obama started the day at an economic summit with over 20 members of Congress and 200 American investors to promote U.S.-African trade, technological innovation and his Power Africa initiative, which aims to double access to electricity over five years.

“I wanted to be here because Africa is on the move,” the president said.

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