Dreams from My Father

by

Barack Obama

Rafiq is the president of the Roseland Unity Coalition, which endeavors to help Roseland’s Black residents take over local businesses. The Coalition was instrumental in electing Harold Washington. Shirley explains to Barack that Rafiq actually grew up in Altgeld and was a contemporary of Will’s. He changed his name from Wally to Rafiq when he became a Muslim and gave up his life as a gang leader. He and Barack work together to try to get a job center in the South Side, but Rafiq proves hard to work with. Rafiq believes that people are bound together by blood first, then by religion, and then by race—and he believes that if people don’t share those commonalities, they won’t care about each other. In his understanding, all Black people deeply hate white people, but many are unwilling to admit that and therefore end up in trouble when they try to work through their anger. Rafiq makes a point to call out mistreatment of local Black families by their Jewish, Arab, and Korean neighbors, which sometimes seems simply to stoke division.
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Rafiq Character Timeline in Dreams from My Father

The timeline below shows where the character Rafiq appears in Dreams from My Father. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 9
Race and Identity Theme Icon
Storytelling and Truth Theme Icon
...to start businesses. They go first to the Roseland shopping district to meet with a Rafiq al Shabazz, whom Shirley knows as Wally, a neighbor’s son. Rafiq forces a smile and... (full context)
Family and Community Theme Icon
Storytelling and Truth Theme Icon
Rafiq excuses himself. Outside the building, Shirley says she’s known Rafiq since he was a kid;... (full context)
Chapter 10
Family and Community Theme Icon
Race and Identity Theme Icon
Storytelling and Truth Theme Icon
One morning, Rafiq calls early, asking for Barack to try to get the MET center into a storefront... (full context)
Family and Community Theme Icon
Race and Identity Theme Icon
As Barack sees it, though, nationalism—at least as peddled by Rafiq—doesn’t help much. Rafiq refuses to ask his congregation to show up to protests and is... (full context)
Family and Community Theme Icon
Race and Identity Theme Icon
Storytelling and Truth Theme Icon
Barack realizes that Rafiq isn’t interested in changing the actual rules of power; he just wants to put Black... (full context)
Chapter 12
Family and Community Theme Icon
Rafiq fusses over the refreshment table and the photo of Harold Washington hanging in the new... (full context)