Former US President Barack Obama took to Instagram on Friday to congratulate Jacob Philadelphia, the boy who touched the former president’s head in an iconic photo at the White House in 2009 during his high school graduation. .
Philadelphia, son of then-National Security Council official Carlton Philadelphia, was 5 when he visited the Oval Office and asked Obama, “Is your hair like mine?” Obama then bent down and told him to touch his head. “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I have.”
The moment was captured by White House photographer Pete Souza, and the photo, which Souza later called “Hair Like Mine,” was celebrated for highlighting the importance of representation.
Obama reconnected with Philadelphia on Zoom ahead of the now-teenager’s graduation from Uganda International School.
The boy, whose father later joined the State Department, told the former president he plans to attend the University of Memphis and study political science.
“I think the visit to the White House clearly inspired you, I hope,” Obama said in the video. “Yea. Really,” Philadelphia replied.
In the video posted to Instagram, Obama also reflected on the iconic 2009 image that hung in the West Wing for years during his presidency.
“I think this photo represented one of the hopes I had when I started running,” Obama said.
“I remember telling Michelle and some of my employees, you know, I think if I won, the day I took office, young people, mostly African Americans, people of color, people outside, people who might not feel belonging, they look at themselves differently. See a person who looks like them in the Oval Office. That would speak to black kids and Latino kids and gay kids and girls – how they could see the world open up to them,” the former president said.
Philadelphia also talked about the moment and how he remembers that day in the Oval Office.
“When I was younger, I thought the president was just my dad’s boss. I didn’t know how powerful he was,” he said in the video. “I was a little shy and I kind of remember touching his hair and him towering over me. That was a big highlight of my life.”
“It’s so wonderful to see representation in government because if I can see another black man at the top, be at this peak, then I want to follow that lead,” he added.
Source: CNN Brasil
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