President Obama: Man to Man*

President Barack Obama listens during a B.A.M. ("Becoming a Man&quot roundtable at Hyde Park Career Academy in Chicago, Ill., Feb. 15, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)


from Harold Pollack at the Incidental Economist:

___ President Obama spent about an hour speaking with a BAM group of high school students.

The man who wrote Dreams of my Father share(d) a few biographical threads with these young men: “I wish I had had a father who was around and involved,” the President told the BAM group . . .

These are all some exceptional young men, and I couldn’t be prouder of them. And the reason I’m proud of them is because a lot of them have had some issues. That’s part of the reason why you guys are in the program. (Laughter.)

But what I explained to them was I had issues too when I was their age. I just had an environment that was a little more forgiving. So when I screwed up, the consequences weren’t as [dire] as when kids on the South Side screw up. So I had more of a safety net. But these guys are no different than me, and we had that conversation about what does it take to change….It’s not easy.

But it does require us, first of all, having a vision about where we want to be. It requires us recognizing that it will be hard work getting there. It requires us being able to overcome and persevere in the face of roadblocks and disappointments and failures. It requires us reflecting internally about who we are and what we believe in, and facing up to our own fears and insecurities, and admitting when we’re wrong. And that same thing that we have to do in our individual lives that these guys talked about, that’s what we have to do for our communities. And it will not be easy, but it can be done . . .

*TOD