- On View
- 1968 & Beyond Gallery
- Museum Maps
- Objects in this Location
- Exhibition
- A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond
- Manufactured by
- Unidentified
- Subject of
- President Obama, Barack, American, born 1961
- Date
- 2008
- Medium
- cotton
- Dimensions
- H x W: 41 3/4 × 59 1/4 in. (106 × 150.5 cm)
- Description
- Kanga with portrait of Barack Obama and the African continent made in Tanzania. The cloth is a pale purplish-grayu with a wide border in tones of medium and midnight blue. The background of the border is a small scale grid design. A row of stylized flowers made from four (4) heart-shaped petals and a circular center are printed in the middle around the border. A thin border featuring a row of dark blue dots surround the inner and outer sides of the main border section. At the center of the interior section is a large oval photographic portrait of Barack Obama printed in black. He is wearing a suit and tie and is pictured from the chest up and smiling while looking directly at the viewer. Text above him just inside the oval border reads "HONGERA [Congratulations] BARACK OBAMA". Black text printed inside a rectangle outlined in black at the center bottom interior reads in Swahili "UPENDO NA AMANI AMETUJALIA MUNGU" [God Has Blessed Us with Peace and Love]. Printed on either side of Obama is a black outline of the African continent with the island Madagascar, including interior country borders outlined in black with some filled in with red or green. Large black letters reading "AFRICA" are printed along the widest upper part of the continent, with the names of individual countries printed in smaller black text next to or inside their respective borders. The two Africa prints are identical, including the colors of the countries filled in. Manufacturer's information is printed in the lower bottom left corner that reads "NIDA NZITO KHANGA PAMBA YA TANZANIA GIGA:7274".
- Classification
- Textiles and Quilts
- Topic
- Africa
- African diaspora
- Design
- Identity
- Politics
- Textile design
- U.S. History, 2001-
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Catherine E. McKinley
- Object number
- 2017.16.16
- Restrictions & Rights
- Unknown - Restrictions Possible
- Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




