Marianna SotomayorVerified account

Reflecting on his presidency, @BarackObama said he's "very proud" of it but admits that he knows he "didn't immediately solve all systemic racism" when he was elected or as president. He did mention the police reforms he and @JoeBiden put in place, as well as others.

Asked why Black men and young people should vote in this election, @BarackObama says his "answer for young people is not that voting makes everything perfect, it’s that it makes things better. You’re more likely to have representatives who are going to look out for you."

.@BarackObama also notes that while he's been overwhelmingly inspired by the protests seen across the country, young people have to remember that issues being protested don't immediately "translate into policy, not translated into law. It kind of dissipates," without legislation.

.@BarackObama says that the best way to engage young Black men is to "advertise it’s the cool thing and the right thing to vote" using channels they pay attention to because he remembers being "young and distracted" at that age. "When I was 20 years old, I wasn't woke," he jokes

The core of @BarackObama's message to young people: "If you don’t vote you’re not at table. If you’re at table, you’re part of the solution." He notes that his election had the highest turnout of Black voters ever, at 60%. But he mused what change could happen if 80% turned out

.@BarackObama notes that no matter the criticism, the U.S. was better off at the end of his eight years than when he started because voters turned out for him overwhelmingly.

Asked what "hope" still means to him, @BarackObama noted that he has "never lost" it in the last four years "Ive been mad, I've been frustrated but haven’t lost hope," he said before noting that he's still optimistic because of the resilience of those who are making voices heard

.@BarackObama notes that the pandemic would've been hard for any president, but shamed the "degree of incompetence," misinformation & deaths had the Trump admin. "done the basics." "Knowing Biden & Kamala as much I do, I know we’ll deal with this more affectively," he said.