We watched President Obama's interview on David Letterman's new Netflix show last night. There were several great moments throughout—listening to Obama is always enjoyable—but this quote from his explanation of the Obama Foundation's focus struck me more than anything:
We were talking earlier about the whole issue of racism and the silence that some people, who probably knew better, felt, and so, they just let things continue as they were.
The interesting thing is the reverse happens.
'Cause we're social animals, and if we see others who are volunteering… we'll think, "Well, maybe we'll volunteer."
If they see others voting… "Maybe I'll vote."
If they feel as if there's a community around them that says this is the norm, for us to feel like we have a say in our lives and we can connect with people, even if they don't look exactly like we do, or worship in the exact same way, or have the same sexual orientation, but we have these common interests involved, and that's the habits of the heart that we've developed… you know, it works that way, too.
So, that's what the Foundation is going to try to promote in a systematic way.
Barack Obama
I'm very excited to see what the foundation is able to accomplish over the coming years.
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