Barack Obama has become one of the most popular US presidents in recent memory. This talk considers the relationship between Obama’s popularity and his roots in the African diaspora. Tyler E. Stovall from the University of California Berkeley Department of History looks at how both diasporic communities and the world in general view President Obama as both a different kind of American and a different kind of black person.

Recorded Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at Lincoln Park Public Library Auditorium.