President Barack Obama’s speech at the U.S.-Africa Summit Dinner late Tuesday hailed the relationship between the United States and the African continent as “deeply personal,” invoking slavery and his own African roots. 
 
 Obama toasted to “the new Africa,” a lyric borrowed from a song he said he first heard in Senegal and later quoted as a reference to “the Africa that is rising and so full of promise,” according to White House pool reports. 
 
 Text Size - 
 
 + 
 
 reset President Obama opening remarks at Africa Leaders Summit 
 
 “I stand before you as the president of the United States and a proud American. I also stand before you as the son of a man from Africa,” the president said at the dinner, to applause. “The blood of Africa runs through our family. And so for us, the bonds between our countries, our continents, are deeply personal.” 
 
 (Also on POLITICO: Barack Obama touts Africa deals in U.S. catch-up game) 
 
 The six-minute toast was a marked contrast to the president’s speech earlier Tuesday afternoon, when Obama discussed the growing economic and trade relationship between the U.S. and Africa. 
 
 Obama reflected fondly on his family’s trips to Africa, including a trip he took to his father’s hometown in Kenya. The president’s late father, Barack Obama Sr., was a Kenyan economist. 
 
 In his toast Tuesday, the president also mentioned that the “painful past” of the U.S.-Africa slave trade. “We’ve walked the steps of a painful past — in Ghana, at Cape Coast Castle; in Senegal, at Gorée Island — standing with our daughters in those doors of no return through which so many Africans passed in chains.” 
 
 (Also on POLITICO Magazine: The African leader Obama shouldn't invite) 
 
 The personal speech was something of a rarity for the president, who has faced criticism throughout his presidency from those in the African-American community for at times failing to talk about and address racial issues. ||||| WASHINGTON (AP) — Take a White House state dinner and multiply it by 50. The result is the most elaborate and unusual dinner of President Barack Obama's administration, a one-of-a-kind affair put on Tuesday night for a one-of-a-kind gathering of several dozen leaders from countries across Africa. 
 
 Secretary of State John Kerry, left, talks with former President Jimmy Carter before President Barack Obama offers a toast at a dinner for the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit, on the South Lawn of the White... (Associated Press) 
 
 South Sudan's President Salva Kiir waves upon arrival for a dinner hosted by President Barack Obama for the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. African heads of state are gathering in Washington... (Associated Press) 
 
 President Barack Obama offers a toast at a dinner for the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit, on the South Lawn of the White House,Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. African heads of state are gathering in Washington for... (Associated Press) 
 
 First lady Michelle Obama takes her seat after toasting guests following President Barack Obama's offering of a toast at a dinner for the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit, on the South Lawn of the White House,Tuesday,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Singer Lionel Richie performs "Easy" at a dinner hosted by President Barack Obama for the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit, on the South Lawn of the White House,Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. African heads of state... (Associated Press) 
 
 Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, President of the Republic of Mali and his wife Keita Aminata Maiga arrive for a dinner hosted by President Barack Obama for the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014.... (Associated Press) 
 
 The leaders are attending a three-day conference organized by the White House and aimed at boosting U.S. ties to the continent. Obama wasted little time highlighting his own personal connection to Africa during a brief toast. Guests were shuttled down to a massive tent erected on the South Lawn because the White House, as big as it is, does not have any rooms large enough that can hold the more-than-400 invited guests. 
 
 "I stand before you as the president of the United States, a proud American. I also stand before you as the son of a man from Africa," Obama said drawing applause. "The blood of Africa runs through our family, so for us, the bonds between our countries, our continents are deeply personal." 
 
 He warmly recalled family visits to Kenya before he became president, as well as stops at historic sites in Ghana, Senegal and South Africa with his family while in office. And he offered a toast to "the new Africa, the Africa that is rising and so full of promise." 
 
 Among the African leaders who arrived at the White House one at a time over the course of 90 minutes were President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, the world's newest country, and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. Kiir wore a cowboy hat and waved dramatically to the media. 
 
 Egypt's ambassador and Libya's foreign affairs minister also attended. Next to last to arrive was Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, who has pleaded innocent to murder and other charges for his alleged role in organizing violence that left more than 1,000 people dead after Kenya's 2007 elections. The case is before an international criminal court, and Obama pointedly skipped visiting Kenya when he toured Africa with his family last summer. 
 
 Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, who last month visited Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone, attended along with numerous other Obama administration officials, members of the delegations accompanying the African leaders, U.S. lawmakers and business leaders. 
 
 There was political, Hollywood and athletic star power in the crowd, too. 
 
 Former President Jimmy Carter, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and de Blasio's predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, a sponsor of a U.S.-Africa business forum where Obama spoke earlier Tuesday, mingled with guests before dinner. Also expected were actors Chiwetel Ejiofor, star of the Academy Award-winning drama "12 Years a Slave," and Robert De Niro, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon and Meb Keflezighi, the Eritrean-born American winner of this year's Boston Marathon. 
 
 After greeting Obama and first lady Michelle Obama inside the White House, guests boarded chartered trolley cars for a ride to the South Lawn. Mrs. Obama wore a cream-colored dress by Prabal Gurung, one of her favorite designers, with cut-outs in both the front and the back and her hair swept up into a bun. 
 
 The menu featured a largely American-style dinner with hints of Africa sprinkled throughout each of the four courses. 
 
 Guests dined on chilled spiced tomato soup and socca crisps, which are made of chick peas; chopped farm-stand vegetable salad using produce from the first lady's garden; and grilled dry-aged Wagyu beef served with chermoula, a marinade used in North African cooking, sweet potatoes and coconut milk. 
 
 Dessert was cappuccino fudge cake dressed with papaya scented with vanilla from Madagascar. American wines were also on the menu. 
 
 Award-winning singer Lionel Richie provided the after-dinner entertainment. 
 
 "Tonight, we are going to have a party," Richie said as he took the stage and quoted from the lyrics to "All Night Long," one of his top hits. He then played the piano and eased the audience into what he said would be a short party by opening with "Easy," another one of his hits. 
 
 ___ 
 
 White House dinner guest list: http://1.usa.gov/1s9P9n0 
 
 ___ 
 
 Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap
– President Obama isn't known for getting particularly personal at the podium, Politico notes, but in a speech at the US-Africa Summit, he offered up his own story. "I stand before you as the president of the United States and a proud American. I also stand before you as the son of a man from Africa," he said in a toast at a dinner last night. "The blood of Africa runs through our family. And so for us, the bonds between our countries, our continents, are deeply personal.” Obama discussed his memories of visiting Africa with his family, and he applauded "the new Africa, the Africa that is rising and so full of promise," the AP notes; the words referred to a song he heard in Senegal, Politico adds. He also referred to slavery, recalling a "painful past" and of "standing with our daughters in those doors of no return through which so many Africans passed in chains." The dinner was held on the White House's South Lawn because the crowd of 400-plus couldn't fit indoors; guests ranged from the presidents of South Africa and South Sudan to Jimmy Carter and Robert De Niro.