| From the Villa ge of Brook ly n |
OUR TIME PRESS THE L OCAL PAPER WITH THE G LOBAL VIEW
| VOL. 21 NO. 52
Since 1996
December 28, 2017 – January 3, 2018 |
When Obama Speaks, the World Still Listens
Grassroots
F
ormer President Barack Obama, donning a Santa hat, stopped by a branch of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington last week. The former president paid a visit to the
Jelleff Club in Northeast Washington, where he visited with about 50 middle school students taking part in after-school activities, The Washington Post reported. During the visit, which lasted about half
Global
Former U.S. President Barack Obama and British Royal Prince Harry conversed at the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, last September. The interview Harry conducted with Barack, on that day for a British radio broadcast, has attracted global media attention to Barack's comments on true leadership; dangers of social media; the need for human interaction and face-to face conversations on today's issues. Obama, according to a top poll, is the most popular man in the world. (Credit Image: © Danny Lawson/PA Wire via ZUMA Press) (Visit the Obama Foundation at: www.obama.com)
an hour, Obama brought gifts and posed for a photo with the students. He tweeted about the experience shortly after. “There’s no better time than the holiday season to reach out and give back to our communities,” he tweeted. “Great to hear from young people at the Boys & Girls Club in DC today.”
Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have remained in D.C. this year while their younger daughter Sasha finishes school. The Obamas have paid multiple visits to schools and community centers since leaving the White House early this year. Max Greenwood, thehill.com
Barack Obama on Success
A
s the popular saying goes, “Success is a marathon, not a sprint.” While some say you need to be consistent for a continual period of time, others say it’s important to go all out in order to quickly achieve your goals. Still, others says you need both. But former president Barack Obama twists the metaphor in a recent interview with Prince Harry of the U.K. royal family. Obama describes successful leadership as a relay race, which is a team sport rather than an individual one. Speaking in an interview for BBC Radio 4, the former commander-in-chief says that he was simply completing one leg as a “relay-runner.” “There is the sense sometimes in any position of leadership that you by yourself do certain things and then it’s over,” he tells Prince Harry. “I always viewed it as a taking the baton from a whole range of people who have come before.” Admittedly, he says, some of those people who had come before him had “screwed up,” while others had been “heroic.”
On his final day as president, Obama says he didn’t feel a sense of relief. “Relief indicates some sense of ‘I can’t wait until this thing is finished,’” he says. Instead, he felt a surprising sense of serenity on leaving the White House: “I think there was a sense that we had run a good race.” Though Obama explains that he was pleased with the work he had performed over the past eight years, he admits that he held concerns about the country’s future. The fact that he and his wife Michelle Obama hadn’t fundamentally changed was a satisfying feeling, he says, but it was mixed with “all the work that was still undone and concerns about how the country moves forward.” Alluding back to the race metaphor, he tells Prince Harry that as a leader, if you run hard enough, do your best and can pass the baton successfully with everything a bit better off, you can be proud. “And I think we were able to do that,” says Obama. (cnbc.com)