Former US President Barack Obama praised footballer Marcus Rashford for his notable anti-poverty campaigning.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the Manchester United player, 23, spearheaded efforts to combat child food poverty, prompting Prime Minister Boris Johnson to backtrack not once, but twice.
He has since been awarded an MBE and founded a book club to encourage disadvantaged children to read.
Rashford recently met with Obama, 59, via Zoom, courtesy of Penguin, to discuss the ex-memoir President's A Promised Land, being a "positive force" in local communities, and how much work young people can do.
According to BBC News, Obama stated, 'A lot of the young people I meet, including Marcus, are ahead of where I was when I was 23.' They are already making a difference and are positive forces in their communities.'
'Even doing something positive on a small scale makes a difference, and it's the accumulation of people doing positive things over time that makes us a little bit better with each successive generation,' he added.
Obama also stated that if he had ‘more talent, I would have probably preferred to be a professional athlete, like Marcus,' rather than pursuing politics when he was younger. Rashford, on the other hand, praised young people and their ability to rally a movement, saying they "don't realize how powerful their voice is."
Rashford described how it felt to be in such an incredible meeting, saying, 'When President Obama speaks, all you want to do is listen.' I mean, it's kind of surreal, isn't it? I'm talking to President Obama from my kitchen in Manchester. But he immediately put me at ease.'
‘It wasn't long before I realized how similar our childhood experiences were in shaping the men you see today – adversity, obstacles, and all,' he added.
The pair also talked about reading and how important it is for young people to get into books, especially at a young age. Obama recalled his mother ‘planting this love of reading' in him when he was a child.
Books enabled Rashford to forge his own ideas. ‘Rather than someone telling me to do this and that, books gave me the freedom to do it my way,' he explained.
Rashford's efforts resulted in a £520 million government scheme supporting 1.7 million children, as well as assisting other projects in delivering 130 million meals.
The full conversation between Obama and Rashford will be available on Penguin UK's YouTube channel at 2 p.m. today, May 28.
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