As a class, come to a consensus on a working definition of the word “identity.” It may be useful to begin with this version from Merriam-Webster: 

the distinguishing character or personality of an individual

the qualities, beliefs, etc., that make a particular person or group different from others

Pair and Share:

In pairs, have students write down the answers to the following questions and share with one another:

What influences shape a person’s identity?

How does your identity influence how you see the world and the world sees you?

Read this quote aloud: 

Barack Obama in Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union:

“My parents met in Hawaii. My father was part of that first wave of young Africans to travel abroad to get an education.… I don’t think that there was a sense of my difference, racially, as I was growing up. I mean, Hawaii was a sort of a unique kind of melting pot....

Then when I was six my mother remarried an Indonesian. And we moved to Indonesia, which certainly made me feel different, but it had more to do with the fact that I was an American living in a third-world country than the fact that I was an African American. It probably wasn’t until I came back from Indonesia and I was around ten years old or so that it became an issue. I obtained a scholarship to a prep school in Hawaii. At that point, suddenly I looked around and said, “There aren’t that many folks who look like me.” My mother had inculcated in me the sense that being African American was a wonderful thing. You know, that it was special in some way....

By the time I was an adolescent and was struggling with issues of racial identity and a father not being in the house, I reacted by engaging in a lot of behavior that’s not un-typical of Black males across the country. I played a lot of basketball, didn’t take school that seriously, got into fights, drank and consumed substances that weren’t always legal. And that was also at a time when “Roots” was first appearing on television, and there were just a lot of icons of Black identity — “Shaft” and “Superfly” — forced me to figure out as I moved through high school that what did it mean to be a Black man in America? And also embrace my mixed heritage....

It turned out that I really liked to read, and I liked to argue politics with my professors, and I really, sort of like a sponge, started soaking up a lot of information, and spent the first two years (at college), sort of rediscovering what was important to me — and was active in a lot of campus activism.” (Interview excerpted from archival footage, television interview, July 25. 1999)

As a class, discuss:

What aspects of Obama’s identity does he refer to in this quote?

In what ways does his identity feel similar to yours? What about him is different from you?

What people, events, or concepts are the main influences of your own identity?

Let students know that you are going to watch clips from Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union. 

Distribute Handout One, Lesson One: Film Clip Transcripts. Have students follow along with the transcript as they watch, underlining words, events, or place names that stand out as they learn more about Obama’s identity. 

Film Clips

One: Early Childhood (2:25)

This clip shares some of Obama’s childhood in Hawaii and Indonesia. 

Two: High School–College (3:37)

In Clip Two, Obama and some of his friends recall his search for identity during high school and college.

After watching Clips One and Two, have students read out some of the terms from the transcripts that they believe point to influences on Barack Obama’s identity.

Discuss: 

What people, places, and events influenced how he saw himself and the world as a young person? 

How do you think these influences spurred him toward public service and politics?

Teacher Note: Before showing Clip Three, let students know that Obama graduated from Columbia University in New York and moved to Chicago to take a job as a community organizer, helping African American congregations advocate for better schools, neighborhoods, and economic opportunities. President Obama said of the time, “It was the best education of my life. It allowed me not only to learn some of the skills of organizing and politics, but, more importantly, it gave me a home. It sort of rooted me in a community of African Americans whose values and stories I soaked up.”

Three: Religious Life and Law School (4:04)

Clip Three chronicles Obama’s decision to join the church, his desire to connect with his father’s side of the family, and his time in law school.

Teacher Note: Let students know that after graduating with his law degree, Barack Obama returned to Chicago to practice civil rights law, and that’s when he married Michelle Robinson and later became a father to two daughters.

After watching Clip Three, have students read out some of the words and phrases they noted as they followed along on the transcripts that they believe influenced Obama’s identity.

Discuss:

What stands out to you about Obama’s search for identity during his college career and his move to Chicago?

In what ways does the evolution of his identity during this period of his life differ from his childhood? How do you think identity changes over time?

Teacher Note: Students will use this Venn diagram in each of the lessons as a visual organizer to note and keep track of which parts of the film and interviews are specific to Obama and his life, work, and presidency; which parts relate to each student; and which relate to America as a whole.

If students are unfamiliar with Venn diagrams, this definition from Merriam-Webster may be helpful: “A diagram that shows the relationship between groups of things by means of overlapping circles.”

Students will make notes on the diagram from the film clips, interview segments, and class exercises.

Print and distribute Handout Two, Lesson One: The More Perfect Union Venn Diagram

At this point in the lesson, students will start the exercise focusing on the “Obama” and “You” circles, and be able to say more about the “America” circle after they watch the interview segments in Step Four: A Close View —Interview Threads.

If helpful, use these specific prompts to get students started:

Obama circle: What have you learned about Obama’s view of his own identity?

You circle: What have you learned about yourself and your own identity?

America circle: What do you learn about American identity from the film clips and interview segments?

Overlaps: Add any additional ideas where these learnings overlap.

Teacher Note: The filmmakers conducted nearly 40 interviews to produce Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union. The full interviews are available in the Interview Archive on the Kunhardt Film Foundation website. A selection of these interviews, edited together here to create interview threads and aligned to the specific lesson topic, are available for your students’ learning. 

Three interview threads were created for this lesson to deepen students’ understanding of how Obama’s identity was formed and developed over time. Print and distribute Handout Three, Lesson One: Interview Segments Transcripts. As students watch the Interview Threads, have them follow along on the transcripts, underline details that catch their attention, and jot down questions and insights that come to mind. 

Break students into groups to learn more about one of the following aspects of Obama’s search for identity as a child and as a young adult. Have students appoint a recorder from each group, who will report back to the rest of the class about new, surprising, or interesting information they learned about Obama from the interview threads:

Thread One: Family & Race 

Anthony Peterson, Valerie Jarrett, and Ta-Nehisi Coates talk about the meaning of Obama’s race and family as friends and outside observers. 

Thread Two: Political Awakening

David Maraniss, Loretta Augustine-Harris, and Laura Washington reflect on when and why Barack Obama decided to engage in politics.

Thread Three: Faith 

Reverend Alvin Love, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and Michael Eric Dyson talk about Barack Obama’s choices and identity with regard to the church.

Groups will discuss and report back to the class on:

How did hearing others’ perspectives change or enhance what you saw in the clips where Obama tells his own story?

Did anything you saw in the clips change the notes you took on your Venn diagram?

What did you notice about the difference between how Obama talks about himself and how others talk about him?

How do you think these multiple perspectives might influence how he is seen when, later in life, he runs for political office?

Using their notes and observations from their Venn diagrams, students discuss the following questions: 

How does Obama see himself, and how do friends, colleagues, and critics see him? 

How does a person’s identity evolve through the course of their life?

In what ways does learning about President Obama’s identity influence how you think about your own identity?

Students create a statement that expresses their own identity, similar to the Obama quote that opens this lesson.

Students present their statements to others in their lives who know them well — perhaps friends, family, teachers, or other adults — to get input on their own statements and stories.

Ask students to reflect on what they learned about themselves and their own identities through writing about themselves, and through the perspectives of others.