Former President Barack Obama’s “Hope” campaign may be 10 years behind him, but he is still being awarded for instilling it in society at large.
Obama was honored with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights’ Ripple of Hope award on Wednesday night at a gala in New York.
The award is presented to global leaders for “their exceptional work toward a more just and peaceful world.” Kara Kennedy, who is the daughter of Robert Kennedy and the president of the organization, presented Obama the award.
While accepting the award, Obama said, “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but I’ve been on this hope kick for a while now. Even ran a couple of campaigns on it. Thank you for officially validating my hope credentials.”
“If we summon our best selves, we can inspire others to do the same. It’s easy to succumb to cynicism, the notion that hope is a fool’s game,” he continued. “When our leaders are content on making up whatever facts they want, a lot of people have begun to doubt the notion of common ground. Bobby Kennedy’s life reminds us to reject such cynicism.”
In a tweet, Obama added, “As Bobby Kennedy taught us, the thing about hope is that it travels through space *and* time, first splashing against the rocks, but eventually breaking down the walls of cruelty and injustice. And if we do our best with the time we’re given, others will take hope in our example.”
Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Humana CEO Bruce Broussard, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy were also awarded this year. Past recipients include Hillary and Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, John Lewis, Robert De Niro, and Taylor Swift.
